-Kyle Vale:
Weddings were supposed to feel like celebrations.
Noise, laughter, music, people pretending they weren't emotional while still clinging to every moment as if it mattered.
That was the expectation, at least.
But Ryland's wedding didn't feel like an expectation. It felt like stepping into something older than celebration itself. The estate had been transformed completely—floating lights drifting between the trees like quiet spirits, golden lanterns hanging from branches that swayed gently in the night air, and soft music that didn't just play through speakers but seemed to exist inside the atmosphere itself. The forest around the clearing looked alive under it, every leaf and shadow touched by a warm, shifting glow that made the entire place feel unreal.
Even I, someone trained to stay grounded no matter the situation, couldn't ignore it.
But I tried to.
I always try to.
Still, my attention kept slipping in the same direction without permission.
Caspian.
