by M E Wolf
“My name is Jacob, Sarah. It surprises me that we did not exchange names before now and that you only put clothing on now for the party. By the way, what type of party are we going to?”
Sarah looked at him as though he should know already. She never told him anything, not even her name. How was he supposed to know about the party?
“Silly man, you. Have you not noticed how we were naked for the last three months together in bed? In that time neither of us had any clothes on and when a servant came to the door each day, he was not really a servant.
“The reason that he did not look at me is because he was looking at you all this time and your response to my nakedness has been monitored by him and today was the day that it was decided that you were willing to commit to an agreement.
“The man who came here each and every day of the last three months was and is my brother. Today is our wedding day. This is a shock to you, but I assure you that it is our custom to choose the man we marry and if he stays with us in our bed, he has chosen already to commit to us and become our husband.
“I will tell you that if we do not end up getting married after you spent so much time with me in our basic forms, that my family will have you, and I killed.
“It may seem barbaric to you, but my uncle had a vision that I would meet my husband when I was saved by the man who carried the dagger of Icorn clothed in the skin of the wolf.
“Since you did have the dagger and was clothed in the skin of the wolf, I must be your wife.”
She handed him the dagger, which was in a sheath that looked to have been made for it with the same symbols on it that were on the handle of the dagger and the blade of the dagger. When he fastened the dagger belt around his waist it fit as though it was made for him, and the string at the bottom of the sheath was just the right length to go around his thigh.
“Alright, I will marry you. Obviously, we only stayed in bed together to make sure that I wanted you enough to marry you without once making love. So, consummating the marriage will not be difficult because it hurt all this time waiting and only holding each other.
“The time felt like an eternity without us being able to share our love for one another. Well, if you are ready lead the way to our wedding ceremony.”
CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE
Sarah led Jacob to a pulpit that had a man in flowing robes blessing two rings. The chapel’s pews were filled with patrons that Jacob assumed were Sarah’s family, friends and possibly others there for just the ceremony. He had never met anyone and did not know how the ceremony would be done, since the last three months were strange compared to all other types of things in this nature done on his home world.
His wife on his home world was dead for the last fifty years. She had died of cancer and he nearly died of a stroke and multiple heart attacks soon after her death because of the stress of losing her. Now, he would be taking a new wife in a strange and weird way. The fans in the chapel made it hard for Jacob to hear what the man who looked like a priest was saying. He was wearing a vestment designed to be pulled over his robes.
Probably it was done this way for the same reason that it was done in the Catholic church back on his home world, to be able to wear a vestment in colour and appearance depending on whether it was a feast day, solemnity or any other time in the year. This man was wearing a white vestment with a gold cup with a white dove embossed in gold above it, the emblem was in the center of his chest. He also wore a gold watch on his left hand and a large unadorned ring on his left ring finger. A huge wooden crucifix hung from his neck so that it was just below the white dove on his vestment.
It was not any cross he had seen before because what should have been Jesus on the cross, looked like Jesus in all respects accept for the angelic wings. This almost disgusted him, but he realized that this world might be different than his own. Jacob was uncomfortable and the tuxedo had a lining that made his back itch, something pained him there as well. Everyone kept looking at him when he could not stop himself before he scratched. There was a small lump forming in the middle of his back that pained him as well as itched like wounds did when they were healing.
They were especially looking at him when the priest or whatever he was began to speak,
“We are gathered here to join these two, Sarah and Jacob. As Sarah’s vision foretold that she would be rescued by the barer of the Icorn dagger that was lost to us so long ago.
“The Icorn were an ancient race that we have always believed were descended from the gods because of their beautiful angelic wings, just as we were once descended from the Icorn and have been long without our wings since the time our saviour was crucified and died upon the cross.
“It has been known that we had failed to keep the great one from being destroyed. In fact our ancestors, becoming more and more wingless as time went on until no one bore any wings had resentment for the great one because he was born with wings when so few had them.
“Genocide for any winged ones that were among us ensued until us and other followers were all that remained.
“Our resentment and our sins have caused us to lose the Icorn dagger and everything else sacred to us that we could have had wings, but our sins prevented us from having them.
“The union between this man and this woman should prove to release us from our burden, from our sin. It is said that when a man and a woman are joined in matrimony, let no man put it asunder.
“Let us not discard the truth of our betrayal of the great one, but use it to humble ourselves into obedience and supplication. We must shed our flesh and renew our spirit, for the flesh is weak and the spirit is strong.
“Soaring into the clouds like the Icorn did centuries and centuries ago, so long ago that no one even can read the sacred scriptures that we have locked away in vaults beneath the chapel.
“Will we be able to read them once our spirits are free to ride on the winds of time to the city far off into the spiritual realm, so far that we cannot even fathom nor understand what lays at the ends of all of our journeys.
“Beginnings come and go for so many, so many people that could soar the skies and see wonders of this world that we no longer are a benefit to.
“Endings are far nearer to us than the Icorn’s endings so long ago. We shed our wings to till the soil and labour our days as servants to the ground.
“In the end the ground will still be here and all that we had done after all of us have been long gone will cease to exist and we will be forgotten, even our writings will not remain.
“Even if our writings did remain there would be no one to even read what we wrote this day because things change and do not require what had happened in the past.
“Today is the day that is the beginning of the end for us. We are a dying breed that will pass and turn to the flight that we all once knew as the Icorn.
“It is not known when it will happen, but it is said that the barer of the Icorn dagger is to wield the power of flight and many other wondrous things for those who wish to have flight as well.
“Yes, the one before us that has come to us is the barer of the Icorn dagger yet does not have any wings. Everyone had hoped that his time spent here would have revealed a new growth of wings, but it is sad what I am about to say and reluctant as I am to say it he does not have any wings.
“Strange it is, but it is our custom to marry him to my daughter because he has spent the required time with her. He also carries the dagger of Icorn and for that it would be a grave sin not to have him marry her.
“Normally many scriptures would be read and then we would have these two say their vows and exchange rings, but we must have them say vows and exchange rings for they must be joined first before the scriptures and listen to the scriptures as a pair. Sarah.
“Do You take Jacob to be your husband. To have and to hold.”
“I do.”
“For the good and the bad. In sickness and in health.”
“I do.”
“And to love him and c
herish him for as long as you both shall live.”
“I do.”
“Jacob.”
“Do You take Sarah to be your wife. To have and to hold.”
“I do.”
“For the good and the bad. In sickness and in health.”
“I do.”
“And to love her and cherish her for as long as you both shall live.”
“I do.”
“There is but one step left in our ceremony and that is the exchanging of the rings, but first let us have our reading from the ancient scriptures.
“I believe that the acolyte has been chosen to do this reading for the ceremony. You may begin.”
Jacob never really paid much attention to any of the readings that were read in his church on his home world and this time was no different because his back itched insanely. It itched so badly that he felt pain or did the bump on his back cause him pain. He did notice that he had a small bump form there after he had acquired the Icorn dagger and it did seem to get bigger and bigger as the ceremony proceeded. When he said his vows he felt a tingle go through his flesh like something joining him in his body.
Back on his home world he had heard of the Holy Spirit, but had never experienced it so had no idea if what he felt was it or not. Maybe it was a draft coming from outside, but he thought against that when he had felt heat outside before he had entered this chapel. Once the reading was over Jacob knew that it was time for the final exchange of rings and signing of documents. He did not know anyone on this world and thus his best man was Sarah’s brother, the one that was to make sure that everything went well in the time that he had spent with Sarah.
The priest, Sarah’s paternal father, made what looked like the sign of the cross that Jacob had seen so many times on his home world that he had never participated in and said some words.
“May these rings be blessed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
At that moment Jacob felt the bump grow and something went through him that gave him goose bumps.
“Jacob, repeat after me.”
“Sarah, take this ring.”
“Sarah, take this ring.”
“As a sign of my love and fidelity.”
“As a sign of my love and fidelity.”
“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
“Amen.”
“Amen.”
“Now, Sarah. Repeat after me.”
“Jacob, take this ring.”
“Jacob, take this ring.”
“As a sign of my love and fidelity.”
“As a sign of my love and fidelity.”
“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
“Amen.”
“Amen.”
When Jacob and Sarah finally finished exchanging rings they felt the bond between their souls and their spirits form and then they were allowed to kiss each other. From there they were presented to the community that was the descendants of the Icorn people. More people were there than at first it had seemed and the bump in Jacob’s back grew and he almost could not bear it. Once they signed the papers, Jacob collapsed in a heap of pain and was rushed to the room that he shared with Sarah.
He was placed on his stomach since the bump on his back had consumed his back entirely and had torn the clothes on his upper body asunder. Everyone knew that he would be incoherent for days if not weeks and it pained Sarah most since she could not consummate her marriage until whatever had Jacob in the grips of pain, subsided.
CHAPTER FIFTY SIX
Alexandra awoke from her slumber on the muddy ground. She did not remember who she was and could not understand why she was naked. Everything was beyond her, even of what she was suppose to be doing here. Only four feet tall she could not hope to defend against the many dangers that she felt deep inside her soul. So fraught with no memory that she did not even know her own name. It was as though she was only born yesterday. Around her as far as the eye could see was mud, small shrubs, millions of wildflowers plagued by even more honey bees, strawberries and blueberries.
Just inside her vision were trees, deciduous, evergreen, spruce, birch, blue pine, red maple and various others like oak and some ancient trees. A lagoon was just inside the tree line to the north. She was hungry and so stooped down to pick some blueberries and slipped to the mud and sat on her bare buttocks in the mud, sore but still hungry. Blueberries were good and settled in her stomach sating her hunger. Thirst plagued her once a substantial amount of berries were eaten to make her lips, hands and face blue with the juices of the blueberries.
The lagoon and its waterfall drew her to it. Fresh running water meant water to drink. She climbed to the highest point of the lagoon and waterfall. Alexandra dipped her head into the running water and noticed that her hair was still pitch black and assumed that was the colour that it always had been. Cupping her hands, she drank the rich tasting water and found herself being refreshed and rejuvenated. Not knowing any other experience in her life, this new experience was bliss to her and she enjoyed bathing in the waterfall’s brilliance. Live in this area for a while she could, but had the strangest feeling that she was missing some knowledge that was vital to her survival.
Not knowing what that knowledge that she was missing was, she did not want to wander around aimlessly without having a proper direction. Having no clothing on did not bother her for some reason and she was not entirely concerned what that reason might be. Her reflection in the water of the lagoon told her that she was very beautiful, but not so beautiful that she would have trouble with respect to someone forcing themselves upon her. The idea of being violating sent agonizing shivers down her spine and into the deep crevices of her body.
It was something that she did not understand considering that she could not remember ever being violated. Being forced to have sex would undoubtedly break her spirit. Tears came to her eyes just thinking about it. Frozen with terror of just that thought for a moment made her clutch her body and grasp at a memory that only evaded her. Other memories surfaced for a moment of being violently assaulted vaginally and tortured that were too brutal to even contemplate. They were so ravishing that she slid to the slimy rock at the base of the waterfall and then dropped into the lagoon, only to resurface unconscious again on the sand next to the lagoon.
She did not swim to the sand next to the lagoon, but the lagoon had moved her to the sand or the current in the lagoon had done so. Some seaweed or another green water plant had wrapped itself around her like a blanket to keep her warm while she slept at the side of the lagoon. Pleasant dreams cascaded through her mind as she slept at the side of the lagoon. Dreams of nothing in particular, nothing that would finally jog her memory of anything of her past. Her dreams were of things that she may or may not have done in the past and had no consequences in regards to her mind or did they.
To some the waking world was a dream and the dream real or was that the other way around. For some to enjoy their lives they had to believe in something and at the moment Alexandra did not know what she would believe in and was only alive. Memories were only a matter of perspective for her. Would she gain them only to think differently than she did before she lost her memories or would she be the same? Everything and everyone changes for the good or the bad, which would Alexandra’s changes be, good or bad? The unknowing is what makes us all curious and curiosity is not always good and the less that we actually know the more we are not curious.
If there is nothing that we know because even our name becomes a mystery, then what is there to be curious about? Curiosity is always the first thing that makes all of us search for knowledge, but what lost knowledge can be gotten on a world that contains only different things that we have never encountered before because we have never been on the world that
we are currently on. Her predicament is that the knowledge that is lost can only be found with the knowledge that she once had. All that she can ascertain is that she has no idea of where she is or where she may or may not have been going.
In sleeping her mind wanders from dream to dream, searching for what she does not know. Not knowing is what makes her search hard because she does not even know if what she searches for can be found or recognized. Many dreams of the peoples of so many other lands or worlds, she visits, but does not understand why. Why, is the question on her mind and the quest is to find what lies on her mind, but does not want to be found and always seems like it cannot be found. Searching, searching night and day now. Stuck in dream land for many days and nights. She does not know what she searches for, but hopes that she will come to find whatever it is that she does look for.
CHAPTER FIFTY SEVEN
One understanding or revelation that she comes to is that she is to sing a song that has been long unheard and long unplayed. Songs that are no longer voiced or strung on the harp, guitar, drums or flute or any other instrument is what she is to sing and play. Since she does not remember how to sing or play an instrument, she does not know how she would do it. Instinct is all that she has now and instinct is all that she will need. The heart knows many things that the mind may forget, but that which is in the heart is not necessarily in the mind. If the heart is pure then the mind should be, but it is not always so.
In remembering knowledge that has been lost, the name is the least important. A name may come and go, but all of the other knowledge in the mind is what is really needed. What you are called is a matter of perspective and that perspective is more important coming from Alexandra herself. She needed something to be referred by, if she was to meet other people on this world, but what would her name be when she had absolutely no reference of any name and did not remember any names or people that she may have once knew.
