Young Justice: Brightest Day [Solstice Book Two]

One

I ducked in and out of colorfully dressed celebrators, patting my braid to make sure none of the red flowers had fallen out.

"Kiran! Over here!" Cousin Saira, the woman of the hour, beckoned me over. The way she faced me, with the sun at her back, one could hardly tell her arms and feet were covered in intricate designs painted with brown henna. To satisfy my persistent aunties, I had a simple flower, the petals echoing out from the center to cover the back of my left hand. I put my foot down to insist that nothing touch my right arm, and Mum backed me up.

I reached my cousin, finally able to deliver the cream puffs she'd asked for what seemed like hours ago.

"Ah, so this is illustrious Kiran Singh, daughter of the famous Professors Singh." I caught sight of the unfamiliar voice, sitting at the feet of Saira's fiancee, Arjun.

The young man there grinned up at me.

"Shiv Gurmeet, Pleasure to meet you." He nodded, waving the henna bottle in his hand that indicated he'd like to shake my hand, but was otherwise occupied.

"I'm sure," I flashed him a smile as bright as sunlight and turned back to Saira and Arjun.

"Anything else I can do for you? Preferably before your mother thinks I'm not doing anything and sends me inside to babysit?" I nodded to the house of Saira's father, an imposing mansion in the Punjabi Countryside that both housed the children too young to enjoy the party, and barring any outsiders from viewing the exclusive Singh Family wedding party.

"Sadly, no," Saira's arms were held out like they wanted a hug, but both hands and feet were firmly held by four of her girlfriends, who still found space to draw ever more intricate designs in henna. It was ridiculous, but tradition stated that the more henna drawn on your body for your wedding, the happier and more prosperous your marriage would be. With his position and wealth, Saira's father would settle for nothing short of perfect for his only daughter. 

I pondered briefly how I would have to deal with that at my wedding. I loved the designs, it was wonderful to watch them created, but I absolutely despised the feel of henna on my skin. 

"Kiran, is that your boyfriend?" Arjun asked. I had met him scarcely two days ago, he was shy and modest, the opposite of Saira and her brother. Perhaps that was why her mother was so insistent on arranging a marriage between the two of them, hoping to balance out Saira's temper with Arjun's careful thinking.

I followed Arjun's gaze, and my heart dropped momentarily.

There in a calming cerulean blue, and surrounded by hundreds of garishly-dressed aunties and other women I didn't recognize, was my boyfriend of two years, Kaldur'ahm. The only boyfriend I'd ever had, actually. For a second he looked as if he'd be trampled to death, and I feared if he survived that, he'd be terrified into begging me to never bring him to see my family again.

Jai, Saira's younger brother, grabbed mys houlder, his right arm decorated with dozens of geometric designs like Arjun's.

"What say we bump up the performance an hour or two, distract the aunties for a bit?" He grinned mischievously.

I sighed with relief. "You get the cousins, I'll get their attention,"

He nodded, and Saira told one of her henna artists to tell the DJ there'd be a change in plans.

I dove back into the crowd just before Saira and Jai's mother could swoop in with another chore for me to do, and I congratulated myself at finally memorizing Artemis's escape tactics.

Thankfully, it wasn't a worst case scenario. the aunties weren't concerned about Kaldur's skin tone or trying to have him thrown out, but I could hear them asking all those match-maker questions busybody aunties can't hold themselves back from asking for more than two minutes.