The snap of a breaking pole drew my attention across the arena. Someone ran across the thin sand lining to grab another for the tent, and I sighed, my heart slowing its beat as the false alarm faded away. A breeze drifted into the twilight gloom underneath the benches as I gazed out into the arena, ignoring the gossip flying back and forth between the girls behind me.
Today…today was the Coming of Age Ceremony for Tarrowanne. Though it was supposed to be a joyful occasion, I dreaded the outcome. The boys between twenty and twenty-five would file past us, pick their wives, and go receive their certificate of marriage from the town elders. Blinking my eyes to clear them from lack of sleep, I remembered the dreams last night of hot, unwelcome melon hands pawing over me to find a satisfying wife. Though that wasn’t allowed, I shivered.
True, if someone I simply couldn’t marry picked me, I could refuse, but that would ban me from any future ceremonies and from being chosen in a traditional manner. I sighed. By the time I was past the age for ceremony attendance, there would be almost no one left to pick, and I’d become a spinster. On the other hand, if I was chosen for love, it would be the best day of my life.
As I watched the preparations for the courtship ceremony, I allowed my mind to drift and think of the man I wished was here to pick me.
I hadn’t seen him for three years, but Julius had been the one to bring me out of my depression when I lost my best friend. He’d done more than been there, though. He’d made me fall in love with his kindness, his friendship, and his humor. Most of all, when he’d kissed me under a weeping willow tree at the age of seventeen, I’d finally seen my whole future play out ahead of me in life. Finally, I knew where I belonged. Finally, I was home.
That was before his family moved shortly after. Since then, he’d written letters with no return address. He’d even sent me a gift, an animated golem he’d made with his budding Talent. With Talents being so rare nowadays, I was honored but had had to keep Titrus a secret since taxes on a golem were more than my family could afford.
Absently, I raised a hand and stroked the golem hidden in my hair. His wings fluttered against my fingers.
Are you okay, Naylin? Titrus asked in my mind.
Yeah, just nervous, I told him, lowering my hand.
I could almost see Titrus in my mind. When he’d arrived in the box, he’d obviously been a blue pegasus sculpted out of pine. The translucent blue stain made it look like there was a thin layer of blue crystallized wood encasing the little horse. His details mesmerized me. Every feather was in place, and even his glassy black eyes seemed to see every detail of my room. Then, he’d moved! And talked! And changed sizes! He was amazing.
Is he going to come? I asked, feeling anxiety building in my chest.
Of course he is. Why else would we have seen him the other day in town? He’s here for you!
I saw him on the way to run an errand for my mother in the marketplace. I’d hidden between two buildings like a vagabond, just watching him, drooling over his gorgeousness and how he’d grown what seemed to be a foot.
Black hair crowned his hair, cut short in the back and kissing his forehead as it brushed his skin. A white streak started at his right temple and ran for about two inches. Another had started to form at his left but was only half an inch long. Bright blue eyes were set into his sun-kissed face, reminding me of the sky right after sunrise. No facial hair marred his skin, and his straight nose, chiseled jaw, and arched neck reminded me of an aristocrat. He was so familiar, yet so alien, I shied away from him in the shadows.
I should have gone to him, Titrus. I should have seen if the years between us meant he couldn’t love me anymore. I stifled a tear by pinching the bridge of my nose to stop the tingling from spreading.
You’re being foolish, Naylin. I told you to, he said.
I know.
I was different, now. In the past three years, what was left of the girl had disappeared. He probably wouldn’t even recognize me anymore, and if he did, how was I to know if the woman I’d become was what he wanted? I could be fiery, temperamental, and impulsive. No man would deal with that, no matter how brightly my better qualities might shine.
And now, with the ceremony looming, I was dreading not knowing even more than before.
“Line up!” someone called.
I shuffled into my place close to the end of the line, and we filed out single-file to stand in the arena. Dresses of every color, shape, and size bedecked the girls as we walked. And mine, made of blue silk, accented all of my features as required by the ceremony. The spring breeze flowed into the arena, ruffling the dresses like flower petals in the field, as the smell of lilacs drifted through the air. Normally, I would have gotten goosebumps from the pleasurable scent, but right now, it sent dread through my blood like poison.
Hold your head high, Titrus encouraged me from up in my hair among a tinsel-thin nest of blue ribbons that draped behind my back. He was quiet and still, hidden in my hair.
We lined up and stood like marble statues. The arena was quiet but for the breeze ruffling our gowns. I was near the end, and as I watched, a row of men came out of the far door, filing by the women as tradition dictated, getting closer and closer. Cheers started flowing out of the benches of the arena as men started choosing their brides and leading them to the far tent where they'd repaired that snapped pole.
Each man that filed past never touched me. Either they were remaining bachelors or they had a woman that they wanted further down the line. I was thankful and greatly relieved by this seemingly small blessing. Maybe, I was being paranoid, but I couldn’t help the anxiety that threatened to make me hurl my breakfast at their feet.
Look seven men down, Titrus whispered into my mind.
I moved my eyes, and there was Julius, gazing intently at each face that he passed by. My heart leaped up to my throat, and I was so happy that I couldn’t breathe properly
And then I saw who was in front of Julius. My heart plummeted just as quickly as it had flown.
It was Garak.
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