Paloma grinned at Lana, “Irresistible, like her mother.”
Sur Sceaf nodded, “Paloma speaks the truth, as always. I was fortunate to win your hand before any of the other young bloods took note.”
“Well, I guess so, she was only fifteen,” Paloma reminded him.
“While thou wast an old lady of seventeen.” Lana teased. They shared a laugh.
“Well, I am happy I made you my first bride-sister. I’ve never had any regrets about that. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Nor I, my dear.” Lana said as she gave a side hug to Paloma. “You enjoy your day with your man while I get back to work.”
When they were alone again, Sur Sceaf said, “Well, my dear it seems as if all is well in our kingdom.”
“All is well, my lord. We’re working out our kinks, but it’s helped to stick to the patterns we followed in Namen Jewell. The Hickoryans were very respectful of us while they were building and kept in their own camp. Wudu took sick with a sour tummy when we first got here, but a few doses of Redith’s special potion along with goat colostrum, and he’s doing fine now. As you saw, Ev’Rhett and Russell have managed not to kill each other or anybody else yet. Swan Hilde is warming up to Ahy. Faechild is ecstatic her father lives and can’t wait to have Ilker see her children. Shining Moon is her usual peace-keeping self. Lifelf broke his thumb while trying to stop a charging ram. And we bride-sisters are thrilled with the new homes you had built for us. Of course there are more things to report, but I will let my sisters tell you in their turn. We don’t want to overwhelm you on your first day back.”
“I will relish hearing them. For too long I have dealt with nothing but construction, labor issues, and disputes. You wouldn’t believe how many things people can argue about.” He grinned and added. “But now that I think of it, you probably could.”
“But family issues are nothing like you have to deal with.”
“There will always be disagreements. What bothers me the most is the spirit in which these disputes have been approached. Instead of a spirit of camaraderie, there’s a spirit of contention and back biting. It’s not the right spirit. It got so bad for a while that when I closed my eyes to sleep, all I could see were stones getting carried, stones being chiseled, and stones getting placed, and men arguing. The Hickoryan carpenters were arguing with the Quailor carpenters. Both the Quailor and Hickoryans call Muryh a slave driver, and there are even times I would have to agree. I’ve had to overrule him on two occasions where he didn’t want the men to take lunch. There was a whole day’s work stoppage over pointed arches versus rounded arches in the palace. When Muryh couldn’t resolve it, I had to resolve it.”
“How did you resolve it?”
“I had to favor the pointed arches for their aesthetic value.”
“Are things going more smoothly with the fortress?”
“You would not believe how fast things are getting done. We have had over forty thousand laborers working steadily in shifts day and night without halt since their arrival. The walls are complete and Muryh is now directing the building of the city within. Father has been shipping new waves of craftsmen weekly and with each ship he is supplying us with the stone they had stockpiled for Ur Ford. So all and all I have to say things are going very well.”
“That’s as I would expect with you in charge.”
“Well, I keep the failures undercover.”
“Speaking of undercover--” Paloma grabbed Sur Sceaf by the hand and said, “Come, I’ve got to show you the pigeons.”
Just as they got to their feet, Brekka returned without Hella and asked, “Can I come?”
Paloma answered with a smile. “No honey, not this time, I have some urgent matters I must speak to your father about, in private. Perhaps you could help Taneshewa with the geese. Tell her to make sure the glaze caramelizes before she pulls the geese out of the oven.”
“Alright!” Brekka threw her arms up. “Adults, always working us to the bone.”
Arm and arm Sur Sceaf and Paloma walked out of the mess hall down the path through a paw paw grove. They paused to look at the paw paws. Sur Sceaf declared, “All we need is a drop in temperature and these paws will ripen fast.”
Paloma said, “One of the Hickoryans told me he was astounded that paw paws were growing here and if you study them, they are in neat rows.”
“Xelph is convinced that much of this island bears the touch of intelligent design.”
Paloma gave a startled look, “Does that mean there are people on the island?”
“Anything is possible, especially since we have no idea how large this island may be. But so far we have seen no natives of any kind here.”
“Well, if they are, I sure hope they are friendly.”
“If there are people here, what would make them abandon all this produce and resources? I’m thinking somehow this all ties back into the Amerikans, but how old are these paw groves?”
“A good question,” Paloma said as they continued down the path.
They approached a row of twelve stone cotes with conical slate roofs. Paloma explained, “I, at first, thought we should have wooden cotes, but the Hickoryan master builder convinced me stone would serve much better. As you can see, each of these buildings was designed to house a hundred pigeons or more. At the moment we have them only half filled. This first pigeon tower contains my favorite, the white pletinckx. They will out fly anything.”
She opened the door to the first cote; the stone floor had been recently swept.
Sur Sceaf glanced around with great interest. “Well, the stone work is good and true. The slate tight the runnels provide good drainage. There are plenty of nest boxes, and the pigeon windows are perfect for air circulation. Looks like the ideal loft to me.”
They walked out and Paloma closed the door behind them before they moved on to the second cote. Sur Sceaf took note of the black sun hex sign on the door, the same hexad that Lana had painted on the door of her house. “Obviously, this cote belongs to Lana.”
“Yes, but she prefers the skycutters and claims, ‘those birds will fly straight unto the gods with our prayers, chust like butterflies.’”
Sur Sceaf laughed. “You sound exactly like her.”
“I can’t tell you how much I love her. She is my strength when you are gone. I know I can always count on her covering for me when I have to go to the Council of Women. She’s never once even given me a mumbling word. Not a mumbling word.”
“Don’t you wish you could say the same for Swan Hilde?”
“God love her, I do. Let us just say she can be a porcupine at times and usually when you’re least expecting it.”
As soon as Sur Sceaf opened the sturdy door of the third coup, white wings filled the air. Inside they found Dinah the Arap had just emptied her water bucket into a large clay drinking bowl.
“Dinah, join the family in the hall. Ary will finish this tonight. We’re celebrating our lord’s return today.”
Sur Sceaf upon noticing Dinah said, “I’d forgotten how pretty she is. How is she working out? Is she happy?”
“She seems quite happy. All your older sons find her beautiful, but Arundel has struck up a relationship with her. Her poor father wants her to marry someone of her own tribe who was much much older, but she refused. She told me, ‘I want a man to marry, not a big hairy troll.’ So she’s chosen from her own heart to pursue our young Prince Arundel.”
Sur Sceaf raised his eyebrows. “I thought he was smitten with the twin sisters of Ilkchild.”
“He is.”
“Yes, I remember now. Ary said something to Ilkchild about pursuing an exotic beauty. Said he was also courting Macbah on the coast. You’d think with all his gathering of fiances he’d want to eat some of the fruit, but no, he’s just filling his basket and waiting.”
“As far as I know, he’s courting, but not proposing any dates. Nowhere near as eager as you were. I swan swear, he and Long Swan better get serious about marriage or all the
women are going to be spoken for and the ones he has are going to start jumping off his stringer soon.”
“But he’s only seventeen, Paloma. Believe me, he’s eager, he just possesses far more wisdom than most young bloods.”
“Perhaps, but remember you were seventeen when you married me. I don’t want him getting as old as Long Swan with no children. Goodness, Long Swan’s balls are probably all dried up by now from no use.”
“Is there a betrothal promise between them?”
“Not yet, but I believe it is forthcoming. Not only is she beautiful, she is very good with pigeons and you know how Ary loves his birds. When she showed him her gyrfalcon, they could not help falling in love, along with all the time they had spent together. She has even gotten involved in his terrier hunts. I too, have much enjoyed her company. She’s smarter than your average girl. That’s why I took her on. After all she’ll be family someday. Thought it best to start her out as a handmaid so that if she had any flaws they’d surely manifest under the pressure, but no, she maintains a sweet and personable nature through the roughest of times. She’ll make a wonderful daughter.”
“Oh really, so she has agreed to accept the Forty-Four Laws of our belief?”
“Not yet. The Araps seem to have a strong problem with mingling in marriage with what they call infidels. If she does marry Arundel, she may have to be cut off from her family, same as Lana was.”
“Not this again. I hadn’t thought there were anymore religions in the world and now here comes another. Is there no end to them and must they all be so damned exclusive? Let’s hope it will turn out as well for her as it ultimately did for Lana.”
“It may be difficult. Seems her father is some sort of kalandar, kind of like a spirit chief. But enough with the pigeons and religions, I had another reason for bringing you here.”
Sur Sceaf started to answer amid all the cooing and flapping of wings, and then Paloma saw a gleam come into Sur Sceaf’s eyes. “Oh you did, my dear? And what was that?”
Not bothering to answer with words, she planted a passionate kiss on his mouth and began frantically unbuttoning his clothing.
“What here? Standing in the pigeon cote?” he said between kisses.
“Where else could be better, my darling, than to make love standing here under the very wings of love.” She leapt up into his arms and wrapped her legs around him.
“I can see, I am needed here at home more often.”
* * *
When Sur Sceaf and Paloma returned to the mess hall everyone had already taken their places at the various tables. Only three chairs were empty with two at the head of the main banquet table and the third which was held in reserve for the All Father Woon was positioned at the opposite end. The boards were all but groaning from the excess of dishes filled with the succulent vittles. The smell of roast goose glazed in truffles, pumpkin, and chanterelles filled the air. As Sur Sceaf escorted Paloma to her seat, he noted her face was still flushed and her eyes still shining. In fact she almost appeared intoxicated which gave him a profound sense of pride and satisfaction.
Arundel addressed them as they sat. “What in the world took you all so long. Were the pigeons putting on a display?”
Paloma glanced at Sur Sceaf. “Your father was just very interested in looking at them and had to handle each one of them,” she dismissed coyly with a smile. “It was, I must say, a heavenly flight.”
“Did you show him the Syr pigeons I bred from crossing Pletinckx with Srebrniak pigeons?” Arundel inquired. “And what about the Kelebeks, Wieners, and Swifts?”
“I’m afraid we tended to much more pressing business, dear.”
Arundel leaned forward and addressed his father. “Fa, I must show you the roller pigeons Dinah and I’ve bred. They roll out of the sky like a ball of lightning. When viewed from the front during a roll their wings form a perfect letter H. When viewed from the side they form a perfect O. Tell me these birds do not have the signature of holiness in their blood?”
“Good work, son. You are a good husbandman.”
Sur Sceaf studied Paloma’s beautiful face framed by the golden ringlets of her blond hair and proffered her some hot mead to drink. He smiled warmly at her and said, “Drink deeply of this, my blue-eyed darling.” After she partook, he wiped away the excess nectar from her full carmine lips with his finger.
Redith and Sagwi bracketed them on either side at the head of the table.
In a twinkling, his revery was broken by Faechild reaching over and lovingly swatting Ilkchild for filching a chanterelle from the platter. “You know better. What kind of example are you setting for the children?”
Milkchild warned. “Faechild, you might as well try to stop the river Hrus from flowing as to attempt to stop boys from piecing before a feast.” She looked over at Godgifu and Ethelflaeda with a cocked eye. “My dears, I fear you have much work cut out for you in the taming of this barbarian.”
Ethelflaeda smiled, “That’s what we liked about him. But by and by we will bring him under our thumb.”
Ary jested, “It won’t be long till they have you collar trained, Ilky.”
“At the rate you’re going, at least I’ll have grandchildren by the time you’re having children.” Ilkchild punched Ary in the shoulder.
Sur Sceaf saw it was time to intervene, considering things kept escalating. “Knock it off boys,” he said, giving them a stern look, “this is not a fighting rink!”
Sur Sceaf’s third son, Elwod of Faechild’s hearth offered, “Oh, oh, fa is back!”
Sur Sceaf sat back in his large wooden chair and reminisced on when Faechild was pregnant with Elwod. She had attended a passion play in Ur Ford where she met Milkchild, the daughter of Rabbi Amschel. They were both nearly the same age and discovered they had a passion for theater. No time passed before they were the best of friends. In fact Faechild had invited Milkchild to her home for a visit. He had known her as a child, but now she had grown into a fine woman. Her father had married Sur Sceaf’s sister, Turfrida. Consequently, he made it a point to make more frequent trips to see Turfrida and had Faechild arrange for Milky to be there. That was when he fell in love with her pleasant mannerisms and keen intellect. He discovered, she too, had studied Kabballah and the two of ladies would test their pearls of knowledge on him. It was not long after that when the bride-sisters elected her to be his fifth wife. Once again he marveled at the intricate web the Norn Sisters had woven for him in the numerous strands that connected him all over the kingdom.
“Before we say grace, I would like to welcome our charming guest Dinah, a friend of us all, and I also welcome the young blood Sigmund of Shasta, who will soon join the family as the husband of our beloved Aryfae.”
Sigmund blushed a fiery red and bowed his head in thanks.
“Now, the Prince Arundel will ask the blessings of the gods on our food and conversations. All stand and join hands.”
Arundel arose, crossed his arms, and glanced at the empty chair at the table. “All Father Woon, we are most grateful for all the deliverances thou hast wrought in our favor. We are thankful that thou hast led us to this sacred isle, blessed us with our loved ones, and given us of the bounty of the land. Bless us that we may realize all of our righteous desires and have the Norns guide us to noble ends. So mote it be.”
Sur Sceaf thanked Arundel. He noticed that Dinah looked a bit troubled and hoped she would overcome her discomfiture. He turned his attention back to his sons.
“Aelfheah, would you carve the geese at this table and Elwod, you carve the geese at the other tables.”
His sons, considering this a special honor jumped up and began their tasks immediately.
As they began passing the dishes, Sur Sceaf inquired, “Milkchild, how goes your writings?”
“They are going very well, my love.” She spooned up some pumpkin onto her plate. “Redith, Swan Hilde, and I, as priestesses in the Elder Moot, are diligently working on piecing together the histories and tales that have been
discovered in the ruined cities on the main land, but oddly, Mendaho has been the most help. She reads well and is so diligent in solving connections we’d never make. Occasionally Paloma has helped. From what we’ve gotten thus far, we believe there have been many times in the past when civilizations have collapsed never to rise again. It seems we have only inherited the ashes of these former civilizations and we have come to believe there must have been a great ancient civilization that lived in the Golden Age of the Elves.”
Godgifu asked, “If I may ask, Lady Milkchild, what is your mission exactly?”
Milkchild looked thrilled to be asked. “Our mission is to fulfill the Elven prophecy that, ’there shall be a leveling up and a leveling down when all knowledge ancient and modern shall rest on this people as its stewards.’ Even my father talks about the mythical city called Jerusalem, but no one knows where this place is or if it truly exists on the ea-urth. Perhaps as we continue our studies we may find more evidence of its actual existence. After all, it was only recently discovered that there were dolmens on a mound next to Big Springs.”
Godgifu said, “I find all this most interesting and I would be glad to assist in this project in anyway I could.”
The meal was truly a festive board. Sur Sceaf had thoroughly enjoyed himself as had the others. The geese were eaten down to nothing but bones and everyone praised Taneshewa. While dessert was being served, Paloma stood up to her full blond stature. She was fairer than the freshest snow with rosy cheeks, sky blue eyes, and lips of cherry-red. She announced, “This is our first family feast together in our new home. We are blessed to be in a new land with many wonders that we have yet to discover. As with all places there may be trials and tribulations along the way, but as long as we have family we can conquer anything.
“As I look around the table I see representatives from all three tribes. This tells me that we three tribes can indeed become one great family some day. We are so happy to have our lord safely home from his labors and travels, and stand ready to support him in the difficult road that lies ahead for him.” She turned to smile down at him. “My lord, we have missed you so much and each of your brides is eager to have your company. And because our newest bride-sister has spent so little time with you, I am going to trade my gentian blue stick for Ahy Taneshewa’s dandelion yellow stick.”
The Isle of Ilkchild (The King of Three Bloods Book 4) Page 34