AVALINE

That’s when it hit me. We’re at a wedding. Focus, Ava!

“Please say these words after me,” the judge said, referring to both Czar and me. “We have one heart and one soul from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health…”

I looked behind me hesitatingly. Papa should be with me on my wedding day. Someone should be. But it was just me. I was different from them. In a territory where I didn’t belong. I ...