Soul of Sama

One.

Sarah sat in her rosy dress amidst the guests of their home. Her hands rested in her lap, decorated in gold rings across every finger except the one she left untouched. She couldn't keep her green eyes from looking anywhere else, too nervous to meet the gaze of the man who'd come with a box of gold jewelry and a wish for her hand. All these years she'd awaited the day that would finally place a ring on the finger she'd left empty, patient, waiting. Her nerves rose in her chest at the realization that it would not be empty much longer.

She lifted her gaze and tucked her brown hair behind her ears before remembering how her sister-in-law had repeated the same affirmations an hour before: 'don't touch your hair. I've perfected it, don't even breathe against it.'Sarah's eyes darted toward Jenna, who was too distracted by her own crying two-year-old boy to notice. She hoped the change to her hair would be minimal so nobody would notice.

The one person who was bound to have seen it was the man who sat on the couch to her left, beside his father. He hadn't let his gaze leave her since they entered the perfectly cleaned and decorated home. Adam had asked her to marry him a few days before. Her parents had known about their conversations so his arrival with a wide bouquet of roses, a box of chocolates, and a beige suit had not come as a surprise.

This was normal.

This was how things were done.

Sarah touched her ring finger, letting her eyes dip to the closed red box that sat on the table in front of Adam. With the roses lying across the glass on display to the families around them, the chocolate box decorated with the bakery's elegant shiny ribbon, she only knew of one thing that could be inside of the box.

Gold.

Necklaces, earrings, a ring. Everything he needed to appeal to her.

Sarah already liked the boy with soft black hair, brown eyes, and light skin. He looked untouched by the harms and cruel things of the world. He always dressed in nice button ups and pants that were only a little tight. She always noticed how his shoes reflected the light, as if they had been shined as soon as he stepped into the house. His hands were soft, thin, and pretty. Sarah was a sucker for pretty hands-on pretty men.

A pretty man was bound to bring pretty mone- children.

She meant children.

And with her genes at play, there was no question in the beauty of their kids.

Sarah wiped her ring finger, meeting Adam's gaze for the first time in the past thirty minutes. He'd been watching her since he came in, unable to take his eyes off her. Good, that was what she had wanted. Why else would she have worn a dress the color he said he'd liked their fourth time talking in front of the school gates? She'd touched her cheeks with a similarly pink blush to match the rosy shade of her lipstick. She had not gotten so perfect for him so he could look at others in her presence.

"How are you feeling?" Her brother reached forward to touch Sarah's knee, calling her attention to his quiet whisper.

She turned to him. "I feel fine."

"Fine?"

"Good," she corrected herself. "I feel great, even. A man has come for me with gold and flowers. I would be greedy to not be excited."

Hazi continued to watch her even after Sarah smiled and turned away from him, looking to the older woman who would be her mother-in-law once their marriage was officiated. She noticed her brother's attentive gaze but did not pay him mind. He was worried about her. He was looking through cracks in her porcelain mask, but Sarah was no longer a porcelain girl. She was one that had burned through the flames of an unforgiving world until she'd melted and solidified into iron that could never shiver. No man could look through her.