Before:
Jolie nodded her head, frowning.
Sophie and Edaline started heading out of the room, and were about to go downstairs when they heard a loud crash outside, followed by a squawk and a bang.
"No," Sophie whispered. Maybe she wouldn't be able to keep her promise.
"WHAT WAS THAT?" Jolie shouted, about to rush out the door.
"NO!" Edaline stopped her. "Let me go find out! You could ruin your dress!"
Jolie bit her lip and glanced towards the window, then decided it would waste too much time arguing, and walked carefully towards the window to glimpse what happened. Sophie and Edaline ran outside as fast as they could in their heels, and Sophie almost fell several times on the stairs.
Throwing open the door, they stopped and stared. Nothing was wrong. The stage was perfectly put together, the petals were placed perfectly on the aisle, and all the chairs were upright. Even the banners showing the names of the families whose seats they were in place. But the bangs and squawks continued, just out of sight. Edaline and Sophie exchanged a glance, hurrying down the bend in the path that concealed the noise...
And stepped into chaos.
Verdi had gotten loose.
She rampaged around the fields, knocking over tables, tearing up grass, and just generally causing pandemonium. Grady was holding a silver lasso, trying to get it around her neck, but she was thrashing too much for him to get a good shot.
The gnomes were running around with random plants, trying to lure Verdi back to her enclosure, but it wasn't working.
"Grady!" Edaline shrieked. "What the heck happened?"
"Questions later!" Grady bellowed back. "Right now, we have to get her back in her enclosure!"
"Right." Edaline concentrated, and snapped her fingers, snapping Grady's lasso out of existence.
"How does that help us?" Grady shouted, dancing out of the way of Verdi's tail as it whipped right where she was standing.
"Patience!" Edaline closed her eyes and concentrated.
"Sophie! I need help!" Grady yelled, exasperated at his wife.
Edaline held up her hand, stopping Sophie from running forward. "Wait," she whispered.
Sophie lingered at her mother's side, worry creasing her brow, while Verdi roared and the gnomes scrambled to grab her sides.
Edaline breathed, once, twice... and snapped her fingers again.
The lasso appeared around Verdi's neck, and the other end landed in Grady's hands. Grady blinked in surprise, barely able to tighten his grip before Verdi shook her head, almost pulling him off his feet. The blond elf dug his heels in and pulled, trying to yank the T-rex back to her enclosure. The gnomes hurried to grab Grady, helping him pull Verdi behind her gate and lock the door.
Everything was quiet.
Then the roaring started again. Verdi rampaged around her field, knocking over her trough and spilling her meal across the ground.
"Why is she so angry today?" Sophie shouted, covering her ears.
"I don't know! Maybe it's because we moved her? But she was fine yesterday, and her new enclosure looks just like her old one!" Grady yelled back.
Edaline concentrated again and snapped her fingers, conjuring a wash of liquid right above Verdi's open snout. The sedative fell into her mouth, and the angry T-rex collapsed into sleep.
Silence.
Grady, Edaline, and Sophie surveyed the damage. The tables were overturned, the chairs were askew, the tablecloths stained with grass. The lawn was torn up, and many of the surrounding creatures were moving around or roaring loudly. Luckily, the food was in a different room, ready to be conjured onto the tables.
"The animals will calm down by the time everyone arrives, but we have to get to work," Edaline began snapping her fingers, conjuring everything back into place. She removed one of the chairs from the ground and turned to Grady. "Well? What are you waiting for?"
Grady and Sophie hurried into action. Occasionally, a chair would snap into a different location without Edaline doing anything, and the family knew that Jolie was helping from above. They didn't have much time, Brant and his family would be here any minute, followed by the rest of the guests.
Finally, everything was fixed. With the help of the gnomes, they managed to put everything back in place. Even the grass stains were removed from the tablecloths with a special spray, and Grady's suit fixed from his tussle. And not with a moment to spare, because just as Vered (one of the gnomes who lived on the property), was putting the last chair in place, Brant and his parents arrived.
"Grady! Edaline! Sophie!" Darya, Brant's mother, smiled warmly at Sophie and her parents. "Everything looks amazing!"
"Yes, it does," Naseem agreed, grinning at his son.
Brant laughed. "Of course it does! Havenfield is always beautiful." He was wearing an extremely fancy outfit, with a light blue button down shirt with gold and silver buttons, detailed with sparks of embroidery and a cape made of rich materials covering black expensive pants.
Edaline laughed. "Thank you, Brant. Now, you can wait here for the guests to arrive, or you can wait inside and avoid the small talk I know you hate. Just make sure not to go upstairs, Jolie wants her outfit to be a surprise."
Brant winked. "Thanks, Edaline, you know me too well. I'll be inside!" He made his way to the door and slipped inside to wait.
Darya laughed a tinkling laugh and turned toward the front gate where they had just arrived. "Look! People are starting to come!"
Sophie followed her gaze and grinned. The first arrivals were the Vackers.
Biana ran over to Sophie, somehow managing not to fall in her tall-as-a-mountain heels, throwing her arms around her friend. Sophie hugged her back, careful not to wrinkle her dress. Biana pulled away, and said,
"Wow! I LOVE your dress!"
Sophie laughed. Of course that was her friend's first comment. "Yours is amazing, too!" It was.
Biana was wearing a white dress with pink sparkly roses swarming up the hem, covering the skirt and the edge of the bodice in flowers. Her hair was artfully pulled back with pink combs, and her teal eyes sparkled.
"Thanks!" Biana glanced behind her, a smirk forming on her lips, and Sophie turned around to find Fitz and Keefe (why was he here too?) staring at her.
Sophie blushed.
Keefe smirked.
"Surprised to find me here? My parents 'had things to do before the wedding,' so they said I should come with Biana and Wonderboy here." He shrugged like it was no big deal, but Sophie could hear the hurt lacing the words.
Fitz rolled his eyes. Before he could respond, more people arrived in the clearing, and Sophie used it as an excuse to tear her eyes off Fitz (who was extra handsome today) and turn back toward the entrance. A familiar strawberry haired boy was jogging toward them.
"Dex!" Sophie moved to hug her friend, but Biana got there first, embracing Dex.
Sophie glanced at Keefe in surprise, and he nodded, his smirk growing larger. Sophie lowered her head to hide her grin.
Biana pulled away from the hug, and Dex coughed, a hint of red on his cheeks.
"Anyway, hi!" He said awkwardly. "This looks super cool!"
Sophie opened her mouth, but then more and more guests began to arrive, and she was caught up in hellos and welcomes and thank you for comings and I know, it is beautifuls, and here's your seats, and on and on until she suddenly found herself by Marella, who was sort of her friend, but mostly just an acquaintance.
Marella looked neater than normal, but still had her tiny braids weaving through her poofy hair. She was wearing a simple ice blue gown that matched her eyes, with contrasting black jewelry. Sophie opened her mouth uncomfortably.
"Thank you for coming," She said, unsure of what to say. "Do you need help finding your seats?"
Marella rolled her eyes. "No, I'm good. I just find the seats with the big banner saying Redek on it, right?" She layered the sarcasm on nice and thick.
Sophie laughed. "Yup," She backed away into the crowd. "I have to help someone over there..."
Sophie never knew what to say to Marella, always afraid that she would offend her. Especially since the petite girl always spoke her mind, and didn't seem to care what people thought, something Sophie would always struggle with.
Once everyone was at their seat and settled, Edaline gave a little speech, and called out to get Jolie and Brant to enter.
A gentle melody, filled with sounds of nature, began to play.
And Jolie and Brant appeared at the end of the aisle.