- Trak'zor -

Indeed it is a tribe, as I thought. The men all have stripes of different colors, but any cave that has six women in it is a tribe grander than any I've ever heard of.

They even have a shaman. A slender woman in a white robe which I think Ren'tax would have fought many braks to get the like of. It shines in the sunlight.

And so does Aurora. Her garment is just as white, but not as long. I have trouble taking my eyes off her. She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

“Ay due,” she says in her alien language, and the shaman looks at me.

“Do you, Chief Trak'zor of the Garan tribe, take Aurora to be your wife, forever in eternity, as witnessed and directed by your Ancestors?”

“I do.”

“Then I state that you are now husband and wife.”

I wait for the words to sink in. That seems quick. But surely this is only the first part of a ceremony that will go on for many more hours. Certainly there must be some kind of trial and test for me to publicly show me worthy of a woman like this.

Aurora yanks my hand to get my attention. She's pursing her lips, and I bend down and kiss them.

Then her friends come up to her and she hugs them, and I can't stop a happy smile from spreading on my face. I'm ready for the rest of the ceremony.

“Congratulations, warrior,” Ar'ox says and clamps my arm. “It is over now.”

I'm confused. Did I already fail? “What is over?”

“The wedding ritual. You are now married to Aurora.”

“Now? Already? But ... the tests ... the trials ...?”

“The tests will come,” Jax'zan laughs. “Believe me. But not today. I know it seems far too short. Unreasonably so. Like being given the teeth of an irox without fighting it first. But this is how they do it. As far as Aurora is concerned, you've passed every test and she wants to be with you for as long as she lives.”

“I see,” I lie. “It's all very alien.”

“It is,” Dar'ax agrees. “But the women themselves are so very human. Don't make the mistake of taking the briefness of the ceremony as an indication of their worth, warrior. It's the other way around. No ceremony could do them justice, so why waste time on a long one? Congratulations! Married life is glorious.”

Yes, it is. Any time I want, I can look over at Aurora and feel the joy fill me: she's mine.

And she will birth a baby. Our baby.

What is a Lifegiver compared to a real, actual woman giving birth to a child that's not just a product of me, but of both of us? It beggars belief that such a thing is even possible, not to mention normal.

A thought hits me. “If a woman can give birth to one child, can she give birth to ... more than one?”

Ar'ox frowns. “There isn't room for more than one baby inside a woman.”

“No, of course not. I mean ... one after the other? Like the Lifegivers?”

The other men laugh heartily.

Dar'ax grabs my arm to show that he means no offense. “He hasn't even had one, and now he's thinking of another! No, warrior, I think that would be quite extraordinary.”

“They are women, not Lifegivers,” Jax'zan chuckles. “Let us be happy that they can have even one. That's miracle enough. No need to wish for the impossible.”

I nod slowly. “It is miracle enough.”

Still, I walk over to Aurora and ask her.

She hides a smile behind her hand, and her eyes glint. Then she composes herself. “Yes, my love! Women can give birth to more than one. I have two brothers. My mother gave birth to first my older brother, then to me three years later. Then, two years after that, she gave birth to my younger brother. And some women have ten or twelve children. Or more.”

My mind is spinning. It sounds too good to be true. There must be a catch. “With different fathers?”

“Or with the same one every time.”

I almost faint. I glance at her friend Caroline for confirmation. Surely a shaman must tell the truth.

“Yes, it's true,” she says brightly. “And sometimes, a woman can be pregnant with more than one baby at the same time! That's called twins.”

“Or three,” Ar'ox's wife Emilia says. “That's called triplets.”

I stagger back to the other men. “They can,” I groan. “They can have twelve. Or more. Three at a time.”

“Three at a time?!” Jax'zan exclaims. “But even just one made my Sophia look like she was going to explode!”

We all stare at the women in stunned silence. They're so small and delicate, but they have some very hidden talents.

Aurora comes over to me. “Hey, warrior. You leaving me alone on my wedding day?”

I grab her hand, so cool and slender in mine. “Just for a moment. I'm always keeping my eye on you.”

“You better. How do you like my friends?”

I look around the clearing. This used to be dense jungle, they've told me. But they've chopped down the trees to make it harder for predators to come too close without being spotted. They have a forge for making iron. They have large food stores. They have clean water. They have a clean, warm cave and a large production of pots and pans. They have nice clothing. They keep lethal Bigs as pets. And they're only nine! The three men are as large as me, and must have been the best warriors in each of their old tribes. There is an energy and determination here that I have never seen before. And I love it.

“They are good,” I state. “Better than the Garan tribe. Much better.”

“But not better than Trak'zor,” she says. “You are part of this now. When you married me, you became one of us.”

“I see. I'm honored.”

Sophia comes over with her new baby. “Congrats, you two. From me and the youngest bridesmaid in history.”

The baby is fast asleep in her mother's arms, swaddled in one of the red pieces of fabric from my island. It's Aurora's gift to the newborn. Aurora had promised a pelt, but she said that trying to get that pelt had given her nothing but trouble and that the fabric was much nicer.

“And the most beautiful.” Aurora reaches out to gently stroke the baby's head. She will be a perfect mother.

And I will be a father. My mind blanks out into a bright bliss when I think about it.

This all is a lot to process. So I just look at my wife. It centers me like a bright star in the black night. She's absolutely divine.

She might not be The Woman. But she's my Woman.

And now it turns out that she's all I ever wanted.

- - -

© Calista Skye 2018

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Make sure to catch the Epilogue at the end of the book!

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