by Gail Daley
"Genevieve and Gideon, please join me."
When the Laird and her new husband to be joined her, Arella said, "Please turn and face one another. Each of you cross your arms and take the others hands."
She picked up a thin, braided red and silver cord and laid it over their wrists, allowing the ends to dangle.
"Genevieve, Gideon, your crossed arms and joined hands create the symbol for Infinity. Today, we ask that the Light Of The Divine shine upon this union for a year and a day. In that spirit, I offer a blessing to this Handfasting.
Blessed be this Handfasting with the offerings from the East — new beginnings that come each day with the dawn, junction of the heart, soul, body and mind.
Blessed be this Handfasting with the offerings of the South — the untroubled heart, the heat of passion, and the tenderness of a loving home.
Blessed be this Handfasting with the offerings of the West — the hastening eagerness of a raging river, the softness and pure cleansing of a rainstorm, and faithfulness as deep as the ocean.
Blessed be this Handfasting with the offerings of the North — a solid footing on which to build your lives, richness and growth of your home, and the strength to be found by embracing one another at the end of the day."
She wrapped the dangling ends of the cord around the wrists of the bride and groom, binding them together loosely and tying a knot.
"The bonds of this Handfasting are not formed by these ribbons, or even by the knots connecting them. They are formed instead by your vows, by your pledge, to love and honor each other for a year and a day, at which time these vows may be renewed or dissolved each according to their lights. Genevieve, Gideon do you each agree with the terms of this Handfasting?"
"We do," they said in unison and then Genevieve and Gideon stepped forward, hands still clasped, and kissed. Arella touched the cord and it slid off their hands, still tied. The acolyte a slim teenager in a pale robe stepped forward with a tray holding one of the glass boxes. Arella placed the cord inside the box and gestured for Gideon and Genevieve to each hold opposite sides of the box. The acolyte stepped back returning the tray to the table.
"By blood this oath is taken, on this day and this hour," Arella intoned, touching the box with a small gold wand. Everyone felt the small surge of power. Even Forewarned ahead of time, Gideon winced when a sharp prick on his thumb caused a drop of blood to form on either ends of the box, but he didn’t drop his end of it. The edges of the box disappeared as it sealed, and their names and the date scrolled across the top of the box in red.
"This Knot is a symbol of your union. Hold it fast and give it an honored place in your home."
Genevieve slipped the box into a ready pocket of her wedding dress and Arella gestured the acolyte to step forward again, this time holding a tray with one decanter and two glasses. "For love and fertility," Arella said, pouring a small amount of golden syrup into the glasses. The two spouts of the decanter enabled both glasses to be filled at once with the same amount of liquid. Genevieve and Gideon each held the glass to the others lips as they drank, then set the glasses back on the tray for the acolyte to take back to the table.
"Thank you Arella." Genevieve motioned for Lucas and Jayla to join them. Holding Gideon’s hand, she stepped up beside them.
"The O’Teague presents her new family, my husband Lord Gideon ni’Warlord of the Clan, his son Lucas and niece Jayla." She announced and led the way from the arbor to make room for the next couple.
Corrine and Vernal while not officially taking part in the Matchmaking program, opted to become handfasted, choosing the more involved Forever and A Day ceremony. As expected, the individual Handfasting ceremonies took most of the afternoon and some of the evening, and then new single clan members were presented to the Clan.
When Zack and Katherine had returned to their table to watch the rest of the ceremonies, Gideon asked Zack what had been in the syrup they drank during the ceremony.
Zack shrugged. "The name of it is Payome; Katherine said it’s just a mild aphrodisiac with a touch of soother. Katherine tells me it’s traditional when the bride and groom aren’t well acquainted. She says the effects usually last four to five hours so it won’t wear off before the wedding night." He grinned, "Since Katherine and I are pretty well acquainted, I don’t think we will need it—Vernal and Corrine either, but you might," he teased Gideon, who snorted and cuffed him affectionately on the shoulder.
Katherine had been concerned that during the celebration that some of the newly married pairs might get too enthusiastic about their union where the children could see them. She soon found she had underestimated Drusilla’s organizing skills. Her baby sister had set up dancing for the adults and games for the older children that involved a lot of running and jumping; virtually guaranteed to tire them out early. For the younger ones, like Jaynes boys, she had arranged milder forms of the same inside the dormitory recreation rooms and assembled a few older men and women who weren’t being matched to watch them.
Katherine and Zack bade their children good night as they headed up to the children’s dormitories.
About an hour after the ceremonies had been concluded and the children sent to their rooms, a soft chime sounded. As one, all the brides rose, each handing their groom a small crystal which projected a map to their quarters more of Drusilla’s efficiency, Katherine thought. "Give me about twenty minutes," she murmured to Zack.
She and Zack had been allotted one of the larger rooms with a small sitting room and attached bath.
"Drusilla missed her calling," Katherine remarked aloud to herself when she saw the candles and iced wine bucket and a few delicacies set out on a table on the terrace. Drusilla had also laid out a filmy negligee on the bed, which Katherine nervously fingered. She spent some time undressing and brushing out her hair before she donned the gown. She gasped when she first saw herself in the mirror. The negligee was of the finest spun dragon nest silk and had been designed to arouse desire, being cut almost to her navel in both the front and back, and even with the matching robe, it was almost transparent. Whatever had possessed her innocent baby sister to design something like this, she wondered. Zack had been frustrated enough at their lack of privacy on the journey; she could only imagine the effect this would have. Zack opened the door before she had time to panic herself into changing out of it. The pocket door slid back into the wall and he stood stock still in the doorway at his first sight of her. "Wow," was all he said.
"Whoops," echoed Vernal, hastily turning his head away. Since their rooms had all been on the same floor, Gideon, Zack and Vernal had left the party in a group and come upstairs together. Katherine hastily turned her back, not wanting to give her new brother-in-law and uncle-by-marriage any more of an eyeful than she already had. Vernal thoughtfully pushed the close button on the pocket door. Zack never even noticed the door closing. "You look beautiful," he said.
"If I’d known you were bringing company, I wouldn’t have been in front of the door—"Katherine began.
"Mmmn," Zack slipped his arms around her from behind. He lifted her hair out of the way, sliding his lips down her neck and Katherine shivered.
"I guess I should have told you before, but I’ve never—I mean I don’t know how—"
He partially turned her so he had a better purchase for his mouth and ran his tongue across her lips. His hand slid up to cup her breast through the thin fabric. She could feel the hardness of his swollen shaft against her buttocks. Heat built between her legs and she turned to press her body against him.
"Mmmn," he murmured between kisses, "You worry too much. We’ll just do what comes naturally."
He had been right, she thought afterwards, resting her head against the hard muscles of his chest. True, it had been a little painful the first time, but she had been taught that it would get easier as her body got used to accommodating him. She hadn’t worn the pretty nightgown Drusilla had provided very long either she thought ruefully. Along with Zack’s wedding clothes, it wa
s in a crumpled heap on the floor.
After a few minutes, she felt him stir beside her. "I bet the ice in the wine bucket isn’t cold anymore," he said. "Want to try some anyway?"
"It should still be cold," she replied, admiring his muscled wiry back as he walked toward the terrace. He didn’t seem at all embarrassed by the fact that he was naked. "I think I saw a stasis cube next to it."
While his back was turned, Katherine quickly sat up and reached for the robe that had come with the gown. Donning it, she took a quick look in the mirror and caught her breath. To her eyes, she looked a mess. Her mouth was a little swollen from being kissed and her hair, which she had brushed so carefully, was in wild disorder. She shrugged to herself as she donned the mostly transparent bedrobe and discovered that she was practically falling out of it. Zack had already seen all there was to see, and if he was comfortable enough to run around naked, why should she care about showing some skin?
"Relax, you look beautiful." Zack said smugly obviously admiring his work. He had come up behind her with two glasses of wine. He handed her one and set the other down on the dresser, running his hands possessively over her.
At that inopportune moment, there was a knock on the door. Zack growled, stalked over to the door and yanked it open. "What?" he barked.
After a scandalized glance at his naked state, the older woman who had interrupted them looked past him to Katherine. "I beg your pardon Milady but two of your children—"
"Are having nightmares," Katherine finished, resigned. She set down her glass and started toward the door. Zack caught her arm.
"Just where do you think you’re going, dressed like that?"
Katherine fisted her hands on her hips. "At least I’m wearing a robe! You open doors bare assed naked—"
"Well you can’t parade around the place half-dressed. I’d just as soon nobody but me gets to see how tempting you look in that," he stated firmly.
Katherine made a rude noise and grabbed her trousers and shirt off the floor. "If I can’t go out like that you can’t either," she snapped. "At least put your pants on," she added, throwing his clothes at him.
By the time they reached the children’s rooms, both Rupert and Violet had progressed to full-blown screaming nightmares. Drusilla had set up separate rooms for the boys and girls. Katherine went to quiet Violet while Zack attended to Rupert.
When they returned to their room several hours later, the wine had gotten warm. They tumbled into bed and fell immediately asleep, already comforted by the others presence.
While the new immigrants were sorted into their various new professions and everyone worked at becoming better acquainted with their new spouses the clan stayed three more days at Glass Manor. Both Katherine and Corrine were a little too pre-occupied with their new wifely duties and Genevieve too busy, to notice that Drusilla was spending a great deal of time with Lucas. Partly it was the fact he took every excuse to seek her company and she didn’t object; he was young, good looking and the first man her age to pay her the attention a man pays to an attractive woman.
Drusilla, Lucas and Jayla traveled back and forth to Port Recovery several times to make sure the materials and supplies brought in by the Dancing Gryphon were loaded on to the barges. She also met with Captain Heidelberg about the trade goods he was taking with him from Vensoog. Lucas stuck closely to her side, but Jayla soon became bored with the negotiations and Drusilla saw no harm in letting the girl explore the shops around the spaceport.
Riverboat Travel
ON THE THIRD day after the Handfasting Ceremonies, except for Glass Manor’s permanent staff of caretakers, the assembled clan packed up onto five paddlewheel barges and floated down the river toward Glass Isle. The paddlewheel boats had three decks, two above water and one below to hold cargo. The top deck was the ships control center. On the Second deck were crew and passenger cabins. To the front of the boat was a raised platform used as the Dragon Talker station. An outside rail ran the entire length and width of the boat, with a gate opening on the Port side to let down a ramp for loading cargo and passengers.
Katherine and her family sat on the second deck of the lead boat, the Riverwitch. The large paddle wheel boats laden with a burden of cargo and people, moved ponderously through the crowded waterway between the chain of islands. On the banks of the channel, an occasional family of Nessies could be seen feeding on the lush reeds and grasses growing along the banks of the channel.
"Why do they call them Nessies?" Rupert asked. "I thought they were Water Dragons."
"Well, when the colonists first saw them, they named them Water Dragons because someone thought they looked like a dragon. A little later, someone else thought they looked like the Loch Ness Monster and called them Nessies. They couldn’t agree, so now we use both names," Katherine responded. The creatures in question did look like a cross between the two mythical beasts. They were huge, each of them at least the size of the boat and had a long neck to allow them to reach down into the water for food. The head might have resembled that of a horse with backwards facing ears if not for the oversized mouth. They were also covered in what looked like scales, but was actually a hard, semi glossy skin plate resembling a very thick fingernail. Like several other Vensoog animals, they could change color to adapt to their surroundings. As they watched, a young male slid off the bank and into the water, his rippling hide changing to a mottled green. Feeling full of himself, he floated toward the larger boats whistling a challenge and intent on showing off for the females watching from shore. In the prow, Drusilla and the other Dragon Talker focused their talent on the intruder and pushed, causing him to veer off to the side of the boats. Drusilla remained in the prow, watching the others while the second Talker paced alongside the Dragon until she could hand him off to the next boat.
"Now that’s interesting," Gideon remarked. "Why did he turn aside?"
"That’s what a Dragon Talker does," Genevieve answered. "Drusilla used her talent to push at his emotions to make him not want to get too close to us."
"Is this part of the Vensoog psychic abilities I’ve heard so much about?" Zack inquired.
"Well, it’s a part of it," Katherine responded. "We don’t have telepathy but most of us can push a little bit to encourage animals to obey us. It takes a lot of power to affect the Dragons though, especially if a Talker is trying to move a whole herd."
"Can people be—what did you call it—pushed in the same way?" Gideon asked.
"Sometimes," Genevieve admitted. "If the person doing the pushing is very powerful it can affect humans, but most Vensoogers can feel when it happens. Largely humans seem to have a natural ability to resist a push, especially if you know it's happening."
Down in the front of the boat, Lucas was asking very much the same thing. "How did you do that?"
Remembering the conversation at the first meeting at Glass Castle, Drusilla told him the truth. "It’s called a Push," she said. "In our Clan, all children are tested and those with the highest EMPH rating are sent for training at the Dragon Talker Center."
"What is EMPH?"
"It’s a shortening of the word empathy."
"Is it hard? What you did, I mean?"
"Well, it can be. If you get too close to the Dragons it can overwhelm you."
He looked at her curiously "You mean too close physically?"
Drusilla laughed. "No, not that. When I reach out to push, I need to tune into the Dragon’s mind and emotions. If I’m reaching out to a lot of Dragons, their minds and emotions can overwhelm me, especially if they are angry or excited. Most Talkers who work with herds use a second Talker as an anchor. If the first Talker gets too emotionally involved, the second one can pull her back. It’s not so much of a danger if there is only one of them, like today."
The trip to Glass Isle took almost ten days. Even though each boat was crowded, there was a carnival atmosphere among the passengers. Many of the couples enjoyed the journey as a honeymoon period. Since privacy was at a minimum due to the
crowded conditions, there was a lot of talking, laughing and singing. Impromptu games were encouraged.
The long line of boats had been gradually decreasing as various Clans separated off to land at their home islands and by now, only Clan O’Teague was left to make the final leg of their journey to Glass Isle. They had rounded the final narrow turn in the channel and were heading in a straight line toward the Port city of Glass where the channel fed out into the open sea. Zack, Gideon and Vernal were all standing by the rail talking when there was a disruption.
Clan O’Teagues large paddle boats slowed to make a turn in the channel and to wait for a small family of Nessies swimming in the middle of the channel to clear. The peaceful mood of the day was shattered by the roaring of the small watercrafts closing in on the riverboats. The noise was accompanied by the howl of River Patrol sirens.
The first watersleds who rounded the turn were traveling too fast to make the turn smoothly. They kissed the side of the lead paddleboat, causing it to rock wildly. While everyone scrambled not to fall over, or for those next to the rail to fall in, more watersleds catapulted into the turn, narrowly missing their careening companions. They were followed by the River Patrol taking the turn fast but in control. Unfortunately, it was too late to prevent disaster.
One of the wildly driven watersleds smacked into the rump of a swimming Nessie calf, eliciting a bellow of pain and fright. Several of the infuriated adults turned on the boats, intent on avenging the injury to the calf. A stream of hot sticky green goo shot from one’s opened mouth, covering the watersled and passengers. Screams came from the sleds riders as the goo literally burned them alive. A second Nessie sent a large wave of water, which swamped not only the sleds, but caused the paddleboats to rock wildly as a wave of water sloshed over the decks.