Chapter 11: Her Master's Wedding, Part 11, Bride and Groom

".... I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Michael lifts the veil, tossing it back over Charlotte's copper-red tresses to free her face....

Her beautiful face....

He stoops to kiss her, softly, on the lips.

And it comes crashing down on me...

.... The reality of what I am doing...

What I have done.

What have I done?

I've given her away...

I have given the Love of my Life to another man.

Whatever I say, however I wrap it in clever words, however I try to justify it to myself, or to them, on the register, it will not be my name next to hers.

My gut clenches and pain stabs at my temples. Stomach roiling, I regret the breakfast I was so glad of a few hours ago.

All I can do is try to mask the emotion, to keep it from my face.

Michael breaks from the kiss, his face bright, hers radiant, but as her gaze passes to mine, her smile fades and her lips part.

Then she, like me, blanks her expression, turning to her husband.

Her husband....