As she pushes her veil back she peers down the aisle to see him. It is indeed he, the man she awaited so long.

Fire in his hair and a smile on his face as he proudly beckons her to join him at the altar.

She returns his smile and loving gaze as she approaches.

The two of them secreted off so many times in the past after they figured out they were betrothed. He was so kind, treating her like a real lady. And tho she wanted him terribly, she was modest and gentle with him, eager to please his rather conservative sensibilities.

His eyes blazed as he spoke his vows righteously, for he always did what was right and good.

He was a kind man, a good man. And she loved him completely.

But as she looked into the audience she spied her groom’s apprentice gazing at her rapturously with tears spilling down his cheeks, mouthing his own confession of love. The same one he had given her too late.

The apprentice was bold and forthright. He and her groom were much the same, but this other man was extremely passionate and she knew that she indeed desired him. But his love…his love was pure and noble. And it was for that reason that she watched as he left the wedding, his eyes wet with tears, his hand lifted in farewell, as she turned to her groom, and, no longer conflicted, said,

“I do.”