Witan Jewell

by Russ L. Howard

  “Then it is good,” Sur Spear said, as he took up a pitcher and poured his sons and Raven’s Tongue some mead. “While you have been away, I have been discussing with the Roufytrof some plans for Sur Sceaf’s city-state, but we are still hammering out the details. I’ve already issued an order to transport the materials I’ve been garnering for the past twenty years to Ur Ford, and Elf Beard is putting together the mule teams to do it. As soon as we have something definite from the Roufytrof, I will let you know that it’s time to start the building.”

  Hrafn took a hefty swig of mead, wiped his mouth with his sleeve and asked, “Why the hold up?”

  “Because we have had numerous spy reports claiming that the Pitters are sending their eastern legions this way in ever great numbers. They have already made their presence known in the High Desert and Salem areas.” Sur Spear wet his lips with another swig of mead. “The Drowned Lands of the Middle Sea are drying rapidly and the Pitters have pushed their labor and farming camps into those rich bottom lands. I suspect for Bamboo Plantations. What was once the Great Middle Sea is now become the Mys-Isys River. Now, of course, their zongas will have the food supply they need for expansion westward and more and more zongas are being built here in the West. Born of hate for us!”

  Sur Sceaf cleared his throat. “We ourselves have much blood of kin to avenge. Moreover, word has come to me from the Sire Sheaf that the Pitters are already aware of my plans to build the city-state on the coast. We must be fully alert to the possibility of an attack during this, our most vulnerable of times. The build-up phase is our weakest. There’s no way around it.”

  The king acknowledged with a nod. “Given the threat of assassination the spies report, we will see to it the fyrds are mustered at all times for service, increase our scouts and patrols, and create ample enough distractions for them. I’ve discussed this with Onamingo and Mendaka and they will be of great aid in creating the necessary diversions with the dog soldiers and scouts.”

  Pyrsyrus leaned forward and rested his arms on the polished table. “I have carefully examined the threat of assassination, Fa. The report had some serious flaws. I should not give it much credence, as Going Snake is but a boy of nine winters. It is probable someone has either gotten misinformation or the enemy is deliberately sending disinformation, or they have very poor information.”

  “Perhaps, but I still charge you to maintain vigilance.” Sur Spear said, rolling his fingers on the wooden table while pondering something deeply.

  Sur Sceaf nodded. “As you will, Fa. From this day forth, I shall not give my eyes rest nor let my hand grow idle, until I have raised a fortress and city-state in which none shall dare come to hurt or make afraid.”

  Pyrsyrus added, “And I shall give you a navy such as this world has never known, Father.”

  “That is good, my boys,” Sur Spear said, “I will bequeath to you the services of Muryh the Master Builder, Long Swan the Lore Master, and with Pyrsyrus and Raven’s Tongue as the arms of the sea you will be close to invincible. You, of course, must know, that Rabbi Amschel will likewise be of immense assistance. As I said, the Roufytrof is studying a plan to supply you with all the labor, monies, resources, and skilled craftsmen you could ever hope for. Time is being compressed, my sons, and we must act at a more rapid pace by lengthening our stride and securing our holdings before the Pitter Empire decides before we do that it is time to have our final war.”

  * * *

  Late in the day at the end of the Pink Moonth, Taneshewa was busy digging potatoes with Swan Hilde to see if any had held firm over the long wet winter. Besides Taneshewa, only Lana ever helped Swan Hilde in her gardens and Swan Hilde was close to getting heavy with child. A trumpet blasted from the top of the fortress wall. At almost the same time, a silver harrier came galloping and shouting. “The lord Sur Sceaf has returned from the coasts of Aurvandil. Make ready, the lord Sur Sceaf has returned.”

  Swan Hilde threw her spade to the ground and said, “I must go and prepare, my husband has returned.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Taneshewa said as she threw down her hoe and ran to catch up to her.

  “No, you must not.” Swan Hilde stopped short. “He must not see you until he meets you in the Marriage Tent. Remember what I told you. This evening at twilight the haligwaecca will come for you with her priestesses and they will take you to the Black Tent of Penitence where you shall fast for three days in darkness. None of us may lie with Sur Sceaf until your marriage is consummated and then not until your honeymoon is complete. I just go to greet him and tell him all is in readiness for the nuptials.”

  Swan Hilde put her hand on Taneshewa’s shoulder and smiled. “Be patient, my sister, I know how eager you are, but soon the ceremony will begin and you will be one of us. In the meantime I know I can trust you to finish our task and label which potatoes made it through the winter.”

  Taneshewa felt a sense of deflation. She would defer her hope of seeing Surrey today and grub for potatoes instead. “I’ll be very careful and record what I find, but if it is permissible, tell Surrey I send my love.”

  “For you, Ahy, I will.” Swan Hilde squeezed her hand and ran off.

  * * *

  It was past sundown in Taneshewa’s tipi with Mendaho and her parents. Her nerves were on the edge of exploding expectation. She waited for the rite to start with Mendaho at her side. Even though Paloma had advised her to eat a hardy meal before the rite, she had not been able to swallow a bite. The instructions she had received from Swan Hilde as lore master whirled endlessly over and over in her heart. After waiting so long in anticipation of this moment she did not want to make a mistake.

  Taneshewa complained, “Where is Paloma? The sun has been down for some time. The longer I wait the more nervous I get.”

  “Don’t worry,” Meny said. She handed her a flower for her hair. “They’ll be here any moment.”

  Dancing Rabbit said, “I was so nervous my stomach was filled with feathers on the night of my marriage.”

  Onamingo remarked, “I met with Surrey when he arrived. A herd of buffalo couldn’t hold that man back. I’m sure he’s kicking Paloma out the door right now.”

  Her father’s words seemed prophetic as the lurs droned in the distance, followed by the clang of tiny cymbals.

  Meny said, “I hear bells. They’re coming.”

  Ahy’s mouth went dry and her stomach began to turn.

  “Lady Taneshewa,” it was the voice of Paloma acting as Haeligaweca. Paloma was speaking through a hooded and veiled robe of aubergine colored silk. Her clothes were covered in bells, simulating the sound Valkyries’ armor during flight. Five other priestesses, Sur Sceaf’s other wives, stood with her, waiting to escort Taneshewa. “Come with your bride-sisters to make ready to receive your lord.”

  Her mother gave her one last hug of encouragement. “May the Thunder Beings keep you, my darling.”

  Taneshewa turned to go after the haeligaweca. “Goodbye Mama.” She hugged her father and gave him a kiss, “Goodbye Father.”

  Onamingo released his daughter and said, “May the blessings of the Nunnehi be with you. May your ancestors rejoice in your name and may the Great Spirit always light your way.”

  She hugged Mendaho. “Thank you for helping me stay calm, Meny.”

  Paloma spoke through the cloth of her veiled face. “You and your friends may all visit and rejoice with your daughter on the fifth day in the great hall at Namen Jewell.”

  Onamingo squared his shoulders and said, “We will all be there.”

  Taneshewa left the tipi and presented the robe to Paloma. “This is the marriage robe I was instructed to make for Lord Sur Sceaf.”

  Paloma passed it to one of the other veiled women. Paloma offered her an oil lamp, with trimmed wick as a light unto her feet. She took Taneshewa by the arm and led her. The priestesses followed with their lamps. Many of the Sharaka gathered outside their tipis holding torches to watch the strange procession as Taneshewa moved through the camp in
her white, beaded wedding dress, accompanied by the haligwaecca and her five priestesses, all veiled and attired in their royal purple robes with elaborate gold trim and tinkling bells.

  The whole tribe had gathered to see her off. Little Doe and Sparrow Hawk were smiling and squeezing one another’s hands. The three little girls were standing with Going Snake whose eyes were wide with wonder and Mendaka was nodding his full approval, as was Snake Horse. All the young maidens stared on with admiration.

  The long walk to Namen Jewell was like a dream. No words were exchanged, just the sound of the bells and the gentle rhythmic clang of the cymbals breaking the silence of the night.

  Upon arriving at the fortress, the guards saluted the women as they passed through the gates. On the north side they came upon a secluded and consecrated area, walled off with dark cloth hung from lines going from oak to oak. Black candled blue jars lent an other-worldly light to the air. The Axis deer herd led a drumming beat of hooves as they moved away from the tent and the lamps, and the wisent bull bellowed in the nearby wood. Rising from the earth, the Black Tent looked like a hole in space, representing the Black Sun.

  They halted just outside the tent in another curtained off area where Paloma led her in. Once again, the eery black lights gave a strange atmosphere to the air. A copper tub was steaming with warm water and had an almost blinding sheen to it. Her bride-sisters proceeded to undress her, and she climbed into the large copper tub to bathe. The warmth of the water was pleasant and carried the scent of lavender. The priestesses proceeded to bathe her in perfumed soap. Then assisted her from the tub, towelled her dry, and rubbed perfumed oil smelling of the sweet lemony scent of white magnolia blossoms over her entire body. This they did with a reverence and in utter silence.

  As Taneshewa stood there completely naked, Paloma instructed her one more time before she entered the tent.

  The haligwaecca and each of the bride-sisters hugged Taneshewa. Then the tent flap was opened and Taneshewa entered the pitch darkness and silence of the Holy Tent to the sound of droning lurs. She reflected on how she could now gladly transfer any energy she had ever felt for Standing Bull to Surrey with ease. She was beginning to understand the wisdom of the Herewardi rituals. As Redith had once told her, “The truth will be hidden in plain sight.”

  Chapter 16 : The Veil in the Secret Place

  For three days she fasted in the Tent of Penitence. She examined her life. Her thoughts became crystal clear and fully centered in this, her new life. How greatly my life will change. I will walk out the other side of this tent a Herewardi swan maiden, pronounced of Elven Blood, and take up my place in the Priesthood of Holy Sisters.

  On the fourth day Taneshewa was awakened by the haligwaecca just before dawn and given instructions for the moments when her marriage to Prince Sur Sceaf was to finally be consummated. The haligwaecca and the priestesses gave her a bath in the darkness and once again anointed her body with the perfumed oil of magnolia with the addition of one drop of yew oil by which she was anointed on her forehead.

  After the haligwaecca left, she heard three distinct blasts from the hunter’s horn.

  She felt her way in the darkness to the smooth turquoise Stone of Truth. The carved seat of the stone served her well. She was amazed at how comfortable the stone was, and were it possible, she felt it was emanating a powerful energy of sorts unfamiliar to her senses. During the three days of reflection in the darkness she had contemplated the choicest experiences she had with Standing Bull. All the hopes and dreams she had with him now flowed into the stone. She yearned to transfer every drop of these energies to Surrey. A wave of relief and exultation ran through her like electricity in the air during a summer storm. Her heart quickened, excited to lay eyes on her man.

  Out of the profound darkness a ray of soft yellow light shone through the Daleth Door like the first ray of the sun. It permeated the atmosphere, its golden hue lighting the tent. The golden form of Sur Sceaf appeared like a god before her in the white robe which she had fashioned for him shining brilliantly. He stood on the opposite side of the aubergine veil that separated them, with a lamp in one hand and a sharpened wooden implement in his other. She watched excitedly as he set the items carefully on the trestle table adjacent to the veil and began disrobing.

  His body was most pleasing to gaze upon. Unlike Standing Bull who had always appeared paunchy, Surrey’s muscles rippled like finely tooled hickory. His man parts were well formed and larger than she was accustomed to seeing. As he turned to place the folded clothing on the trestle table, the whip scars had a pattern like wispy clouds across his sun tanned back. Her heart skipped a beat as he approached and she caught a glimpse of his proud manhood sprouting out from between his thighs. Warmth bathed her from head to toe, setting her thighs afire.

  * * *

  Sur Sceaf’s heart pounded in his ears as he heard the blood coursing through his veins like the breath of a race horse. The joy, excitement, and nervous anticipation of going into Taneshewa made him burn with a warm heat that pulsed through his loins.

  In his left hand he held a beeswax lamp. In his right hand he carried the Sacred Thorn of Life, a prescribed implement used for splitting the Flammeum. His beeswax lamp flickered softly through the rosy aubergine-colored muslin veil just enough to allow him a glimpse of Taneshewa’s nude form, as she sat on the Stone of Truth like a sculptor’s rendition of a lovely mermaid.

  He approached her ever so slowly, giving her eyes time to adjust to the light after the three days in darkness she had just undergone. Through the veil, he received encouragement from her inviting smile. He knew she had been instructed that her life must rest on truth before she could ever be raised to a new life through this sacred rite.

  On the trestle table next to the veil, the haligwaecca had placed an alabaster basin of red wine, the Golden Torc of Bonding, and a horn full of sweet golden mead.

  Standing before the Flammeum veil, the wind of his breath made it move ever so slightly. He pressed his lips against the soft scented muslin and whispered, “I will open to you my beloved, if you will open to me.”

  A nervous tremor resonated in Ahy’s voice as she whispered back through the veil from her sitting position, “I will open to you my beloved.”

  Sur Sceaf gripped the Thorn of Life. “Hawthorn hammer of Thor’s protection, shield me and mine. Rip the barrier between our hearts and spirits as we become one of heart and spirit, through this sacred cleavage.”

  How many of my forefathers have held this holy runic implement in their hand? Sur Sceaf wondered.He carefully placed the Thorn of Life, sharp as a serpent’s tooth, in the middle of the omicron letter embossed on the veil, pressed and pierced it. He then rent the taut muslin veil from the center of the omicron all the way to the floor. Cautiously, he stepped through the jagged tear and squeezed into Taneshewa’s presence.

  The scent of sweet white magnolia oil on her skin tantalized his nostrils and caused him to draw in its essence. The gaze of those beautiful smoky grey eyes looked up at him with perfect trust, so beautiful, he had to swallow to keep from weeping for joy. He tore a piece of the veil off, reached back through the veil and sopped it in a dark red wine from the alabaster basin. It symbolized the living blood. For it is of the blood, the water, and the spirit of the Ur Fyr that true love must be birthed.

  He wet his lips with the wine, re-dipped, then touched the sopping muslin to Taneshewa’s warm lips. As he drew even nearer her, she carefully clasped the hieroglyphic shaped hawthorn like one grasps a thick sapling, and he pulled her up to a living perpendicular, where she came face-to-face with him. The warmth of her body passed through him like the sun heats the earth of a newly ploughed field.

  “I pull you out of your old world where you sat alone until you found the truth of our love, and now, I pull you into a new world of light, joy, and perfect joining.”

  As was customary, he laid the Thorn of Life and the lamp on the trestle table, then took up the Golden Omega Torc by one end and plac
ed the other end in Ahy’s hand. He picked up the mead horn, wove an arm through hers, drank, and then gave her to drink of the nectar of the gods. She licked the last drops of the honey-mead from her lips as he spoke her name in a whisper, before calling her by the New Word of Life, “Taneshewa Ithil Aelflaed, my lunar jewel.” As he took her in the royal embrace, her eyes gazed upon him expectantly.

  She took him as he had taken her, and pronounced, “Sur Sceaf Aelfhereward, my Sun King!”

  He looked into the smoky blue pools of her eyes and then at her mead moistened lips, holding her tightly in the intimate grip of the royal embrace. “Oh Holy Womb Mother, my beloved wife, spread over me the canopy of your peace. Give my soul rest in your dark comfort as I travel from west to east. Cover me with the stars of your heavenly love from eve til dawn.”

  Taneshewa responded as she had been instructed by the haligwaecca. “Oh Holy Seed Father, warm me with the rays of your effulgent love. Cause the mound of my belly to rise and give birth to the gods. Cover me with light and warmth as we travel once again together from east to west. Now I invite you to let us become one flesh.”

  His anticipation grew until it became nearly unbearable. He led Taneshewa through the veil into the Daleth Chamber, which had a large feather bed covered with plush furs. Two swans were carved into the headboard, wings spread wide. One wing pointed up, meaning, ‘As in Heaven.’ And one wing pointed down, meaning, ‘So on Earth’. Once they entered together, they would be married, Taneshewa would be adopted into the royal line of Elven blood.

  Sur Sceaf said, “Come with me, my beloved, into the garden of my love where the hawthorn is abloom, where the sun shines, and where the branches of fruit grow heavy, where leaf-grace and flower-glory beckon unto us to lay and dally.”

  He continued, “This tent signifies that all the world is sealed out, and you and I are sealed into a secret garden. So we shall be tied in the bonds of eternal love as were the First Man and First Woman, in an inviolate sacred garden.”