In The Lair of the Draca (Book 2)

In the Lair of the Draca (Book 2) Chapter 55: Disclosure

Among the Evening folk of Hidden Well, there was no special ceremony for engagement. Men and women were encouraged to make a commitment for love, and when such a couple thought a match had been made, they would follow the customary tradition and meet with the village Elders, twins Lupak and Lomaris, for advice and guidance.

Each Elder imparted a spiritual blessing with incense and an offering of sweet cherries (representing the fertility of the woman) to an altar, which contained beautiful urns filled with the powdered remains of previous Elders burned on their pyres -- a custom unique to the People of Hidden Well. Gifts of linens, silvers, fragile clays, and infant layettes were quietly exchanged in the pleasant stillness of the Twins' lodge-- generally, they shared one-- and the young couple would subsequently be considered married if, after at least four weeks, they remained together and a child had been conceived.

Once the new wife realized she had missed her bleeding, the real celebration could begin: the parents of both husband and wife would hold elaborate feasts and invite all of their friends and relatives to revel in the goodness. There would be games for children, face-painting for the youngsters with pigments prepared from crushed beetle shells, singing, dancing, and even horse-back riding. (The Evening folk did not generally keep horses, but the occasion was special enough that experienced pony-rounders roped in at least a dozen stragglers caught grazing at the base of the mountains. Juveniles and young men enjoyed proving their bravery and manhood by leaping onto the back of a roped pony and riding the creature back and forth along the length of the village. Those whose ponies tired out the fastest were considered winners.)

"...It all sounds so wonderful!" Julian told Lu-Lu. The two of them had travelled a short distance away from Hidden Well that morning, Julian dressed in a fresh tunic and pair of leggings, and Luchek in a long, blue maternal gown with handsome pleats in the skirt.

Lu-Lu shrugged good-naturedly. "It is the way of things," she said simply, crouching beside a tiny pool off the western end of the trail. It was surrounded by plants that looked like bulrushes. When Julian joined her and peered into the water, he saw brightly-hued fish that looked like koi and reminded him of his grandmother's backyard. He'd loved to play there as a child, dipping his feet into the water and watching the creek-bugs being snapped up by the ravenous fishes. That was before he'd lost his parents, and before he'd thought to join the Army as a way of getting away from the perpetual doom, gloom, and pain...before he'd left Earth.

Julian crouched beside her. "So is that what will happen with us? When we get married, that is?"

"Yes, that." Lu-Lu nodded; her mastery of English words was still somewhat limited. "And then some more. Lots of celebrate, lots of food, and ponies. You will ride, just like the young men." Lu-Lu smiled, and in the light of the stars, Julian thought that she was the most beautiful woman that he'd ever seen. The choppy ends of her shorn hair were beginning to grow out, framing a lovely heart-shaped face with limpid grey eyes and lips so inviting that Julian wished it were all out of the way now-- the offerings, the celebrations, feastings, and pony-racing-- so that he could gather his love into his arms and kiss those lips for an entire night. The wonderful roundness of her belly gave Lu-Lu an air of vulnerability that immediately brought out his testosterone-fueled, protective instincts. Whatever happened to him, he had spent enough time around the ethereal Luchek to know that he would never be able to let her go. Wherever he went, there she would be also, and if she died in childbirth (as he knew many female ETs did in the 'field')...well, Julian did not think he could bear to face life without her.

Now the two of them sat, basking in the glow of the Twin Moons and revelling in each other's company. Since the two were not yet man and wife, the Twin Elders had graciously provided Julian with his own lodge, which sat twenty yards away from the other living quarters toward the back of Hidden Well. It was also closer to the base of the Ice-Capped mountains, so the air seemed colder to him there, but Julian did not complain. He had trained in much worse, and several families had been generous enough to provide him with extra hides for his sleeping bench.