Of Blood and Cake
The airshuttle doors opened with a low hiss and Nelly's view was cut away for a second by the glaring sun. As her eyes grew accustomed to the change in lighting a glorious view opened up in front of her. The wedding venue, her wedding venue.
A grand space of greenery with tens of thousands of flowers laid out in various patterns. The common theme of all the flower patches was the union of yellow and blue. To match mother's standard the jonquil yellow of house Arbore and the steel blue of house Walsh.
Nelly was glad for the veil, she had almost bared her teeth at the thousands of people attending. She thought she had gotten over this vampire instinct completely, but the nervousness at walking the isle had lessened her grip.
As if on cue a slender hand was offered to her, the hand courtesy of Dana Arbore—her mother by blood given. The leader of an empire, the Empress of Arbore.
"Don't rush dear, you can have a taste of him later tonight," mother said with a low voice and laughed as soon as Nelly blushed lightly. Mother almost never laughed and the laugh warmed up Nelly throughout, lifting any anxiety she had left. Nelly gave her mothers hand a gentle squeeze in rebuke as she grabbed the offered hand.
"You'll get off lightly today mom. It is my wedding after all." Nelly said as they took their first steps through the now standing masses. Before mother could say anything she added "and he is a snack…"
A quintet was playing an acoustic version of their song. Gideon Walsh, her husband to be, had sung it at the karaoke night Nelly realized she was in love with the man.
Everyone was looking at her, some teary eyed, but most found themselves between genuine and social smiles—as was to be expected in a high society wedding.
Right before Nelly finally could make out Gideon's face another familiar face sought her attention. Lalage had made it. They had been best friends since childhood, but love had gotten in the way. Nelly was still happy Lalage tried even when her expression wasn't great, a dark cloud draped over an otherwise blessed day.
Nelly ripped her eyes away, she couldn't let this day be marred by a relationship gone sour, when there was a relationship going gold to be had. A few steps in sync with the music later Gideon was more than a blot in the distance.
A gasp escaped Nelly as her coming husbands appearance would be etched in her mind forever. He wore full white as they had agreed upon, Nelly herself wasn't one to besmirch her vampire vibes with white. Black lace wedding dress, in her mind the ultimate perfection.
The there was something nigh untouchable about the sculpted handsome features Gideon carried with such grace. Nelly never understood the hatred people had for the sculpted, gene manipulated children of today. The new world truly had forgotten the way the old masters sculpted stone, rendering hard marble into forms so soft it stole your breath.
In what felt like just a few heartbeats Nelly arrived. She couldn't remember letting go of her mothers hand. There were only steel blue eyes to drown inside. A charming smile from Gideon nigh melted her on the spot. The promise not to cry was about to be broken.
She only remembered the feelings as warm tears fell on her cheeks, the subsequent "I do's" and the new world that opened up as Gideon lifted her veil. Wet lips met each other, their wedding kiss salty, but a pathway to a sweet life.
***
"If your hand isn't sore tomorrow from me holding yours, you can divorce me on the spot" Gideon said in between a few congratulating guests. Nelly was glad her eyes were out of tears as anything remotely sweet Gideon mentioned, had her moved.
"Don't worry husband, if for some reason it isn't sore I will leave it between a closing door." Nelly said with a smile and hiding it behind her free hand. The other hand got squeezed harder.
"I better make sure it is actually sore then, wouldn't want my wife to hurt herself." Gideon said, turning to face her. To express his devotion to the cause, he increased the force and yanked her gently. Nelly landed in an embrace and a passionate, yet short kiss. It took all her willpower not to sink her teeth into his lips right here and now.
"I love you" Nelly said but didn't have time to hear his reply as a smiling Lalage approached. Nelly stood up and rushed to hug her friend, purely out of emotional high. "Lelly you came, I am so glad you found it in your heart to..." Nelly stopped speaking when she noticed, Lalage's whole body was taut, unlike her now smiling face.
Lalage spoke in a whisper. "You don't deserve this." The words took a second to register and Nelly tried to push her away, something was wrong. Lalage's grip wasn't strong enough, but the magical power in her words was. "By the blood oath given to me, I demand you stab Gideon with the cake knife." Lalage finished her whispers and let Nelly go.
"Why…" Nelly let out lowly with a face now devoid of blood. Lalage was backing away, still smiling. Her eyes unreadable.
"Congratulations on your marriage!" Lalage said and disappeared in to the crowd her ashen brown locks the last thing Nelly saw.
The tears were supposed to have run out. The power of a blood oath for a vampire was unbreakable, an unyielding contract. She know knew she had been a fool when she gave one to Lalage. Her mother by blood given had always warned her about it.
The two had been together in the low class households of Block 21X. Nelly had gained a vampire Mother in Dana and the riches that came with the Arbore name. The oath had been given to show that they would always be friends. That Lalage wasn't inferior to her.
While the ceremony passed in the blink of an eye, this was an eternal few minutes. The cake didn't wait, Lalage had timed it perfectly. The crowd was cheering as the massive cake was wheeled in. It was built to look like the megabuilding Block 21X, the domain of the Arbores, the house Nelly was sworn to inherit. The 30 millions subjects that were destined to be lead by her, all living inside of it.
Gideon's hand wrapped around Nelly's waist. He mistook the tears for happy ones and gave her a kiss on the cheek wiping a few of the tears away. His eyes sparkled as they sought Nelly's, she couldn't answer the look of his. The camera flashes eternalizing this moment all reflected off the cake knife's blade, as if it was the focal point of the entire universe.
Placing his hand over hers he guided them to the knife. She in turn guided it towards his stomach. No willpower was enough this time, the sharp edge pierced his still pristine white cloth. The tip buckled a bit at the subdermal armor, but Nelly's superhuman strength made short work of it.
The salty kiss was the one she was supposed to remember, not the sound of the blade entering him. Not the groan that left his lips, not the betrayed look in his eyes. Not the sweet smell of blood that stained his white shirt.
Tens of hands grabbed Nelly and Gideon as the security teams of both families sprung in to action to protect their respective heirs.