by Anny Cook
“If Dad knows, that would be two strikes against the Devereauxs.” Merlyn stared at Bishop angrily. “They’re in more danger than we even imagined.”
Jade smiled sadly. “Not much of a reunion, is it?”
“Better than a poke in the eye with a stick,” he pointed out morosely.
* * * * *
Dancer paced back and forth across the round living area impatiently. “What’s taking so long?” he demanded. “Trav could have taken ten baths by now.”
“Perhaps,” Dai answered agreeably, “but it would be rude to rush through a bath with his promised bond mate just so he could visit with his brother. After all, a bond- mate comes first—always—as you well know.”
“Bond mate!” He stopped dead, thunderstruck at the idea. “He just got here! How can he have a bond mate?”
“Except for the day Traveller arrived, you have been in seclusion, Dancer. As I recall, you took a bond mate the first eight-day you arrived,” Merlyn reminded him with a smile. “Compared to you, he’s been quite slow.” The others laughed when Dancer’s cheeks turned ruddy lavender. “He is also still quite fragile, so he must move slowly and carefully. Sit. Rest while you can. Eat some of those baby bars that Llyon concocted. You may be out of burda but Eppie is still in schalzina. You may have to have energy to care for her at a moment’s notice.”
Dancer nodded and sat down. “Dai says that you are expecting twins again? And the babies are due when?”
A faint glimmer of a smile passed Jade’s face.
“They are due the same day as our baby, Dancer. It seems that the bonding-rite storm caught women all over the valley by surprise,” Eppie told him with a smile. “I think Dai told me there are twenty-three pregnant women due then. The healers will be busy and it will be wonderful to have so many new children.”
“Well, they should have been in the middle of the storm!”
“It was quite a storm,” Jade agreed with amusement. “Merlyn thought he was going to be devoured whole.”
“I was devoured whole,” he corrected with a smile. “I’m a mere shell of a man now, between the schalzina and then the schalzah after she was pregnant, I bet I’ve lost twenty pounds. Being a bond mate is a dangerous job.”
Bish leaned forward in his chair. “Then why do it? Why not just get married?” When they all laughed, he said, “Well?”
“I suppose you deserve a serious answer,” Merlyn replied soberly. “Dai and I have talked many times about this. We think that the valley changes us in some way. Maybe the change happens in the passage. Whether a man or woman comes through the passage, within a short time of their arrival, they start to change. If they don’t have a semtorn who transfers the enzyme within about a year, their brain starts to slowly deteriorate until they eventually go insane, like Homer Brown.”
“Dancer was here less than an eight-day when he was bonded with Eppie. Obviously, there was something working there, because at the end of the oath-binding, there was a lightning storm such as we have never seen. They were struck by a flash, the sentinel stones lit up like they were transparent and when it was over, the slashes on their palms were completely healed. That was certainly no illusion.”
“Maybe, they weren’t really cut?” Bish asked.
“Oh, our palms were cut,” Dancer replied. “I did it myself. Blood was running down our arms. After the oath-binding, it was gone.”
“Well, that certainly sounds exciting,” Trav observed from the doorway. Dancer bounded to his feet and went to help Wrenna, who was supporting him with difficulty. Merlyn stuffed cushions in the largest chair and lined it with blankets. They helped him sit and Wrenna arranged more pillows until he was comfortable. Looking around at the group, he smiled. “Hello! It’s nice to finally get to meet all of you.”
Dancer laughed. “Trav, this is Eppie. You met her once but I don’t know if you remember. And this is Merlyn and Jade, Eppie’s parents.” They smiled but decided that hugs might be too much until he was better. “And you must know Wrenna—”
Traveller smiled blandly. “Oh, I know Wrenna. You get to know your bath partner very well.” The others gaped at him in astonishment as he spoke in that dark gravelly tone that Bish recognized meant business. “Wrenna and I are promised bond mates. We’ll be pledging and have the oath-binding as soon as Granddad Dai says that I’m well enough.” He kissed her hand sweetly, before pulling her down on his lap. Her cheeks flushed a pretty shade of lavender as she carefully cuddled against his chest but it was evident that she was quite happy.
Eppie and Jade merely smiled with secretive female smiles, indicating that they were happy with her choice of bond mate. He was certainly all male and quite capable of caring for her and their children once he was healed. A hard private look flashed between Merlyn and Trav before they nodded and then relaxed.
Trav cocked one eyebrow at Merlyn and asked, “What were you discussing when we came in? It sounded interesting.”
“We were talking about how people change once they enter the valley. Once we entered the valley over twenty-five years ago and had the pledge and oath-binding, Jade had the schalzina and we had schalzah, just as if we were born here.”
“I thought the oath-binding was only for virgins,” Dancer objected and then realized that it was his bond-mother he was talking about. His cheekbones blushed but Eppie took his hand to let him know that it was okay.
“Mama and Papa were married the day they were abducted,” she explained. “When they escaped from their captors, they took refuge in the cave and when they entered the valley, Dai ‘encouraged’ them to have the rites. It was the same for the Hamiltons and McCrorys.”
“So Dai encouraged your oath-binding, did he?” Bish shot Dai a look that said he suspected there was a bit more to his role.
“I believe that he convinced me that Jade would find the actual completion less painful. Women from out-valley that complete the oath-binding develop the schela and mhital almost immediately. Unfortunately, he didn’t know that Jade and I had accomplished the equivalent of a pledging—and attachment—back when she was three and I was twelve.” He swallowed a sip of his tea as he remembered the shattering result. “The severity of schalzah is directly related to the amount of time between the pledging and the oath-binding.”
The others stared at him in horror and Bish summed it all up for them. “Mother of God! You and Jade have been linked since you were kids. And you lived through it?”
“Yeah. Amazing stamina I have, huh?”
“I’ll say,” Dancer said quietly. “Eppie and I only had a short period of schalzah and I thought we weren’t going to survive. Schalzina is intense enough. I can’t imagine what that would be like.”
“I can.” Bish was smiling.
“I don’t think so,” Merlyn said with a shake of his head. “It isn’t something you can imagine. Ever. We’re always amazed when we survive it. We’re glad that this is the last time.”
“No more babies?” Bishop teased.
“No.” Merlyn answered firmly. “Sixteen children are enough. If Jade wants to play with babies, she’ll have the grandchildren.”
Trav struggled to sit up. “Play! Bish! Did you give Dance his violin and guitar?” he asked anxiously.
“Nope! I completely forgot about them. Hold on, Dance!” He slipped down the hall to his room and retrieved the two instruments, idly wondering where the kids had all gotten to. It was awfully quiet. When he returned to the living room, he handed Dancer the violin case and set the guitar case next to Eppie. “Here you are.”
Dance opened the battered case with trembling fingers. He hadn’t thought he would ever see his violin again. Carefully, he tuned it, checked his bow and then drew it across the strings, slipping into the strains of the lullaby he had played for Eppie. Jade’s face took on a remembering look and Merlyn nodded.
When he finished the song, Jade said softly, “You’re that Dancer. I once played with you when you were about seven years old.”
He whirled to look at her in surprise. “You’re Jade Alexander? That Jade Alexander?” Carefully, he placed the violin and bow in her hands. “Will you play something?”
“Dancer! I haven’t played a violin in over twenty-five years! My fingers would be shredded!”
“Just play something short,” he coaxed. “I remember how exquisite you were when we played together.”
She took the violin, slipping it beneath her chin. It had been a very, very long time, so she practiced drawing the bow and twiddled with her fingering. Then, torn between the joy of playing and fear that she had forgotten how, she closed her eyes and launched into her signature piece, her own composition, Jade’s Joy. When the last note died away, the room was crowded with her astonished stunned children.
“Now aren’t you glad we brought the violin?” Trav asked Bish with satisfaction.
While everyone was still clamoring for more, Arano quietly slipped away. He walked quickly to the path that led to Silence’s house, anxious to get out of sight before someone saw him. Once hidden by the woods, he ran all the way to her cottage. When the others finally noticed his absence, life in the valley had changed once more with a resounding jolt.
Chapter Thirteen
Great bolts of lightning flashed across the valley and danced off the tops of the sentinel stones in pledging circle five. High winds tore at the treetops and the resounding crash of thunder shattered the sleepy afternoon peace. Llyon and Tyger pounded along the path to circle five as the wild gale snatched at their shardas and braids.
They skidded to a halt outside the ancient stone circle in time to witness a most astounding sight. Numb with shock, they watched the overwhelming display the valley was producing to honor the pledging between Arano and Silence Brown. The stones were translucent, flashing in a rapidly changing pattern of colors as a whirlpool of light enveloped Arano and Silence, whipping Arano’s long dark hair around them in a silky shroud.
Abruptly, as though cut by an unseen hand, silence fell over the valley. The stones turned opaque and dull gray. The wind died. And on the giant altar stone in the center of the circle, Arano stood tenderly embracing his beloved, his chinkas cast down at his feet next to her meerlim and his sharda spread beneath their feet in lieu of a proper bonding blanket.
The pledging—begun in secret—was complete and publicly avowed by the valley. No one would be able to deny them or their right to the oath-binding ritual. Clutching his slith, a tiny ritual knife, in his right hand, he tilted his head so that his eyes met Llyon’s. “Fetch Dai and Papa,” he commanded. “We wish to claim birth-rite and they must be here as witnesses.”
“What have you done?” Llyon whispered. “She is barren.”
“Not so, Ly. She is untouched. We will claim birth-rite and have a child for all to see that she is not barren.”
“Arano! They will not allow it! She has fourteen years more than you do!”
“They cannot deny us, Llyon. She is my woman. The valley has validated our pledging and I will not repudiate it!”
Whatever Llyon was going to retort was lost in the rushing arrival of Merlyn, Dai and Bishop. As Llyon had foreseen, objections raged on all sides but in the end, after reminding Dai of their earlier discussion, Arano prevailed as they reluctantly witnessed the oath-binding and birth-rite claim of Arano and Silence.
In the aftermath, cold rain pounded the valley while women all over the valley were struck by schalzina. Merlyn, Tyger and Llyon hastened back to Lost Market while Bishop and Dai remained to settle the newly bonded couple at Silence’s house.
Hours later, Bish and Dai returned, wet and cold. After they were dried off and changed into warm woolie sheras and shardas, Wrenna served them hot tea and stew while Trav kept them company, comfortable in his warm nest of blankets and pillows. “They are all right?” he asked.
Dai nodded, steadily chewing the savory meat stew. “I have never seen any bonding like it, not even Dancer and Eppie caused such a storm. They claimed birth-rite.”
“What is birth-rite?” Bish asked curiously.
“It’s a very old rite. It’s a claim for a baby to be conceived during the oath-binding. Normally, consummation and the oath-binding are done in private but birth-rite requires the complete consummation during the witnessed oath-binding.” He shivered. “I have never seen a birth-rite claimed and I have over seventy years.”
Trav sipped his tea thoughtfully. “I’m not sure I understand exactly what the fuss was this afternoon. What happened?”
“My daughter, Silence, was a widow. She has thirty-five years. Arano has twenty-one years. One must be untouched—what your people call a virgin—to do an oath-binding. I have heard rumors of another way to complete the oath-binding for widows and such, but no one knows what that might be. And of course, those from out-valley are different. If they are already joined, the valley will accept their oath-binding.”
“And Arano is claiming the right to an oath-binding with Silence? Neat trick! How did that work?” Bish questioned intently.
“Silence told us tonight that her oath-binding with that evil one was rejected. He could not perform with her. He was whipping her.” His eyes glittered with rage. “The night he died, he tried to kill her. He chopped her hair off with a kitchen knife. The valley took him in the last bonding storm below the judgment stone. I would like it that he was alive so that I could kill him.”
They ate in silence, until Trav spoke. “So aside from the virginity issue, which apparently was a non-issue after all, you were mostly upset because of the age difference?” he clarified. “Isn’t that a little backwards? Wrenna is twenty-two to my thirty-three. There isn’t much difference.”
Dai shrugged tiredly. “It is of no importance now. Arano is a bonded man just as he foresaw. The valley has spoken.”
* * * * *
The next day was very quiet in the village. Most bonded couples were still occupied with schalzina or its aftermath. The others were busy cleaning up after the storm. Wrenna and Trav lounged together on the hearthrug in the living room, with Trav’s arms wrapped around her. Wrenna had reservations about Trav getting down on the floor but he coaxed her, pointing out that they could put extra pillows and blankets down for cushioning and she gave in. The hot rocks and logs gave off enough heat to keep them warm. Snuggled together in blankets, they dozed, enjoying the quiet after the storm.
“I am so amazed that my mother can play that instrument you brought, Trav.”
He laughed quietly. “Dancer was a prodigy, a genius with the violin. But Jade was even more so. She played the violin, guitar, piano and clarinet. I seem to remember she also spoke six languages and I’m pretty sure there was some other stuff she did. I was only eight when she played with Dance. Until she reminded us, I didn’t remember her playing with him. It was a great honor for him to play with her. I think it was a huge charity concert for World Hunger.”
“What’s World Hunger?” she asked in puzzlement. “And what’s a charity concert?”
“A charity concert is a concert, a performance, where the performers donate all of the money people pay to see the performance. Thousands of people came to hear them play. In this case, they donated the proceeds to World Hunger. There were terrible famines across many poor countries at the time. Millions of people died from starvation. Performers organized large concerts to raise money to find ways to feed the people.”
“But that’s terrible!” she exclaimed in horror.
“Yes,” he said quietly, thankful that she would never know the full horror. “I’m glad I convinced Bish to bring the instruments. He thought I was crazy.” He smiled. “Now once things settle down, maybe Dance and Jade can practice together. The kids really enjoyed the music last night before all the commotion.”
“What did you do when Dancer was playing?”
He laughed. “Well, Dance gave me a stained glass kit for my twelfth birthday and I got hooked on that. Whenever I could squeeze in some time, I worked on my projects.”
; “What’s stained glass?”
“Hmm. Well, imagine if all of those chinkas the boys and men wear in their hair were flat pieces of colored glass. Then you cut them in shapes and make a picture, with metal strips holding the pieces in place. And then, if you hang it, say in front of a window, the light will shine through the pieces. You know how the light shines through the chinkas? Well, imagine a whole picture like that.”
“That would be beautiful!” she whispered. “Could you make me one sometime?”
“I don’t have the glass and supplies,” he said regretfully. “Or I would in a minute!”
“The chinkas glass can be melted,” she said hesitantly. “Sometimes, Nathan melts it and uses it to make the singing stones.”
“Singing stones? What are those?” He was constantly amazed at the ways the valley adapted to their needs.