RIDERS OF TUATHA by Bert McKenzie Copyright 2010
Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any real person alive or dead is coincidental and unintentional.
CHAPTER IV
"Can you not see?" Rowana asked Scott. "It is the perfect solution." They had gone for a walk while Robin attended to his responsibilities at court. Rowana had suggested to Scott that the perfect solution to his dilemma was the Tuathan form of marriage. She reasoned that once he was so joined with Robin, he would be free to physically journey to his own world. Their binding would give a more permanent status to their relationship, ensuring that they would eventually reunite when Scott had finished his task.
"I just don't see how this will change anything," Scott complained. "How can a simple ceremony guarantee that I will be able to come back."
"In Tuatha the binding is not just a simple ceremony," she explained. "Unlike the marriage of your world, which is only of legal and religious significance, our binding is actually a joining of two beings on the spiritual level. You cannot be parted after it occurs."
"I think some people in my world might disagree with you on the importance of our marriages, but I still don't see how my binding with Robin will do any good," Scott objected. "For one thing, why hasn't he suggested this before?"
"Because of his own feelings about his nature," she explained. "Natural reversals are very rare in our world. I understand it is quite different in yours."
"Tell me that on a long Saturday night," he interjected.
"Well, Robin fears that binding is only to join the male to the female."
"How do you know?"
"He told me," Rowana said quite candidly.
"So you two have discussed this before?" Scott asked in astonishment.
"Of course," she replied. "But I have also talked with the old father and he has agreed with me. Although it is highly unusual, he admits there is no valid reason why a man cannot bind with another man. All that matters is the love they share."
Scott's mind was whirling. In this land the high priest and spiritual guide was quite willing to marry the two lovers. It was like asking the pope to officiate at a wedding between two men. He had to keep reminding himself this wasn't the earth he knew. People here were more concerned with love and spirituality than with age old dogma. "I just don't know if I'm ready for this kind of commitment," he said aloud.
"You love him. What more need you?" Rowana prodded.
"Well, what about this permanent idea?" he asked her. "You said that once we do this ceremony it can't be undone. You don't have any divorce?"
"Love is a permanent emotion," she answered. "At least for us. If you have loved, it would be a deception to say you had not. So why should you want to revoke this?"
"But what if we are no longer in love? What if we grow apart or fall out of love?"
"I understand not the ways of the human heart," Rowana admitted. "The deep love is always present even if the surface is cloudy. We fall not out of love as one would fall from a tree. I suppose this must be one of the differences between our races."
At this point, Robin joined them. He was searching for Rood, his captain of the guard. Rowana informed him that Rood and Melcot were making preparations for the journey that was to take place the next evening. That was the very thing on which he had sought to check.
"Rowana has been talking to me about what she thinks is a solution to our problem," Scott said to the king.
"What of this, my lady?" Robin asked her.
"I was suggesting a binding," she said.
His face clouded over quickly. "Not that again. I have told you we are not interested."
"Why not?" Scott surprised himself by asking the question. A few minutes before he was arguing against such a move. But Robin's disinterest in the matter seemed almost a dismissal of their relationship.
"We are not like them," Robin said to him.
"Because we make love differently?" Scott asked. "Is our love just a temporary thing?"
"You know that is not so," Robin said angrily.
"You aren't ready for a commitment. Is that it?" Scott persisted. He felt ridiculously like a young girl trying to pressure her boyfriend into proposing.
"I have made my commitment to you. You know that well," Robin returned.
"Then why fear you the ceremony, lord?" Rowana butted in.
"It has never been performed to join two men," Robin answered her.
"But the high priest is willing if you truly love each other."
"You have spoken with him?" Robin asked incredulously.
"What about it, big boy? You gonna' make an honest man of me?" Scott asked in English, using his best Mae West impersonation.
"You know not what you ask," Robin replied in English. "You are human and I am of Faerie . . . "
"So that's it," Scott said angrily. "It's plain old prejudice. Just like you're white and I'm black, or you're Catholic and I'm a Jew."
"It is different," Robin answered.
"It's no different," Scott retorted.
"We are not just unlike in race or ideology as your examples," Robin said gently. "We are two different species, two different types of animals. Your blood is red and mine is blue."
"I know," Scott said, remembering a similar discussion they had had in his bedroom a lifetime ago in the other world. "You are an eagle and I am a dolphin. But do you really love me?"
"You know the answer to that," Robin said, holding him gently.
"And I love you," came the reply.
"Very well, I suppose we shall bind. After all, you are my idiot." Scott laughed and hugged Robin, forgetting all his earlier reservations.
Rowana had not followed any of the conversation once the two had lapsed into English, but she caught on when she saw them laugh and embrace.
"I shall go talk to the old father," she said excitedly and turned to leave. "There is so very much to accomplish."
"My lady," Robin called, stopping her. "You realize we have no time for a royal binding. If we are to have this, it must be a private ceremony."
"You would cheat your friends and your people so, my lord?"she asked disappointedly.
"We would need decorations and formal receptions to satisfy the people. There is no time to prepare or invite the delegates from the kingdoms. We must depart tomorrow night. Therefore, the ceremony must be private and must take place tomorrow at noon."
"Very well," she agreed. "May I invite your closest friends?"
"By this you mean not the entire palace?" Robin asked.
"Just Melcot, Clive and Ellenia," Rowana smiled.
"Very well. Go make what preparations are required," he told her.
Jennifer sat at her desk, trying to balance her check book. Try as she might, it would not cooperate. Of course, her mental state was not helping matters any. She kept thinking about the image she had seen in the crystal ball. She was certain it had been just a trick of the dim lighting and her overactive imagination. She had not seen Scott since that fateful night when he had disappeared. A bolt of lightning struck the spot where he and his friend had been standing. They both disappeared in the explosion. The police who had been present at the time did not know what to make of the occurrence. There were no bodies as one would have expected if they had been killed. The official report stated that they were destroyed by an explosion that occurred when the lightning struck a statue Scott's friend had been carrying. It was thought to be made of some form of unstable or explosive material. Even so, Jennifer thought there would be some evidence of remains, no matter how gory. But there was nothing.
Scott had told her a tale of a parallel world, one from which his unusual friend had come. The man with Scott had certainly been strange enough. Aside from his extremely attractive features, he had a pale, almost luminescent quality to his skin, and his very pale blond hair was almost white. But the oddest thing about him was the shape of his ears. Troy had actually been the first to discover that they were pointed at the top, looking exactly like the Vulcans in the science fiction programs. This had convinced Troy that the mysterious stranger was an alien from outer space. But Jennifer thought he was just very peculiar. Still, she had no rational way to explain the disappearance.
A year had gone by and still Jennifer often thought about her absent friend. She wanted to put the whole strange affair out of her mind, but that was next to impossible. Unable to make it alone, Troy offered her a partnership in the curio shop that he and Scott had run. Also, Scott's will had given her his house, a large, old, three-storied Victorian home on the east side of town. She moved in and even did a little redecorating, but it was still Scott's house. She expected to see him sitting on the couch in the drawing room, or fixing lunch in the kitchen, and she often felt like an interloper.
Putting aside the check book and columns of figures, Jennifer walked to the big, east window and looked out. She could see the reflection of her own face and upper body in the glass, but that was it. She didn't like the way she looked. Her face was a bit too round for her curly hair style and she felt terribly fat. The truth was, Jennifer was just slightly overweight, but her broad shoulders and 5'8" height made her feel bigger than she was.
Through the glass everything was dark outside. The light in the small park just across the street had burned out, and the city had yet to replace it. She felt a strong desire to go for a walk in that park. If it weren't so overcast, the full moon would have provided plenty of light.
As she stared at the glass, her face seemed to change. It grew thinner, less round, and the hair seemed to shrink to a shorter brown from her shoulder length auburn. She was looking at Scott! It was his face that was reflected in the glass! "Scott," she said as she watched the image. His mouth opened as if he was trying to tell her something. But no words came out. Then just as suddenly as the image appeared, it reverted back to her. A car drove down the street outside, its headlights breaking her concentration. As the lights disappeared, the reflection returned to normal.
Putting aside such imaginative fantasies, she turned out the lights and went up to bed. Undressing, she climbed between the soft sheets and tried to clear her mind. The images of Scott she had seen in the window and in the crystal kept chasing around beneath her closed eyelids until she eventually drifted off to sleep.
A loud crash awakened Jennifer. She was not sure if she really heard it, or if it was a fragment from a dream. She sat up in bed and tried to focus her mind on what she thought she had heard. As she sat in the stillness she detected the distinctive sound of the front door opening downstairs. She quietly got out of bed and throwing on her flannel robe, she crept down the dark hallway to the top of the staircase, wishing she had a weapon of some sort. No other sounds came to her, so she quietly headed down the stairs. At the landing she looked cautiously around. There was no sign of movement and no further noise. Just then a loud creak came from the hinges of the front door, causing her to jump and almost fall down the remaining flight of stairs to the floor. She could see the door move. As she watched in silence she saw it was slowly swinging from the gusts of wind coming in from outside. She dashed down the stairs and slammed it shut, throwing the dead bolt.
Once she was leaning against the closed door, her heart racing, a dreadful thought came to her. What if whoever opened the door was still in the house. She dashed to the wall, and threw the switch, turning on the overhead chandelier and illuminating the room. At first she didn't see anything out of the ordinary, and then she spotted the overturned table beside the door. The small vase that she kept on it was in pieces, the silk flowers that it held were strewn about on the floor. Jennifer quickly ran into the drawing room and turned on the lights there. Books had been taken from the shelves around the room and stacked in neat piles nearby. Going directly to her desk, she called the police.
Ten minutes later, the officers came to take her statement. There was no evidence of the door having been forced. Jennifer was certain she had locked the dead bolt, but the police were obviously skeptical. They practically accused her of lying and deliberately leaving the door open. Since nothing had been taken they assumed the sounds of her moving about upstairs had frightened the burglar off. In a short time they finished up and left.
Too keyed up to go back to bed, Jennifer thought she would call Troy. It was very late, in fact it was early, but she really needed to hear a sympathetic voice. She let the phone ring eight times before hanging up. Remembering his date, her first thought was that he was probably still out. He would no doubt be a mess at work the next day. She then thought it was odd that the answering machine didn't catch the call. Maybe that meant that he was home and just soundly asleep. She was about to try calling again, when she thought better of it and decided to go back to bed. She selected a book to take up with her, knowing she wouldn't get much sleep this night. Leaving all the lights still on, Jennifer climbed the stairs.
"This is not what I meant by a private ceremony," Robin wind whispered to Rowana as he mounted the dias at the worship grounds. She merely smiled and shrugged her shoulders. The old priest and his assistant stood before the altar with Scott and Ellenia. Robin and Clive joined them. Standing at the foot of the raised area were Rowana and Melcot. Rood, captain of Robin's palace honor guard, and his best friend Akuta, also a member of the honor guard stood nearby. The two of them might have been Robin's brothers, so similar were they in physical appearance with the same light golden skin and pale blond hair. Akuta's hair was slightly longer and lighter in color than Rood's, but they were both very evidently members of the highborn race. Several other servants and staff to the king's quarters, and most of the high council were also in attendance. Rowana's father and Scott's friend Maynar had also invited a large group of merchants from the red tower. Clive, likewise had brought several friends from the greenwood tribe and the green tower. All in all the sanctuary was pretty full.
The old priest came forward and began the ceremony. "Who brings this lady to . . ." He suddenly, stuttered, and began again. "Who brings this lord to give over to this . . . man?" he asked.
"I, Ellenia Highborn," the girl said taking Scott's hand and giving it over to the priest.
The old man looked quickly at the scroll his assistant held out, shook his head, and began again. "And who brings this lord to give over to this . . . other man?"
"I, Clive Greenwood," the woodling answered, taking Robin's hand and giving it to the priest. The old father joined the two hands and taking a white sash with golden embroidery, carefully wrapped their hands and forearms in the same way he had done for all the other traditional couples he had joined.
"May you be forever one," he said as he turned to step to the other side of the altar. "May the taste of this life giving food bind you as one," he said handing the trays to Clive and Ellenia. They passed the food to the couple who ate and shared it with each other. The old priest continued the ceremony as he handed out the goblets of pure water. "You may now declare your bonds."
"I pledge you my love and my life," Scott said from memory as he gazed deeply into Robin's intensely green eyes. He spoke from his heart as he felt himself pulled into the twin verdant pools. "I will join my life to yours and be one with you always. I will accept your world as my own, and your people as my family. I will keep you in my heart forever."
Robin smiled, staring back into Scott's grey eyes. "I pledge you my love and my life. I shall join my soul to yours and our hearts shall beat as one. I shall smile with you and grieve with you, our minds and spirits linked in unison forever more."
"As I remove this outward symbol," the priest said as he unwrapped the sash, "be aware that no one can remove the inner bond which it represents. Be forever joined and celebrate your oneness of mind, body and spirit." Robin pulled Scott to him and crushed their lips together. They then turned to face the assembled guests. Several of the older council members appeared slightly uncomfortable, but just about everyone else rushed forward to hug and embrace one or both of the couple.
"We have a small reception prepared for you at the green tower," Clive said.
"This was to be a private ceremony," Robin protested again.
"Just a few friends, lord," Ellenia said as she pulled the two of them off the dias and on through the crowd. The old priest rerolled his scrolls and handed the trays of food to his assistant to take to the green tower. He watched the retreating couple and again shook his head, marveling at the ceremony he had just performed.
As the party entered the main hall of the tower, Robin was surprised to see Old Thomas standing at the foot of the stairs. This was the first time he had come from his chambers in many weeks. Robin smiled at the thought that the old man had come to acknowledge their bond. He rushed forward to greet him. "My father," he said smiling.
The old man's face contorted in a look of disgust. "Do you realize what you've done?" he asked. "Do you actually realize the gravity of this rash deed?"
The happy crowd dropped to silence at the sound of contempt in the old man's voice. "My father, this is not . . ." Robin began.
"Get away from me!" Thomas yelled as he pushed Robin back. "You betray my trust and your world be making a mockery of your own religion. I want no part of you!" he shouted. He turned to leave, then grabbed his chest and collapsed. Robin reached forward to catch the old man as he fell. Tears streaming down his face, he looked up to Scott standing beside him.
"Forgive him, lord. He does not understand our religion, even after all these years in our land." It was the old priest who spoke. He now stood beside the king. "Let us take him back to his chamber and call the healer.