The Bride

36

"Benvenuto!" Harriet exclaimed.

The Italians entered. There were a lot of them. Probably 20 or so. Most of them were children.

Celestiana hugged her parents and Francisco. Two of the teenage boys man-hugged Tony and William.

The setting in the great hall was different from when the French royals came. The colors in the hall were from the Italian flag. Some of the dishes were Italian and some were Illèan.

I don't know who to talk to. I should socialize with the Italians but I don't feel like it. I just offered them a smile.

I wore the flower pin on my hair and the key necklace. I wore a light blue simple gown and my hair was styled in a low bun.

Mary and Bloom were gone. We were now down to seven. The lessons were getting more frequent and hard. Even I think it's hard.

I was constantly keeping watch of the other Elite to observe if anyone was a rebel. I couldn't identify who else was a rebel.

Maybe it was just Bloom.

"Haidee, I'll introduce you to the other bridesmaids." Celestiana said, magically appearing beside me.

I nodded, "Alright."

She pulled me to where two girls were talking. One had black hair and the other had light brown hair.

"Abrianna, Cara, this is Haidee. Haidee, these are Abrianna and Cara." She pointed to the black haired girl then the light brown one. They smiled.

"Hello, Haidee." Abrianna greeted.

I smiled and curtsied, "Ti stai divertendo?" (Are you having fun?)

Cara nodded, "Vedo che parli italiano," (I see you can speak Italian).

I smiled, "Non sono molto fluente, però." (I'm not very fluent, though)

"To answer your first question, yes. We're having fun. It's been a while since we came to Illèa." Cara replied, Italian accent thick.

I grinned, "I'm glad you're having fun."

"You girls go talk, I need to go to William." Celestiana said and took off.

Abrianna sighed and shook her head, "She is so in love with him."

I laughed, "If only you see them do googly eyes at each other all day."

"That's so disgusting," Cara commented.

Now that she's gone," I said, "We're throwing a bridal shower for her on wednesday."

Abrianna nodded, "Where and what time is it happening?"

"We'll just have someone knock on your doors when it's going to happen." I answered. They nodded as a reply. "Why don't we go eat some food? I'm sure you're hungry from the flight."

They smiled and said their agreements. I led them to the food table and got a cupcake for myself.

"Haidee!" Diana called.

I raised my eyebrow at her, shocked that she's talking to me, "Yes?"

She linked her arms with mine and I knew it was obvious that ny confusion grew.

"I was looking for you!" She exclaimed and looked at me with wide eyes as if to say 'introduce me to them or I'll kill you'.

I sighed and cleared my throat, "Abrianna, Cara, this is Diana."

Diana smiled brightly and held out her hand, "Hello! I'm Diana."

Abrianna shook her hand, "We heard."