Ellida (48 page)

Before a stunned Betty and James could
respond, Maggie exploded. “What!? You promised you’d wait until I’m
ready! How could you do this to me? I’m not marrying you!”

“Calm down, Maggie. I said I’d wait, and I
will, but now we are engaged, sort of, and I want James and your
mother to know my intentions are honest.”

Recovered from the shock, James grumbled,
“They better be, young man, otherwise—”

“Of course they are!” Rowena cut in. “My son
is an honorable man.”

“And you’d better not rush her with the
wedding. My daughter is way too young to get married.”

“James, stop it this instant!” Betty
snapped.

“What, Betty? She’s barely twenty!”

“I’ll be twenty two in December, Dad. And I’m
not getting married tomorrow, for crying out loud!”

“You surely are not!”

My mother’s eyebrows drew dangerously
together. “James, enough! Give them a break! Darius’s still waiting
for our answer!”

“Wait a second, mom,” Maggie’s said, casting
Darius a long hard look. “Listen to me, Darius. What’s your last
name again?”

“Officially, it’s still Withali.”

She rolled her eyes. “I know that. I meant
your real last name. The last name of your father?”

“Arenvald.”

“Listen to me, then, Darius Arenvald. This is
going to be a long engagement, understand?”

“Yes, Maggie,” he said and kissed her temple.
“I totally understand. We’ll get married when you’re ready.”

“She’ll keep him in line, you can see that,”
I heard Astrid from behind.

“James? Do we have your and Betty’s
blessing?” Darius repeated his question, unconcerned with the
entire ruckus he’d stirred up.

My father finally managed the semblance of a
smile. “You do.”

“Thank you.” He smiled at Rowena. “Mother? Do
we have your blessing as well?”

“Of course you do, son!”

“Thank you, Mom. That’s about it, then. Thank
you all. Jack, a special High Council session is scheduled for 6
p.m.,” he said in a business-like tone. “You, James, Arnaldur,
Einhamir Robert and Ahmed are invited to join us.”

The news about Darius’ real parentage had
spread like wildfire. He was well-respected and popular anyway, so
the Copper Ridge officials were about to offer Darius the position
of the clan’s Einhamir.

“Let’s go, then,” I said.

“Betty, why don’t you, Maggie and Anwen stay
here to keep an eye on Rowena and Astrid?” Ahmed suggested.
“They’ve promised to take it easy, but I don’t trust either of
them.”

My mother laughed. “Don’t worry, Ahmed. I
will lock the door and throw away the key.”

“Good job, Ahmed!” I said and bent down to
kiss Astrid.

At that moment, the door opened one more time
and Peyton and Ingmar rushed in.

“James, they told me we’d find you here,”
Ingmar said, panting. He moved his eyes to my mother. “Rowena, nice
to see you. I don’t know if you remember me. I’m Ingmar Mortensen,
Astrid’s friend. And this is Peyton, my fiancée.”

Fiancée?

“Another zero-to-one hundred in five
seconds!” I said, repeating the words Astrid had used once to
describe her own concerns about the speedy progress of our
relationship. Astrid smiled back and blew me a kiss.

“I do remember you, Ingmar,” Rowena said.
“It’s good to see you again. Hello, Peyton. I’m happy to see
you.”

“Hello, ahem, Rowena.”

Ingmar turned his attention to my father.
“James, you’ve been like a father to Peyton all these years. I’m
asking you for permission to marry her.”

“What!? When!?” several of us said at the
same time.

“Tonight.”

Oh, I loved this family!

I LOOKED around the room filled with my
family and smiled in amazement. What a development! Two proposals
in ten minutes, one of them to be carried out this night!

“Oh, I love this family!” Jack said,
laughing.

My heart swelled with love.

The men would take care of the ceremonial
part. The hard part was left to us women—to find a wedding dress,
shoes and flowers and everything else in this chaos. A piece of
cake.

Before we started, I wanted to do something
else.

I phoned Morgaine and ask her to come and
join Peyton and me in a small room next to my mother’s.

“I’ve decided to sentence Heather to exile
for a ten-year term,” I said when she came in. “Ellida, do you
agree to take her with you to Gelltydd Coch?”

Morgaine nodded. “Of course, Ellida.”

Peyton stood beside the window, motionless
and silent, in the semi-darkness of the fading daylight.

“Her werewolf and wizard powers will be
temporarily neutralized, and for the duration of her sentence,
she’ll be like a human,” I said. “Morgaine, you’ll need to do that.
I still don’t know how, and I can’t do it anyway in my condition. I
firmly believe Heather can become a better person. After she serves
her sentence, if she truly changes, she’ll get her immortality and
her wizard powers back.”

“As far as we’re concerned, she’ll get a fair
chance to turn her life around, Astrid.”

“Thank you, Morgaine. She’s awake now. I’m
going to see her now. I’m sending her back to Red Cliffs tonight.
She’ll be under house arrest until you’re ready to go.” I looked at
my friend. “Are you coming, Peyton?”

Peyton took my hand and squeezed it. “Stay
with me, will you?”

“No need to ask.”

A CHEERY bunch of women gathered around
Peyton, trying to do the impossible: to pull off a wedding in just
a few hours.

“We’ve decided to stay here, in Copper
Ridge,” Peyton said and looked at me in the vanity mirror. I was
straightening her dark curls, this time with the help of a hair
dryer and a round brush.

“I know,” I said and swallowed hard. I was
sure Peyton would be the mother of the future Copper Ridge Ellida,
so she had to stay here, but my heart sank nonetheless.

“Darius and Jack said the first thing they’d
do would be to build a new expressway between the towns. It’ll be
only for us. Humans won’t be aware of it. It’ll be less than a half
hour drive between Red Cliffs and Copper Ridge,” Peyton said and
then sighed. “I’m going to miss you nonetheless.”

I found her eyes in the mirror and smiled.
“Me too. You know you are my best friend ever, don’t you?”

She nodded. “Thank you, Astrid, for saving
Heather’s life.”

“She saved herself, Peyton, by being ready to
give her life for mine. Exile’s a harsh sentence, but it’s also an
opportunity. I’m sure she’s not going to waste it. Don’t think
about it now. It’s your wedding night. I don’t want anything to
spoil it for you.”

INGMAR HADN’T proposed on impulse. He’d had
the ring ready. Among her rarely used gowns, my mother found an
elegant beige dress for Peyton. I did her hair and makeup. Maggie
had Andy fly her in the chopper to Red Cliffs. She came back with a
small treasure: a nice bouquet of ivory rosebuds, several dozen
long-stemmed pink roses and four crystal vases, a brand new pair of
pretty white satin shoes, twelve bottles of champagne, Betty’s best
white damask tablecloths and silver candlesticks. She even brought
a dress and shoes for me.

Amilla and Arina had brought an elegant
porcelain dining set, cutlery and crystal glasses. Chef Herzog,
bless his heart, sent in a small, beautifully decorated wedding
cake, along with a long train of trays with sandwiches, wraps and
salads.

Darius, whose current job of acting Einhamir
included marriage commissioner duties, performed the ceremony.
Before he could even start it, though, my uncle made Peyton and
Ingmar promise him to have a big, formal wedding in Red Cliffs.

“I wouldn’t dream of cheating you out of a
wedding party, James,” Peyton said, laughing. “Especially when your
own daughter’s not planning to get married soon, and with your
niece being reluctant to tie the knot.”

“I’m not reluctant. Jack and I are getting
married in September,” I said defensively and glanced at Jack.

“Astrid, I thought we agreed to get married
this spring, as soon as the baby is born,” Jack said. “You
promised.”

“Okay, but then forget about a honeymoon. I’m
not leaving my two month old baby with my milk frozen in bags.”

“Why don’t you two get married before she’s
born, then? Let’s say, end of November?” James said.

Uh-oh. His eyes sparkled with excitement, and
I didn’t like it. “Because I want to wear a nice and tight white
sheath and four-inch heels,” I said. “And if you drop this subject,
Uncle, I promise to let you plan the whole wedding, except my dress
and Jack’s tuxedo. How about that?”

“So, September, and I’m in charge?”

“September and you are in charge.”

My uncle grinned and gave me a high-five.
“Then you’ve got yourself a deal, sweetheart.”

PEYTON AND Ingmar were married in a small,
private ceremony in Arina’s house. Maggie and I were Peyton’s
bridesmaids and Gerard was Ingmar’s best man.

Uncle James walked Peyton into the room.

Hastily picked attire and mismatched
accessories notwithstanding, Peyton was the prettiest bride I’d
ever seen. When Darius asked, “Who gives this woman to be married
to this man,” James’ clear, proud voice trembled ever so slightly
when he said, “She gives herself freely, with my love and
blessing.” He gave Peyton to Ingmar and took a seat next to Betty,
reserved for the parents of the bride.

Ingmar and Peyton’s wedding became a part of
the town’s celebration that lasted all night. Just before dawn, a
rocket-propelled fireworks display lit the skies. For more than
thirty minutes the night erupted with colors and shapes, noise and
smoke.

“I never thought there would be fireworks on
my wedding day,” Peyton said happily. “This is wonderful!”

THE NEXT morning, Copper Ridge citizens
continued with rebuilding their town and their lives.

Livia’s Tel-Urughs stayed for only a few more
days, as well as our friends from Winston. The children were
especially disappointed when Maxwell Wallace, their impromptu
soccer coach, gathered them for one more game together, and told
them he had to leave. He promised his small teammates that he would
come to visit them soon.

Adam Mackenzie was also getting ready to
leave.

“Do you really need to go?” I asked. I liked
Jack’s good-humoured, easygoing friend. “We’re going back to Red
Cliffs in a couple of days. Why don’t you stay with us over the
holidays?”

“I got a new assignment. But ye know what? I
think I’m ready to retire, just like that future husband of yours.
My partner’s getting hitched, and my job isna fun without him.
Besides, I’m also thinking about settling in a small, quiet
mountain town wi’ pretty lasses and fine ski runs.”

I laughed and hugged him. “Oh, we’re happy we
fit the profile! You’ll be more than welcome, Adam! And just in
case you don’t move here permanently by September, promise you’ll
come to our wedding.”

“Nay, lass, I wouldna miss it for
anything.”

ELLIDA ARIEL and my cousin Eamon were often
seen together these days, working on various projects, until
Winston’s Ellida and her people departed.

As it happened with bonded couples, Maggie
and Darius had become inseparable. They both seemed to enjoy their
verbal sparring and battles of wits, but they genuinely loved and
respected each other.

Darius had refused the position of the Copper
Ridge clan’s new leader, but he agreed to act as a temporary
Einhamir, until the new one was elected.

His decision, although not unexpected, could
have caused a small political crisis. It was crucial to get a new
Einhamir elected as soon as possible, yet none of the nine Copper
Ridge Captains seemed to possess the necessary leadership charisma.
Darius and Rowena were Copper Ridge’s true leaders. He didn’t want
to be Einhamir, and she was barred by her gender.

Ahmed thought otherwise.

“There is one person among you who’s more
than capable of being the Einhamir,” he said to the Council after
their third, unsuccessful vote for a new leader. “Rowena.”

Darius told me later that the Council was so
stunned that for the longest moment nobody said a word. He, along
with Jack and James, who were present there, weren’t surprised
since Ahmed had told them about his idea and asked them to support
it.

“Think about her role all these years and
what she’s done for Copper Ridge,” Ahmed continued. “She’s been
your unofficial leader for more than twenty years. She could’ve
left, but she didn’t. She stayed here to share this difficult and
dangerous life with you. It was Rowena and Darius who kept this
town together and organized the coup. He doesn’t want to be
Einhamir. He’s never wanted it. And that’s fine. Rowena’s going to
be the greatest leader you’ve ever had.”

“Never in our history has a woman been chosen
for Einhamir,” Walter Leigh, the oldest Council member, said.

“There’s a first time for everything. Be
first, and take pride in it. Rowena’s your best choice, you all
know it.”

“Will she consider it?” Walter said. “I don’t
think she seeks that kind of power.”

“Reluctant leaders are among the best,” James
interrupted. “Precisely because of that lack of a desire for
power.”

“We don’t know anything about her future
plans.”

“You know I’m Rowena’s bond-mate,” Ahmed
said. “Talk to her. She wants to stay here. I’ll help her. And she
has you.”

After a short debate, the Copper Ridge
Council had decided to offer my mother the position of the clan’s
Einhamira
.

Rowena Elizabeth Vandermeer, an asanni by
birth and a bleithast by choice, had become the first female Alpha
leader in our history.

BY THE end of the week, things had settled
down in Copper Ridge. The town still looked bleak after decades of
neglect and there were signs of hardship everywhere, but now there
was hope and a future. Nothing seemed too difficult or impossible.
The houses and buildings were repaired and painted in bright
colors, the roads fixed, the central square paved. Ahmed supervised
the hospital’s renovation. He, the Mortensens, the Blakes and my
grandparents covered all the expenses. The old building was
remodeled according to current standards and a new wing was
erected, windows and doors replaced and a new heating system
installed. Soon enough the old building had been transformed into a
modern medical center.