by Sandra Lang
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I barely get any sleep the night before my binding ceremony. I am filled with as much anxiety as anticipation. Mother and Father wake just before day break to begin breakfast and to help me get ready. My stomach rumbles from not having eaten dinner the night before but I cannot appease the idea of eating with my body. Tala, Sarali, and Sirak arrive soon after with Father and Sirak leaving just as quickly for Rising Sun House as is customary.
Three couples walk with the one undergoing the binding ceremony. It is supposed to confuse the spirits that would mean us harm. Normally both sets of parents accompany the couple along with a bound sibling from either family. However, because Tarok’s mother passed into the Spirit World, Tala and Merick will join us within the procession.
Ruki and Granny join us in the hut of my parents and help me to get ready. I am scrubbed from head to toe, my hair washed, and my nails cleaned. Mother and Ruki braid my wet hair, weaving feathers and shells into it. They pull and poke to the point that not only does my stomach ache, but my head does as well. Sarali and Tala put the gifts in the baskets and ready them. Granny sits on my parents’ sleeping platform and instructs me on my duties as a bond-mate.
Next the long sheet of supple leather is wrapped around my body. A darkened leather strip is wrapped tightly in a crossing fashion around my body and tied at the small of my back. I kneel just before the entrance of the hut while a cloak of fur is wrapped around my shoulders and the hood brought up over my head to obscure my face. I fold my hands upon my lap beneath the cloak and wait for Tarok and the other three men accompanying him to arrive. Tala and Sarali sit on either side of me similarly dressed.
When he comes to the hut, I can hear him speaking with my grandmother just outside. She pushes aside the door flap and allows him entrance.
“This young warrior has come to claim the hand of his intended,” Granny announces. “If he truly knows his intended, then he will choose her.”
Every man must go through this as does every woman. The entire time I sit there waiting for him to decide, I have butterflies dancing around my insides. What if he chooses wrong? I cannot look up to see what he does and ruin the task. But I am so curious.
The floorboards creak under his weight and the sound of his boots comes closer. I can see the tops of the boots as I look down at my lap. He kneels before me and his hand comes into view to hook my chin. He puts pressure on my chin to force me to look up at him. “Are you ready to bind yourself to me and I to you?”
I smile despite my anxiety. “I am.”
The four of us rise to our feet. We each grab a basket and leave the hut with my mother behind us. She steps up to the side of my father while Sarali and Sirak move into place behind them. Tarok and I follow with Tala and Merick bringing up the rear.
We walk through the village not saying a single word. The women keep their heads down and faces hidden beneath the hoods. I think it is a silly idea. The couple to be bound is always in a different place among the procession. The spirits surely would know who they needed to curse if they were truly that angry. But I guess we should err on the side of caution considering the high status within the tribe Tarok and I have.
The entire village sits around the central fire and the platform set in front of it. Many of the traders have joined with the understanding they are not to make any sort of spectacle. Natoak stands straight ahead of us waiting patiently. The three couples set their baskets in front of the platform. Tarok and I do just as Tala and Merick did: we kneel before Natoak and our offerings.
“My brothers and sisters, friends of the west, please be seated wherever you can find a place,” Natoak says loudly. He tries to remain neutral to the fact that I am the cause of this binding ceremony, but I can feel the happiness radiating out of him.
When the crowd has found their seats, he speaks again. “I welcome you all on this extraordinary day. Akari, Wise Woman of Kurtu’lak and daughter of Sharp Stone, will bind herself to Tarok, future Chief of Kurtu’lak and son of Rising Sun. Never before has a Wise Woman become the intended of a Chief; but today, we will witness it for the first time. Akari, Wise Woman of Kurtu’lak, what is it that you offer Tarok, future Chief of Kurtu’lak, and his family?”
I raise my head to meet his eyes. “Great Shaman, I offer to Tarok of Rising Sun and his family the skills of a weapons craftsman so that we may never go without the means for protection. I offer spears and daggers so that we may never go hungry. I offer furs and blankets so that our bed will always be warm and welcoming. I offer these gifts freely as a sign of my devotion and my promise to my intended.”
“Do you, Rising Sun House, accept these offerings and thereby give your approval of the binding of Akari and Tarok?”
I hear several people stand but do not turn my head to look. I know of their acceptance.
Natoak smiles and nods his head. “And you, Tarok, future Chief of Kurtu’lak, what is it that you offer Akari, Wise Woman of Kurtu’lak, and her family?”
Tarok breaks with tradition and looks at me instead of Natoak. “I offer to Akari of Sharp Stone the skills of a warrior so that she will always be protected. I offer my spear so that I may always put food on our table. I offer a home that I may keep her sheltered from the harshest of storms and the coldest of nights. I offer these gifts freely as a sign of my devotion, my love, and my promise to my intended.”
Natoak does not miss a beat, speaking as if he has had this unorthodox of binding ceremonies before. “Do you, Sharp Stone House, accept these offerings and thereby give your approval of your binding to this man?”
I know my family stands because they have approved of this ceremony taking place long before we knew we would end up here.
“As the Wise Woman of Kurtu’lak kneels before me, I will perform her duty in her place.” He picks up the bowl of water and sets the flower inside. “Spirits of the sky and the earth, give us a sign that you approve of this binding.”
He steps off the platform to kneel in front of me, showing the flower still floats. “Drink the water from the bowl to receive the spirits’ blessing.” We both do so. He stands back up, places the bowl onto the platform, then turns back toward the tribe. “Your offers have been accepted by the spirits and by your families. You have asked each member of the tribe for their approval and all have given it.” He takes the rope and holds it out for all to see. “Let this rope symbolize the bond you are creating. Please hold out your wrists.”
Tarok and I hold out our wrists. His fingers quickly intertwine with mine. Natoak ties the rope and holds our joined hands in his. “With this knot, you are bound together until death separates you.”
The tribe cheers and whistles. Our families step up first to offer their well wishes and hugs. The crowd thins out to grab dishes from their huts and the food that has been cooking all morning. Tarok and I are given a moment of rest before what will surely be a long night.
“Do you feel any different?” I ask him.
“Relieved. I can finally dance with you without feeling like I will be expected to announce my intentions.”
“I am pretty sure they have been announced loud and clear.”
“The tribe has not heard my plan to love you until the day that I die.”
I smile sadly at him. I try desperately not to think of what the future will hold. Today is not supposed to be spent questioning. “Let us not worry about that just yet.”
“I am not worried. Whatever the spirits have planned will be how it is supposed to be. But I will love you no matter what happens.”
I hug him to the best of my ability, given our bound wrists. “I will love you in this world and into the next.”
Food brings the people back to the center of the village. The central fire is brought to life so people can cook their meats and warm their meals. Everyone sits down to eat before the drinking and dancing begins at sunset. As before, I sit at the top table where Rising Sun and the Shaman sit. Today, however, I do not sit here as the Wise Woman. I sit here a
s Tarok’s bond-mate. Given that latest achievement, I have moved up two places on the long table. Rather than sitting at Natoak’s right, I now sit at his left. After everyone has had their fill, the arctic wine comes out and the celebration really begins.
Everyone dances, laughs, talks loudly, and celebrates. The celebration part of the ceremony is not always about the bound couple. It is also a chance to celebrate love in general. More often than not, a new couple will form on the night of a binding ceremony celebration. I anticipate in a half cycle or so another couple will have a binding ceremony. The last of summer is filled with the binding ceremonies of the young.
“Akari, are you listening?” Tarok says.
I tilt my head closer to him and shake it slowly. “I apologize. I enjoy watching the dancing.”
“Would you like to sit here all night and watch, or would you like to participate?”
Dancing and I have not always agreed with each other. I am moderately graceful in my opinion and generally avoid dancing when I can. Tonight, however, I am more inclined to dance than I ever have been. My feet feel light like my heart and my head. I nod my agreement and allow Tarok to lead us to join the other dancers.
There is more sensuality to dancing when with a partner formed from love. It is more intimate dancing with your mate than with a man to become your potential intended. Tarok’s constant presence within inches of my body is something I have never experienced before. When we danced at the Summit there was no intimacy. Granted he was jealously angry with me and I just plain angry with him. But now there is this whole new level of contact between us. I wish there would be a celebration of love every day so that I could dance with him like this all the time.
The night nears morning when Tarok and I can finally go home. He holds onto my hand tightly. The hut is larger than I had expected, having never been into Rising Sun and seen the huts of the young men.
“Welcome home,” he says, holding the door flap open for me.
Home. Our home. I step inside and gasp in awe of how lovely it is. Several furs lay on the wooden floor. The fire is set in the center of the hut with cooking racks already placed. The sleeping platform has a padded blanket beneath layers of blankets and furs, even the ones from my bed in Sharp Stone are here. All of our new wares are stored on the shelves. I am home.
“What do you think?”
“I think you will have to drag me away when we have to leave for the winter camp.”
Tarok laughs. “I will gladly wait out the winter here with you.”
I take off the fur cloak and hang it on the hook on the wall. I grab a wooden bowl from the shelf and begin to unbraid my hair, putting the feathers and shells into the bowl. Tarok stokes the fire so it lights the room better. I watch him unabashedly as he removes the leather and whale bone armor covering his chest and legs. When he is done, he comes to kneel before me.
“What do you want tonight?” he asks, looking me straight in the eye.
I return his gaze, adding a demure smile. “I want to know great happiness.”
Chapter Twenty-One