“It could be, but it feels as though we’re missing something.” Without thinking Riccan reached out and touched both stones at the same time. His whole body went rigid as if he were being electrocuted.
Amanda did not hesitate; she tried to move one of his hands and then she was caught in the same vision:
A woman carried a basket containing all thirteen skulls. She walked up to each person in the line in front of her and said, ‘You have been chosen to be a caretaker for this samara.’ She reached into the basket and pulled out the crystal which fit easily in the palm of her hand.
‘As a descendant of the Witness you are to keep this samara in your family line until the appointed time.’ The woman touched the outstretched hand of the recipient, and a band of color wrapped itself around the crystal before sinking into the skull. ‘Do you promise to retain custody of this samara until it is called into duty?’
One person after another down the line answered with a nod and the woman placed the skull into each hand and then promptly left the room. The entire ceremony lasted for a quarter of an hour. After the last person had departed, the woman sat down in her wicker chair and held the basket in her lap. Picking up the one remaining skull, she said, ‘I, Lillia, promise to guard the master samara with my soul.’
As fast as the vision began it disappeared, releasing both Riccan and Amanda from the powerful draw of energy. They stared at one another in stunned silence as they processed the scene which had unfolded in their minds.
“That was amazing!” Amanda was the first to be able to form a coherent sentence.
“You are the master of understatements today.” Riccan felt the need to sit down. He did not have a chair nearby, so he simply sank onto the floor.
Amanda lowered herself to the floor as well and felt the need to touch Riccan again. Instinctively, she put her arms around him and hugged him.
Riccan wrapped his arms around Amanda, immediately feeling a comfort he had never known. Overcome with emotions, he was grateful Amanda had shared the experience with him. Without any conscious thought, Riccan pulled away slightly and turned his face toward hers. He brought his lips down to hers, kissing her for several seconds before he managed to break the contact.
“I could swear I felt you trembling as you kissed me, Riccan. Is there something wrong?” Amanda had thoroughly enjoyed the kiss, but she wanted to know what it had meant to him before she made a fool of herself for thinking it might be something more than a casual gesture.
“I was trembling. That kiss meant so much to me; I wanted it to be perfect. I have to admit I tried to keep myself from having feelings for you, but, after that experience, I know for certain you are the person I am supposed to be with. I love you, Amanda,” Riccan answered with raw honesty. He watched Amanda’s face intently to see if she had felt the same thing he had in that moment of unrestrained emotion.
Amanda’s answer was to lean forward and kiss him soundly on the lips. She wrapped her arms tighter around his shoulders and enjoyed the feeling of being so close to the man she had fallen in love with a long time ago. Finally, they were on the same page with their emotions which filled her with joy to have everything work out so well.
“Is that answer enough for you, or do you need more convincing?” Amanda teased as she rested her forehead on his own, their lips barely separated.
Riccan could feel her breath on his face as she spoke to him. He was thrilled.
His brilliant smile told Amanda everything she needed to know. They kissed again, this time with an air of confidence and mutual love.
Amanda was the first to pull away. She had a horrible cramp forming in her twisted leg and had to massage it to get it to stop. “This isn’t the most romantic ending to our first kiss,” Amanda teased. “What do you want to do now?”
Riccan helped Amanda to her feet and looked down on the two samaras. “I think we should put these away and then we can go to the living room where we can be a lot more comfortable.”
“Are you sure you want to touch those things again?” Amanda looked sideways at the two innocuous looking objects.
“I did say we were going to put them away. You take that one,” he pointed to his original stone, “and I’ll take this one. We can put them in separate niches in the bookcase.” He put his words into action and picked up the stone. This time nothing happened except the hair stood up on his arms.
Not to be thought of as a coward, Amanda promptly followed his motion and grabbed the second stone. She put it back into the original niche and then took her hands back. She could not help but rub her palms on her jeans as though that might remove the electric feeling coursing through her.
Amanda felt much more relaxed when they finally got comfortable on the leather couch. Riccan sat down sideways with his feet up before she curled up between his legs to lean back onto his chest. She had wanted to do this even while she had been dreaming. All of her dreams seemed to be coming true.
“We’re going to have to come up with something to tell my parents so we can spend more time like this together,” Amanda mused out loud.
“Why don’t we get engaged,” Riccan suddenly said into the silence.
“Was that your idea of a proposal, Riccan? If so, it was terrible!” Amanda slapped his thigh to demonstrate just how bad it had been.
“Oh, I can do it much better if I know that’s the direction you want to go with this,” he suggested.
“I’ll wait to answer that until I think you’re actually being serious.” Inside, Amanda’s heart beat wildly even as her breath became more difficult to keep steady.
Riccan pushed her forward as he scrambled off of the couch. “Wait right there; I’ll be right back.”
Amanda watched him rush out of the living room and go up the stairs. Staring with open-mouthed dismay, she had no idea what had gotten into him. Only a minute later she watched him practically fly down the stairs and slide back into the living room in his rush.
He dropped down to one knee in front of her and presented a little black box. He opened the box at the same time he said, “Amanda Covington, would you do me the immense honor of becoming my wife?”
Amanda shifted her gaze from his face to the contents of the black box. Nestled among the velvet fabric was a stunning diamond ring. She had no idea where he had gotten a ring on such short notice, but she had to concentrate right now. She had to answer his question with the only thing which came to mind. “Absolutely! I love you, Riccan!” Throwing her arms around him, she kissed him for several seconds.
Riccan pulled away this time. “Let me make this official so we can resume.” Plucking the ring out of the box, he slid it onto her left hand. It was a perfect fit.
Amanda admired the sparkling diamond on her hand, unable to contain her curiosity, she asked, “Where did this come from?”
“It was my grandmother’s ring.”
“What a beautiful family heirloom. Thank you, Riccan.”
“May I assume this proposal was more romantic than the first?” Riccan playfully asked as he got up off of the floor and sat down on the couch next to Amanda.
“Absolutely! You’re wonderful…unfortunately this isn’t going to help my case with my parents. They’re going to say we don’t know one another well enough to get married. Maybe we should just go to Reno and elope.” Only half-joking with her suggestion, Riccan’s response surprised her.
“That’s a great idea! We know what’s going on between us and we have very unique circumstances which nobody would understand or even believe.”
“Riccan, I was just kidding. We can’t elope!” Amanda shook her head for emphasis.
“Just think about it for a moment, Amanda. The idea has real possibilities which would make us free to come and go without anybody keeping tabs on us. You said yourself you wanted to be able to spend more time in Tuala and, the way I see it, your parents are the only thing stopping you from doing just that.”
“I hear what you’re saying…and it’s all true
…” Amanda agreed and could feel herself being persuaded.
“Good, it’s all settled then,” Riccan announced as he jumped up from the couch and grabbed his cell phone from his pocket. He called the airline and, within several minutes of conversation and pacing, he had First Class reservations to Reno, Nevada. He would have preferred Las Vegas himself, but Amanda had specifically said she wanted Reno. The city did not matter as much as the legality of the whole affair. His smile beamed as he sat back on the couch and grabbed Amanda’s hand. “We’re going to do this tonight!”
Amanda smiled uncertainly and said, “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely! I’ve waited a lifetime to be with you. We already agreed we should be man and wife; I don’t see why everyone feels the need to wait for months and months before they finalize the relationship. I’m way more decisive than the average person.”
“I should say so! Okay then, tonight it is!” Amanda held onto Riccan’s hands and squeezed them to emphasize her certainty. After a few moments of grinning foolishly at one another, Amanda realized they had a huge problem. “Riccan! I don’t have a thing to wear for the wedding. We don’t have rings! We don’t have a license! What are we thinking?”
“Give me a minute, and all that will be taken care of.” He walked into the office area off to the side of the kitchen and pulled a laptop computer out of the desk drawer. He walked back to the couch while he flipped open the cover. As he sat down, he pressed the power button before settling the computer on his knees to wait for it to boot up.
His processor must have been way better than her father’s because his computer was ready within seconds instead of minutes. Amanda watched as he happily clicked some commands on the keyboard. She leaned over to see what he was searching for and discovered there were hundreds of chapels in Reno. One, in particular, caught her eye and she pointed at it on the screen and said, “Let’s use this chapel. I like the sound of it.”
“Okay, the Chapel of the Bells it is!” Clicking on the site, he booked a timeslot for their ceremony and then clicked on an ad at the side of the page for their rings. Once the page loaded, he asked, “Do you want a simple wedding band or something flashy?”
“Simple,” Amanda immediately replied as she looked down at the flashy ring she had already received. “I don’t want it to compete with your grandmother’s ring.”
Riccan smiled lovingly at Amanda. He was thankful she saw the significance of receiving his family’s ring. He clicked on several selections on the screen and said, “Do any of these rings look right for you?”
Amanda scrutinized the rings displayed on the screen and pointed as she spoke, “This one is way too wide. I don’t like the color of this one; I prefer yellow gold. Here, this is the one.”
Riccan agreed wholeheartedly with her selection. It was a narrow band which was quite understated, but would not compete with the engagement ring. “I think I’ll get a slightly larger version of your ring so we’ll match.” He clicked a few more selections and then chose his ring as well.
Once the sizes were selected, he took out his wallet from his back pocket and entered the credit card information to get the payment detail completed. He entered a note to have the rings delivered to the Chapel of the Bells by their appointed time.
He looked at his watch and saw it was too late to go to a department store to find a dress for Amanda. “We can find a dress for you when we get to Reno. I’m sure they’ll have a large selection.”
“I don’t need anything fancy, but I would like something white,” she said as she shook her head at how rapidly and easily this was all coming together. She was starting to get the idea that with Riccan a good phrase for his style would be, ‘if it’s thought, it’s bought.’ She smiled at her own idea of Riccan’s generosity.
By this time on the next day, he would be her husband. Amanda could hardly wrap her mind around the concept, but she certainly liked how it sounded. She was finally going to marry the man of her dreams, literally!
Chapter Twenty-Five
THE TRIP TO Reno was a whirlwind. They had taken a flight from Miami to Reno and hired a car to take them to the chapel. The chapel car drove them to the Reno Courthouse to fill out their marriage license paperwork. The driver asked them if they required any other items for the ceremony. Amanda asked to be taken to a dress shop and before long, they had selected a simple white dress.
The ride back to the chapel was one of anticipation. They held hands in the back seat of the car and kept grinning foolishly at one another. Even though they had been awake for more than twenty-four hours, they were too giddy to feel tired. The driver opened the door once they stopped at the chapel and Amanda exited the vehicle first, followed immediately by Riccan.
Riccan carried the bag which contained Amanda’s dress as they walked into the chapel. The woman at the front counter welcomed them with a friendly greeting and then whisked Amanda away to get ready. Riccan realized he was still holding the dress and yelled after them, “She might need her dress!”
The woman returned and, without a word, she grabbed the bag from his hand and went back to the area she had taken Amanda.
Riccan had no idea what he was supposed to be doing. He was already wearing the suit in which he would be married. With no other instruction, Riccan sat down in the waiting area until someone told him otherwise. He glanced at his wristwatch and saw it was about a half hour until they were scheduled to say their nuptials.
An older man walked into the chapel. Riccan smiled and nodded at him, but did not pay him much attention. When the old man cleared his throat for the third time, Riccan looked up to see if he needed any help.
“Sir, are you here for the next scheduled ceremony?” the old man asked Riccan.
“Yes, sir, I am.”
“And where is the bride-to-be?”
“The receptionist whisked her into the back room to get ready.”
“Ah…very good. We’re almost ready then,” he mumbled and turned to walk into the chapel room. Suddenly, he turned and asked, “Do you have two witnesses for the ceremony?”
“No. I didn’t know we needed them. Do I need to go find some people?” Riccan’s mind began to race through different scenarios where he would hire two people to sit and watch them get married.
“It’s no bother. I’ll ask my daughter to come and sit in. My wife is already with your bride so she can be the second person,” he said casually. He saw Riccan’s expression and said, “It won’t be the first time my family has stood in as witnesses. It really is no trouble.”
“Okay, as long as you’re sure about it. I don’t want to put anybody into an unwanted situation,” Riccan said with a sigh of relief. Riccan’s tired brain finally made the connection and asked, “Are you the person who will be marrying us?”
“It is my honor to do so,” he replied with a broad grin.
“Thank you.” Feeling at a loss for words, he looked away toward where the woman had taken Amanda. Movement caught his attention as the drapery opened and Amanda stepped from around the corner. He could not believe how beautiful and radiant she appeared as she kept grinning as she walked toward him.
He stood up as she got closer and said, “Amanda, you look stunning!”
“You don’t look half bad yourself,” she teased back.
Riccan turned to the woman and asked, “Did our rings arrive by courier?”
“Yes, they did. Let me get the package for you.” Scurrying around the desk, she began rummaging through the piles of paperwork. “Ah,” she said as she flourished the envelope in front of her. “This is for you.”
Riccan stepped forward and took the small envelope. “Thank you,” he said as he ripped it open and upended it to drop the two rings into his palm. They looked exactly right. He closed his fingers over the rings and shoved them into his pants pocket.
Another woman walked through the front door which the older woman greeted her warmly. “Dad told me I’d be needed to witness a ceremony,” she said simply.
“Oh yes, honey, these are the two who are getting married,” she indicated their customers.
The young woman turned to face them with a broad smile. “Congratulations are in order for you two.”
Riccan thought she looked like a combination of her two parents. She was petite like her mother but had the large, dark eyes like her father. “Thank you for coming on such short notice,” he said sincerely.
“It’s no bother. We live above the chapel, so it’s quite convenient. Besides, I really do enjoy every wedding. It gives me hope that one day it might be my turn.”
Riccan did not know what to say to her last statement. As an attractive girl, he wondered why she would even question if she were to have the chance.
“Okay, honey, why don’t you take Riccan into the chapel and then go get seated. It’s time to begin. I’ll go start the music so Amanda can walk down the aisle.”
Suddenly, Amanda found herself standing alone in the lobby. Her nerves started to play havoc with her hands. She noticed they were starting to shake pretty badly. In only a moment, Amanda heard the nuptial music begin so she took a deep breath and began walking. She had just reached the doorway when the receptionist thrust a plastic floral bouquet into her hands. Amanda smiled and held onto the ugly flowers like they were a life-line.
Amanda arrived at the end of the short aisle and turned to face Riccan. Smiling at each other, Amanda was so focused on the fact she was actually getting married that she missed almost everything which was said except the part where she heard Riccan say, “I do.”
She repeated everything the minister told her to say and then she also said, “I do.” She held out her hand and received her ring beside the engagement ring she had forgotten to take off. Amanda took the band out of Riccan’s palm and slid it onto Riccan’s finger. Suddenly, the minister told Riccan he could kiss his bride. Amanda eagerly leaned forward to have her husband kiss her for the first time. Husband! I’m married, she thought to herself as the kiss continued for longer than it probably should have.
Ascension Discovery Page 105
