“I actually followed your career for a while,” she said to Lorewyn at the range one day. “You’re remarkable! What you did for women in Hollywood, your athleticism, the way you stood up for yourself when needed? No wonder you got into archery after your stunt work ended! You’re a true heroine.”
Lorewyn had very seldom met anyone outside of the Hollywood insider circles who even knew who she was, much less a fan. Charity was also familiar with her nickname, the “Horsewoman of Hollywood’s Back Lot,” and it was she who proposed the idea to Lorewyn and to the Roving Archers.
“Your story of how you became a stuntwoman in the first place is legendary,” she explained. “At least for those in the know. The woman who leaped on the runaway horse and got pulled to double for Fay Wray in King Kong! And now you teach archery… we need to put those together… how about training people to shoot a bow while riding a horse?”
Lorewyn was delighted at the suggestion, of course, but came back with the obvious question. “It sounds very… romantic and something out of Robin Hood… but I’m not sure there’s any practical use for it.”
“Why does it need to be practical?” Charity replied. “People don’t develop skill in archery for practical purposes nowadays. You can hunt with a gun. The police and military use modern weaponry. People don’t ride horses for practical purposes either. We drive cars now. None of it’s about practicality… it’s about the adventure! You mentioned romantic, well… I’m a romantic at heart, I guess.”
Lorewyn needed no more convincing. Charity had connections through local stables and used them to connect the archery range with horses. By early March, Lorewyn was teaching classes on mounted archery, showing people how to shoot at both stationary and moving targets while on horseback.
Charity was a columnist. She worked for the paper. It wasn’t long before there was considerable publicity about former stuntwoman Alivia Chambers teaching equestrian archery in the Los Angeles area. The club’s membership grew and classes were soon filled. Lorewyn suddenly found herself in demand, with Charity helping her promote her newfound calling.
Rhianyn heard about it as well, of course, but through the same channels as everyone else, not through her wife directly. She spoke to Lorewyn about it one Sunday morning at breakfast, showing her the full-length article in the Times written by Charity.
“Yellowfeather, I’m very proud of you for this,” Rhianyn explained. “I’ve always supported your dreams and ambitions, and I think doing something you’re skilled at, teaching others, something you love, is wonderful. The only thing about this that confuses and concerns me is why it’s been going on for the past couple months and this is the first I’m hearing about it… through the Sunday paper.”
Lorewyn didn’t have a very good answer. “I don’t know, Blackbird… I wasn’t trying to keep it from you or anything like that. It just didn’t come up, that’s all. We’ve been developing this project, me and Charity, and I guess I wanted to see it become something good before I shared it with you.”
Rhianyn gave her a scrutinizing look. “It’s just not like you,” she stated. “In fact, you’ve shared very little with me about what’s been on your mind these past couple months. That’s not like you either. What’s going on? I’m here if there are things that you want to talk about… stuff that’s happening.”
“There’s nothing happening, really,” Lorewyn insisted. “This project is taking a lot of my focus right now. It’s fun… I haven’t felt like this in a long time. Riding again, practicing my shot again. Did you know that I did a trick mount and dismount for the first time without being filmed on a set in ages!”
Rhianyn came over to her and put her arms around her wife. “I’m so glad you’re doing something that makes you happy. I know that being let go from Hollywood was tough. I just don’t want you to feel as if you have to conceal your happiness from me, or cut me out of it. I enjoy celebrating your happiness with you.”
April came and went. In May, an exhibit of mounted archery was featured at the Los Angeles County Fair, conducted by Lorewyn and Charity. Rhianyn attended one of the days and was quite impressed.
“You know, Yellowfeather, my own horsemanship isn’t so bad,” she offered. “If you want to run a doubles event with me, I’d love to ride with you.”
Lorewyn assured her that they would try to put something like that together for future events… but there was something in her tone Rhianyn noticed that just wasn’t as enthusiastic about it as she would’ve imagined.
June brought more ideas from Charity. “We need our own annual Summer Showcase!” she suggested. “I know a place out near Agoura Hills that would be perfect. We could promote it with something like ‘Alivia Chambers Rides Again!’ Events for kids… competitions… we could even try to film something… maybe get you back on the screen again! A whole new concept in entertainment… like a medieval styled fantasy adventure!”
Lorewyn was listening to all of this, and she had to admit that it sounded very tempting. She had never been in the spotlight before during her Hollywood years. Stunt work was just the opposite, in fact. A conversation about this with Rhianyn did find its way into one of their evenings together.
“I thought we talked about this sort of thing,” Rhianyn said, the concern in her voice very evident. “I thought we had an agreement, and I’m pretty sure that you were quite convinced it was the best approach. In the spotlight? You know, I recall you talking to me some time ago about your concerns regarding our age, the fact that we’ve been in these identities for a good while now. Alivia Chambers is 52 years old now. Antonia Blackstone will be turning 54 in less than a month. My love, we can’t afford being in the spotlight right now. I want so much to support you in what makes you happy, but the reality is that in a few years we’ll be faced with that decision again, the one we’ve had to make before. You and I both are already using magical means to appear like middle aged Human women. This isn’t the time to start something that will cast us in the public eye. I’m already thinking about possible exit strategies from the observatory… it’s inevitable. Your work with the Roving Archers? I think it’s good that you’re doing that, but Yellowfeather, we have to think about the near future. A curtain will be closing soon. We’ll need to start another act of the play. Alivia Chambers will have to exit the stage.”
“What if I don’t want her to exit?” Lorewyn suddenly exclaimed. “What if I want this life, this identity? What if I want to go on screen, ride horses, shoot a bow, try to recapture some of my life that I haven’t been able to live in so very long? What’s wrong with that, Blackbird?” She could feel herself getting heated.
Rhianyn’s voice took a softer tone, but laced within that softness was a firm and yet loving sense of warning. “I don’t suppose there’s anything wrong with it, if you wish to take a different approach in our existence here, risk things we haven’t risked before. I suppose you can do those things… but I don’t hear a sense of we in this plan… and that’s also something that’s not like you at all. I’m glad you’ve developed a friendship with Charity Stephens, that she supports what you want to do. I just have to wonder if she’s influencing you in ways that are ultimately for your good, for our good, for the good of those around us. Have you thought about these things at all?”
Lorewyn could feel her face redden. She drew back from Rhianyn, her body language suggesting some resentment. “Is that what this is about, Blackbird?” she asked. “Are we dealing with a Zevedryn case all over again? I’m not allowed to have friends, is that it? Is it because Charity’s Human?”
Rhianyn sighed. There was a time when confrontations like this with Lorewyn would provoke her and cause her temper to flare. But now…
“I’m not going to answer those questions,” she replied. “There’s no reason for me to try to answer them. I just want you to think about these past few months, that’s all. Look at what’s changed. Look at who has changed. You have a keen and sharp mind… but your heart tends to overpower it at t
imes. Just step back from your heart for a moment and look carefully at what’s happening. Ask yourself the questions. Do the investigation, as if you were a Constable again. Compare your life, choices, mindset, and actions before you met Charity with now. Ask yourself why you and I haven’t made love for the past four months. Consider what you’ve told me because you’ve wanted to tell me versus what you’ve told me because we’ve had conversations like this. And if you need some time to work this through, that’s okay. I love you, and I will give you that time. Please, just think about it, and then talk to me, okay?”
On June 16, 1959, George Reeves died of a gunshot wound to the head while in his home in Benedict Canyon. There was considerable controversy whether it was a murder or suicide. Lorewyn was noticeably affected, having worked with Reeves for a time and regarding him as a supportive colleague. She spoke little about it, but immersed herself more with her work in preparing for a Summer Showcase with Charity, the plan being to launch it sometime in August.
Rhianyn’s birthday came around on June 29. Lorewyn seemed to have forgotten it, which again was something that hadn’t happened before. The following Saturday night, shortly before Rhianyn was scheduled to leave for Washington D.C. for a few days to attend a symposium hosted by the newly organized NASA for lay-workers in the field of space sciences with a couple other people from the observatory, she tried to talk to Lorewyn. She didn’t mention her birthday at all. She had just finished watching Gunsmoke on TV. Lorewyn had been gone most of the day, working on details for the showcase up in Agoura Hills.
“I know I’ve been difficult lately,” Lorewyn admitted. “You’ve been patient with me, and I love you for that. The main part of the showcase work is finished now. I’ve been pushing myself hard and am likely dealing with some reverie deprivation. I know you’re leaving for D.C. for a few days. I’ll get some rest while you’re gone, and when you return, we’ll have a real proper talk and try to work this out, okay?”
Rhianyn accepted this and left for the symposium. Lorewyn took her to the airport in her 1957 Pontiac Bonneville that she had been driving for the past year. Lorewyn and Charity also finished the bulk of the project, and the night before Rhianyn was expected to return, Charity came over for dinner and drinks to celebrate their progress. The conversation became rather intimate after a few drinks.
“I want you to know how much I’ve enjoyed working with you these past few months, getting to know you personally… I feel a strong connection between us, Liv… I think you might feel it as well.”
Before Lorewyn realized what was happening, Charity, who was sitting next to her on the couch at this point, had leaned in and kissed her passionately on the lips.
Lorewyn reacted instantly, jerking away. Somehow, the effects of the wine they had been drinking drained away like pulling the plug in the sink and Lorewyn stood up, stepping away from the couch, her expression quite sober.
“Charity, I’m sorry…” she started to say. “This is… this was a terrible mistake. You should’ve never come over. I’m so sorry. It’s my fault, I should’ve…” She stumbled on her words. Lorewyn felt absolutely awful in that moment. Blackbird, was all she could think. “All of this… the whole thing… I’ve just made a horrific mistake!”
Charity stood up as well, trying to approach Lorewyn gently, comfortingly, perhaps even a bit seductively. “Liv, it’s okay,” she said. “I understand. Most people don’t understand, but I do! We can’t deny how we truly feel, it’s not right for us to…”
“No!” Lorewyn exclaimed adamantly. “No, you don’t understand! You don’t understand anything about this, and I should’ve never allowed myself to even put myself in a position where something like this could happen! I’ve been so blind! Charity, you need to leave this moment. I’ll call you a cab. We can’t work together anymore. We can’t see each other anymore. We can’t associate with each other anymore. I’m sorry it has to be this way, but… there is no other way!”
Charity tried to take a step closer, but Lorewyn held out her arm defiantly. Tears formed in Charity’s eyes and she grabbed her purse, running outside. She walked some distance before turning back, returning to the house, by which time a cab had arrived and took her home.
Lorewyn tried to enter reverie that night as she lay on the bed she shared with Rhianyn… but try as she did, she remained awake until well past dawn.
***
Lorewyn met Rhianyn at LAX Airport the following evening when her plane arrived. She greeted her wife appropriately, but she was definitely subdued. It was night and there was unfinished road work on Santa Monica Blvd. making it difficult to get home the traditional way. Lorewyn turned north on Pacific Coast Highway and made for Sunset, turning right in Palisades and heading inland, up into the hills toward Rustic Canyon in the dark… the back way.
Lorewyn didn’t talk until they were a couple miles up Sunset. “I have something I need to tell you,” she said, and proceeded to tell Rhianyn the whole story.
Rhianyn sat there in the passenger seat of the Bonneville, listening. She said nothing until Lorewyn had completely finished saying what she wanted to say. Even then, Rhianyn was silent for a while. The lights of Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades were far behind them now. The road was narrow and curvy, with little starlight above and barely a sliver of moon in the night sky.
When Rhianyn finally did speak, her voice was calm and level, almost as if she was expecting this and had prepared a reply.
“We can’t go back,” she stated. “By Mother Air’s mighty breath, I sometimes wish we could… but we can’t go back. There is no return to Cordysia. There is no return to our immortal states that we enjoyed for a time, going to different realms, making a difference, helping those in need. We are here, in this realm, mortal once again, and we will remain here in this realm for the remainder of our lives… lives which can easily endure another two millennia by the lifespans of our kindred. I know you experienced something recently… something that motivated you to try to recapture those days now gone. I feel that desire too. Oh, how I wish I could go back sometimes, Yellowfeather. I would do so many things differently. But we’ve been down that road before, many times. I’m here. You’re here. And the only thing… the only thing… for me that makes this existence bearable, the past 1,500 years we’ve lived on Earth, and the next 2,000 we’ll likely live as well… is you. That’s it. My Elven Defender Blade could fall into the deepest sea and be lost forever. That wouldn’t matter to me. I could lose every ounce of wealth, security, stability, our home, our cars, our jobs, all of it. That wouldn’t matter to me. As long as I had you to walk through this world with me, for the countless ages of life, I could endure it. More than just endure it… I would welcome it. I would embrace it. Having you with me is all I want. You’re all I need.”
She paused, a tear forming in her eye. Rhianyn wiped it away, sniffed softly, then continued.
“I can’t decide for you what’s going to make this existence work in your mind, your heart, your soul. The assumption I made long ago was that your decision was the same as mine and that you made that decision anew each day, just like me. If I have to reassess that assumption, I can do that, but in order for me to do that, I need to know what you are going to choose. If you are going to choose us, each day, then I need to know that. I need it to be declared without exception and without any possibility of doubt… because I dare not assume anything. If there is anything here in this situation that I must take blame for, that is it. I felt safe in assuming. My initial reaction was to take blame for other things, to say something like ‘Oh, Yellowfeather, this must be my fault. I drove you to this, didn’t I?’ But I won’t think that, because I don’t believe it. However, I can accept blame in assuming. You have other choices too. You can choose to go your way without me. That is a choice. You can also choose to find short-lived satisfaction with someone who might fill you with a single breath, but fade with the very next exhale, for such is the Human condition as you know. But that is a choice. Y
ou can choose to find the kind of Human like you once knew, those who were enamored by you, followed in your every footstep, like Libryll and Arcadia. Such might offer ephemeral gratification… for a brief moment in time. I can tell you this, my love. I have seen a realm turn cold, lose its sun, and die as I lay dying in its midst. It is an empty and bitter thing, and I would not wish it on anyone. I would spare you, spare us, a fate like that, but I can only choose for myself. Stars and stunts both in the heavens above and on earth below fade in time, lose their light, and become memories. The question that will remain, however, is who will be there when they’re gone to share that memory and reflect for ages to come the brightness of a lone distant torch shining in the long eternal night?”
Rhianyn fell silent again. The last thing she said aloud on that car ride to her wife was spoken in faint whisper.
“Please choose us. Please choose us today and every day following. But in any case, you must choose… and you must choose now.”
Lorewyn felt Rhianyn’s hand reach out and touch her upper leg. It was the first time she had touched her since returning from D.C. Her touch was like a warm glow in the darkness, a beacon, an invitation. And in the stillness, the only sound heard being that of the car engine and the Bonneville’s movement along the winding road in the dark, Lorewyn could feel her wife’s mind touching hers as well, and Rhianyn’s soft mental caress upon her soul.
I will always choose you, Lorewyn of New Sylestia and of Earth, my friend, my lover, my wife, daughter of Sylvius and Velyxi… as I chose you the day we first met, as I chose you before our paths parted in my foolishness, as I chose you when we joined in marriage by the lake, and as I choose you now, this moment… forever and ever.
Lorewyn removed her right hand from the steering wheel and placed it on Rhianyn’s as it was still on her leg. There were tears in her eyes as well now. She turned for just a second to speak to her wife.
Two Birds, One Feather: The Lives and Times of Lorewyn & Rhianyn in America Page 18
