Life Behind the Mask

Handfasting

"Objection!"

A sigh escaped Kali's lips. She was stood at the front of an aisle, opposite Nick wearing a floor length satin white dress with open sleeves that draped down arm, tying at the wrist with thin gold string. An array of golden feathers looped around both her forearms, and her collar.

Over the dress she wore an emerald green cloak with white lining and a floral bouquet settled in her hands. A few weeks ago, she had finished her last stint as a Ranger, opting to hang up all but her Mystic Morpher and take a job as a full time Defender within the Mystic Realm; there was also the fact that around the time of defeating Dai Shi she had learned she was pregnant.

After learning he was going to be a dad, Nick had proposed and he and Kali had settled on a hand-fasting ceremony surrounded by their friends and family, instead of a traditional white wedding. Neither of them was the marrying type, or at least they hadn't considered or thought about it, and would've been happy with a simple registry office ceremony.

However, Eithne, Leanbow, and Udonna had dashed that idea. To them it seemed impersonal and believed that both the Hellhound and the Light deserved a ceremony that would be remembered by both the Mystic Realm and the human world. Eithne had suggested a Hand-Fasting ceremony as it would bring together two families of different abilities and unionise them under one banner.

Hands tightening around her bouquet, Kali turned to look at the couple standing at the top of the aisle. She recognised them instantly. They didn't need the emerald green clothing, or the pointy ears, her elegant stride that they both held when they walked, it was easy to know who these people were. Two people that she did not want at her ceremony simply because they would only be there to cause problems.

Allisara and Calanon Devine were Kali's maternal grandparents, and to say they were the nicest of elves would have been an understatement. These people had discouraged Eithne from becoming a Mystic Knight originally since it would take her away from her royal duties within the Woodland Realm, they were also the same people that had discouraged other Magic users within their own family line to hide their abilities since they didn't believe in them.

When Allisara and Calanon had learned they had a granddaughter, and despite who her father had been they had insisted she return to the Woodland Realm had taken on the mantle and duties her mother had shunned to become a Mystic Knight.

Of course, Kali had turned them down. To become a Woodland Princess, she would've had to give up everything she had worked so hard to create - her Mystic standing, her friends, her human family, and even her human identity. She would've had to take on the mantle of Maeve, a person she had no idea how to be, a person who had existed for no longer than a few hours before becoming an abandoned baby in the human realm.

It was for this reason that Kali had decided to not invite her paternal grandparents to her hand-fasting ceremony, not that anyone was surprised. Even Eithne hadn't been surprised to see her parents' names not on the list. Her relationship with her mother and father was strained to the point of no repair, and when they had insisted Kali take on her duties, she knew that her daughter's relationship with them would go the same way.

Gritting her teeth, Kali forced a smile as she met the King and Queen's gaze. Her grandmother had had the audacity to where a long, white, elven gown that almost - almost - matched Kali's own outfit. They both also wore emerald green robes, but given they were King and Queen of forest elves, Kali knew that it was just a traditional colour, and therefore let it go.

"On what grounds?" Kali asked. She hated being nice and polite to people that she would've otherwise preferred to kick in the arse.

"On the grounds that you're a Woodland princess, and we didn't give permission for you to wed a Mystic Defender," said Calanon.