The conservatory doors were meant to open once.
Beyond them waited white flowers, two hundred guests,.
The woman in the bridal corridor carried no invitation. Rain darkened her black coat,.
"The ceremony has not begun. You need to leave."
"I know exactly when it begins."
Her dark green eyes found Ignatz through the open interior doors. He stood beneath the floral arch in a black suit, speaking to his brother.
"Ignatz."
The folded vows slipped from his hand and landed on the glass.
"Thessaly?"
"I told myself you would recognize this before you recognized me."
Thessaly withdrew a document case. It held a foreign seal, fingerprints, and a marriage certificate bearing Ignatz's full name and hers.
"No."
Ignatz crossed the aisle as though he could not feel the distance.
"Where have you been?"
"Surviving long enough to prove who tried to make certain I didn't."
Ozzy read the certificate.
"Ignatz. I know her signature."
"I know."
Thessaly looked past him at the ceremony built for another marriage.
"You had me declared dead."
"After three years."
"You stopped looking."
"After five. I searched until every lead ended."
"And then you built this."
She gestured toward the flowers, the waiting aisle,.
"Why today?"
"Garron's attorneys would bury a private claim. They cannot bury me in front of two hundred witnesses."
"You knew about the wedding."
"For six weeks."
"You waited until today."
"I waited until there were witnesses they could not purchase."
"The ceremony cannot proceed."
Ozzy's statement was quiet and final. Someone beyond the corridor asked what happened.
Thessaly swayed. Ignatz reached for her by instinct, catching her arms.
"Get a doctor."
"Not one chosen by your family."
His hands loosened, leaving her room to pull away.
"Ozzy, call emergency services. Tell security no one removes her documents."
"Tell your guests the truth."
Ignatz looked toward the bridal corridor.
"My legal wife is alive."
"I believed Thessaly was dead. I was wrong. Until this is verified and resolved, there can be no wedding."
He placed the ceremony ring beside the fallen vows.
"I will not make you carry my decision or your evidence."
Thessaly held the document case against her ribs.
"You already made them carry the day."
"Yes."
The wife he mourned stood before him. The future he promised waited beyond the corridor.
Security closed the outer conservatory doors against arriving press but left the bridal corridor and garden exit unobstructed. Ozzy moved the documents to a clear table where neither family could quietly remove them.
He remained in the aisle, leaving both exits open.
"The documents are yours to show. The wedding decision is you's. I will answer to both of you without pretending either debt cancels the other."