Eternal (11 page)

I stared at him, trying to figure out what he meant.

“
Summer solstice,” Len said. “They celebrate the solstices and equinoxes.”

“
Oh. You mean like religion?”

“
Sort of. Closest thing we have to it is paganism.”

Caeran glanced at her. “Paganism is based on what we taught humans long ago.”

“
So are a lot of our customs,” Len said.

“
But not all.”

She smiled at him. “You going to tell them?”

A slow smile spread on his face as they gazed at each other. “Shall I?”

Len turned pink, which she rarely did. Caeran cleared his throat.

“
Len and I intend to cup-bond at Midsummer.”

Mixed reaction from the cousins. Faranin frowned a little; Lomen smiled and congratulated them. I sat wondering what a cup-bond was.

“
It is a promise of fidelity for a year and a day,” said Bironan.

Dammit. Forgot to shield.

“
OK,” I said. “So, a short-term marriage?”

“
In a sense, yes,” Caeran said. “We do not have marriage—that is a human custom. Our equivalents are the cup-bond and handfasting, which is a life-long commitment.”

“
No divorce, huh? All or nothing?”

He nodded. “That is why we have the cup-bond. It is a way to try commitment without being bound to it forever.”

I remembered Len telling me he'd been married—to the human mother of his children—back in the 1700's. So
ælven
could
marry, except I figured they considered it life-long, like handfasting.

“
Well, congratulations,” I said. “So Midsummer will be a party?”

“
Yes.”

Caeran smiled at Len again, and I looked down at my plate. I was happy for them, but wished I could be as lucky. I still missed Savhoran.

Funny how you can get attached to someone on pretty short acquaintance. Maybe it's true that absence makes the heart grow fonder.

I picked at the rest of my supper and listened to them making plans. The solstice was on the following Wednesday, so Len and I would be working. Caeran asked Faranin and Bironan to watch us while he and Lomen set up the back yard for their Midsummer ceremony. I was mildly intrigued, but it was
ælven
stuff and a lot of it I didn't understand. Still, it was something to look forward to.

I didn't ask if they were going to invite anyone else. They never had other humans over to the house.

Funny thing was, I didn't miss my other friends. None of them were as close as Len.

The cousins were strange sometimes, and they tended to take everything too seriously (except Lomen, who occasionally cracked a joke), but they were OK companions. I'd gotten to where I wasn't constantly comparing myself to them and coming up short.

Wednesday rolled around and Caeran drove me, Len, Faranin and Bironan to campus. I told Len I had stuff to do and asked if she'd mind not meeting for lunch. She probably guessed what I intended, but this was my only chance.

When my lunch break came, Bironan met me at the library doors. “Mind if we run an errand?” I asked him.

He frowned. “What errand?”

“
I want to get Len and Caeran a present. Just at the liquor store—we can walk and be back by one.”

He shrugged and fell in beside me as I started for Central Avenue. The day was hot and I hadn't thought of bringing a hat, so I'd probably get sunburned. Oh, well.

The liquor store had Gruet champagne—OK, sparkling wine, sorry French guys—a great New Mexico wine. I bought a bottle and stashed it in my backpack, then started back up the street with my escort patiently pacing me. I ducked into the campus pharmacy and bought a card, then picked up a junk-food sandwich and munched it on the way back to the library. Bironan said he wasn't hungry.

The afternoon kind of crawled by. I did busy work at my station and couldn't help remembering how last fall the other alben had come right into the library in daylight and abducted Len. I never saw him; Len said he'd worn a hooded sweatshirt pulled forward to protect his face. No reason why the alben girl couldn't do the same. I greeted Bironan with a grateful smile when he met me at the doors at 4:30.

We walked to the parking lot, but Caeran wasn't there so we walked on out to the street. I was just beginning to worry when I saw Len's car coming toward us. I didn't mind squeezing into the middle of the back seat. Safety in numbers.

At home—funny, I was already thinking of it as home—I hurried into the kitchen and hid the champagne in the bottom of the meat bin under all of Caeran's lettuce. Pots were steaming on the stove top, and the smell from the oven made my mouth water.

There were voices talking in
ælven
out in the living room, and when I went out to investigate I saw
Mad
ó
ran standing there chatting with the others.
Nathrin and a woman I didn't recognize but who was obviously one of the clan were there too.

Nathrin saw me hanging back and beckoned to me. He and the woman turned toward me.

“
Mirali, this is Amanda. Amanda, this is Mirali, my partner.”

Partner. OK, good thing I hadn't tried to go for Nathrin.

“
Hi,” I said, remembering not to offer a hand. Hand-shaking was a human thing. The
ælven
clasped arms instead, and they didn't do it that often.

“
Hello,” said Mirali.

“
You guys come down for the ceremony?”

“
Yes,” Nathrin said. “Midsummer is one of our sacred days. It is important to celebrate with kindred.”

I nodded like I knew all that. Mirali looked a little shy and I didn't want to pester her, so I turned to listen to what the others were saying. They had shifted to English;
Mad
ó
ran
was explaining how he'd got a neighbor to drive them down from Guadalupita.

He noticed me listening and turned to me with a smile. “I am glad to see you again, Amanda.”

“
Thanks. It's a nice surprise to see you, too.” I hesitated, feeling myself turning red. “How's Savhoran?”

His face went serious, and he took a second to answer. “The last time I saw him he was well. He has left my house.”

“
Oh.” I was already blushing, so what the hell. “I wrote him a letter…”

Mad
ó
ran
nodded. “It arrived after he left. I kept it for him, but if you wish me to return it—”

“
Oh, no, no. Not important. Just give it to him when you see him again.”

If you see him again. I didn't want to say that.

I cleared my throat. “Would you like something to drink?”

By the time I fetched drinks for him and Nathrin and Mirali, I'd stopped blushing so hard. Everyone made themselves comfortable in the living room, sitting on the floor when they ran out of furniture. I played hostess until everyone had a drink who wanted one, then opened a soda for myself and drifted over to where Len was sitting on the arm of Caeran's chair.

She smiled up at me. I bent down to whisper, “So when does the ceremony start?”

“
Sunset. There'll be a feast after.”

Sunset. As in, night coming. I was surprised Caeran wanted us to be outside after sundown, but then, the yard was fenced, so it was pretty private. And we'd all be together.

Sunset would be late—this was the longest day of the year, I knew that much—which meant that dinner would be late, too. I thought about sneaking a snack to tide me over. Caeran picked up a bowl of nuts from the coffee table and passed it to me.

Thanks.

He smiled and kept on talking. I took a handful of nuts and put the bowl down, and worked on practicing my white light for the rest of the evening.

Eventually Caeran got up and went out back. I collected empty glasses and put them in the kitchen, then returned and saw everyone filing out the back door. I followed.

The yard looked beautiful. It was always nice—lots of shade from the trees and tall flowering bushes along the fences, so it was very private—but now it was pretty enough for a wedding. Paper lanterns hung from all the trees, and a circle had been drawn on the lawn with something white—chalk dust, maybe. Four poles stood spaced around the circle, each holding a lantern of colored glass and wound with ribbons of the same color: yellow, red, blue and green. I could just see the flames of the candles glowing through the glass.

I stood on the back porch staring at it all. The little fountain that Caeran had given Len for her birthday was running, and the sound of the water settled my nerves. The candle on the patio table was lit, flickering inside its glass globe. It was still warm, but a slight breeze cooled the air a little and brought me the smells of candle wax and green grass.

Mad
ó
ran
was standing beneath the yellow lantern at the east side of the circle. He had put on a long, gold robe covered with embroidery around the neck and cuffs, and held a staff that was beautifully carved and decorated with fluttering ribbons. The others gathered around him, and Len beckoned to me to come inside the circle.

I felt a little self-conscious, but I joined them. Fortunately none of them looked at me as if I shouldn't be there. Lomen even smiled, and
Mad
ó
ran
gave me a welcoming nod.

Len came over and whispered in my ear. “I've been to two of these. They're lovely and simple. Nothing to worry about.”

Everyone else quietly chatted while
Mad
ó
ran
stood silent, staring west. Finally he raised his arms, lifting the staff high, and everyone shut up.

We all watched, standing still for a long time until
Mad
ó
ran
struck the staff three times on the ground. He said something in
ælven, then in English he added “Welcome, all, to this Midsummer celebration
.”

He turned around, raised his arms toward the pole with the yellow lantern, and said a bunch more in
ælven
. Then he started walking around the circle, and we followed him. At each of the other poles, he stopped and talked in
ælven
. Len whispered to me again.

“
He's greeting the guardians of the four directions.”

I nodded. I could handle that, if it didn't get too much weirder.

Pagans liked to dance naked, I'd heard. I wondered if that was one of the things they'd learned from the
ælven
.
I wouldn't have minded watching the clan do that, but I'd have been too shy to strip down myself. Also, the yard wasn't
completely
private, and there were laws against indecent exposure. Whether these guys knew about them was another matter.

Mad
ó
ran
reached the yellow lantern again and turned around to face us. He said some more in
ælven
, then added, “This is the longest day of the year. From now until Evennight, the days will grow shorter. May we rejoice in the beauty of summer and the bounty of the harvest to come.”

He finished with a little more in
ælven
, then beckoned Nathrin and Mirali forward. He said some more stuff—looked to me like a blessing—and I wondered if they were doing a cup bond too. Then
Mad
ó
ran
held his hands over Mirali's abdomen and I got it. She was pregnant. Yes, a little baby bump there that I hadn't noticed before.

I looked around at the other
ælven
. All their faces were intense, more than they'd been when we were walking around the circle. They were family, and in that moment I saw that every one of them treasured the unborn baby that Mirali carried.

I guess if it's hard to get pregnant, you care a lot more when someone you know does it. Also, Mirali was the only female
ælven
I'd seen (except for the alben, who didn't count). I wondered if the male-to-female ratio was as skewed throughout the
ælven
population.

Mad
ó
ran
said something and they all answered in
ælven
. Nathrin kissed Mirali's cheek and they moved away, and
Mad
ó
ran
beckoned to Len and Caeran.

It was dusk now and the sky was that glowing blue color that's so magical. The paper lanterns in the trees looked like full moons, filled with soft, golden candlelight. A bird twittered somewhere.

Faranin brought a goblet filled with probably wine, and gave it to
Mad
ó
ran
. He held it forward, and Caeran and Len both took hold of it, their hands overlapping.

“
I promise to be yours and yours alone for a year and a day,” Caeran said.

Len repeated the words, and they each took a sip from the goblet without letting go, then kissed over it.

That was it. The
ælven
all cheered, and broke into laughter and talking. Music started up, and I looked around for the source. It was Lomen, playing a wooden flute. The others started clapping, and suddenly they were dancing in a circle.