Ten years later

OoOoO

The energy in the air had little to do with the high summer sun. Even the gulls seemed to pick up on the excitement hovering over the coastal town of Utunma.

Hanging onto the southernmost tip of the Gorian peninsula, Utunma was a hub for all enterprises that came from the sea. Fishing, crabbing, pearl-diving, all these made up the bulk of the livelihoods of those living under the hot southwestern sun. Today however, the fishermen would hang up their nets and the crabbers would put aside their traps. Today was not a day for working, but for celebrating. Two of their own were to be wed by the seashore at midday.

            Vinie PearlDiver stood at the center of a flurry of activity in the home she shared with her widowed father, Bakko. Her usual work-worn attire had been slung across a screen on the far side of the tiny kitchen. In its place she wore twisted wraps of white cloth around her chest and waist. Pure white cloth was hard to come by in Utunma, and when her betrothed's mother, Kor NetWeaver, had produced the bolt of fabric, Vinie had pounced on her with a delighted kiss. 

            "There you are; black, white, and gold, the colors of a bride."

            Kor stood back to admire her handiwork. The squat weaver had just spent the better part of an hour twisting, fastening, and arranging the white cloth against Vinie's ebony skin. They had to be worn just so, as per the customs of southern Goran. As for the gold, Vinie's best friend, Sahar CoinDancer, was hard at work painting Vinie head to toe with whirling, intricate patterns of shimmering golden paint. Gold was adored by southerners, in all its forms. The coins woven into Sahar's dancing skirt and top clinked against one another, dangling from her curvaceous hips as she moved, and casting fiery sparks of light across the wooden walls.

            "Is it supposed to be that tight in the..." Vinie made a vague gesture behind herself.

            Kor laughed. "You're just not used to the style! I wore my wedding wrap even tighter than that. Sahar can tell you all about it; her CoinDancing outfit is much the same."

            "And it's horrible." Sahar laughed, tracing her brush up the inside of Vinie's shoulder blades. "Imagine trying to dance for hours with that riding up your-"

            "How is everything coming? They'll be waiting for us."

Bakko, Vinie's father, stuck his head in from the bedroom just off the kitchen. A diving accident a few years ago had broken and twisted his right leg, permanently retiring Bakko from diving for pearls. Then a teenager, Vinie had taken over the family trade for her father. She dove for the pearls, and Bakko sold them at the Utunman marketplace.

            "It would be going faster if you men-folk didn't keep interrupting us," Kor said tartly. "It looks like your dad is eager to get you married and get rid of you, girl." She winked conspiratorially at Vinie.

            "Oh, is that so?" Vinie feigned hurt. "Well then, I guess you won't have to put up with me anymore after today."

            "I would put up with your cheek forever if I thought it would convince you to stay."

            Bakko laughed as he said it, but everyone heard the wistful sadness beneath the words. Vinie was Bakko's only child. It had just been the two of them ever since her mother had died in the jaws of a shark over fifteen years ago.

            "Someone call for a sea sponge? I think I see floods on the horizon," Sahar whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear.

            Blinking hard, Bakko smiled rather meekly.

            "Oh Dad..." Vinie stepped away from Sahar and Kor, prompting a squeal of outrage from Sahar when one of her golden paint spirals went awry. "Don't you worry; I'll never be far away. I'll still be diving, and you'll still be selling the pearls, just like it's always been. The only thing that's changing is the roof that I'll be sleeping under."

            "I know. If you ever need anything though, you come to me, yas?"

            "You mean if I need someone to kill the dock rat under my bed?" Vinie asked slyly.

            That finally wrung a laugh out of Bakko. "Otch girl, you know I can't stand those nasty things! That's your job, or your new husband's. He's got to have some sort of work to keep him busy around the house."

            Kor made a noise of disapproval in the back of her throat. Vinie's groom was to be Zaneo SeaSon, son of Kor and Irem NetWeaver. Zaneo had no trade like the rest of the folk of Utunma. He was not lazy though, far from it. Zaneo was what southerners called a "Child of the Sea". He wasn't a shaman, with their deep but mundane knowledge of the ocean and all its tides and creatures. The Children of the Sea were able to tap into the very nature of water; move it, change it, even walk upon it.

Such children, as well as children who showed any ability to use other elements, were required by Gorian law to be sent to the capital at Amenthere for training. Kor and Irem had disobeyed that law. They kept Zaneo's abilities a secret and kept him with them in Utunma as he grew up. No one outside of immediate family and friends knew, as well as Wasani, the shaman. Zaneo spent his days with Wasani down by the seaside. What they did together no one knew, but Zaneo had flourished from a withdrawn, nervous boy into a tall, quietly confident young man ever since he and Wasani had come together.    

Zaneo and Vinie knew each other as children, or more accurately knew of each other. It wasn't until Vinie was fourteen and Zaneo was sixteen that they properly met. Zaneo had been on his way back from a day on the beach with Wasani when he had decided to go for a walk out onto one of the docks. Little did he know that Vinie was diving for pearls at that exact spot. Zaneo had been sitting with his long legs dangling over the edge of the pier when Vinie surfaced. Thinking that the legs in question belonged to her dad, Vinie decided to play a joke on Bakko and let the lobster she had found pinch his big toe. The crustacean had clamped down tight with a vengeance. Zaneo's resulting yell brought nearly half the fishermen of Utunma running down the dock. Now, five years later, he and Vinie were to become husband and wife at midday.  

                Catching Vinie by the elbow, Sahar drew her oldest friend back towards her.

            "Hold still, you! You're not making my work any easier, you know."

            Vinie shivered as Sahar touched the small of her back with her golden paintbrush.

            "I have faith in your steady hand."

            Sahar snorted. "You'd be better off if Gideo were doing this. He is the SkinPainter after all."

            "Yas, but Gideo is with Zaneo, along with the other men."

            Kor gave Bakko a pointed look. Vinie's father grinned sheepishly, but made no move to leave. Instead, he drew up a chair and settled into the rickety wood with a chorus of squeaks and groans. Sticking his crippled leg out in front of him, Bakko came dangerously close to tripping Kor as she scuttled past. The mother of the groom let out a hiss of exasperation and swatted Bakko across the cheek. Vinie giggled, upsetting Sahar's painting progress once again.

OoOoO

            The lapping of the waves on the rocks was such a familiar music in the people of Utunma's ears that few even noticed it. All the sea people of southernmost Goran gathered together along a natural jetty of grey stone which stretched out finger-like beyond the shoreline to the ocean. The midday sun soared high overhead, its hot rays occasionally interrupted by the wing of a circling gull. At the end of the jetty a canopy of interwoven seaweed had been erected. The silvery tendrils were still damp from the sea, casting a cool shade over the shaman who waited beneath.

            Wasani gazed across the dark, smiling faces of all gathered. Every one of them had lived their entire lives along Goran's coastline. Weavers, dancers, fishers, crabbers, divers, and sailors alike, Wasani knew them all. Feeling the eyes of his community upon him, the shaman took a moment to square his shoulders. As an afterthought, he drew in a deep breath, pulling in his belly where it threatened to stretch the sash of his bright green wrap. He was not so old yet as to have done away completely with manly pride. Then he laughed at himself and spoke.

            "My cousins, today is a day of joy."

            Wasani had more than a few blood relatives amongst the crowd. Still, as a shaman he was kin in spirit to all who called the sea home.

            "Today, when the sun's journey from horizon to horizon is the longest of the year, and the sea's tides are at their lowest, we come together. Tomorrow, the waters shall rise again. When they rise, they shall buoy upward with them a new boat, and a new family."

            Many in the crowd took the opportunity to steal a glance at the little craft anchored behind the canopy at the end of the jetty. Every family in Utunma owned a boat, without exception. Some were small and humble, like Bakko's little diving dingy. Others, like Rangi the merchant's vessel, were nearly thirty feet long. This boat had been built by Zaneo and Vinie working together over the past several months.

It was the custom of southern Goran that betrothed couples built their family boat together. If, by the time the craft was complete, the two still wished to wed, then their union was likely to be successful. The boat Vinie and Zaneo had built was a simple dhow, held together with coconut rope and crowned with a curling sail. The sail had been a gift from Kor and Irem. Zaneo's parents were slightly better off than Bakko and Vinie, being weavers, but they had made light of such an enormous contribution to the newlyweds' boat.   

"Who split the boards for this fine boat?" Wasani called out.

"I did."

Zaneo stepped forward from between his mum and dad. Once a shy, skinny boy, Zaneo now towered over even his dad, Irem. He was draped in a single length of white cloth, fastened at his waist and tossed artfully over one shoulder. Zaneo's best friend, Gideo, had outdone himself today. The curly haired SkinPainter stood just behind Zaneo, grinning both at Zaneo and at how well his handiwork had turned out. Gold paint gleamed against Zaneo's arms and chest as if the sun itself had come down out of the sky to embrace him. Kor reached forward to squeeze her son's bicep, and Zaneo smiled the smile that had come to be adored by all in Utunma.

Wasani likewise beamed at his apprentice. "And who sanded the deck of this fine boat?"

"I did."

Now it was Vinie's turn to claim her part in the proceedings. Her long, wavy black hair fell carefully oiled and tumbling over her painted shoulders. Vinie squeezed Bakko's hand one more time before stepping out of the crowd to stand before Wasani. Zaneo turned that precious smile on Vinie, and she felt her heart open wide.

"Together, you have made a fine and seaworthy craft. Do you both still harbor the same intentions you did when you first set out to build it?"

"I do."

"I do."

Wasani reached out his hands, wrinkled and cracked by seawater, to each of them.

"Then come. Let us merge two into one."

Their milk-white wraps fluttering about them, Vinie and Zaneo approached the shaman from either side. Vinie winked at Zaneo, and his eyes sparkled brighter than the sea beneath a midday sky.

Wasani turned to the little driftwood table behind him. Picking up a pewter goblet in each hand, he held them out before the lovers.

"On the day each of you entered this world, you were both empty cups. From that day, those around you have little by little filled those cups. Some fill your cup with love and wisdom."

On cue, Bakko came forward on Vinie's side, and Kor and Irem on Zaneo's, each pouring a small measure of water into their child's goblet from a vial. All three looked close to adding their own tears to the mix as well.

Wasani waited patiently as the parents lingered a moment beside their children before rejoining the crowd.

"Others filled your cup with friendship and laughter."

Now it was Sahar's turn to step forward for Vinie, and Gideo for Zaneo. They added their own vials of water to the now half-full cups. Gideo took a moment to squeeze Zaneo's arm lightly before returning to his place, earning a warm smile from the groom.

"All your lives, you have been learning and growing, taking on the gifts of those who love and cherish you. Today, it is time to share those gifts, and in doing so become something even greater and more beautiful."

Wasani handed off a cup to Vinie and Zaneo each. Vinie had told herself all morning that she was not going to be nervous. Her grip on the cool metal was slick though. She fastened her eyes on Zaneo, checking to see if he was also nervous.

Zaneo wore an expression of pure serenity. Meeting Vinie's eyes, he held her gaze without wavering. It was like staring over the side of a boat into the ocean's depths. Zaneo had vivid blue-green eyes, highly unusual for the people of Utunma. Vinie knew that she would never get tired of looking into Zaneo's eyes, even when they were surrounded by a deep maze of laugh lines.

Now Wasani was holding out a third, larger goblet between the two of them. The time had come.

"By the union of the waters of your lives, so you shall become one and whole. As all rivers flow to the sea, man shall flow into woman and woman into man."

Her gaze still locked with Zaneo's, Vinie's lips quirked in a challenge. Just like the game they used to play as flirting youths; who would dare first? She clearly remembered that first, almost frightened kiss, when their game had gone from childish to heart-stoppingly real. Who had dared first then, her or Zaneo? Neither of them had cared to keep score after that first kiss, or the many kisses that followed. Now she waited, cup poised in midair and a coy smirk on her lips.

   Zaneo's cup lifted, and Vinie beat him to it. Laughter danced behind Zaneo's smile as together they each poured the contents of their cups into the single goblet below.

"From the sea, of the sea, to the sea." Wasani recited the old blessing that everyone in Utunma knew better than their own names.

"From the sea, of the sea, to the sea," everyone repeated.

Holding out the filled goblet between Vinie and Zaneo, Wasani let his hands slide away as they newlyweds took hold of it.

"Let it now be known through all Utunma that Vinie PearlDiver and Zaneo SeaSon are one and the same!"

A great cheer went up from all assembled, echoing out over the bay and scaring the gulls. Finally Bakko broke down and started sobbing. Rolling her eyes, Kor pulled a cloth from her husband's belt and handed it to Bakko. Irem was clapping so hard that the woman next to him winced at the sound.

Vinie and Zaneo continued to hold the cup, Zaneo's long, warm fingers overlapping Vinie's smaller ones. Vinie was just about to turn away to reassure her father when Zaneo whispered to her.

"Wait, watch the water."

Curious and eager to join the excited throng of revelers with her new husband, Vinie wrinkled her nose questioningly. Zaneo stole a quick glance at the crowd. Then, satisfied that everyone was still caught up in the excitement of the moment, he let out a long breath and closed his eyes. Vinie heard a low, oddly toneless humming, and then the water in the cup began to move.

Slowly at first, the seawater in the marriage cup began to circle. Then faster and faster, a tiny whirlpool took shape.

Vinie had never before seen Zaneo use his gifts. She had known about his specialness since they were children, but by and large Zaneo was passed off as Wasani's apprentice, a shaman in training. It wasn't until they had announced their intention to marry that Vinie and Bakko had been brought in on the secret of Zaneo's true nature. Even then, Zaneo was always very careful never to let anyone see him doing such things. The time he spent exploring the powers of water with Wasani was hidden away from curious eyes in a cave quite some distance down the shore from town.

Both exhilarated and a little alarmed, Vinie glanced at the crowd beyond the seaweed awning. In only a matter of moments their friends and family would descend on them, ready to start the rest of the day's festivities. Kor caught Vinie's eye, and her mouth opened in an 'O' of surprise when she realized what her son was doing. Wasani's broad back was to them, but abruptly he moved to block the newlyweds from easy view; somehow he knew.

"Zaneo..." Vinie whispered.

Zaneo was deep into some sort of trance, and did not open his eyes. The water in the chalice continued to swirl, and Vinie watched awe-struck as it drained away to the bottom. Something round and dark was taking shape, replacing the whirlpool.

When Zaneo stopped humming, and opened his eyes, a black pearl sat in the empty cup. It was perfect, far more perfect than a natural pearl could ever be. So dark was the pearl's surface, it seemed to take on an almost eerie depth.

"For you, my pearl."

Zaneo plucked the black pearl from the bottom of the cup. Vinie was so overwhelmed by both the magic and sheer risk of what she had just witnessed that she was, for once, speechless.

"I...you...but...!"

Catching Vinie's hand, Zaneo pressed the sea stone into her palm.

"I know, really I do. But look around Vinie, what do you see?"

With the surprisingly heavy weight of the pearl tucked between her fingers, Vinie let Zaneo wrap an arm around her waist and lead them both to the edge of the awning. Everywhere there were smiling faces. The salty sea air was filled with the cheers of their family and friends. Happiness was very near palpable as a living force.

"We are surrounded by our people today, Vinie," Zaneo murmured in her ear, his lips tickling her skin. "There is nothing but love here, yas?"

"It was still a dangerous thing to do, you dock rat!" Vinie slid a hand around Zaneo's bare torso, making sure to get in a good pinch. She smiled brightly for everyone else to see. 

Zaneo winced and passed it off as one of his crinkling grins. "Will you forgive me on account of this being our wedding day?"

"Maybe, on one condition."

The wedding party was already beginning to swell impatiently. From the jetty they would go down to where the beach was sandy and wide. There would be singing, games, and dancing until the tide went out. CoinDancing was a rare and somewhat endangered southern art, one that Sahar did exceptionally well. Her performance would be a highlight of the party. Come sunset, Vinie and Zaneo would set sail on their new family boat, to ride the waves alone together all throughout the night. When they returned to port in Utunma the next morning, they would officially be man and wife to all of Goran.

Having to speak above a whisper to be heard in the midst of the wedding party, Zaneo leaned in close.

"And what condition would that be, my pearl?"

Vinie grinned suggestively and tossed her head toward their boat where it bobbed at anchor.

"Make this a wedding night to remember."

There was a spark of mischief in Zaneo's sea-green eyes to match that of his new wife's as they let the current of their family and friends carry them down to the beach.

No one saw a lone straggler slip away from the rear of the procession, just as no one had seen the woman eyeing the newlyweds just after the ceremony. No one often paid the unscrupulous bawd Selmay much in the way of notice. If they had, they would have noticed Selmay jogging back into Utunma toward the royal magistrate's home.   

OoOoO