The scent of lilies and roses, thick and intoxicating, hung heavy in the air, a fragrant shroud clinging to the ancient stone walls of Blackwood Manor. Sunlight, fractured by the stained-glass windows depicting scenes of a long-dead aristocracy, painted the grand hall in shifting patterns of color. A string quartet played a lively, almost manic tune, its melody a stark contrast to the icy dread that began to creep into Elias Thorne's heart. He stood at the altar, his gaze fixed on Seraphina, his bride, radiant in a gown of ivory silk that seemed to shimmer with an ethereal light. Her laughter, usually a melody as bright as the summer sun, sounded slightly strained, a discordant note in the otherwise perfect harmony of the day. He dismissed it as wedding jitters, the understandable nervousness of a woman about to embark on a lifetime commitment. But a prickle of unease, a premonition he couldn't quite grasp, settled deep in his bones.
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