Chapter 49 Silken Chains

• (POV: Isabela)
• Heavy silk, little pearls. The wedding dress felt less like a dress and more like a suit of pretty armor, or an expensive cage. And there I was, on a platform, like a doll they were dressing up. Quiet women, pins between their lips, eyes full of worry. They fluttered near, quick, careful hands adjusting the dress. Each touch, though, felt like another lock turning, another chain tightening around me.
• The wedding: just two days away.