Chapter 306 - Chapter 305: The Rehearsal Walk

The rehearsal began at sunset, when the island was holding its breath in that brief, golden interval between day and night. The sky above the sea had turned the colour of warmed honey, and the terrace where the ceremony would eventually take place was lit only by the soft path lamps and the fading afterglow of evening. Ren stood at the start of the ceremonial walkway with Fang beside him, both of them dressed in simple practice clothes rather than the full wedding attire, though even in those they looked far too elegant for something as ordinary as rehearsal. The irony, Ren thought, was that nothing about this day could ever really be ordinary. Not now that everyone they cared about had gathered on the island and was waiting to see the shape of the life they were choosing.