Chapter 26

26

- Anter’az -

“Yes, Anter’az,” Alba finally says. “Of course I will marry you. I’m sorry, it was just… overwhelming…” Her face curls up.

I lean in and embrace her. “I am overwhelmed too. By happiness and by your presence and by… well, everything.”

Her two friends cheer and clap their hands together. “Well done, you two!”

I spot movement outside, so I touch my hand to my sword and stand up.

Two more women come in, looking worried.

They speak quickly with Alba and the others, in their own language.

“We see that everything is all right,” a woman with remarkably red hair says. “Greetings, Anter’az. I am Piper. This is Bronwen. We heard that Alba was sick, so we’re here to help if we can.”

“But judging from the happy cheering,” Bronwen adds, “it appears everyone is in good health:”

I smile at them. “Thank you for coming. It is appreciated. And while there’s no more healing to do here right now, there will soon be a celebration that I hope you can take part in.”

“Of course,” Piper says. “We never miss a wedding. Excuse us.”

They all start to chatter in their language, laughing and speaking so fast I wonder how they understand each other.

Alba puts her arm around my waist while she talks with them, which I appreciate.

Someone is peering into the cave, trying to not be seen.

“Come in, Tren’ax,” I call to him.

The boy reverently tiptoes in. “Is she all right now, Anter’az?”

“Woman Alba is perfectly fine now,” I tell him. “Thanks to us.”

He comes over to stand beside me. “And the vral.”

I grin. “And the vral. It made exactly the venom we needed.”

“It’s such a cool creature, the vral. It moved so fast! I thought it would get you.”

I reach out to squeeze his thin shoulder. “It nearly did. But thinking of your spear and how you would pierce my heart with it if I was stung made me move faster still.”

“I would have,” Tren’ax says with the sincerity of a child. “It would have been a clean kill. So you wouldn’t suffer.”

“I know,” I reply seriously. “I expected nothing less. As you can see, things turned out well. And soon you will take part in a wedding.”

He looks up at me. “A wedding? What’s that?”

“Oh, the shaman’s lessons haven’t come to that word yet? It’s fine, I remembered only some of it myself. It’s when a man and a woman decide to live together for the rest of their lives. There’s a ritual called a ‘wedding’ where they take an oath in front of the whole tribe. After that, they’re said to be ‘married’. Shaman Astrid reminded me of those things when I asked her about it. I never thought I’d be married myself.”

“Who’s being weddinged? Or marrieded?” the boy asks.

“Well, the woman is Alba. And the man is me .”

He frowns. “Do you belong to this tribe now? Will you live here? ”

I scratch my head. “That’s still to be figured out. For now, I’m still a Krast man. And so are you. After the wedding we’ll go back to our village and see what’s going on there.”

He nods. “Yes.”

Alba looks up at me. “Have you seen the village, my love?”

“It was dark when I arrived, and I was led up here.”

“I’ve seen it,” Tren’ax says eagerly. “It’s different from ours, but also the same.”

“That’s true,” she says as she grabs my hand. “I’ll show you.”

We walk out on the plateau, where there’s a dizzying view of what must be the whole jungle.

“I could look at this for days,” I admit. “I thought the view from the top of the Hill in our village was impressive, but this is something else entirely.”

“I think your village is in that direction,” Alba says and points. “Am I right?”

I take hold of her arm and push it around. “There. You were almost right.”

She laughs. “Only if ‘almost right’ means ‘completely wrong’.”

“Sometimes it means that,” I tell her. “How are you feeling?”

Alba pulls me over to the stairs leading down. “Still a little weak. I think I need some food. And so do you.”

“I suppose so. Although right now, I feel like all I need to live is you.”

She looks up at me. “When you and I go to Earth, you will write songs, I think. You’ll be very popular.”

“Will I really rite sons ? I always wanted to. But I thought I would be a doctor?”

She smiles. “Doctors can write songs. Sorry about all these alien words. It’s just, I’m very happy.”

“As am I. I’m so happy I didn’t think it would be possible. But with you, it’s like being inside a dark cave and then discovering a big opening into daylight.”

“Like Vral’s Cave, with the hollow,” Alba chirps. “I know the feeling. Meanwhile, have you lost your mind?”

“I… Mm. What do you mean?”

She squeezes my hand. “Trying the venom on yourself? Before you gave it to me?”

“I had to find the right dilution,” I point out. “And there was a chance that the venom was deadly, even diluted a lot. If it was, it would be better if it just killed me first.”

“It knocked you out, anyway. What if you’d fallen asleep before you treated me?”

“Oh, it would have been fine. I told Tren’ax exactly what to do. Either he would have done it, which I strongly suspect, or he would have told a Borok man how. But of course it was better that I did it. The others might not have washed their hands as well as me.”

We reach the bottom of the stairs. “You’re a good washer of hands, and healer of women. Thank you, Anter’az. For all you’ve done.”

“It was all my pleasure,” I tell her sincerely. “And thank you, too.”

We walk to what I assume to be the common table, although I can’t see a totem pole. The Borok men stare at us, not all looking friendly.

“My future husband, Healer Anter’az of the Krast tribe, is visiting our village.” Alba says in her bright voice. “Shall we give him food and drink?”

The Borok men get up and saunter over. “We shall see to it, Alba. Greetings, warrior of Krast!”

“Greetings, men of the Borok tribe!” I reply. “I’m honored to be allowed to see your wonderful village. I knew that the Red Rock was the envy of every other tribe, but only now that I see it for myself do I grasp how special it is. Truly this is a mighty tribe!”

The men brighten up, sending boys and younger men to bring food.

Alba pulls me over to the rock face. “Look at this.”

“Ah, a white part of the red rock. That’s very pret—” I can’t say more, because my jaw hangs open. On the white rock there’s a painting of a woman, huge and bright. The face seems to float in the air in front of the rock.

“Woman Piper!”

Alba squeezes me. “Bryar painted it. Nice, yes?”

“Very,” I state, staring unashamedly. “Incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“Only Bryar could make it. And she made it like this. This wall is the totem pole for the tribe.”

There’s a lot of room left on the white part. “Then surely there should be pictures of all the women, not just one?”

“Maybe. But it’s a good start, you think?”

“You said ‘maybe’. I disagree and will only say ‘perhaps’.”

She slaps my shoulder lightly. “Is only because in my language, we also have two words that mean the same thing. Is funny to me that you have that, too.”

We sit down, and the Borok men give us water, juice, frit, and a great deal of food.

Chief Korr’ax comes over. “Healer Anter’az of the Krast tribe, I’m happy to see you back to health. And Alba, too, whom you healed. The Borok tribe is in your debt.”

I nod. “I will consider that debt repaid in full if the Borok tribe will permit Alba and me to have our wedding here. The day is young; we’re barely at midday.”

“Wedding?” Korr’ax asks, surprised. “But of course. We’ve had a few of those recently, and it would make us happy to have another. Give us some time to arrange it, man of Krast! Today may not be possible, if you want the wedding to be a complete one.”

“Tomorrow would also be acceptable,” I tell him. “I do want it done as soon as possible.”

He laughs. “I know how you feel, warrior! For I felt the same way before Bryar married me. Very well, tomorrow it is. Does that suit you, Alba?”

“Tomorrow would be good,” she agrees. “But we don’t want a big feast. Just the ceremony and the usual midday meal.”

Korr’ax looks up at the Red Rock. “It’s possible that my wife will make more of it than that. Just slightly more.”

- - -

“ Y es, of course!” I bellow so my voice echoes from the white part of the rock.

Shaman Astrid turns to Alba and asks her the same question.

“Eye du,” my love says softly, but clearly. I know it means ‘yes’.

“Then I state for the tribes of all Xren that you are married, husband and wife, inseparable forever,” the shaman says with her alien lilt. “May you be perfectly happy ever after.”

Alba and I turn towards each other, and I place a finger under her chin, as I’ve been instructed. Bending down, I place a soft kiss on her lips.

The crowd erupts in cheers and wild banging of tribal drums that resonate loudly from the Rock.

“That seems too easy,” I whisper into Alba’s ear. “I expected trials of some kind.”

She looks up at me, dark eyes shining as she reaches up to touch my shoulder where the rock hit it. “I think your trials were tougher than anyone else’s have been.”

“I didn’t even know they were trials,” I ponder. “But now I see that the Ancestors were testing me for the ultimate blessing.”

“What’s that?”

I want to bury my nose in her dark hair and draw in that dizzying scent. So that’s what I do. “You.”

All the alien women come in to congratulate Alba, and Chief Korr’ax comes over to me.

“You’re now one of only four married men on Xren,” he says as he grabs my wrist in a friendly gesture.

“Truly we are blessed,” I reply as I grip his in a firm handshake, still overwhelmed by it all. “I almost understand those men who would risk becoming dishonorable to share that fate with us.”

“ A lmost,” the chief says. “But one’s honor can never be regained, once lost.”

I nod. “Chief, did you send Alba to the Krast tribe to make trouble for us?”

He adjusts his belt. “Whether I did or not, I certainly wouldn’t tell a member of that tribe. I fear you shall never know, Healer Anter’az. Whatever my plans may have been, I think it worked out for us all.”

We sit down by the common table, where the tribe has prepared a feast that must be meant as a show of power. The variety of foods is great, and there’s a lot of it. Drums beat by the totem wall, and the frit flows generously.

“Try this,” my wife says and hands me a strange piece of food. “Bronwen’s bread.”

It’s a light piece of some kind of dry fruit, with a dark rind. Prodding it with one finger, I find it soft. “What kind of fruit is this?”

“It’s not a fruit,” Alba chirps. “It’s bred. Brreeeddd . Very alien, I know. Eat it.”

I sniff it, finding no strong scent. Taking a bite, I try to chew, but it’s very dry. “Is it some kind of wood?”

“No.” Alba says with a smile. “It’s bred.”

“Bred.” I want to spit it out, but all the women are looking at me and the bred gets softer the more I chew it. It tastes of wood, but the flavor is very weak. “It’s perfect,” I state as I force myself to swallow the sawdust-like thing. “Very good bred. I won’t eat more, so that others may also… enjoy.” I hand the rest of the piece back to Alba.

“Do you really like it?” she asks, eyes narrow.

“It’s the best bred I’ve ever had,” I tell her, perfectly truthfully. “But there’s no need to waste it on me.”

Alba laughs. “Then I won’t. But I might try to feed it to you again some day. If we find some pinut budr and jeli .” She kisses me on the cheek and saunters off to chat with her friends.

“You look like you need this.” Astrid hands me a mug of frit.

“Oh, thank you.” I wash down the bred with it.

“Tribesmen don’t usually like that,” the shaman says. “It’s not meat and not a fruit. It confuses them.”

“Then I am just like them, for it did confuse me. Shaman Astrid, I have a question.”

The dark-skinned alien woman raises pitch-black eyebrows. “Then ask.”

I wipe my lips. “Woman Bryar is rounder than the other women, and my wife says that it’s because she is pregnant. She has explained to me what that means, and it sounds immensely interesting. But I worry about the birth. The taking out of the baby, when the pregnancy is complete. How does that usually work?”

The shaman tilts her heat to the side. “Why worried? Do you think your wife may be pregnant, too?”

I glance over at my wife, chatting happily with the other alien females. “I can’t be sure, and it’s been only a few days. But we have done all the things that would seem to start the pregnant process. I want to be as prepared as I can for it.”

She nods. “I’m worried too, Anter’az. About Bryar. And Piper, who’s also pregnant. I’m worried about the birth. Because we think the babies might be large, and you know how small the opening is.”

“Yes,” I confirm, feeling dizzy by the mere thought of it. “Very small indeed. But babies are very small on Earth, then?”

“No, they can still be big. And birth is dangerous for the woman, even there. But here… yes, we think about it a lot. Any suggestion you might have about how to make it easier would be of great value, Healer Anter’az.”

“I only met my first woman less than a moon ago,” I remind her. “But I shall study her very closely and make recommendations if I can think of any.”

A small smile passes across the shaman’s alien face. “That’s all I ask, Healer. So there were no women before Alba?”

“Of course not!”

There’s a little glint in her eyes, even darker than Alba’s. “The rumors about the Ceremat tribe having one didn’t make you curious?”

I shrug. “Those rumors go around sometimes. One year it’s the Daret tribe that’s found The Woman, the next it’s the Kop tribe. Or even the Foundlings.”

“But that was true,” Astrid points out. “About the Foundlings. They have two women now. Piper and Bronwen.”

“ That rumor was true,” I agree. “And the rumor about women in the Borok and Tretter tribes turned out to be true, as well. But all the rumors from when I was a boy were not true. Surely you don’t think that the Ceremat tribe has actually found The Woman?”

She takes a sip of her own drink. “When did you first hear the rumor?”

I think back. “Oh, it must have been last year. Or the year before.”

“But nobody from the Krast tribe has met a Ceremat man since then and simply asked?”

I tap my lips with one finger. “We haven’t seen any Ceremat for a while. Which is strange, now that I think about it. We used to keep meeting them in the jungle, right where our turf meets theirs.”

Astrid just nods. “What did the rumor say? Exactly?”

“Rumors are rarely exact,” I tell her. “As I remember, it was just that the Ceremat tribe had found The Woman.”

Alba comes over, a white grin on her face. “What are you two talking about, looking so serious?”

“Bread,” Astrid says with a little smile. “And how to avoid eating it.”

“An important topic,” Alba says. “Don’t worry, my love. I won’t force it on you. Oh, everyone is so impressed with the hats!”

“The hats?” For a moment I don’t know what she means, too busy checking if I can see signs of pregnancy on my wife. Is she a little more flushed than usual? But it is her wedding day…

“The hats we made. The plastic hats that keep the sap out!”

“Ah, the plasik,” I say knowledgeably. “The plasik hats. Yes, they are impressive. And they protect against rain, too.”

“Exactly.” She looks around. “You know, Bryar and Korr’ax are letting us have the penthouse tonight. Just you and me.”

I grab her wrist. “Let’s go.”

She laughs and resists. “Yes, but we have to say goodbye first!”

I frown. “But we’re not leaving the village.”

“We’re leaving our wedding party,” my wife points out. “It’s the decent thing to do.”

I sigh. “Decency is overrated.”

Still, we make our goodbyes, receiving laughs and well-wishes and strangely phrased suggestions that make Alba blush.

Then we climb the long stairs up to the cave on top of the Red Rock.

“I could stare at this all day,” I state as we take in the view, my arm around Alba’s waist as I squint out towards the sunset. Our shadows are long and thin. “It feels like I own the whole jungle, watching it from up here.”

“You may not own the jungle,” my wife coos, “but you own this .” She takes my hand and puts it on her behind.”

My cock starts to harden immediately. “Ah. I was hoping I did. But then it must mean that you own…” I grab her hand and place it on the bulge in my loincloth, “...this.”

She looks up at me with shining eyes. “My favorite thing in the world. But we not need to own each other. Loving each other is enough.”

“ Enough? ” I laugh. “It’s much more! Who cares about owning when you can love? ”

“I know.” She jumps into my arms, our shadows on the rock melting together and becoming one.

I stand there in total happiness, holding her and feeling her quick heartbeat against my chest. Her scent is in my nose, her warmth spreads through me, her hair is in my eyes and makes me blink. The drums from below echo up to us, as well as the sound of happy voices and chanting.

And I’m married to Alba.

I take a deep breath. “I love you.”

My wife kisses the tip of my nose. “And I love you.”