Lunamae (31 page)

What?
I wondered to myself. I could
see clearly as he was facing me.
This is Marcus
. Her beloved
was now her husband. I couldn’t help but allow tears to flow from
my eyes. No amount of reassuring myself I wouldn’t cry would work,
I knew. This secret and forbidden love they shared could now be
public. They no longer had to be chaperoned or scrutinized or
scolded to not think of themselves in the future as being together.
It would also seem as though the Creator had fully answered my
prayers.

Was it arranged, truly? No, this was a
gift.
I turned slightly to glance at the chief dame from my
right eye. She was crying, but obviously with happiness. She could
see the love her daughter had for Marcus. Since he was a dominar’s
son he would have been an appropriate match. I had so much to ask
from her. It would have to wait as right now the two were
lip-locked and Friar Barri was looking quite uncomfortable.

“Lunamae, you’ll have time for that later,” I
said softly and she broke free. Marcus was practically beaming from
my vantage point.

“I present to you, Lunamae and Dominino
Marcus,” the friar said, ushering the couple down the aisle. I
followed quickly behind although the back of my mind was full of
questions I eagerly wanted answers to.

Before the wedding feast, I managed to catch
the chief dame by herself. She was in the wings with a couple of
ladies helping her touch up her hair which had become unruly on the
way to the keep, even if it was a short walk.

“I need to know why,” I said to her. Angharad
wasn’t facing me, but turned enough for the ladies to still keep a
hold on her hair while she could see me with at least one eye.

“Why what?”

“Why you chose Marcus. You could have chosen
anyone. Did you know?” I wondered. Maybe a mother’s intuition would
have seen the connection between them.

“Of course I knew. It was obvious the day he
arrived from Kyrie to visit us. Not the day he was imprisoned,
however I did get word of the both of you sending plates of food
down to him and some of the other captives.” Angharad let out a
sigh. “It seemed good sense to keep her happy. She is my only child
and I know I will not bear any more. I have spoken to several in
Kyrie who speak very highly of him. They say he is an upright
citizen and he always sits by his father in delegations. He cares
for the people and is always concerned about their well-being, even
being vocal during those meetings. I like his character and I
believe it will balance Lunamae out. She needs someone who is
willing to question her if her choices are not the best for the
land.”

“I suppose so considering you are handing
your title over,” I murmured and the chief dame nodded slightly.
“But why did you have him masked?”

“Do you think it would have been good to have
Lunamae running all over the keep like a wild horse? I thought it
best for her demeanor to have her wondering. It seemed to have
worked. Besides, it wasn’t as though Marcus didn’t know. At least
one side knew who the other was,” Angharad answered. She calmly
waved off her ladies when they were finished and turned to face me
fully. “I do hope you will keep watch over them both. You’ve always
been involved in both of their lives. Document what happens. This
is a history many must read. Their union will be a changing point
in Orinda, of this I’m sure.”

With that she left me and I stood in my own
silence, tuning out the masses that were entering behind me. I
thought about my journal I was keeping for the wedding. Perhaps I
should make another to catalog the forthcoming events. I made a
mental note before I swiveled to join the others in the hall.

As I set down my quill and looked over to my
right side, I couldn’t believe how big Caden was getting. Nearing
four, he was settling as quite the handful and I was into my new
routine of being able to properly care for him once again. The
chief dame gave her titleship to Lunamae in accordance with the
treaty signed at Lunamae’s wedding. While it was weird to call
Lunamae “Chief Dame”, it was even stranger to see Angharad without
her keep. She had taken residence in one of the houses that was
unoccupied in the village. I was busy finishing up my account of
the wedding and post-wedding details in the journal I had started,
entitled
The History of Feyris
.

I made sure to include a footnote in the
beginning to allow others to expand upon this as I didn’t expect to
live forever on the earth. I knew one day my soul would leave and
wait for my body to be renewed by the Creator, as the Text of
Illumination says. We would be raised up and meet the Teacher in
the clouds.

I wondered what the earth would look like
from there—and if I would be able to see anything past Orinda.
Ships had sailed and explorers had traversed the land, but so far
no other indication of human life could be found. The seagulls were
quiet when the sailors of Fanarion journeyed far, and the fear that
they would be lost at sea made them turn back.

“Caden, are you ready to be a dalta?” I asked
my soon who was thoroughly engaged and distracted with some wooden
blocks. Angharad had spared him the separation from me due to
Lunamae and all the planning for her wedding. Lunamae decided
rather than to show favoritism, she’d have him start the altram
when the new leadership was solidified in our village.

“No,” Caden answered casually. He didn’t even
bother to look up.

“Do you know what being a dalta means?” I
wondered. Caden nodded in response and ran to my legs. He then
looked at me with sad eyes and my heart broke looking at him. “You
can see me whenever you want. The village is not so terribly large
you know.”

He just whimpered in response and I held him
on my lap. I did have another thing to tell him. We would be moving
in five years. Once we moved, Caden would come with us and be a son
of Fanarion with Theron and I. Theron was nearly done with the
apprenticeship and his parents were on the verge of no longer being
appeased with him gone so long.

“Let’s play with Aunt Brynna and Annadel.” I
lifted Caden in my arms and he reached for his toy so far down
below. “You know Annadel has much better toys she will share with
you. Give the wooden blocks a break.”

He buried his head in my shoulder as I
carried him out of the house and shut the door behind me. As I
started walking, he whined to be put down so I let him walk along
with me. Before I could get to Logan’s house, I was interrupted by
a messenger from the keep. Lunamae had no time to rush out and
speak to me now that she was running the clans and Marcus was
helping her bring structure to them.

“Chief Dame Lunamae wishes to speak with
you,” the man said. He was young, perhaps just older than Lunamae
was with brown well-kept hair stuffed mostly underneath a hat. “It
is quite urgent and she advised you to take the boy along if you
can’t obtain service for him.”

“I can just drop him off at my brother’s
house. I’ll be with you shortly,” I answered. I looked down and
managed to find Caden’s hand to make sure he didn’t wander off.
“Would that suffice?”

The messenger thought for a few seconds
before nodding and dismissed himself. I looked down at Caden and
smiled, urging him on to my brother’s house. Hopefully Brynna
wouldn’t mind watching him for a bit. I didn’t think the audience
with Lunamae would last long.

“That’s all we intend to do for now,” Lunamae
finished from her makeshift throne in the feast hall and I stood in
front of her and a sitting Marcus, who flanked her left side, with
my mouth agape.

“That’s a bit much,” I commented. Not only
did Lunamae decide to give the entire kingdom the name of Feyris
after our village, but Marcus wanted to enhance it with stone walls
and towers. The Humble Bridge would be the only entrance into the
village … although by the way they were talking it was going to end
up being a city.

“Oh and one more thing,” Lunamae said with a
lift of her finger. “We intend to scratch the whole arranged
marriage concept.”

“Not entirely,” Marcus interjected, strong
but calmly.

“Mostly,” Lunamae shot back with a smile.

“I’ll explain,” Marcus said. “You see, in
Kyrie, arranged marriages essentially do not happen—at least within
the populace. We have learned from Aelisonia that love is very
important. It strengthens any sort of relationship. If you were to
enter a union as Lunamae and I have done without love, it would be
hard to reason with each other and get anything done because we are
still learning how each other works. The Dominar Delegate only
allowed me to marry Lunamae because I loved her. Not necessarily to
bring peace to the lands. It is partly why no other candidate was
deemed appropriate for Angharad. Of course, I had to give up my
aspiration to become an ambassador and instead learn what it takes
to be a Dominar from my father.”

“Anyway, we’ve decided that arranged
marriages will happen, but only if the two being arranged have
feelings for each other. If not, then a person can marry whoever
they want and from any walk of life. Diversity is important and we
can’t be narrow-minded. Isn’t that right, Marcus?” Lunamae asked
with a slight turn to her husband who nodded. “What do you think,
Cousin?”

“I think it’s a wonderful idea,” I told her
with a bright smile. No one would ever have to be in my shoes
telling her dalta that she mustn’t have feelings for someone
because she could never return them. What I had with Theron was
essentially what Lunamae was proposing. He had already captured my
heart, and I his, when he asked Angharad for permission to marry
me.

“The future is going to be very bright for us
Muirenn. I can only hope we will be finally a unified people,”
Lunamae said as Marcus placed his hand over hers. “You are
dismissed.”

I turned to walk out of the keep. Before I
could fully exit, I was interrupted by a man who looked a bit like
a monk, except he had no discernible tonsure from Bexweth or any
other monastic group I was aware of.

“A moment, Muirenn,” the man said to me.
How does he know my name?
“I’ve been sent from the Wood to
deliver you a message from the Guardian.”

I looked at him through a puzzled expression,
but he just pulled out a piece of parchment and handed it to me and
then left the room. It was sealed in green wax. I didn’t know
whether to read it now or later, but I recalled that one and only
encounter with the Guardian. My curiosity could not contain me
further so I unraveled the document and set to work finding
suitable light to read from.

Muirenn,

I’m told you are the recorder
for the things that have occurred in our lands recently. You must
know this had been planned long ago. Taros the bard, upon his
meeting with me years ago, told me the rhyme he was meant to
deliver to the world regarding the one who would unite the clans
was not his own. It had been given to him in a dream. I have no
doubt it was the Creator’s divine work. At the time of Lunamae’s
marriage, I myself had a dream. The Creator told me to make sure
you kept the Text of Illumination intact and document its location
in not necessarily an obvious space. There will come a time when
there will be false teachers and people will worship objects rather
than the Creator. A new ruler will come, one who has been taught in
the faith from the Guardians as it is our duty to keep the message
of the Creator alive. Still, the person will need to know the
texts. Preserve them in the small library in this keep. The message
must be spread for the salvation of all.