Rising Shadows

“Is it a little warm in here? We should open a window.”

Luke watched with an amused smirk on his face as Percy paced back and forth nervously in the room he was getting ready in, fumbling to button up his vest. Catarina sat on the arm of Luke’s chair, looking a little more concerned than Luke did.

“You’re not getting cold feet, are you?” Luke asked.

“What?” Percy frowned.

“I mean, about marrying Emily. You’re not having second thoughts?”

“No, of course not,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s just that, the best of London society is going to be here. And her entire family. What if they have second thoughts?”

“Her family can’t change her mind,” Catarina said. “Emily would run off to Russia with you before leaving you because ‘Daddy said so’. You know that.”

“I don’t know,” Percy sighed, sitting down hard in a chair. “I’ve never done this before. No one has. My own parents were married in a barn. I was never raised to value marriage.”

“Which is terrible,” Cat said. “That’s why you’re changing things.”

She shook her head and stood up, tilting Percy’s chin up and brushing his hair neatly back into place.

“You’re improving the family name,” she reminded him. “No child of yours will go through what we did. Or am I mistaken?”

Percy shook his head again, and Cat gave him a reassuring nod. “Colt and Aunt Malina would be proud.”

There was a tugging feeling in his heart upon remembering that Cat was his only blood relative at his wedding, but pushed the thought away, chuckling as she started yelling at Luke for “ruining” how handsome she’d made him look and fixing him up again. Percy jumped at a knock on the door, looking over as Scarlett came in.

While she was unable to attend the wedding itself, she was still elegantly dressed as if she was, ready for the more private moments before and after the wedding. Her blonde curls were piled high on her head and decorated with delicate blue flowers that matched her blue gown. She’d become a bit more modest after becoming a mother, but that still didn’t stop her from flaunting everything she had. Percy had never seemed Cat look threatened, her hand automatically moving to rest on Luke’s shoulder. Gigi poked her head out from behind Scarlett’s skirt, checking the room out before coming out. She was wearing the little girls’ version of Scarlett’s gown, her dark hair also decorated with little flowers. She bounded over to Percy, and he picked her up, hugging Scarlett with his other arm.

“Are you nervous?” she asked.

“No,” Percy said, while Luke nodded to Scarlett behind him.

“I’m proud of you,” she sighed. “I know I’ve said this before, but I’m so proud. Had Emily not come into your life, I was terrified you were hurdling down the wrong path. You’ve truly made a man of yourself.”

“I wish you could be there,” he sighed. “It would be nice for some familiar faces. You’re the closest thing to family I have, other than Cat and Luke.”

“I know,” she frowned, squeezing his hand. “I’ll be there in spirit, and I’ll always be there for you afterwards. If you miss me that much, a smaller version of me will be there.”

“Perc!” Gigi squealed in Percy’s arms.

“My father insisted she come to the wedding,” Scarlett explained. “I asked him how he intended on explaining the child without parents to everyone else, but he claims no one will question him. And if they do ask, he’s going to tell him that she’s his adopted niece. Hopefully, she’ll steal everyone’s heart enough to distract them from the odd reality of the situation.”

“I eat cake?” Gigi asked Percy.

“Of course,” he promised her, kissing her cheek before setting down.

She ran off to play with Cat as Percy turned his attention back to Scarlett, who was staring at him with a sad smile on her face. He realized how grown up she looked. Before she’d met Ben, she looked about as young and naive as she was. Over the last few years, it seemed like the ring on her finger and the child on her hip had turned her into an adult. What made Percy nervous is that he must have grown up, too. He wasn’t sure he was ready to be an adult, but he was diving headfirst into it.

“You should go,” Scarlett said. “The ceremony will be starting soon.”

Percy nodded, glancing over his shoulder at Luke and Cat, who held Gigi’s hand and started leading her out the door. Next thing he knew, Percy was standing at the altar, trying not to wring his hands or look stupid as he waited for Emily. When she did come, however, he forgot everything. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen her look so incredible. She raved about the designer who was making her dress, but Percy really didn’t care until he saw the product itself. It accentuated all of her best features. Matched with how naturally radiant Emily already was, she looked like she could have been royalty.

The rest of the ceremony was a blur. There was a large audience watching, but all Percy could see was the beautiful woman in front of him, who was ecstatic as he slipped her ring on her finger and officially made her Emily Weldon-Everett. She was practically bouncing when she was finally allowed to kiss her new husband, yanking Percy down with more strength than she looked like she had and pulling him down into a deep kiss. Percy pulled away, sort of dazed and on the verge of passing out when he walked back down the aisle hand in hand with the woman he couldn’t believe was his wife.

“Are you alright?” Emily whispered to him as he helped her into the carriage that would take them to the party at her father’s home to celebrate the marriage.”

“I’m more than alright,” he assured her. “Though I might need a little sugar… I might be the one to faint this time.”

“I love you,” Emily said, kissing his cheek.

“I love you more, Mrs. Everett,” Percy mumbled, turning to kiss her on the lips while they were alone.

When they arrived, the Weldon residence was already warm with guests. Their ceremony seemed intimate and small compared to the number of people attending the party. Ladies in large skirts and men in fine suits chatted and laughed over wine, champagne, and pastries.

“I don’t know if I can do this,” Percy mumbled.

“I know you can,” Emily assured him. “Percy, I once saw you fend off three attackers at once, knocking one unconscious with your fist, taking his knife as he fell, using it to stab someone coming up behind you, and side-kicking someone off the end of the ship. All in one smooth motion. And do you know what you did after? You casually tucked the bloody knife into your belt, smoothed out your hair, took a bottle of some kind of liquor out of someone’s hand, and downed about a third of it. I think I became a woman after seeing that. If you can do that, I think you can survive your own wedding night.”

Percy smirked and kissed her forehead. “They’re two very different situations, but I digress. Let’s get out there and stab everyone.”

Emily giggled and took his hand, getting down from the carriage and being greeted by a swarm of people right away. Percy shook hands with people he’d never met before in his life, who congratulated him like he was their son. Some of them were people he recalled as ones who looked down on him when he was still living as a gutter rat, and likely didn’t recognize him when he looked clean.

Emily was whisked away by some people she knew, leaving Percy alone and terrified in the middle of the swarm. One woman in particular rushed forward to meet him, getting a little too close to him. The way she looked at him vaguely reminded me of Finn.

“Oh, it’s such a pleasure to finally meet the infamous Percy,” she gushed, placing a hand on his bicep and looking him up and down. “I knew of you, of course, but I didn’t expect you to be like… this.”

“Like what?” Percy frowned.

“Forgive me, I haven’t even introduced myself,” the woman laughed. “Georgina Hale. It’s wonderful to meet you.”

“Oh, you’re Georgina,” Percy said, raising an eyebrow. “Yes, I’ve heard much about you?”

“Like what?” she said, getting a little starry-eyed.

Emily suddenly appeared next to Percy, protectively linking arms with him and eyeing Georgina. Her smile was welcoming, but her eyes screamed murder.

“Well hello there, Georgina,” Emily said politely. “Wonderful you could make it.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Georgina said, a little distant as she stared at Percy.

“Well, on that note, we’re being called over there,” Emily said. “Come along, Percy.”

He blinked a few times in confusion as Emily made a point to run her hand down his chest and stomach, her eyes not once leaving Georgina as she turned Percy around and led him away, towards her family.

“What was all of that?” Percy asked.

“Don’t think too hard about it, you might hurt yourself,” Emily said, patting him lightly on the back.

Emily’s parents and brothers paused their conversation as Percy and Emily approached, and Bartimus put an arm around him. Even Henry and Teddy seemed to have come to peace with the idea of Percy being a part of their family, congratulating them on their marriage.

“Glad to have you as a son, Percy,” Bart told him, grinning.

“Welcome to the family,” Tessa told him with a radiant smile.

Emily tightly clung to Percy, the smile never leaving her face. They spent the rest of the night running around and talking to each of their guests, most of which neither of them knew or cared about. As much as it hurt not to have Scarlett or Ben there, Gigi still had everyone’s attention, almost stealing the show from Emily and Percy altogether. She was just like her mother in the sense that once there was the slightest bit of attention on her, she turned into a complete diva.

The party lasted late into the night, but Percy and Emily finally managed to escape, sneaking out the back. Emily couldn’t stop laughing as Percy helped her hold her skirt up, shushing her while he couldn’t stop laughing himself as they ran away.

“Someone is going to see us,” Emily said between giggles.

“No one is going to see us,” Percy told her, pulling her into a very deep, very improper kiss he couldn’t give her while everyone else was there.

“Let’s go home, my darling husband,” Emily grinned.

They caught a ride back to Emily’s house, trying not to wake the entire neighborhood as they laughed and ran up the stairs. Emily tripped on her skirt and nearly fell, but Percy caught her and carried her up the remainder of the stairs, moving to her bedroom and setting her down on the bed. The idea that they were finally allowed to be together at night was still a little foreign to him, but he tried not to let that get in the way. They’d agreed early on that they’d be living in Emily’s house, and that day was finally here.

“Percy, can you please go downstairs and make sure the door is locked?” Emily asked.

It was a bit sudden, but he nodded, going down and checking the door and windows in the front. He sighed and loosened his necktie as he made his way back up to the bedroom, freezing up in the doorway when he noticed that Emily’s gown was neatly laid on a chair. She was standing there covered in just the bedsheet she’d pulled off the bed, looking both excited and nervous. Percy was just speechless.

“Really?” he asked.

“You’ve waited this long, haven’t you?” Emily said, pulling the pins out to let her hair fall down her bare back. “If not now, then when?”

Percy couldn’t argue with that. Like she said, it had been a very, very long time for him. He swept her into his arms and fell back onto the bed with her, giving her a long, deep kiss. She pulled away to look at him, brushing his hair out of his face.

“I love you,” she murmured. “And nothing will ever get in the way of that. From this point on, you are everything. My priority in life.”

He wasn’t quite sure what she meant, but he kissed her again, frowning again when the room seemed to get a bit darker and a chill ran up his spine, as if a cold breeze had hit him. He glanced to the window, but it was shut, and the curtains closed. Things felt a little off in the room. It was a feeling he had vague memories of, but not one he’d ever felt so closely.

“What’s wrong?” Emily frowned.

“Nothing,” Percy told her, shaking his head. “Just had a thought.”

He flipped her so she was under him, kissing her again to distract them both from the chill, pulling the covers over his head as she undid his tie.

“It’s about damn time, Mrs. Everett.”