Mapmaker, p.25
Mapmaker, page 25
“What do you mean?”
“It just seems very sudden after his former girlfriend left. We just want to make sure you’re not his second choice.”
Tessa smiled. “Mama, he’s going to be there for dinner tonight. I already know Natty better than I know myself. You can ask him every one of those questions yourself. But I will tell you, I have never been happier, I’ve never been surer of what I’m about to do, and I don’t know anyone I’ve ever known that I felt this way about.”
“He does come from a very good family,” Tavis observed. “Does he treat you well, Tessa?”
Tessa laughed. “I know that parents are supposed to worry about their children, and I thank you for that. Papa, all the years and all the love I’ve seen you pour out on Mama, Natty is like that to me.” Seeing that Peter was far enough ahead to not overhear, she lowered her voice. “You know the reputation I have for being a flirt and a tease.” Her father raised his eyes and her mother nodded demurely. “He takes it totally in stride. I’ve given him ample opportunity to do things that I know we shouldn’t, and we never did. He is a perfect gentleman, and he has a wonderful sense of humor putting up with me.”
“Tessa,” her mother said. “What did you do?”
Tessa chuckled. “I’ll tell you later Mama. Better yet, I’ll show you the dress Lady Iolena made for me. You’ll understand.”
Nathaniel was deep in conversation with his parents and the Skystormers when hoofbeats ahead of them drew their attention. “I hope I’m not too late,” a voice they all knew spoke out. “Aƞpétu wašté, my misun. (“Greetings little brother”) Joseph Spotted Eagle dismounted his horse and embraced Nathaniel. “So, you will be making the fire-haired mapmaker your wife.”
“Uncle Joe, you know Tessa. You don’t make her anything. She is, as we say on the Starduster, a force of nature and you don’t get in the way of a force of nature.” He smiled at his friend and mentor. “I am glad you’re here, big brother.”
Joseph turned toward Menta Kai, his longtime special friend. “Kai Lee, you look as beautiful as your mother, just like always. It is good to see you, my dear.” He hugged her and they held each other tight for a few seconds. “And little lovely Lona, my, how you have grown, Crown Princess. I understand that you are an ensign in the Gewellyn Navy now.”
“Acting Ensign, Uncle Joseph. I get to pilot the ship and everything.”
“Lona and her elf eyes have saved us more than once, Joe.” Natty explained. “She’s been valuable part of the Starduster’s crew.”
“That is good. I presume your beloved is with her family right now,” Joseph fell in beside them as they walked, acknowledging Richard and Kitlaen.
“She is but shall be thrilled to know that you’re here. You are staying for the wedding, aren’t you?” Nathaniel queried.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the worlds,” Joseph told him.
“Excellent,” Nathaniel smiled. He stopped and looked at Joseph. “I don’t want this to sound like you’re second choice, but my best man had to back out. He’s a submarine captain in the Gewellyn Navy, and we almost lost his ship before we came up here, so he’s a little busy with repairs and what we discovered at the time. Would you be willing to be my best man, Uncle Joe?”
“Thank you, Nathaniel. I would be honored.” He took Natty’s hand and shook it.
“Joseph, Natty has to have dinner with Tessa’s family tonight. Would you like to join us and Richard and Kitlaen for dinner?”
“That would be my honor also, Iolena.”
“Wonderful,” she said.
Sage caught up to them, having helped finishing the tiedowns on the airship. “Lady Iolena, would it be all right if I join the family as well?”
“Of course, Sage. You are family, too.” He smiled as Lona looped her arm through his, and her other arm through Menta Kai’s as they continued walking to Skystormer Castle.
Tessa greeted him at the door of her parent’s house, and stepped outside, shutting the door behind her. She kissed Nathaniel and then speaking in a low voice, told him, “My parents are going to ask a lot of questions, some of them about Silva. Are you okay with that?”
Natty smiled. “My love, you are their only daughter, their oldest child, and yes, Silva was fairly recent, but I have absolutely no problem answering every and any question they might want to ask me.”
She pecked him on the cheek. “Thank you. I just wanted you to know that even if it went south, as you would say, I would still have Lady Fiona marry us. I just want my parents blessing and I want them to like you.”
“Let’s pray about it, then.” He took both of her hands and the two of them bowed their heads in prayer.
When they were done, she looked up at him. “I’m not worried anymore. If Lordabove is for us, who can be against us?”
“Have you told them about the paintings in the cave yet?” Nathaniel asked.
Tessa shook her head. “Not yet. You think we should?”
“We’ll have to, because it was a major topic with my family, and it will probably come up with you at the wedding or the reception. But let’s hold onto it till after we’ve received their blessing.”
“I think that’s a very sound idea, Natty.” The went inside to dinner.
They had an excellent meal prepared by Tessa’s mother, Carolon, during which Petey peppered Nathaniel with questions about the Navy and airships. After the meal, the younger brother was excused, and the four adults set down in the living room with coffee.
“Mr. and Mrs. Chart, before we get too much farther into the evening, Tessa and I have something that we would like to ask you. “I know that you have only just met me, where my family has known Tessa for several years now and shared some pretty amazing adventures with her. Of course, my family has only known me for the last few months because of my coming from a time in the future, much like my sister came from the past. I understand that’s confusing, and I understand that you may have questions, but what we would like to ask is that you would grant us your blessing on our marriage. We are and have been best friends for all of the time I have been here, and it is only through recent events that we have discovered that best friends can become so much more. I love your daughter with all my heart, and I will always honor, cherish her, encourage her to be the very best that she can be, and stand beside her as she does that. Any questions that you would like to ask me about anything, anything at all, please feel free to ask. I will not keep any secrets from you or from her, ever.”
Tavis Chart inhaled and looked at his wife. She shook her head slightly, and he turned back to Nathaniel. “Nathaniel, I’ve known your parents and older sister for a couple of years now and know them to be some of the most wonderful people in the worlds. We had questions about your former girlfriend, but what you just told us really answers all of those questions. While you were with your family, my daughter made a very persuasive argument, that started with something like ‘you know my reputation for being a flirt and a tease’ which, in all honesty, we’ve known for many years.” He smiled at Tessa. “She’s had a number of boyfriends, some serious relationships, but she has never told us that she was in love, or that her male friend knew how to deal with her flirting and teasing. You’re the first one she said that about. I’ll ask one question, just for my own satisfaction; you’re sure that your relationship with the other young woman, the blue haired elf, is over?”
“Absolutely, sir,” Natty assured him. “Even if she were to come back, it wasn’t right and it isn’t right for either of us.” He took Tessa’s hand. “My brother-in-law told me that sometimes the best things in life can be standing right beside you and you just have to open your eyes and see it. I’ve opened my eyes, sir, and I love what I’ve seen.” Tessa’s mother giggled on the other side of the room.
“I’m not sure what that is about,” Tavis said to Nathaniel.
“Evidently your daughter has told her mother about something that happened. I’ll let her tell you, if that’s acceptable.” Carolon and Tessa just grinned.
“I suppose it will have to be,” Tavis smiled and stood up, gesturing for the other three to stand also. He took Nathaniel and Tessa’s hands and placed them together between his own. “Nathaniel Yalerius-Clark, my wife and I do bless your union and marriage with our daughter Tessa. Promise me that you will take care of her and love her and be with her for as long as you both shall live.”
“I promise, together forever.”
Tavis extended his hand. “Welcome to the family, son.”
Carolon came forward and hugged Nathaniel. “Welcome. Tessa has told me what a true gentleman and man of honor that you are. We are proud to have you as our son-in-law. But,” she paused. “we have an early morning appointment with your mother, sister, and niece about the wedding dress, so we’ll leave you to two say goodbye, and we’ll see you sometime tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Mother Chart.”
Tessa escorted him to outside of the door. She grinned at Nathaniel. “I’m so proud of how you handled that. Thank you for loving me. I promise I will be the very best wife I can possibly be. I love you, Nathaniel Clark.”
“And I’ve already promised you, but I promise you again to be the very best husband that I can possibly be. I love you, Tessa Chart. By the way, did you tell your mother about the blue dress?” Tessa arched her eyebrows and nodded. “I thought that’s what that was all about. Can you also find a way to tell them above the cave paintings, particularly as it relates to us?”
“I’ll figure something out,” she answered. “We didn’t get time this evening.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.” He kissed her, and started down the alley from the map shop, glancing back to see her leaned against the doorpost watching him go.
Chapter twenty-nine
The Bride of the Truthbearer’s Son
Iolena, Menta Kai, Tessa, and Carolon looked at the three designs that Lona had created for Tessa. “They are all lovely,” Tessa’s mother pointed out. “Do you have a favorite?”
“I think I like this one best,” Tessa pointed to the drawing with a very low scooped neck on the front.
“Tessa? Do you think that’s appropriate?” Her mother looked at her.
“Mama, it’s no lower cut than the one you wore for your wedding. The only real difference is I want the slit up my right hip like my blue engagement dress.” She turned and looked at Carolon again. “Did you tell Father about that incident I told you about.”
Her mother laughed. “With the two of us sitting there grinning like a couple of fools, how could I not tell him?” She looked at Iolena. “Have you heard about what my daughter did with the dress you made for her?”
Iolena nodded. “Lona filled us in on the details. I’m glad to know that they’re going to have a healthy, fun, love life. Intimacy without joy can be so unfulfilling.”
“I agree,” Carolon concurred.
“Tessa, there is something else that we need to talk to you about which is the other reason that I asked you and your mother here and why we excused Lona. There is a duty that falls to the oldest elf mother in the family whenever a human and an elf, or in Natty’s case, a half-elf, gets married. Sometimes it’s not an issue, but from the way Nathaniel grew up it is very likely going to be part of your life.”
“Is there something wrong, my Lady?”
Iolena smiled. “Other than you calling me your lady again,” she replied, “it depends on how you look at it. Tessa, humans and elves are very similar, which is why we can marry each other and why we can have children together. But as you know elves are considered to be immortal. We are not actually immortal, but as we age somewhere after six thousand years, we start to fade, and then we walk on to the Great North. But because of these differences, there are changes that happen when an elf and a human consummate their marriage. In the case of our daughter Shannon, Menta Kai’s older sister whom you met in Ellandaril and at Alenia’s wedding, she married a Gewellyn elf, and they are not immortal. They live longer lives than humans, but they do pass on. The woman always takes on the mortality of her husband, so Shannon’s lifespan was extended. When I married Connor, his lifespan had been changed by the Vardarianna to that of your people, Eldarin. One of the very rare times that has happened, although Lord Hrodebert says that it has happened previously, so I gave up my immortality because of my love for Connor. Then, before she walked on my great-grandmother, Lady Celantine, restored my Elven lifespan to both of us. Tessa, Natty is an Aerielands elf, and when you two lay together that first night, you will take on that Elven lifespan. You need to know that, and it’s one of the reasons that I’m very proud of my son that the two of you have chosen to wait until you are married to engage in intimacy.
Tessa smiled. “What you’re saying is that I get multiple thousands of years with Natty, rather than my Eldarian life of six hundred to maybe a thousand years?” Iolena nodded. “Mama, what do you think?”
Carolon smiled. “I just hope that the two of you love each other as much as you say you do, because six thousand years is a very long time.”
“It’s hard, Natty, while even though you’re my son, I feel like we barely know each other. I know that it is neither of our fault, and you’ve told both your mother and me that you feel you had a wonderful childhood. I feel like we’ve missed a lot.”
Nathaniel shook his head. “Dad, you were and will be there when I needed you to be, and you still are. I’ve never complained, and I never will. Besides, with Uncle Joe and Berian for mentors, if there was anything you missed, they covered it.”
“You’re taking a very big step tomorrow, Nathaniel. No hesitation, no premarital jitters?”
“Absolutely not. We told you about the paintings in the cave. We can’t be sure exactly when they were made or why they are there, but just like they show you and Amil together, they show Tessa and I together. I’m just glad that I didn’t make a mistake with Silva.”
“Connor, I believe that in the future all things will come together in a way that explains why your children have journeyed from the future and the past to be here with you and Iolena in the present,” Joseph commented and continued, “beyond the Fluidity of Time.”
“I’m coming to realize that, Joe,” Connor replied, “just like you and I being here in this place and time. God, Creator, Lordabove, he has a perfect plan, and it is unfolding around us.”
“Perhaps that is a deeper conversation than we want to have while we are preparing for your son’s wedding,” Joe said to them both. “Although I’m not quite sure what my duties as Best Man are, because between Tessa’s family, Iolena and your daughters, the Skystormers and their Mountain Troopers, there isn’t a lot left for me to do.”
Nathaniel smiled. “Since we don’t have time for a bachelor party, Uncle Joe, you can host the rehearsal dinner tonight, okay?”
“I would be glad to, if Madrigal Austin and Sinead Brice would let me into the dining hall. Maybe I’ll just be the Master of Ceremonies.”
“Let’s go find Richard, Sage, and Kipling, and see if we can find something to do until dinnertime,” Connor suggested, and they went to find the others.
“You mean we have another dinner after the ceremony?” Kip asked Nathaniel as they stood at the rear of the cathedral. “I’m still stuffed from last night’s dinner. Lord Richard throws a heck of a party.” His expression changed as he looked at Nathaniel. “My parents send their best wishes, Natty; however, with the situation with my, um, sister, they felt that being here would be a bit awkward.”
“I understand,” Nathaniel replied, “but tell them thank you for the thought.”
“I’m a little surprised you asked me to be one of your groomsmen, though,” Kip continued.
“Because of Silva?” Natty questioned.
Kipling shook his head. “No, because, until I met Enesneth I really had a thing for Tessa. She and I had some amazing adventures in Ellandaril with your parents and Menta Kai.”
“But now, you and Esse are married, so it was never really an issue, was it?” Natty smiled at Kip.
“Gentlemen,” Joseph turned to them. “It is time.” Nathaniel nodded, but at the same time his attention was drawn to the door behind them as three Drow elves and Skye McDonagh bustled through the door. Snee, in full dress uniform, sidled up to Nathaniel, eyeing Joseph.
“We made it, just in the nick of time.” He held out his hand to Joseph. “You must be Chief Joseph Spotted Eagle. I am Snee, Captain Snee. Natty has told me a lot about you and your people. It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”
Joseph shook his hand. “Would you like to resume your role as Best Man? We’re just getting ready to get started here.”
Snee held up his hands. “No, but thank you. I’m sure you have everything well under control, and the mere fact that we got here thirty seconds before the service started tells you that we don’t. I’ll just sit with my mother and my aunt.”
“No way,” Natty protested. “Joseph can still be my best man, but you can join us as one of my groomsmen, if you will?”
“Are you sure?” Snee asked, and Nathaniel nodded in reply.
“Absolutely, please.”
“Okay but let me tell the Commodore what I’m doing.” He turned and went back to Desara and Deidre, spoke to them briefly and then returned. “Mother and Deidre are having a hard time deciding if they should sit on the bride’s side or the groom’s side of the church. I told them to be quick about it, either way, because things were about to get going.”
Natty chuckled. “Thank you for that.”
Just as they started down the aisle, the door behind them opened again, and, glancing back, Natty broke into a huge grin. He indicated with a nod to Kip and Snee, and they turned to find Talindra, Tror, Alden Wicker, his wife Felicity, and Talia and Taeral Nichanova with Estrella.
“I couldn’t miss this for the worlds, Natty. We’ll talk after the ceremony.” Talindra hugged her former Executive Officer, and she and the rest of her party were ushered to their seats. Before they were seated, Talindra headed up to the dais and got Fiona’s attention. The Reverend Mother bent over and listened to the airship Captain, and her eyes lit up at something Talindra said. She nodded an enthusiastic affirmation, and Talindra went back to her seat.
