“Ah,” the chief says, confused. “That would of course be… now, when you saymarried…”
Gren’ix leans in and whispers to the chief for a while.
When he finishes, the chief beams. “Yes, yes! Awedding, as it is called. A wedding, a ceremony and a feast, after which the man and the woman are forever… forever, Gren’ix? Really? Areforeverjoined in marriage. The ceremony shall take place tomorrow? No? In two days? Very well! Right here in the Circle. At… midday? Wonderful! Then it’s ordered.”
There are spread cheers and many smiles. The tribe feels different now—more relaxed, less tense.
“I suppose it could also have been Mek’tor who freed the dragon,” the chief muses. “We haven’t seen him since the evening before.”
“The dragon turned many men mad, it seems,” Crat'ax says solemnly. “Let us leave him to his mischief in other tribes and not try to find the dragon again.”
“Precisely,” the chief says. “Of course, now we know that he went down the coast, to eventually meet the two of you. No man from this tribe may follow.”
It’s something I’ve been thinking about, too. If Vyrathion continues along that coast, sooner or later he’s bound to findthe saucer. With Theodora in it. But the last we saw of him, he seemed to be going straight into the jungle, like a dark green tornado in the twilight. Still, I want to get the new boat finished as soon as possible.
“We won’t concern ourselves with the dragon, unless he comes back and starts making real mischief,” Crat'ax says, and then everyone knows the matter is settled. “What is the final tally for our Day of trade?”
They keep talking about tribal matters, and I lean my head on Crat'ax’s shoulder.
When my head slides off and I have to catch myself, the tribe chuckles in a friendly way.
“Your woman is tired,” Carter’ex says. “I think it must be bedtime.”
“Callie is not just my woman,” Crat'ax says firmly. “She will be my wife, but I will also be her husband. We will belong to each other. But she is also her own, and her name is Callie, also in the Circle, also when I am nearby.”
“Of course,” the chief says soothingly. “We know Callie is her own. About that, there can be no doubt. Callie, now that you will marry our greatest man, you are invited to join our Bradek tribe as a full member.”
I straighten and hold back a yawn. “Thank you, Chief. I’ll be honored to be a tribeswoman.”
Crat'ax gets up and takes my hand. “But it’s true that some of us are tired. Good night, tribesmen. Tomorrow we will destroy the dragon’s cage. And then we will build a new boat.”
The hut looks much the same as when I left it. The dress is neatly folded up, and the necklace is carefully placed on top of it. I take it and put it over my head. “Sorry, my love. But I had to show you that I left on my own.”
Crat'ax watches me as I loosen the jumpsuit and let it drop in a soft whisper, the torchlight painting gold along his skin and catching his purple eyes and his pulsating stripes.
For a moment we simply look at one another as two people who have chosen the same path.
He comes to me slowly, and his hands settle at my waist. I rise onto my toes to kiss him first this time, threading my fingers into his hair, and the low sound he makes vibrates straight through me. The kiss deepens, unhurried and sure, carrying all the danger we survived and all the plans we just made.
When he lifts me and lays me back onto the thick furs, I pull him down with me, whispering his name like a vow, and the world beyond the hut fades away as we begin our first real night as something chosen and forever.
27
- Crat'ax-
One thing that Chief Brun'ax is good at is ceremony. So he makes up a good ritual for the wedding, ending in the most important part.
“Crat'ax, who stands in the Circle, do you take Callie, our tribeswoman, to walk beside you on the path of your life?”
“I do,” I manage as the words hit home deep inside me.
“And do you, Callie, who stands in the Circle, take Crat'ax, our tribesman, to walk beside you on yours?”
“I do,” Callie says softly, but firmly.
“From this horizon to the next horizon, and from that horizon to the next, they walk together,” the chief says, pointing in various directions
“They walk together,”the tribe repeats as one.
