The warm day was absolutely perfect as Irene faced the small group that waited for her and Henry to finally be wed. While the sun was hot overhead, it was dulled by the gentle breeze that brushed through the plains and caused the lilacs of her mother's garden to gently sway, giving off their late bloom scent as they danced in the wind.
That smell was home to Irene, yet somehow the man who waited for her with the old priest was becoming her home as well. He had unwittingly become a fixture in her life even before the two of them knew that their feelings would evolve into something far more than their original placement of knight and her Commander.
Henry's face seemed so relieved to see her with her father. It warmed her heart as much as it stung to feel her father relying on her to walk forward as he did with the cane in his hands as well. She had to admit, her father looked sharp that day. It must have been hard for him to sit up and get ready, yet he did it for her.
