Chapter 12
ANNANI
Annani stood at the center of the dais and watched Arezoo walk across the village green toward her groom, and as always, the moment moved her despite the many weddings she had presided over since the first and most memorable one of all—Kian and Syssi's.
The bride was beautiful, the way all brides were on their wedding day.
There was something about a woman walking toward the male she had chosen that lit her from within, and Arezoo, who was normally a quiet and reserved girl, shone like a star as she walked toward Ruvon.
Her shoulders were back, her chin was lifted, and her eyes were locked on Ruvon with focused certainty.
Soraya walked beside her with her hand on her daughter's elbow and her face composed, but only because she was exercising tremendous will not to let the tears fall.
Below the dais, Ruvon was practically vibrating in anticipation.
Grooms came in all types. There were the calm ones, who did not see the wedding as a significant step in their relationship because matehood was strong and permanent, and a ceremony was just a way to allow others to share in their joy.
There were the overwhelmed ones, who looked as if they had been struck by lightning and were not sure whether they would find their voice when the time came to recite their vows.
There were the goofy ones, like Anandur, who had turned his and Wonder's wedding into a show, but who had been nonetheless deeply moved beneath the goofiness.
And then there were the ones like Ruvon.
The ones who could not believe their luck.
He was standing very straight, his hands folded in front of him, his eyes fixed on Arezoo, and he was breathing as if he had to remind himself to do so. He looked like a male who had, against all expectations, been chosen, and who was waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under him.
He was a good male, kind, attentive, and worthy of the girl who was walking toward him.
His past did not concern Annani. The circumstances of a person's birth did not always determine their character, and some of the brightest souls came out of the darkest beginnings.
Ruvon had clawed his way out of Mortdh's legacy and had built himself into the kind of man any mother would be proud of.
Hopefully, his mother was watching him from beyond the veil and was proud of who he had become.
Annani's gaze drifted briefly to her family's table.
Kian and Syssi sat together with Allegra between them, the toddler swinging her feet under her chair and watching the procession with wide-eyed solemnity.
Amanda was leaning into Dalhu's shoulder, and Evie was sitting in his lap, her small hand resting on her father's enormous forearm.
Alena and Orion sat with E.T. between them, the boy dozing off and leaning against his mother's side, oblivious to the music and the procession and his grandmother, who was about to officiate the union of two dear souls.
Lokan and Carol sat with Jacki and little Darius, while Kalugal was below the dais with the groomsmen, his hands clasped behind his back, his posture seemingly casual, but he was more invested in this wedding than he had let on.
Ruvon was one of his, and to see one of the men he had rescued from his father's tyranny about to join with his truelove mate must mean a great deal to Kalugal.
Annani would have loved for Areana to be there, to see her son being proud of one of his men starting the journey of never-ending love, and she would have loved her sister to see her preside over a wedding.
The last time the two of them had been together at a wedding ceremony had been over five thousand years ago, the night Annani had married Khiann, and Areana had begged to stay for her sister's wedding before heading up north to join Mortdh.
She had taken Annani's place as Mortdh's intended, and with her sacrifice had made Annani's marriage to Khiann possible.
It was a debt Annani could never repay, no matter how things had turned out down the road, with Areana ending up as Navuh's mate, and Annani losing her Khiann mere months after their wedding.
Once Lokan and Carol were ready to make their matehood official, they would come to her, and they would have a proper ceremony, and Areana would be there.
The question was whether Annani would allow Navuh to witness his son's wedding.
The thought of him attending the ceremony was almost amusing.
An image from a movie she had seen a long time ago popped into her head, with the antagonist bound, muzzled, and wheeled about on a hand truck.
If she allowed Navuh to attend a clan wedding, it would have to be in something approximating that configuration.
A muzzle. A restraint. Several Guardians on either side.
Annani smiled at the picture and then pulled her attention back to the present, where Arezoo had reached the foot of the dais.
The music ended on a soft note.
Soraya let go of Arezoo's elbow and turned her daughter to face her. She lifted her hand to briefly touch Arezoo's cheek, and Arezoo leaned into the touch. The small, private moment between mother and daughter was endearing.
Then the mother stepped back, and Ruvon offered Arezoo his arm.
She took it, and they climbed the three steps to the dais together, stopping in front of Annani.
Annani looked at the bride and groom and raised her hands.
The crowd settled into a hush.
"Today, we gather to celebrate a journey," she said, and her voice carried across the green without the need for amplification.
"The journey that brought these two souls together through paths that were not easy and not gentle, and that could very easily have ended differently if not for the courage and the will of these two young people. "
She let her gaze rest on Arezoo, then on Ruvon, then back to Arezoo.
"Arezoo. Ruvon. Each of you arrived in this village carrying a history that you did not allow to define you. You chose to define yourselves. You chose to grow. You had the courage to open your hearts and let each other in."
Arezoo's eyes had filled with tears, but she was holding them in, and Ruvon's hand tightened around hers.
"The Fates are kind and merciful," Annani continued.
"But not always. They reward those who have suffered greatly or sacrificed for others, and the two of you are most deserving of their boon.
They brought you together, but you did the rest, growing around each other like two trees whose roots have intertwined and are drawing strength from the same soil. "
She lifted her hands a little higher.
"In each other, you have found a mirror for your strengths and a balm for your wounds, and a partner for the long road ahead.
May your love be as deep and as patient as the river that nourishes the earth, always finding its way home.
May it be as steadfast as the mountains, and unmoved by the storms of life.
May your union be blessed with laughter, with understanding, and with courage when courage is needed.
May you always find in each other a haven of peace and a wellspring of joy. "
The breeze moved through the green and stirred the garlands.
"May the Fates smile upon you," Annani said. "May they guide you through the years to come, hand in hand, heart in heart. And may the love that brought you to this moment carry you through every moment going forward."
She lowered her hands.
"Arezoo and Ruvon. Before all gathered here, and in the eternal embrace of the Fates, I bestow upon you my blessing. You may speak your vows."
They turned to face each other and held each other's hands. Even in high heels, Arezoo was a head shorter than Ruvon, and she had to tilt her chin up to look him in the eyes.
"I'm supposed to go second," Ruvon said quietly, "but I'm too full of things to say to wait. So, if you'll allow me, I would like to go first."
Arezoo smiled and nodded.
Ruvon took a breath.
"When we first met, you were sitting on a bench at the playground watching the children, and I came over with two cups of vending-machine coffee because I didn't know how else to approach you.
You were terrified of me, and I knew that, but I desperately wanted to prove to you that you had nothing to fear from me. "
He paused, and steadied his voice.
"You were so brave. You took the coffee and smiled at me.
And then you let me bring you a book. Then you let me sit with you at the café while you read poetry to me, and I sat on the other side of that table and tried to memorize the sound of your voice because I didn't believe that I would be allowed to hear it again.
Every time you let me come back, I treated it as a gift, because that's what it was.
It still is. Every time you choose me, every day, every hour, is a gift I do not take for granted. "
A ripple of murmurs went through the crowd, and Annani caught Kalugal smiling. Not his usual smirk, but a soft smile she rarely saw him wear.
"I vow," Ruvon said, "to never stop earning that gift.
I vow to be patient and brave for you in every way that you ever need patience or bravery or both, and steady when you need steadiness, and quiet when you need quiet.
I vow to make you laugh, because your laugh is the sound I love most in the world.
I vow to read poetry with you for the rest of our lives.
I vow to defend you against every danger I can defend you against. I offer my love freely and expect nothing in return except the chance to keep offering it. "
He swallowed.
"You once told me that you wanted respect, honesty, and patience. And maybe more kisses. I vow to give you all of those things, especially the kisses. Many of them. Until you tell me to stop, and even then, I will probably ask if I can have one more."
The crowd laughed, Arezoo laughed too, and a tear escaped down her cheek, and Ruvon, without taking his hand from hers, lifted his other hand and brushed it away with his thumb.
"I am yours," he said. "I have been yours from the moment you let me sit on that bench. I will be yours for as long as I draw breath, and for whatever comes after that, if anything does. I love you, Arezoo. With every part of me that is worth loving with."
He stopped. The crowd held its breath.
Arezoo took a moment to gather herself. She looked at Ruvon, and Annani could see her organizing the words she had prepared and deciding, in real time, how much of them she would still use.
The vows people prepared often did not survive contact with the actual moment.
The good ones knew when to depart from the script.
"Ruvon." She paused, lifting her chin a little higher. "When I came to this village, I was a collection of fears in the shape of a girl. I flinched at everything, every sudden movement, the sound of footsteps behind me."
The crowd was very still.
"And then you came over to a bench at a playground with two cups of vending-machine coffee, which were surprisingly decent, and sat a proper distance away, respecting my boundaries.
You were awkward and unsure of yourself, and I think that was what eased my fears.
You seemed like someone who had never courted anyone, but you were learning how, for me.
You showed up the next day, and the day after, and the day after that, asking nothing of me except my company. "
She drew in a breath.
"I vow to love you, Ruvon. I vow to love you the way you love me, which is patiently, steadily, and unconditionally.
I vow to be honest with you, even when it's hard.
I vow to trust you, which I already do, more completely than I have ever trusted anyone.
I vow to read poetry with you in any language we might one day learn, until we have read every poem ever written and have to start writing our own. "
Ruvon chuckled, and Arezoo smiled.
"I vow to take every adventure you offer me, and to offer adventures of my own. I vow to never let either of us forget there is nothing better in this world than our love. I am yours. I will be yours forever, and beyond, and if there is anything beyond beyond, I will be yours there too."
She stopped. The green stayed quiet for the space of a long breath, and then began, softly, to fill again with the sound of people who had been moved.
Annani lifted her hands.
"You have spoken your vows, and the Fates have heard them, and so has everyone gathered on this green. With my blessing, and the blessing of all who came before us, and all who will come after, you are joined forevermore."
She placed one hand over Ruvon and Arezoo's clasped hands and held it there.
"May your journey together be as boundless as the sky and as luminous as the stars."
She lifted her hand and smiled. "You may kiss your bride now."
Ruvon did not waste a moment.
He leaned down, and Arezoo lifted up onto her toes to meet him, and the kiss was soft and slow and without hesitation.
The green erupted around them.
The applause came in waves. Someone let out a sharp, piercing whistle that did not belong at a wedding ceremony but felt right in that moment. The bridesmaids were tearing up, Soraya was openly sobbing into her handkerchief, and Kalugal was clapping with a huge grin splitting his face.
Annani let the joy of it wash over her.
This was why she did this.
This was why she had survived everything she had survived, and built everything she had built, and gathered her clan around her across the long centuries of exile from her birthright.
So that on a pleasant afternoon under a sky just beginning to darken, two young people who had walked through fire could stand in front of her and promise each other forever and have it be true.
When the kiss ended, and Arezoo and Ruvon turned to face their guests, still holding hands, Annani spread her arms wide.
"My children, friends, family. May Ruvon and Arezoo's joy be your joy. May their union bless our community."
The applause rose again, louder, brighter, and Annani let it all in, every part of it, and allowed herself to feel hope.
Hope for the world they would build together. Hope for the day, perhaps not so very far away now, when she might stand on a dais like this one with her Khiann by her side.