Sunset Rising (9 page)

Leisel’s apartment was luxurious
, and I had never felt more out of place. She led me through to her bathroom and gave me a warm, plush towel. When she left, I disrobed and stepped into the shower. The set water temperature felt hot, but its warmth helped to relax my tense muscles. I scrubbed myself from head to toe then reluctantly turned the water off.

I put on
the clean bathrobe Leisel had laid out for me. Its silky softness felt light against my skin after wearing Jack’s rough terry-towel robe.

Leisel sighed when I emerged from the bathroom.
“You look much better. How are you feeling?”

“Scared to death
. But I know I’m doing the right thing helping you, so I’ll get over it.”

“You’re so brave
, Sunny. What you’re doing for me is huge.” She walked over to me and took both my hands in hers. “I’ll never forget it. Now, let’s get to work! I’ve told everyone I’d rather get ready alone, so no one is going to disturb us. And I’ve already ordered up food. We only have a few hours.”

The morning passed more quickly than I would have liked.
Leisel started by combing my wet hair into a tight bun at the base of my neck and then fitting a wig—an exact replica of her own hair—over my head. She tweezed my eyebrows to make them look more like her own. Then she applied makeup on my face in exactly the way she wore it. When she finished, she turned me around so I could look in the mirror. I was amazed at what she had achieved. My face was thinner than hers and my eyes had the large, black pupils so common among people from the Pit, but we would look the same from a distance.

“With a veil over your face, no one will know it’s not me.”
Leisel looked pleased with herself. “Only an hour left before my entourage picks me up to escort me down to the wedding. Get a bite to eat, and then I’ll dress you.”

“I couldn’t eat a thing
.” I was sick with fear.

“Okay,
then let’s do a rundown. My entourage will come and get you, which will consist of my father flanked by his guards and another set of guards for me. You won’t have to talk to my father, so don’t worry. You’ll follow him—and never get ahead of him. The president is always first. He’ll take the elevator with his guards, and you’ll wait for the next. The elevator will come back for you. The only time you’ll be in my father’s company is in the downstairs elevator lobby. That’s where the first set of cameras will be. My father and I are supposed to pose for the cameras at that point and then he’ll be taken away to his seat by the guards. Once he’s seated, the bride will begin her walk to the altar. You’ll be on the second floor and will have to walk down the grand staircase. Once you reach the bottom of the stairs, just follow the white carpet all the way up to the altar. Jack will be there waiting for you. Once you’re there, our spiritual leader will bless the bride and groom and then ask you to commit to each other. The answer is
yes
”—Leisel smiled at me—“but say it low. The leader won’t be suspicious of a nervous bride. When you’re done, you’ll be taken into the back room to register the marriage. That’s when I’ll meet you and change back into my wedding dress.”

It all sounded
easy enough, but I still wasn’t feeling very confident. Anything could go wrong. My only safety net was that the president was in on the plan. Still, if someone noticed I wasn’t Leisel, what then? Would the president come to the aid of an urchin in front of the entire Dome? Somehow I doubted it. I had to keep myself focused on why I was doing this: to save Summer from being punished for stealing food. To give everyone in the Pit hope for a better future. I tried to take some comfort from that knowledge and managed to calm down a little.

Leisel chatted away happily to me as she fitted the bulletproof vest to my skinny frame.
It was flexible enough to show my small bosom, but she decided to make me bigger by stuffing socks down my front. She pushed the mounds this way and that until she was satisfied. Then she eased the dress over my head. The pins were still there, but she was careful not to stick me, and the vest protected me as well. It seemed to take forever for her to do up the diamond buttons in the back and then put on the veil. She fixed it to my wig and pulled a layer of tulle down over my face.

“There!” she
said.

She spun me around
so I faced the full-length mirror. I looked like I had just walked off the pages of a bridal magazine.

“I don’t look anything like myself,” I said
, relieved.

“No one will know it’s not me
.
I
can’t even tell.”

Someone knocked on the door, and m
y heart lurched. It was time.

“Don’t be afraid.
I love you for this,” Leisel said. She gave me one last hug and hurried into her bedroom to get out of sight.

I took a deep breath
and walked to the door on shaking legs. Two guards stood there waiting for me, one of them with flowers in his hand. He held the flowers out to me, and I accepted them, trembling. Leisel had never mentioned the flowers. I didn’t know I would have to hold anything.

I stepped out into the hall.
The large door I had come through with Jack just a few hours ago stood wide open now, and I could see the president and his men waiting by the elevator. I began my walk, the walk that would eventually take me all the way to the altar. One of my guards was ahead of me, one behind. Before I could reach the end of the hall, I heard the elevator doors open and the president disappeared into it. I was relieved to see him go.

We stepped into the elevator lobby and waited f
or the elevator to return. I felt like a criminal standing there with the guards. Couldn’t they tell I wasn’t Leisel? Hadn’t they noticed how much my bouquet was shaking? I was glad when the elevator doors opened, and I could move again. One guard went in first and I followed. The train on the dress was long and cumbersome, but the second guard picked it up and carried it into the elevator with him. He pressed the button for level two, and the doors closed.

I felt trapped in
such a small space with guards on either side of me. I could hear my own laboured breathing and tried to steady it, but only made it worse. Now I was afraid of hyperventilating. The sensation of the elevator descending wasn’t helping my stomach either. I kept my eyes fixed on the seam of the doors and tried to will my body to relax. It didn’t work. Then the doors opened on a scene of pandemonium.

Bright lights were pointed directly in my face
, and I felt my eyes rolling into the back of my head. My eyes were sensitive enough to the brighter light in the Dome without having lights aimed directly at me. People were shouting questions at me. A few members of the media were clapping at my arrival. Everyone wanted to know about my dress.

T
he president came to stand beside me and placed his hand on the small of my back. It took every bit of my will power not to jump or scream at his touch. I tried to remember that he knew about the plan and trust that he wouldn’t deliberately expose me. So mutely I stood next to him with the cameras pointed at us. He answered a few questions. Somewhere in the distance, I heard music begin to play, and his guards stepped forward to escort him to his seat. Some of the cameras followed the president, but most stayed focused on me.

Then
it was time to make my way to the altar. My guards escorted me from the safety of the elevator lobby to the top of the grand staircase but left my side before I came into view of the public. I was on my own from there. As I came to stand at the top of the staircase, the music changed and the guests all stood. I began my descent, and a few people clapped. Others gasped. The cameras were everywhere. I expected someone to yell out that I was an imposter at any moment. And then I remembered why Leisel wanted me to take her place. An assassin might have me in his sights.

I reached the bottom of the stairs without falling, being shot
, or getting recognized. The white carpet Leisel mentioned stretched all the way to the altar. Red flower petals were scattered on it—I didn’t remember Leisel mentioning these. Was I supposed to avoid stepping on them? I hoped not. I had enough on my mind.

As I walked down
the aisle, a few people softly called Leisel’s name, but I refused to make eye contact with them. Instead, I turned my gaze toward the altar to see how far I had left to go. A huge television screen behind the altar showed live coverage of the bride walking down the aisle. I was so shocked to see myself on television that I almost stumbled, but I also realized with some relief that it was impossible to tell it wasn’t Leisel under all that white fabric and tulle.

I looked for Jack just as Leisel told me to but could only find an official looking mi
litary officer standing by the altar. I wondered why he was there. Leisel hadn’t said anything about the military being present. Had I been discovered? My legs weakened at the thought. But then, all at once, I realized that the man in uniform was Jack Kenner. He looked so official that it scared me. My body began to recover from the shock of thinking I had been caught. I stayed focused on closing the distance between the altar and me. It seemed to take an eternity, but then I was finally standing beside Jack with my back to the crowd.

The music stopped
, and the room became utterly quiet. My breathing was still laboured, and I was sure everyone could hear me.

“Who here gives permission for this y
oung couple to be joined?” the spiritual leader asked the congregation.

President Holt
stood up. “I do.”

“We do,” another couple said
as well. I assumed they were Jack’s parents.

With permission granted, the spiritual l
eader began his blessing. I wished I could focus on what he was saying. I wished I had the presence of mind to understand every word. But I couldn’t. I was too busy trying to stop my hands from shaking. My legs were beginning to feel weak again, too.

“Leisel, my darling,
” Jack said gently. Someone was standing beside me with her hand out. “The flowers,” he whispered.

I handed the flowers to the woman.
I was afraid of dropping them anyway. Jack took my left hand, and the spiritual leader began to speak again. Jack gave me an almost imperceptible nod, and for a moment I stared blankly at him. Then I remembered Leisel had told me to say yes.

“Yes,” I said.

T
he crowd gave a collective sigh. I must have done it right. The leader droned on.

“Yes,” Jack sa
id in a loud and clear voice.

M
ore sighs from the crowd.

The spiritual l
eader went to stand behind the altar. He held a small shiny object up in the air and began another blessing. He placed the object on an open book and made the sign of a cross above it, then returned to us and handed the object to Jack. It turned out to be a ring with a large diamond in the centre. Leisel hadn’t mentioned a ring.

Jack took it
from him and placed the ring just on the tip of my finger. I could tell it was going to be too big. The leader began to read from a book, and Jack repeated everything he said word for word. Now I was worried there was a ring for Jack, too, and I was going to have to repeat everything the leader said. I would be caught for sure. Jack slipped the ring onto my finger, and as I thought, it was far too big. I curled my finger under to hold it in place.

Jack continu
ed to hold my hand and then the leader wrapped some kind of holy cloth around our joined hands. I tried to keep my hands steady and my eyes downcast. The leader was so close to us that I was sure he must be able to see I wasn’t Leisel.

Then it was done.
The cloth was taken away. The crowd was clapping for us. Jack held his elbow out toward me. This time I understood to take it, so I wrapped my hand around his arm, and we began the walk to the registry room.

I was almost home!

The cameras followed our slow progression to the registry room, and I expected them to stop when we walked through the door, but they kept coming in. Someone had made a mistake. I was sure they would be asked to leave. I glanced at Jack. He looked confused, too, but he remained calm. He just kept walking toward the table where an ordinary scanner had been set up and decorated with flowers.

I
almost fainted when I saw President Holt and his guards come in behind us; and then Jack’s parents, followed by the spiritual leader. How could Leisel and I switch with all these people here? Did she forget to tell them this was supposed to be a private moment? Jack’s arm tightened under my grip. Sweat was forming on his upper lip. He raked his free hand through his hair. He always seemed to do that when he was frustrated.

“Ladies first.”
The spiritual leader held out his hand for mine.

I knew the minute my hand was passed over the scanner
, the machine would turn red and sound an alarm. I was not Leisel. I looked desperately around the room, hoping to see Leisel, but there was no sign of her.

“Miss Holt
… er, excuse me,
Mrs. Kenner
.” The leader smiled. A few people chuckled. “Your hand, please.”