Kole slowly shook his head, admitting his confusion. Around them, in the chapel, the Armenites and Jewel’s parents looked equally incapable of comprehending the point she was making. But Nefer Reneb nodded her head in support and Ana Yang smiled encouragement, while Jester Carter gave her a quick thumbs up. She didn’t know if they really understood her but she drew strength from their support.
“I’m not sure I do understand,” Kole told her. “I can’t be less than I am.”
“No, of course not,” Jewel told him. “I’m asking you to be more than you are and promising you I will strive to be this as well.”
Physician General Adel suddenly smiled, drawing a quick questioning glance from the rear admiral and the justiciar.
Kole clearly did not share in his superior’s insight. “I don’t see the flexibility you are seeking in fulfilling our responsibilities. Duty is not a journey with multiple paths to choose from. You’re either on the correct road or you’re off of it. If you’re on the proper path, duty is a suit of armor to protect you. If you stray, it becomes a noose.”
Jewel didn’t know how to get through to him, but she kept trying. “You are so Armenite. I guess that’s to be expected, but this marriage isn’t going to work if we can’t both learn to give a little. Armenites and Cartelites are too far apart in their world views. We have to learn from each other. So please try to understand me here. Your analogy is flawed. There are multiple paths to fulfilling this duty—there has to be because your parents and mine each understand what we’re accomplishing here today totally differently. It’s up to us not to find the path that fills your House with pride or satisfies my cartel, but the third path that accomplishes both those things while giving our children the best possible future serving both our worlds.”
“Listen to her, Lieutenant Delling,” Physician General Adel urged. “She has grasped the fundamental flaw in our unions with Lisht and Nuri. They satisfy our bare minimum needs and no more.”
Kole no longer made any effort to conceal his confusion. “I accept your instruction, honored elder, but I fail to comprehend how there can be a non-Armenite path to honor.”
Nefer Reneb spoke up, offering the insight of the cartels into the stolidly Armenite conversation. “Great alliances are built upon genuine understanding, young man. It is possible to learn from your partners without compromising your core.”
“The Unity has intervened in your life, Lieutenant,” Adel added in what was a decidedly kindly tone. “At a moment in time when you struggled to take the only path believed to be open to you, the Unity presents you with a second honorable option. Listen to her, learn from her, and help her in turn through the changes to come.”
Kole considered these instructions imparted in what to Jewel seemed a decidedly un-Armenite tone. Then he turned back to his betrothed. “All right then, on the advice of my elders, I agree, although I still do not understand why you wish to be called Jewel rather than the name given you at birth.”
“That’s because it’s not a wish, Kole. I am Jewel. The name represents the woman I have chosen to become. If you keep calling me Luxora, you’ll be marrying someone who doesn’t truly exist anymore.”
She could see that he still didn’t fully comprehend her point, but perhaps that didn’t matter right now. They would have many years to work these things out between them.
She extended her hands and Kole took them. Her light brown flesh tingled excitingly where it came in contact with his tattoos. Kole looked at her with sudden intensity and her whole body began to quiver. She wondered if he felt the momentousness of the occasion as strongly as she did.
In a sudden overwhelming fit of self-consciousness Jewel glanced out at the audience. The ships’ officers had pivoted in the aisle so that they faced forward now—still standing without a single emotion playing across their faces. The Armenite guests were still mostly the same—sitting straight backed in their seats and watching intently. There was none of the individual movement one normally saw in a gathering of people. No one leaned close to her neighbor to whisper a comment. The discipline was astounding and subtly disturbing.
On the bride’s side of the small chamber, things were different. Most visibly the posture of the Cartelite guests and the survivors of the Euripides were less rigidly controlled—all except Erik who sat ramrod straight like the Armenites he detested. Meg Falco was whispering something to Ana Yang. Jester had slid forward to the edge of his seat, probably wondering if the marriage was really going to happen. Jewel’s mother appeared on the verge of interrupting again, the frown on her face making it clear that this was not the wedding she had envisioned. Like they couldn’t edit out any portion of the holo she didn’t want shown to the rest of the galaxy.
“Let’s begin anew,” Rear Admiral Delling suggested. He didn’t look any happier about the wedding, but then he didn’t look any less happy regarding it either. “We’ve gathered here to join two mighty Houses through the union of this man and this woman. Kole, Jewel, a great honor is being bestowed upon the both of you. The future of the union of Delling and Sapphira is being placed in your trust. Do each of you swear to fulfill the duty entrusted to you for all time, striving to bring our peoples closer together for the benefit of all?”
Jewel had watched the holos of the marriages of Amisi Lisht and Ebe Nuri dozens of times over the years and it still amazed her that in the wedding ceremonies the Armenites made no pretense that the formal binding of peoples was not what the proceedings were all about. In the Cartelite unions, they at least pretended the day was about the man and woman which was certainly more hypocritical but still set better with Jewel.
“I do!” Kole swore in his clear deep voice.
“I do.” Jewel promised at precisely the same time.
The rear admiral paused to stare at her for a moment, probably unhappy that she had spoken in lockstep with Kole. He could get used to that. She was not going to stop being her own woman and she wasn’t accepting an inferior role to her husband.
The rear admiral continued. “Do you pledge to hold faithfully to each other, forsaking all others, as a symbol of the honorable relations needed between our two Houses?”
“I do!” Kole sounded like he was back in basic training, barking out his answers for his drill instructor.
Jewel continued to use her softer, more natural voice. “I do.”
“And do you swear to strive your utmost to make this marriage fruitful, strengthening both of our peoples by preserving this union into the next generation?”
“I do!” Kole repeated.
An image of Kole in her bed flashed before Jewel’s eyes followed by a flush of guilt. Erik was only a few feet away across the chamber. “I do.” she announced. Her voice rang out firmly across the chapel.
Her mother sighed with relief.
“Then be bound together for all eternity,” Rear Admiral Delling told them, “and from this point forward bring only honor to both of your Houses.”
Kole’s fingers tightened slightly around her hands and he gently pulled her closer to him.
Jewel lifted her face to his. The tattoos on his countenance disturbed her on one level, but their primal nature was also strangely attractive. Her eyes got caught up in the lines, tracing them hypnotically as Kole’s lips lowered toward hers.
They kissed for the first time and Jewel shut her eyes. Her heart pounded so hard within her chest that she felt certain Kole should hear it. Her mouth opened ever so slightly and her tongue slipped forward. Kole’s lips opened in what might have been surprised response and the tips of their tongues met for just the barest of instants. Sparks flashed before Jewel’s closed eyes. Then her husband pulled away from her, suddenly breathing hard, his composure visibly disturbed.
His hands tightened further on hers.
Applause erupted from the bride’s side of the chapel—and only from the bride’s side.
“I present to you,” Rear Admiral Delling said, “the new groom and bride, Kole and Jewel Delli
ng.”
The Armenites offered three of their peculiar stamp/claps.
Then Kole took Jewel by the hand and they walked together back down the aisle and into their new life.
About the Author, Gilbert M. Stack
Gilbert M. Stack has been creating stories almost since he began speaking and publishing fiction and non-fiction since 2006. A professional historian, Gilbert delights in bringing the past to life in his fiction, depicting characters who are both true to their time and empathetic with modern sensibilities. His work has appeared in more than a dozen issues of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and is available online. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, Michelle, and their son, Michael. You can find out more about Gilbert at www.gilbertstack.com.
Other Works by Gilbert M. Stack
Legionnaire
1 The Fire Islands
2 The Sea of Grass
3 The Jeweled Hills
4 The Battle for Amatista
5 The Centinela Gambit
6 Morganita Burning
7 The Bridges of Morganita
8 Seneca’s Command
9 Flood of War
10 Calidus’ Stand
11 Fog of War
12 Fire Storm
Green Vigil: A Legionnaire Prequel Series
1 The Jungles of Ekángá
Novels:
Blood Ties
Forever After
High Above the Waters
Panic Button
Ransom
Winterhaven
1 Winterhaven
2 The First Snows
3 The Blood of Torons
Preternatural
1 The Devil’s Cavern
2 Blood
3 Oktoberfeast
4 Masks (Coming Soon)
The Unity
1 Fugitive
2 Prisoner
3 Bride (Coming Soon)
4 Empyreal (Coming Soon)
Among Us
1 Hiding Among Us (with Marc Hawkins)
2 Searching Among Us (with Marc Hawkins)
3 Hunting Among Us (Coming Soon)
Short Stories:
The Pembroke Steel Series
1 Lazarus Key
2 Hearts of Ice and Other Stories
3 The Shore and Other Stories
The Miss Pandora Series
1 Pandora’s Luck
2 Pandora’s Defense
3 Pandora’s Journey
4 Pandora’s Fort
5 Pandora’s Ghost Town
6 Pandora’s Demon
What Child Is This?
Contact Gilbert M. Stack
You can find Gilbert M. Stack at:
www.gilbertstack.com
https://www.facebook.com/GilbertStackAuthor/
https://www.goodreads.com/GilbertMStack
And subscribe to his free newsletter either on the home page of his website or at:
[email protected]
Just send a quick email with the phrase “Subscribe to Newsletter” in the heading.
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