Lunamae (23 page)

“What is going on in that head of yours? You
look off,” Theron asked me.

“Just thinking,” I told him.

He looked at me, a little puzzled. “Happy
thoughts, I hope, Muirenn.”

“Hmm.”

“We’ll be in Lesaria in no time. You can rest
and converse with my mother and maybe it will make you less cross
looking,” he said to me.

Lesaria was a blur. Apparently I was not
considered an adult until I bore children. I was completely
separated from Theron just before we reached Lesaria. His parents
could have been kind enough to warn me but they thought I would put
up more of a fight if I knew beforehand of what a Fanarion marriage
would entail. I wonder if my aunt knew. She probably did. Something
more I needed to forgive I guess.

When we arrived at Lesaria, women came around
me with blankets so I could not be seen as I was escorted away. I
was taken to a special bath house where I was given a special
bathing dress to put on and get in. The bath house had a rather
small rectangular area that was built into the floor. I walked into
it and sat down. A few children entered with bath water, pouring it
into the area, making a pool. When the pool was full they left and
an attendant came in to wait on me. I didn’t need waiting on. I was
fully capable of dressing myself and was not comfortable undressing
in front of a stranger.

“I can do fine by myself,” I told the
woman.

“I must help you. I am not allowed to leave
the room until you are ready. If you do not want me here I can turn
my back and hand you items,” she said to me.

“It would be more appropriate that way,” I
responded.

“Not appropriate here,” she retorted.

“Appropriate for
me
,” I commanded. I
didn’t understand why I must conform so much to the customs of this
place. The woman nodded and turned around, handing me first a red
dress—rather simple compared to what I wore in Feyris—and made out
of linen. When I was dressed I allowed the woman to turn around and
help me with the veil she had for me.

“You are to remain veiled until you meet with
Theron.”

“When will that be?” I asked her.

She smiled sweetly and replied, “Why, when
you enjoy the wedding feast of course.”

“I won’t see him when I arrive in Midonia or
when I leave here?” I asked impatiently.

The woman shrugged. “It is our way. He’s
already left in a coach with the Lesarian army as his escort. He
must prepare his house in Midonia for you. You will arrive and meet
him in the courtyard and then go to the dining area. After that you
will be led to his chambers and the guests will wait for you
outside. Hopefully you will have a son.”

“A
what
?” I asked slowly, and perhaps
a little too loud.

“The marriage must be made valid of course,
if you are to live together,” she explained.

“I’m not ready for children.”

“How do you think they are made?” the woman
retorted. “Our magic does not work that way. Children are a
blessing from the gods. We certainly do not want to hinder such a
gift.”

I decided not to go on about it any further.
It was going to happen and there wasn’t anything I could do about
it. No amount of me whining or hiding somewhere in the city was
going to stop these events from happening and I wasn’t about to
shame my husband by running off. The woman led me out of the bath
house and back to my coach where I sat next to my waiting cat who
could tell I was seething in consternation.

Midonia was a horrible nightmare. The ride
there was quiet, except for the purring of Eclipse (I don’t know
what I would do without him). When I arrived, my new mother led me
to the courtyard. She took Eclipse away and told me she would have
someone attend to his every need during the ceremony.

Theron met me and led me into the feasting
area. He didn’t say anything and I didn’t expect him to. He could
tell I was mad, uncomfortable, and confused. He removed my veil and
let me sit down. I ate rather quietly save for minimal conversation
such as “yes” and “no”. I wasn’t in the mood to talk. I wasn’t in
the mood to eat. The only thing I wanted to do was find a quiet
corner and cry. I let my mind wander and thought about Lunamae and
she would have had to go through all this if she married Alexo.
Alexo, she didn’t even know. She wasn’t as strong as I was. I had
been through much. I had seen the travesties of war. Perhaps the
Creator chose me to do this because Lunamae couldn’t take it. Maybe
he had answered my prayer in a twisted way.

Once the feast was over, the guests did
indeed follow us to Theron’s room. Theron and I went inside and the
door was shut and locked. It certainly wasn’t quiet though. There
was singing and banging on the door as we were left alone.

“What is going on?” I asked him, nervously.
He took my hand and held it, softly caressing my palm with his
fingers.

“They are singing to the gods for you to bear
a son. The banging is to keep evil out from the room so the gods
can bless our union.”

“So we must be ‘united’, then?” I asked him.
It was an odd wedding ceremony. I suppose this is the ceremony part
of it. I liked the style of Feyris much better. I liked the Creator
and Teacher much better. I wanted to go back home only I realized
this
was
my home.

“It is required,” he told me softly. I could
barely hear him with all the banging and singing but at least the
door was thick.

“How do they expect people to be intimate
with the ruckus they are making outside?”

He pulled me close and held me. “Don’t think
about them. Just think about us. I love you Muirenn. I can
understand if you want to hate me and this place right now but I
promise I will be good to you and if you don’t want to live here
you don’t have to. When I become king I will change the rules for
us. It can be different. Now that I know of the Creator, this seems
so wrong and forced. It doesn’t feel like a marriage. I am glad we
had the kind we did in Feyris. Otherwise I don’t think I could go
through with this. I know you don’t like it and I don’t like it
either. I know you are going to be mad at me for not telling you
about the way we do weddings here but I truly didn’t know my
parents required us to do it until they arrived in Feyris. I
thought the wedding in Feyris would have been enough. They wouldn’t
let us be alone together at night unless you were married to me the
Fanarion way. They didn’t consider us to be alone in the coach
since there was a driver there but if we were in Lesaria or Midonia
or traveling to Aelisonia … I just didn’t have the heart to tell
you.”

I couldn’t help but feel his pain, looking at
me and wanting to be with me and feeling as though I didn’t want to
be with him. So I stopped resisting and gave in.

A baby boy didn’t happen although we spent
long enough trying. I knew there wasn’t anything wrong with me
because Theron would have healed me. I started to really understand
what it meant to love someone by seeing how Theron felt and
expressed his love with me.

We spent a month in Midonia before Theron
asked permission to leave for Aelisonia. He knew I wanted to leave
and since we had already planned the trip, it seemed appropriate. I
had begged to not go through Lesaria to get to Lermeri. I didn’t
want to be reminded of my time there. Theron suggested we take the
path near the coast instead. It would be longer and there would be
no stopping on the way to rest, but I agreed to it.

It was nice to journey past the coast. The
sea breeze was welcoming. The coaches of Fanarion were a bit
different than the ones we used in Feyris to get to Midonia. They
didn’t have roofs over the coach so we were exposed to the
elements. Because of my light skin, Theron made sure I had a
thurasol to keep me covered. It made little sense to me considering
he could just heal me with every touch. I missed Eclipse though. I
wasn’t able to take him because of the design of the coach. I
figured it would be too risky. If Eclipse caught sight of any
edible creature he would be bounding out and be turned over to his
own instincts and the only way to retrieve him was to kill the
creature for him or let him do his business with it which could
take some time since he fancied playing with his meals for hours
before indulging his little stomach.

“I have been meaning to ask you something,”
Theron said to me as we rounded the coastline and started going
inland.

“What is it?” I wondered.

“If your uncle was of the Clan Vorkulsen and
your aunt was of Frys, and Feyris is where Frys is, I don’t see why
he ruled there. It makes more sense he would take Angharad to Moir
Awin to lead,” he asked me. The question rarely comes up anymore
since all the clans knew why.

I began to recount the story. “Angharad’s
father was the ruler and after he and his wife died, the rule went
first to Angharad. When Leofric was of age, his parents were given
the choice to have the altram with a different clan rather than
their own. It was highly unusual of course. In fact, I don’t think
anyone ever had done that. The village of Pinor welcomed him in.
There was one day when Leofric was out working the fields to make
hay for the family when Angharad’s father was out hunting. He was
attacked by bandits and Leofric came to his aid. He only had a
pitchfork and scythe nearby from working but the scythe did its
work. It needs to be very sharp to take care of the grass but the
sharp part of the blade is on the inside. Leofric had to be a
whirlwind, running around the bandits and tearing out their
insides.”

“That sounds horrible,” Theron said,
horrified. I could tell he was imaging the gruesome scene—blood
spraying in all directions and men screaming in agony. As a healer,
it wasn’t something he liked to hear.

“It was all he had. The chief was amazed at
his bravery and the fact he helped a complete stranger. Leofric had
never been to Feyris before. He told Leofric he was welcome in
Feyris at any time and would be an honorary member of the Frys
family. It was because of this that he both courted Angharad and
was given the clan when the old chief died. Obviously the Vorkulsen
clan was surprised of his decision but it strengthened the bonds
between their clans. It still is strong.”

“The marriage was arranged, though?” Theron
asked me. I knew what he was getting at.

I replied, “Yes it was, Angharad was
something of a gift but it was ultimately her choice on whether she
married Leofric. They didn’t know each other as well as we do.”

“I just feel bad about not explaining all the
details of my culture to you. Our wedding was something I’d like to
erase from your memory if I could. The one in Midonia I mean,” he
said to me. “It will all be better soon. We’ll be in Lermeri by
nightfall and you can get some rest. I think you’ll like Lermeri. I
doubt you’d have seen anything like it. It towers high and is the
color of sand. It’s all made of stone and is cut out of it.
Slievenamon is very similar in the way it was built. I am told they
were the twin cities of the mountains from Old Orinda. They are old
cities and Lermeri has less of the original workmanship left
intact. The sea air has not been kind. The new construction was
built out of different materials, and were designed to wear better.
It isn’t as large as Slievenamon anymore.”