As her wedding approached, Maeri was growing more and more uncertain about how she should feel about things. Some days she was so excited that she was finally going to be a wife, and be seen as a grown-up woman. Other days, she was so nervous about the responsibilities she was going to have. Would Amiti find her a suitable wife? Would she be able to take care of their house and their children? The closer the wedding got, the more such worries were overtaking her excitement at the day.

That morning when Amarissa had arrived to take her shopping, it was exactly what she needed. Amarissa always knew how to make things better. She had rushed through breakfast, practically bouncing at the idea that she and Amarissa were going to go out and explore the markets of Damascus. It was still so strange to think that this was going to be her home now. Everything was still new and fresh and exciting.

Soon they were hurrying towards the market. Maeri’s eyes flashing in excitement about all the possibilities. If Amarissa was somewhat disappointed at the size of the market, Maeri didn’t notice. She was looking everywhere, at all the different things before Amarissa dragged her over to a stand of mitpahaths.

She smiled and blushed at Amarissa’s compliments. The bright blue mitpahath did match her eyes. The woven pattern of flowers was very pretty. “Oooh I like it!” She took the cloth, intending to purchase it later, then notice another piece of cloth on the same table. It was a deep red mitpahath with a triangle pattern woven into it. She held it up in front of Amarissa, trying to gauge how it fit with her colors. “What about this for you. I think it brings out the color of your cheeks.” It also kind of matched the color of her lips, but that seemed like it would be a weird thing to say. She vaguely wondered if Amarissa’s lips might be as soft as this cloth. That was also a weird thought.

She glanced around, looking for something else to talk about. She idly picked up a long gold pin used to secure the head coverings, not paying much attention to the metal butterfly decorating the end of it. “What about this to go with it?” she said, trying to think of something else, something normal. Hopefully, Amarissa couldn’t tell the thoughts going on behind her eager smile.

Maeri couldn’t help but smile as Amarissa agreed with her selection of mitpahath. She was just so beautiful in it. Maeri was certain that she could never be as elegant and graceful as her friend. It was something Maeri had never been good at. She always felt so awkward in her own skin, like she was only pretending to be any good at anything she did. Amarissa seemed to take to these things naturally.

What surprised her was that Amarissa seemed to have not noticed this. When Amarissa arranged the new scarf and secured it in place with the butterfly pin, she looked very impressed with how good Maeri looked. Maeri was less convinced that she looked so good not being able to see for herself, but she smiled broadly anyway. She always enjoyed shopping, and Amarissa was making it such pleasant company. If only she could bring the woman with her when she got married.

As Amarissa went to look at even more of the colorful garments, Maeri was drawn to more of the highly decorated fastenings. She found another that had little flowers on it arranged in semiprecious stones. She was considering that maybe she should ask for Amarissa to swap it out with the butterfly pin, when Amarissa came back with a handful of other mitzpahaths.

Maeri dug through the pile excitedly, pulling out first a deep green cloth and then one in a sheer golden yellow, the final to catch her eye was a blush pink. It hadn’t occurred to her that she might need new clothes now that she was going to be a wife. “Do you think? I hadn’t considered that I would need more clothes. What if Amiti wants to pick them out instead?” It was so hard knowing what to do in a marriage. She had to anticipate what her husband might want.