Fairy Gifts: A Between the Worlds Anthology

by Morgan Daimler

  “Only sometimes though,” she shot back, ignoring Jess’s quiet laugh.

  Bleidd sighed, before giving her another long uncertain look. “This was…is…very thoughtful. I am just wondering why you did it. If it was pity-“

  It was her turn now to give him an annoyed look, cutting him off almost mid-word. “Don’t be ridiculous! Of all the things I have ever felt for you in ten freaking years I promise pity has never been one of them.”

  Jason and Jess both laughed openly at that, and Bleidd flushed, looking chagrined. Allie went on before he could take control of the conversation back. “I asked you to marry me, and I meant for you to marry me legally. This seemed like the best way, and also this means that you and Jess are truly on equal footing, or at least as equal as possible under the Law. I knew the contract with him was nearly finished and would be done quickly, because of the baby – even if he is a boy and not the heir Jess’s mother wants their clan still wants him to be considered theirs, and, and, well I didn’t want to marry Jess and leave you hanging until we sorted out how you and I could marry too. I wanted everything settled. And-“

  “Allie,” Bleidd stopped her, taking her other hand, “it’s alright. I understand. You’ve always made it clear that you mean to be fair to both of us. And somehow you found a way.”

  “You sound surprised,” she teased gently.

  He smiled, but his emotions were still an odd tangle, “I am surprised. I don’t suppose I thought you’d be able to pull it off, not really. I should have known that you’d find a way.”

  “If you don’t want to go through with it, you don’t have to,” she said, more seriously.

  “And leave Jessilaen as your only spouse?” he said his smile slipping into a smirk. “That hardly seems fair.”

  “Fair to who?” Jess asked, his voice light.

  “Well that is the question, isn’t it?” Bleidd shot back.

  “Alright, well, if you’re both okay with this, if you’re happy with the contracts as they’re written,” Allie said, feeling her own excitement surging, “then let’s do this. I’ll go get a pen-“

  “Wait what do you mean, do this?” Jason finally spoke up.

  They all turned to him, but it was Bleidd who explained, “If we’re all agreed then it is just a matter of signing the contracts.”

  “You mean, that’s it?” Jason scoffed. “You just sign the papers and you’re married?”

  “Yes,” Jess said.

  “Pretty much,” Allie agreed.

  “No,” Jason said, “Absolutely not. You are not getting married over dinner, between a bite of stew and sip of milk, like you were signing a life insurance policy or ordering a magazine subscription.”

  “Jason,” Allie said, unsure why he was so spun up about this.

  “Don’t you want a real wedding?” he asked. Jess looked utterly baffled at that, because of course he’d have no idea what a ‘real wedding’ was even supposed to be by Jason’s standards. Bleidd looked curious.

  “Well,” Allie hedged. “I don’t know. I mean that’s not the way elves do things.”

  “Which is Allie-speak for ‘yes I do want a real wedding’” Jason said. She made a face at him.

  “What is this about?” Jess asked, uncertainly. “We can have a public affirmation later if you’d like Allie.”

  She turned to him, but before she could say anything Jason was already speaking, “What does that mean? Is that like a wedding?”

  “Well, no, not exactly,” Allie admitted. “It’s pretty much what it sounds like, just a public affirmation of the contract itself. Most people don’t do them unless they feel there’s a need to.”

  “Allie,” Bleidd said slowly, “while I’m sure you aren’t worried about a public affirmation, I hadn’t stopped to think that you might want a human style wedding. But now that Jason has mentioned it, is this something that matters to you?”

  “What is a wedding?” Jess asked, beginning to sound put out.

  “A wedding is, well, it’s like a formal ceremony,” Allie said carefully. “Where the people getting married say vows to each other and exchange rings that, um, symbolize their union.”

  “And it’s done in front of family and friends and legally,” Jason added. “And then there’s a big party afterwards, called a reception, with food and cake and presents. And dancing.”

  “Jason,” Allie said, seeing Jess’s eyes light up at her friend’s enthusiastic description. “You know I hate big parties. And inviting family would get really complicated – if we invite Jess’s family we’d end up with half the Holding, and if we invite Bleidd’s we’d have to wait years to get the details worked out, and we can’t invite one and not the other without offending someone. And I refuse to invite my mother or her side of my family.”

  Jason gave her a strange look at that and she flushed remembering that he didn’t know that her mother was Dark Court. Before he could ask her about why she was so adamant about not including her family though Jess was speaking, “Yes, of course. And I can see why inviting my family, my extended family would get complicated as well. Perhaps though….if we only invited my immediate family as we did for the Thanksgiving holiday?”

  Allie struggled to refrain from pointing out that she hadn’t been involved in inviting any of his family to Thanksgiving or they wouldn’t have been invited at all and instead said, “Bleidd do you think we should wait so we can invite your mother too?”

  “I want to invite my mother about as much as I imagine you are eager to invite yours,” he replied, his voice flat.

  Allie hastily moved away from that subject, “I don’t need a wedding, really, we can just get this over with now…”

  “Oh that’s romantic,” Jason snorted, and she shot him a dirty look.

  “You may not need a wedding, but would you like one?” Bleidd pressed, as always reading between the lines and correctly seeing her avoidance for what it was.

  She took a deep breath. “Listen…I, I mean, I guess sure in a perfect world I’d like to have a wedding – a small wedding – with friends and maybe a small party. Small. But the reality is these things take months and months to plan, and I’m three months pregnant now, a little past that actually, and I do not want to have wedding pictures of me looking like I’m getting married by force not choice, or holding an infant. Maybe that’s silly, but I have enough human upbringing in me still to want to avoid that, okay?”

  Bleidd winced slightly; Jess looked puzzled. Elves had no real concept of ‘shotgun marriages’ when there was no need for a child to be legally connected to the father, so she could understand Jess’ confusion, but Bleidd’s reaction confused her.

  Jason looked thoughtful. “What if we could arrange things and do it quickly?”

  “What do you mean?” Allie said frowning.

  “Well you only want small right?” he said. “That’s easier. We were already having a solstice party in three days, with food and guests, and that’s pretty much all the people you’d want to invite anyway I think, right?”

  “I, ah yeah, I mean it’s all our friends, just not Jess’s family…” Allie stammered. “But we can’t just declare the solstice party a wedding. It’s like a bait and switch were people think they’re coming for a fun holiday party and get stuck at a wedding instead.”

  “Allie!” Jason snorted. “That’s ridiculous. Besides we’ll tell them all that you guys are doing a small wedding ceremony before the party and they can decide for themselves if they want to come to that or not.”

  “Oh,” she said. “I guess that’s fair.”

  “Some may choose not to you realize,” Bleidd said. “Not because it’s a wedding but because not everyone may find the idea of polyandry…entirely palatable.”

  Jess was absorbing this entire conversation in wide eyed silence and Allie hoped he wasn’t too lost. She reached out and took his hand again, tangling her fingers with his. “How do you feel about this? It’s kind of crazy.”

  He smiled tentat
ively. “I enjoy our adventures that you call ‘crazy’. I am not sure I entirely understand this concept but I am not opposed to having a public ceremony with vows and rings, and signing the contract then. And I find the idea of a party to celebrate our marriage a wonderful one.”

  “This is crazy,” Allie repeated. “I don’t even have a dress”

  Jason thought for a moment then snapped his fingers, “I bet Shawn could help with that. He knows everyone at the theater and they know all the places to get clothes and everyone who makes costumes and dresses in town.”

  Allie found herself nodding, Jason’s enthusiasm starting to wear away her cynicism. “What about food? And a cake?”

  “Honey please who do you think you’re talking to?” he scoffed. “I was already making food for the party I can just fancy it up a bit. And Tony can help me with the cake, remember he and I did your birthday cake? And that was delicious”

  “This is crazy,” she said again. “Can we really throw together a wedding in three days?”

  “Have faith,” Jason said. “I’ll draft Hannah and we’ll make a list of everything we need for a small, simple wedding. We’ll see if Shawn can help find you a dress. We already have a location, here, we’ll just need some decorations. But you’ll see Allie, we’ll make this happen. And you’ll be married on the solstice, which will be like the most romantic anniversary ever.”

  She looked at Jess, “You’ll have to see if Zarethyn, Brynneth, and your mother can come on such short notice.”

  “I will ask Zarethyn and Brynneth tomorrow and send a message to my mother,” he said smiling. “But whether they can attend or not, I think this is a good idea and it will make our marriage something special.”

  She turned to Bleidd, “What do you think about this?”

  He grinned widely, “I think I need to find a ring.”

  She groaned, as the realization hit, “How am I going to wear two rings?”

  He laughed then, “Honestly Allie, you find the strangest things to worry about. Just wear one on your left hand ring finger and the other on your right. It isn’t as if you wear any other rings.”

  “Oh,” she said blushing, “Yeah that makes sense.”

  He laughed again, then kissed her, “It looks as if your solstice surprise for us has turned into a surprise for yourself.”

  Two Days Before The Solstice

  Jess was sitting in the living room, on the couch by the picture window that looked out over the front yard. The sun had not yet risen, the moonlight still reflecting brightly off the snow, and he was relaxing and enjoying the quiet of the early morning. Often he would wait in bed until Allie woke in the mornings but today he had been restless and he had not wanted to wake the others, so he had taken the fairy hound and come down here, conscious of Hannah sleeping in her room down the hall and trying to be as quiet as possible.

  After letting Luath out for a short run, he’d started a fire in the hearth and while she curled up happily on the floor by the fireplace he sat and stared out the window. He’d also plugged in the lights to the tree that sat in corner, a decoration that Allie had explained was used by several human religions to honor their winter holidays. He thought it a somewhat odd custom to kill a tree to celebrate life in the middle of winter’s desolation, but he did love the beauty of the ornaments, all gold and silver, and the glow of the electric lights. Since the tree had been put up he’d developed a habit of sitting and staring meditatively at it and he found it wonderfully peacefully, especially after a difficult day serving in the Guard.

  His fingers idly traced the rough, upholstery-like, cloth of the couch back as he watched the darkness through the window and thought about the conversation the night before. He did not entirely understand what this wedding ceremony was, even after the others had tried to explain it, but he could see that it did matter to Allie. It seems to be something like a public pledging of oneself to one’s spouse, rather like the marriage contract but spoken in front of witnesses instead of written down he thought to himself. It seemed odd to him to make a spoken oath instead of relying on a written one, but then both were equally binding, so in the end he supposed they served the same purpose. Sighing he switched his gaze to the tree.

  And the idea of having a party along with this vow taking is quite marvelous he thought glancing at the fireplace to see if he needed to add more wood yet. That is something we elves would do well to incorporate into our own affirmation ceremony. Such dull and tedious affairs, I don’t blame Allie for preferring this human one to that. By the sound of it this wedding should be quite fun.

  Even Bleidd seemed to like this idea he mused remembering how quickly the other elf had capitulated. He didn’t even offer any token resistance. It would seem that we are all getting exactly what we want, and far earlier than any of us could have hoped. Our courting has worked out almost miraculously well between all three of us, Allie is with child faster than any of us could have anticipated, and not only is my marriage contract with her completed already but she has somehow arranged one for Bleidd as well….Bleidd as well…hmmm….I wonder…

  As if his thoughts of the other elf had conjured him Bleidd ghosted into the room, still clad as Jess was in the loose pants and shirt that he slept in. His gaze quickly took in the fairy hound sleeping on the floor, the crackling fire, and the glowing tree before he walked over to join Jess on the couch. “Ah, I should have guessed I’d find you here. Good morning Commander, you are up early today.”

  “I could not sleep anymore and did not want to disturb you,” he said, smiling warmly at his lover.

  Bleidd returned the smile, as usual more open and less guarded when they were alone. “I hope there is nothing troubling you?”

  “No, I would not say there is,” he said, looking back out the window. “I am still contemplating this idea of a wedding though.”

  “I think you will enjoy it very much,” Bleidd said, resting a hand on Jess’s knee. “It is not nearly as formal as an elven ceremony and the party afterwards will be quite fun.”

  “I guessed as much from Jason’s enthusiasm,” Jess said. “He did a wonderful job with Allie’s birthday party.”

  The two were silent for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts, then Jess spoke again, “Gadreene, may I ask something?”

  “Certainly,” Bleidd said, curious.

  “These weddings, the purpose is to publicly confirm a relationship?”

  “In a way,” Bleidd said slowly. “It is slightly more complicated than that. Human marriages are legal as well, I believe, and the wedding would normally involve an officiant hearing the oaths who has the authority to legally bind the couple, as well as the witnesses hearing what is said. Then they exchange rings, and are publicly proclaimed married and then there is a party.”

  “You have been to a wedding?” Jess asked.

  “Several over the years. Some are more interesting than others.”

  “Are they only done between cross-gender couples, like elven marriages?” Jess asked, looking down at his hand.

  Bleidd frowned, puzzled, “The legal ones yes, as far as I know. I do not believe humans allow for legal same-gender marriages but I could not swear to that. I have attended one same-gender commitment ceremony, but if memory serves it was not legal.”

  “Then why was it done?” Jess asked looking up at Bleidd.

  “Because the couple wanted to make that statement of commitment in front of witnesses, I believe,” Bleidd said slowly, starting to wonder where this was going.

  Jess nodded thoughtfully, then looking directly in the other elf’s eyes, “We could do that.”

  “Do what?” Bleidd said.

  “Make such a public statement of commitment,” Jess said softly. “If you want to.”

  Bleidd rocked back slightly, “Do you want to?”

  For a split second Jess almost fell into their accustomed teasing and shot back with ‘I asked you first’, but instead when he opened his mouth what he said was, “Yes, I do.” Th
en he added, “Only if you do though. It would seem to be the most…appropriate…thing to do. For all of us to be equally committed, one to the other.”

  “I had not thought of that,” Bleidd said seriously. “But…I can see what you mean. She is marrying us both, legally. We will be her spouses under the Law, if not quite equally still in partnership. But the Law has no place for what you and I are to each other, only informal understandings.”

  “Yes,” Jess said leaning forward. “But we are courting too. And I count your place in my heart equal to hers. Why should we not make the same public pledge that she is making, that we are making to her?”

  “I,” Bleidd hesitated. “I do not think such a thing has ever been done.”

  “And when was the last time you heard of a woman taking a second husband?” Jess asked dryly.

  Bleidd smiled tentatively at that knowing the answer would probably be before Jess was born, and Jess pressed, “Besides I thought you enjoyed doing new and different things?”

  His smile widened, then he sobered, “I also care very much about you Jessilaen. If we could wed…if such a thing were possible…then I would be proud to call you my spouse.”

  “Then what say you to making this a three-way wedding in truth? Both of us pledging to Allie as well as each other?” Jess said.

  Bleidd took a deep breath then nodded, “I say that if it would please you then we should do it.”

  “Would it not please you?”

  Bleidd smiled again, “I suppose I am still trying to grasp the concept. For someone who only just learned what a wedding is and who is usually mired in the strictures of Elven society I’m surprised you thought of such a thing.”

  “Allie is always talking about us being equal to her, with her,” Jess said. “And it started me thinking that perhaps we should be equal with each other as well. Does that make sense?”

  “It does to me,” Bleidd said. “And I don’t see any reason why we can’t make this wedding what you want. It’s not as if a woman marrying two men is traditional for a human wedding anyway. So if you want to marry me as well as Allie then my answer is yes.”