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The five women surrounding me spoke in unison.
On this night,
this bride becomes a wife.
Through this potion,
take our blessings into a new life.
So shall it be.
Talia nodded to Chloe, and she picked up one of the herb vials. “Nadine, I gift you red clover, to symbolize fertility. May you be fertile in mind and spirit, to conceive new ideas and produce solutions in your marriage.”
I smiled at Chloe as she dumped the vial of clover into the potion. “I will be fertile.”
Onyx went next. “I gift you lavender, to symbolize devotion, that you may be devoted to your spouse and seek strength in one another.”
I nodded as she tossed the herbs into the potion. “I will be devoted.”
“I gift you thyme, to symbolize courage,” Verla said. “Find courage through your spouse, and you two will be able to face anything together.”
“I will be courageous.”
“Nadine,” Grammy said, tearing up. “I gift you sage, to symbolize wisdom. May you be wise to know which battles to fight, and which solutions to seek out.”
“I will be wise,” I promised. My voice cracked as I accepted my grandmother’s blessing.
Talia took the last herb vial and held it over the cauldron, but she never took her eyes off me. “Nadine, I gift you mint, to symbolize virtue. May you always do what is right for your spouse, your community, and yourself.”
“I will have virtue,” I told her.
Talia sprinkled the mint into the potion, then lifted her hands again. “Join me.”
The woman all grabbed the handle of a long wooden spoon and stirred the potion together. Magic of various colors swirled down their hands and into the potion. The cats stopped circling the potion, and all five of them placed their paws on the edge of the cauldron to peer inside. The cats’ eyes shimmered blue, and the potion began to glow a bright white.
“The Goddess has accepted our blessings, and now Nadine must accept them as well,” Talia announced. She dipped a cup into the potion and scooped a small amount into it, then handed it to me.
“So shall it be,” I said, before tipping my head back and drinking the potion. It was sweet like honey and went down easily.
I set the cup on the altar and thought that was the end of it, until I felt a strange buzzing all throughout my body. It felt really good, like I was floating several inches off the ground.
“Finally, we will don the veil,” Talia announced. “This long-standing tradition will ward off evil spirits so that they can’t see the bride and curse her before the wedding.”
The girls went to a box on the bed, and they pulled out a long silver veil that matched my dress. Together, they fitted it into my hair and over my face. The veil was so long that it nearly touched my toes. I could just barely see through it.
Something tickled my arm, and I thought it was the veil, but when I looked down, I saw a spider crawling over me.
“You can’t walk down the aisle with me, little guy,” I said as I pulled the spider off of me.
“A spider!” Verla exclaimed in excitement. “This is a good omen.”
“A spider and rain on my wedding day?” I asked. “I guess that makes for extra good luck.”
“Very good luck, indeed,” Grammy said. “Just in time, too. The sun has set, and it’s time to make our way to the ceremony. As is tradition, your bridesmaids will go first. We will meet you down there. We love you, Nadine.”
The girls each gave me a hug, then left the room. Verla was the only one to stay behind. All the weddings I’d been to had the bridesmaids walk in with the bride, but witch weddings were different.
“I’m sorry your mother couldn’t be here to see this,” Verla said softly while we waited.
