Canticle Blue

25. Veil

Music - Skimming Rooftops by Firekites

Elyse and Havilan did not want an elaborate wedding, even in terms of what "elaborate" could mean on a sub-arctic caldera island with no place, and no means, to buy anything new for the occasion. They also had no desire to draw special attention to themselves, even among friends. They just wanted to be together. And to get married on an airship.

Both ships in the warehouse were now usable. They were every bit as stunning as the Lillith, the largest one even more so. When fully inflated, it was massive and could hold everyone on the team when its ballonets were filled with hydrogen. The interior could easily have been described as plush. Its seats were well-crafted and comfortable. But its most impressive feature was fine Canticle-Blue detailing along almost every inner seam. Shei took to calling the ship the Blue Light Express, a name which stuck, but was soon shortened to simply Blue Light.

Because the smaller ship was intended to double as a radio room, they nicknamed it Spark. It was virtually identical to the Lillith, but had doors on each side rather than one large door in the rear. Since there was no one fully trained to fly it, and the north crater was still blocked, they left it tied to its pallet.

The wedding ceremony would take place on the Blue Light which remained moored in the central crater when not in use. For Shei, however, there was never any shortage of reasons to pilot the ship, whether for practice, weather studies, exploring the island, or charting sea ice. She found it effortless to fly. It reminded her of giant fabled seabirds who spent much of their lives at sea, even sleeping on-the-wing. She wondered what the builders of the ship would think about a wedding in the sky. Surely they would have known from experience that any passage in such a vessel could only elicit joy.

As their wedding day approached, Elyse, Havilan, and their friends spent most of their time turning work into play. For Havilan and Grahmen this meant exploring the city for new manuscripts and helping Elyse move planter boxes. For Elyse it also meant learning to paint with light. She found that, by grinding Canticle Blue powder to a certain consistency, she could actually increase its brilliance. When mixed with various plant saps and water, she could then create a glowing slurry which adhered well to surfaces. The visual effects were so striking that decorating planters, trellises, and window boxes became a community activity. Soon the fourth terrace around the Book Room became a glowing vertical garden which looked more like an art exhibit.

During this time, the waterwheel cavern became a limitless source of new lights and powder for the planters. Though it remained uncomfortably warm, Elyse and Annibet made a sport of dashing in and out of the steam with their prizes, always getting drenched in the process.

When they found time to be alone with Grahmen Ravi, Havilan and Elyse talked with him about the wedding ceremony. It would be very short and simple, but also culturally relevant. Adapted Per'sa words and customs would be used where possible. Grahmen told them he saw no need for sermonizing since those who attended would already have an understanding of what marriage was intended to be.

There would be a few surprises for the wedding. The women in the group had somehow pieced together a wedding dress from expedition clothing they had brought with them. There was nothing about it that looked new, but it was still unexpectedly flattering and becoming. When she put it on for the first time, Elyse felt that she would not have wanted to be married in anything else.

A bigger surprise, kept secret until the last possible moment, was that Annibet had created a veil of Shil for the occasion. Made from larger pieces of fabric she found in the warehouse rooms, it was sheer enough to be transparent but still possessed the light-scattering properties of the extraordinary material. Havilan was so moved when he saw her in it that he wondered how he could ever be so blessed.