Silent Eden

Chapter Thirty-One (And Authors note)

Zanthius smiled down at Eden, kissing her forehead as he released her forearm at long last. She did well, he told her, as she pulled her bleeding arm away from the Old Man, and stared down at the band around it. The tears that had been running down her face for most of the procedure were starting to dry, and it helped that Zanthius reached up and wiped them away as she turned her wrist to try and read the markings that had been tattooed on there.

He asked if she would be alright, and she nodded, rather than signing her reply. It was her very first tattoo, so tears were expected, the Old Man told her. But he had to give thanks to the Goddess, because Eden’s deformity gave the old man at least one relief that he’d never had with the other women; she hadn’t screamed in his ear when he had rubbed the disinfecting salve over her raw tattoo.

Eden didn’t have to understand what he was saying to get what he meant, and she gave the man a glower that was sure to speak volumes louder than any scream, and he put a hand up in haphazard defense. Zanthius helped Eden to her feet, loops his hand around hers, and led her out of the hut.

Villagers cheered happily at the sight of the two, emerging from the ceremonial hut together, and a number of them threw flowers into the air in celebration.

Though Eden had no calendar to mark the time that had passed since she’d come back to the Island with Zanthius, she thought that it had probably been the better part of two years. And though half of that time was spent trying to fall into step with the other villagers, and another part of that was spent taking ‘lessons’ from Zana about how to be a good Islander Woman, it had been a good two years.

People had been surprisingly calm about her relationship with Zanthius, and the few that had been annoyed over it had been dealt with by Zanthius, who didn’t put up with anyone badmouthing Eden.

And maybe it was because of the calmness that the other Islanders had taken the relationship, that Eden had felt so at ease when Zanthius finally asked her to become his mate. It had been a hard thing to sign, really, but he’d been easing her into Island language for a while, and when the time came, Eden had understood at least, that he wanted to be together forever, really.

She showed him the sign for marriage. He imitated it, and she had kissed him in reply.

Of course, Eden, who had no idea about marriage customs in the village, hadn’t been aware at the time that it meant many, many weeks of preparation, including her first piercings and her first tattoo. She had already begun learning how to run an Islander household. Through no fault of anyone who had been supposed to be taking care of the hut that Zanthius had grown up in, the weather, the elements and the animals had taken up residence, and utterly wrecked the place.

It could have been fixed, honestly, but the work was extensive enough that Zana finally just threw her hands in the air and demanded without relent, that Zanthius allow her husband to help him build a house in the village. It would be better for them to be a part of the community, whether he liked it or not!

So Zanthius, his cousins and his uncle built a little hut on the outskirts of the village, just on the verge of the brush that led into the jungle. Despite the fact that the hut had been finished for quite a while, Zanthius and Eden had been forbidden to move in until they were properly married… Which was, no doubt, what had sparked the man’s proposal.

After all, he loved Eden, and she loved him... Shouldn’t they have been together?   Making it official only helped the villagers to further accept the relationship, didn’t it?

So, two years later, there Eden and Zanthius stood, in front of the ceremonial hut, hands clasped together as they smiled and thanked the villagers for their well wishes, sporting bloody, matching marital bands around their forearms.