by Abby Aaron
His impulsive triad departed as Anders reached where the elder stood. One glance at the old man’s face told Anders that Hendrix and Johan had found a way to insult rules and traditions yet again. “Did they tell you of their plans?” the elder bluntly asked.
“They have, and before you reject the notion, there are sound reasons for this path.” At least my reasoning is logical, Anders wanted to add, but did not.
“You support their odd decision?” The elder was clearly shocked. “Maybe I should not be so surprised. You never wanted to be paired with them in the first place, yet you put aside your wishes when your village leaders prevailed on you to do so.”
So his triad did not realize Anders was now willing to depart the wall with them and seek Jemina’s hand in marriage? Rarely did he get to outwit the pair. He would savor this small victory for a few days. “After meeting Jemina, I am determined to win any competition necessary to have her as a mate.”
The old man was flustered by the declaration. “But without a triad, how do you hope to participate?”
Being in the dark about anything displeased Anders. He tensed and waited for the elder to explain further. “I told Hendrix and Johan it was foolish to give up on a sure bride in hopes of one whom they might not win. But replacing you with Crosby, no matter how much the village bride seemed to be taken with him was ridiculous indeed. Women appear to only see his attractive face and forget his lack of skills as a warrior. Did you hear of the lioness that attacked us en route here? Crosby was inches from the village bride, a sword at his side, but clueless of the danger. Had it not been for the others in his triad, she could have been fatally wounded. I explained as much to Hendrix and Johan, but they were unperturbed. They are determined to give up their best warrior to take on an inept one.”
Realization eventually poured on Anders like a cool, winter shower. As it washed down his body, so did his resolve. His triad had cast him aside without a second thought, not even bothering to tell him about the slight, but going straight to the elder. Nodding slowly, he planned his own path, no longer burdened by the two traitors he had worked so hard to help.
If he stayed here, he would be allowed to choose his own city bride without having to confer with two other grooms. Yet the idea held little appeal to him. Jemina was a gift too valuable to leave unprotected. Without a triad, he could never win her hand in marriage. But he could work to ensure she did not get bonded to the monsters he used to call brothers. He would protect her from that fate even at the cost of his own future.
Each warrior moved with caution knowing multiple strangers were within attacking distance. Hands on weapons, they circled around one another under the cover of green, thick foliage. Aras did not normally travel alone, knowing evildoers sought such easy targets. A solitary man shifting through these parts was easy to subdue, no matter how well he wielded his sword.
To his right, one stranger hid. This adversary was cunning, only moving when Aras did, thus masking the sounds of his own course. At the right, a bold warrior moved, letting anyone around know he considered himself superior and dared anyone to try attacking him. Something about the tactic was familiar to him, and Aras considered carefully before trusting his gut.
“Loinbard, if you are the person moving about, know two things. First, a third warrior moves less than ten feet from your current position. Second, when we were children, I always bested you. Now is not the time to test your skill against me.”
“Don’t put away your weapon but be careful not to swing it in my direction,” his brother’s deep voice ordered. He eased out from behind a large oak tree, his eyes staring in the direction of the third warrior hiding somewhere in the distance. “Why aren’t you at the wall, brother, working to earn yourself a city bride who will steal your heart and your daughters?”
Aras’ eyes narrowed, but he did not lessen his sense of alertness. “Must you speak so freely about such matters?” So many questions needed to be addressed. What was his younger sibling doing this far from their village? Why was he venturing off alone? How were they going to deal with the third person hiding close by?
“We are in private,” Loinbard announced loudly, “or we will be soon, after we kill the evildoer trying to sneak up on us.” Again, Aras took exception to his brother’s rash words. He turned to glare him into silence.
“No evildoer is about,” a third man replied. “Just one warrior from the Village of Finn and two loud and unseasoned fledglings from the Village of Konrad, if your accents are to be trusted.”
“Unseasoned, indeed!” Loinbard put aside his weapon and flexed his muscles. “Show yourself. Let us judge for ourselves if you are friend or enemy.”
Sword held high; the third man slowly revealed himself. From the muted colors of browns and grays on his loincloth, Aras recognized him as a warrior fresh from the wall of the city where the Finn soldiers guarded. “You are going to the Village of Urijah to compete for the bride there?” Sheathing his own sword, he cursed his luck. How many men would he have to fight for the chance to wed the enchanting Jemina?
“You, too?” Both Loinbard and the stranger answered together.
Satisfied there was no threat to eliminate, Anders dropped his own weapon. “Brothers?” Aras nodded. “Where is the third member of your triad?”
“There is no third member,” Aras announced. His brother gave him a puzzled scan. “Jasper and Border refused to join me in this quest. They didn’t share my feelings about wanting to vie for a village bride.”
“And your triad?” Anders asked, his eyes locked on Loinbard.
“Until now, I have avoided joining one. Another group from our village is making their way to the Village of Urijah. They were not keen on accepting me as a fourth member of their team. I am hoping they will have a change of mind when I show up and proclaim my determination to win the competition. Have you misplaced your own triad?”
Anders eyes grew cold. “They replaced me with another before venturing to Urijah. I have no wish to rejoin their number anyway, but I will be announcing my intention to win the strong willed Jemina, if only to protect her from the fools who underestimated my resolve.”
“None of us have a chance,” Aras stated the obvious. “Her fathers will probably dismiss us as contenders outright, and we won’t even get a chance to move past the village border. I would not allow my daughter to marry a single husband, knowing he would leave her alone in a strange village if he were killed in battle.”
“There is one way around this matter,” Loinbard suggested, gaining their attention. “I swore I would never speak such blasphemy, yet here I am doing just that. Shall we form a triad and work as a team to claim a bride?”
“There are many issues with your plan, brother.” Aras shook his head. “Our new friend here is not of our village. Our green and black colors tend to clash with Finn attire. Someone is bound to notice.”
“I don’t know how things are in the Village of Konrad, but triads work cycles together, learning to move as one, bond as a team and build their tactics. Currently, I don’t know your brother’s name and neither of you know mine. We are just a few hours from the village where Jemina’s suitors are gathering. How do you propose we cram all those skills in such a brief journey?”
“The alternative means not even being allowed inside the village boundaries to even participate,” Loinbard announced. “I suggest we walk slowly but talk fast.”
“My name is Aras. If we form this alliance, how would it be determined which of our villages we would live in with our new bride?”
“They call me Anders. If we were to form a triad, I am amendable to dwelling in the Village of Konrad, but only if I may bring my mother and three younger brothers with me. My fathers all perished in a clash with the evildoers who attacked our village four cycles ago. I am now the oldest of my family unit. It falls to me to care for them.”
“It is little price to pay for having your cooperation.” Loinbard glanced at Aras, waiting for his next challenge.
“How many cycles are you, Anders? I was not the senior member of my last triad. I found it difficult to be led by someone who had different goals from myself.” Aras was not shy about proclaiming his gravest concern in forming a new triad.
“I am twenty-one cycles old,” he replied but quickly followed up the comment, “I was the leader in my last triad and found it frustrating to try guiding people who did not want to work as a team. Since we would be moving to your village, it only makes sense for you to be our leader. But beware. I will offer my opinion and voice any concerns I have if I believe you try to lead us in an unethical manner. I don’t care if you have dreams of becoming a powerful leader one day. I will no longer bend my code of honor to pursue a goal I do not believe in.”
Aras wondered at sharing the private secret he sheltered for many cycles. If he were to join with this man, there should be no secrets for they would be as good as family from this point on. They needed to trust one another completely if they were to function as a team. He silently asked the Creator to guide him. A white dove suddenly landed on a nearby branch. Its feathers were flawless as it perched there, ruffling its wings. Without warning an arrow flew from the right and the bird dropped lifeless to the ground.
Motioning for Loinbard to move to his right and Anders to go left, Aras slipped into the foliage and waited. A young boy, no more than fifteen cycles at best, emerged from the trees to collect the bird. Another boy scampered after him. “Why’d you have to kill it?” the second boy whined. He looked no more than six cycles.
“Because we can’t feed our family with live doves, fool,” the older boy raged. From their tattered clothes, Aras knew they were offspring of evildoers. His heart lurched at the slight pitiful, skinny frames of the boys. Life outside the walls of the villages and city was brutal. He would have tried to take the youths back with him when he returned home, but the village elders would no doubt turn them away. It was bad enough he was going to claim a warrior from Finn as a member of his triad. The last thought came too natural to him, Aras knew he had his answer from the Creator on the rightness of forming this new triad.
Once the young boys were gone, Aras, Loinbard and Anders stepped out into the clearing again. “We have much to learn about one another, Anders from the village of Finn. Might I suggest we take my brother’s suggestion? Shall we walk slowly and talk fast?” The three shook hands and started on their way, first sharing information about their training as warriors, then their thoughts on managing a family unit, and finally their opinions about how best to go about winning Jemina as a bride.
5
Proclaiming their Desire
Most of the people from the Village of Urijah gathered in the meeting area, anxiously awaiting the beginning of the ceremony, which celebrated the end of one cycle and the birth of another. Her fathers had not arrived as of yet. They were no doubt reviewing the triads seeking to be allowed past the boundaries of their land. Jemina had always planned to join them, advising them on which suitors to welcome and which to send away. But she cared not about the task now.
All three of the men she had dreamed of wedding were disqualified from seeking her. The perfect lovers she envisioned weren’t even a triad at all. She had met them each separately and learned how poorly suited they were as husbands. Aras, though strong and proud, was also too opinionated for her. Loinbard could stir her passions, but she only stoked his own desire due to her position as a village born bride. Most disappointing of all was Crosby. No matter how attractive he might be, he did not have the skill of a real warrior. Aye, she could protect herself if needed, but it was necessary to have a husband who could aid in keeping their family unit safe.
Alistrair made a production of entering the center platform. The other elders came to sit in the front rows circling the area. A brief smile touched her lips as Jael and his triad approached, their new bride donning her bridal dress, a decorative hood blocking all but the slightest hint of a pale profile. Her twin had finally returned from his duty at the wall. Soon the city bride his triad had claimed would be introduced to their people, welcomed as a new citizen of Urijah.
Her mother waved from her position near the front. Her fathers’ seats were still empty. Behind them, three sets of three vacant chairs awaited. If tradition played out as it should, soon three triads would come forward and join the gathering. When the time came, and her name was offered up as an available bride, each set of men would be allowed to speak about their worthiness to compete for Jemina’s hand in marriage. For cycles now, she had eagerly awaited this very night, but now she dreaded what was to follow.
A trumpet sounded in the distance, a sign that strangers were walking freely among the village. Though elders welcomed suitors, villages were cautious enough to be on guard whenever outsiders were present. Enoch nodded with approval as Jemina’s fathers ushered three triads to their assigned seats. Everyone in attendance strained to have a look at the contenders, but not the future bride. She would not get her hopes up again by favoring one group over another. The Creator would likely snatch away her choice as a lesson in being too proud.
“Another cycle has passed, fellow descendants of Urijah, and we have experienced countless losses and gains.” Alistrair wore a flowing robe of black and blue, his usual unkempt hair, combed into submission for the ceremony. “As is our habit, let us reflect on what has brought us to this point in time, a cluster of survivors from a world gone mad more than a century before.
“Old earth must have been a glorious sight to behold. We have all heard tales of the wondrous inventions that made life so easy back then. They did not need to keep fires burning, hunt for meat or work long hours tilling the soil. A flip of a switch and light flooded an entire hall. Places were set aside for them to browse through food items nicely packaged and ready to cook. Most astounding of all, if a family unit did not feel like working to prepare a meal, they simply went to a business which concocted the food and served it to them at fancy tables lined with extravagant linens and utensils.” Patting his extending belly, Alistrair chuckled. “Oh, to have lived in such glorious times.
“Such inventions freed citizens to pursue other activities. Some worked to find cures for diseases or ways to improve life even more. But many used their time to seek power, money and Creator-like status. Wars broke out on all of earth, and death was widespread thanks to machines developed to make murdering an easier task too.
“Konrad, Finn and our founding father Urijah managed to survive, as did their loved ones and friends. Each set out to rebuild what old earth had destroyed. Strife lived on, unfortunately. Some of the survivors still harbored evil desires and needed to be driven out of established villages. Weapons, once deemed unnecessary, had to be created to keep evildoers from destroying the good that had finally been reestablished.
“A group of citizens from each village objected to using force to maintain a lawful system. They left our number to establish their own city. Their steadfast resolve to avoid conflict eventually faded as cycles passed. The city leaders ultimately needed to contact the village elders and worked out a treaty that fulfilled the greatest needs of our residents and city populaces. We agreed to send some of our skilled warriors to protect their wall, and they gift us with a bride each cycle to help ensure our numbers do not fall too low.”
Jemina blew a strand of hair out of her face and rested her chin on the palm of one propped up arm. Alistrair’s voice droned on and on. He spoke of the births and deaths of villagers, listing all major events from the start of last cycle to now. Two babies had been snatched from the birthing section of the healer’s compound. The armed warriors stationed around the building were powerless to prevent the unseen evil that stole the babes as their mothers slept from the exhausting duty of childbirth. “We will not stop searching for the sources of this evil crime. Those responsible will pay dearly.”
Alistrair finally moved to happier topics, asking several family units to stand and hold aloft infants of varying ages. Many sons
had been born during the closing cycle. Jemina hoped he would dedicate a long time on offering his blessings upon each child. His long windedness meant stalling the part of the ceremony she feared most. Fidgeting with her own dress, she picked at one of the delicate designs her mother had carefully stitched at the wrist.
Had she wanted; she would have worn the heirloom dress Jael’s bride now had on. As a village bride, she had first right of refusal since this was her blessed day as coming of age. If she thought her dream husbands would see her in it, she might have selfishly chosen to claim the right of appearing in it. But Jemina no longer looked forward to this ceremony or the competition to follow. Let her new sister-in-law savor the memory.
Jael and his triad eventually stepped on the platform; their cloaked bride carefully rose to stand on a small plateau for all to see. Each man took turns saying kind words about the woman they had claimed from the city. Jemina was proud of her brother’s speech.
He shared the same red hair, but his was always groomed. Freckles ran across his nose and his steel-blue eyes were full of control and wisdom even with his young age. “Often I have dreamed of the woman I would one day be privileged to wed. I hoped, when the time came to select from the city’s offerings, that the Creator would help my triad see past physical beauty to choose a worthy wife and mother to run our family unit.”
He paused a moment, then glanced up at his bride, pulling the hood from her head. An approving round of applause scattered across the audience. Blonde hair framed a lovely, innocent face. Her emerald eyes were large and glistening as if his words had pleased her. “The moment our dear Giannis exited the final wall of the city, I knew my prayers had been answered. I know not how the other women looked, for I only had eyes for this angel. It was as if the perfect woman I had imagined claiming for countless cycles had somehow managed to step out of my dreams and into my heart. Chaim and Moshe obviously agree. Alistrair himself approved of the selection and our vows were delivered immediately. We are blessed to call her wife.”