The mountain wind shifted between us.
“And you?” I asked.
She inhaled once, slow and steady. Then she placed her hand in mine. “Yes.”
The gathering had not been planned as a ceremony.
But some moments declare themselves.
The humans had danced. My people had observed. Then Lina had pulled me into motion without hesitation, without apology.
She stood beside me, her esteem and respect clear to all. And my people saw it. When Lina accepted, I nodded to Kareth, and she came forward with the obsidian blade.
Lina
The courtyard grew still.
The blade was passed to Rygnar first.
He pressed the point into the pad of his thumb—not violence, not spectacle—just enough for a dark bead to rise against his skin. He held my gaze the entire time.
I accepted the blade. The edge was cool. Precise. I mirrored him. A small sting. A bright bead of red. The mountain air felt clear and sharp.
Rygnar extended his hand. I took it and pressed my thumb to his. Copper and crimson met. It was warm and real, and I looked up at him with all the love I felt.
The gathered Mesaarkans released a low, unified hum—not chanting, not a command—recognition.
Rygnar
Our blood mingled briefly between our joined hands.
On Mesaarka, this is not symbolic; it is a covenant that declares shared survival, standing, and consequence.
Lina had not hesitated.
I lowered my forehead to hers.
“With joined blood,” I said clearly, so all could hear, “we bind the path we walk.”
Her voice did not waver.
“With joined blood, we choose the same future.”
The hum deepened, signifying what they were witnessing and their acceptance.
Lina
Rygnar released my thumb but did not release my hand.
Instead, he turned my palm upward and pressed his against it, fingers aligning perfectly with mine—pulse to pulse.
The same gesture he had shown me in private, but now the entire colony understood it.
He brushed his cheek along my jaw—slow, deliberate.
The first mark, this time, is not instinct but a declaration of our choice to embark on a life together. I rose on my toes and returned it.
A murmur of approval moved through the gathered crowd.
