Chapter Thirteen. The Wedding
The holidays began nervously: explanations had to be made to potential brides. Lotta couldn't tell them EVERYTHING and only vaguely hinted that there was a possibility of safety, a peaceful birth and raising children.
At first, I thought about talking to them separately, but decided against it — tactically, it had a number of advantages, but strategically, it could have affected our relationships much later. I won't bore you with psychology and calculations, so just take my word for it.
We met at my Manor. Not in Mir-Manor, but in the official Manor, so to speak (that is, if it is still discovered). Untraceable portals were given to each of them in advance, and on the morning of 18 June, they moved to the entrance.
I go out, and the women look at each other warily.
"Ladies," I bow slightly and open the door. They pass cautiously — cautiously because even a child in their Manor can handle an adult mage. And if a child prepares...
We sit down at a table in the garden.
"Let's make a mutual oath that none of us will try to harm each other today," suggests Lotta and lays out the pre-written copies of the oath. The women glance over it and pull out their wands in unison, looking at me expectantly. I pull out mine and recite the oath.
"Now that we are sure that the parties to the negotiations are safe, perhaps someone will tell me what is going on here?" Marina de Ville asks sarcastically, "and where is the NORMAL negotiator?
I smile... I already like her — what a character!
"He will tell us if everyone takes an oath to keep silent about what will be revealed to them today.
"Oaths again?! Marina is dissatisfied, but as a master mentalist and simply a person who has lived a long life... um... I can say that she is testing the waters.
"Again. I give you my word – this secret is too serious, and if anyone wants to leave AFTERWARDS, they will be offered significant financial compensation.
She sits down, not taking her eyes off me. Again, the text of the Oath...
"I am Sid, I have my own world, and I offer you to become my wives.
The tone is deliberately casual, and to emphasise it, I take a lollipop and start licking it. Yes, I'm teasing a little...
The women begin to visibly tremble... in all sorts of ways. I raise my hand and show them dancing flames, then water, transforming the earth from air. There is nothing supernatural about this — any ADULT pure-blooded mage of a sufficiently old family can do something like this.
"He's serious," Lotta says with a hysterical laugh, "and he really can do everything he promised — give us safety and the opportunity to have children without fear for their future.
"The old legends don't lie," sings the shaman Venus Velosipedidi, "the People of the Hills have special powers. Are you offering us to become your wives and sidemen?
"Yes. And a long, long life in OUR World. While it is small and needs care...," I shrug, "but if the situation were different, our conversation would hardly have taken place.
"I agree," says Venus without hesitation, "I want a family, I want children, and I don't want to live in the same world as the Anglo-Saxons.
"I agree," says the herbologist Cephaya Tolin quietly, "I want children and peace. And also, the Sidi have a special relationship with plants. Is that true?
I lower my hand and release the Power. The plants around me begin to stretch out before my eyes.
"I'm NOT a herbologist and I don't know anything, it's just...
There is a happy smile in Cephia's eyes, and it seems as if she herself is about to drag me to the altar stone...
"I agree," says the potion maker Irma Nemova calmly, "the Sids have eternity ahead of them, or something like it. They'll definitely have enough time for science, and if they're lucky, they'll have a family too.
As a mentalist, I can tell that she really wants a family, friends, and to escape the cruel world of the past! Science is not secondary, but she puts it in the foreground so as not to get her hopes up too high if something goes wrong in her family life.
"I agree," says the blood mage Marina de Ville grimly, "neither I nor my daughter will be allowed to live in Europe. More precisely, maybe they will, but not for long and not well. In America... it's better to be one of a sid's six wives with your own world. I won't force Elena, she has the opportunity to go to the Russians, but there she would also be nothing more than a second or third wife.
"I agree," Elena de Ville, the youngest of the future wives, says hastily, "rather than the second or third, and even that's not a certainty... Better to be the sixth, with thousands of years of life ahead of me.
I breathe a sigh of relief...
"Welcome to the family!
In response, I see rather sceptical looks...
"Will you have enough strength as a man?" Marina asks cynically. But I'm not exactly a boy, you can't embarrass me with phrases like that.
"Enough," I say without a hint of mockery, and de Ville falls silent, starting to look at me... strangely.
"We'll get engaged right now," and on the day of the summer solstice, there will be a wedding. Anticipating questions, I add that it will be with everyone, on the Altar Stone, and according to the rites of my Eldership.
"Ah..." That's Elena.
"There's no other way — I'm a sid, and you're not. An equal marriage is possible, but then you'll have to raise my sid children as humans, while you remain humans yourselves.
They remain silent, not disputing the decision — some don't really care, while others remember the legends of the Hill People.
"Have you moved all your property to a safe place? Gold and silver are secondary, the main thing is the books, then the artefacts.
"I have a lot of gold from my father, but it's in Goblin Grinnots, I can't get it," Venus reports indifferently, " you'll need a whole series of oaths there — the Statute, all kinds of promises... The books are here," she shakes the box.
"No oaths are necessary, better without the gold," I agree with the shaman, "who else has any problems?"
"Me... my daughter and I would rather disappear without a trace," Marina says after a moment's thought, "we have gold, artefacts, books... I mean, not just on us. But if things have gotten THAT serious, I don't want to take any chances. Do you even realise that even our mutual oath will make it clear to an understanding mage that we were dealing with a sid, and an engagement...
I shift my gaze to Lotta, who visited me at Hogwarts...
"I know," she replies calmly, "but I'm a Master Ritualist. I can cover myself, but not you. And yes, I am well aware that Dumbledore studied blood issues under Flamel, so I have researched this matter.
Von Wald fell silent, looking at us cheerfully...
"The funny thing is, future... sisters... after we talk to Robert, we'll be glowing, showing that we've been in contact with a Slytherin, because that contact took place in HIS manor, where everything is imbued with HIS power. But he himself is safely protected until he finishes his studies at Hogwarts. Hardly anyone remembers this today, but at the time, the founders made such... amendments — there was hope then that even pure-blooded Sids would study at the Castle. Hmm... more like hostages, but still.
"I have everything with me," says Cefaya timidly, " but it's not much. And the house with the garden... I can sell it through a trusted person.
"I don't have anything important left either," Irma says after a moment's thought, "I left some supplies of potions, ingredients and equipment at home... But I took the most valuable things with me. As for the house... if we can sell it, great, but if not...
"No, to hell with it," our safety is more important to me.
Irma exhales with relief...
"Ladies," I decide to explain my indifference to material possessions, "you are important to me first and foremost as the mothers of my... our future children. We have KNOWLEDGE and we have our own world, everything else is secondary. Gold, artefacts, books — these things can be replaced and are therefore secondary.
I see understanding and respect in Marina's eyes — it seems I've scored some points... I chuckle a little sheepishly...
"Now about marriage... It so happens that I am currently playing the Big Game, so let's not drag things out... with your pregnancies and the accompanying formation of sidekicks. I don't know how things will turn out with the Big Game, but at least you will stay with the children. I will continue the Line and the Race, and you will become sidekicks.
"I want a girl," Cephia exhales dreamily.
"Girls later, first we need boys," I say, even more embarrassed.
"Ah... I see — try to find a human husband for the girl, if it takes a wizard of Merlin's level, otherwise she'll give birth to mortals instead of sidhe. But a boy will always be able to... well, like you. All right, a boy is fine too...
After the engagement, I took them to my place in Manor-with-Peace — now it's possible.
"How wonderful," Cephia exhaled happily, and the others echoed her involuntary exclamation in one way or another.
The newborn Mir is... PURE. Those who have not breathed this air cannot even imagine HOW polluted the air on Earth is.
Car exhaust and factory fumes, smoke from fires...
And then there are the impure souls, those who have departed... incorrectly...
The remnants of the "dirty" magic of the priests of the One, accumulating above human settlements and lingering for a long, long time...
Arriving in the new world dispelled any remaining doubts the women had — the impression was powerful. And the realisation that you can live here... and that this is only the beginning, and after the Formation, it will be even better...
The wedding ritual had been prepared in advance — Lotta and I had worked hard on it. We decided to perform the ancient ceremony without any "additions."
"Let's keep it to a minimum," suggested Lotta, biting her lip. "The thing is... I looked at your materials on the Sida, and I have to say that there's a lot of inaccurate information. You filtered it out, I can see that, but I checked it as a ritualist.
I'm biting my lip...
"I agree — rituals have changed the least over the centuries, and most importantly, the changes can be traced. So if you think it's necessary, let's do it.
"Let's take the simplest wedding ceremony," suggests the excited bride, "we don't really need all the advantages of the later, more complicated versions.
"Really?" I ask, a little sceptical.
"Exactly. There's a lot of that stuff... for livestock breeding, for example, or for fertility. Since you're a Sid, you don't need those things, and neither do we.
I grunt — Lotta is right, Sid is already a walking blessing. And if you look at it that way... The ritual can be greatly reduced without any harm. And there won't be any complications..."
And so the wedding day arrives... As you can imagine, there are no guests — secrecy is paramount. It began early in the morning, although in the new World, the change between day and night is still largely symbolic. Naked... and no, with the exception of Venus and the young Elena de Ville, there's not much to look at. And there's no desire to look... Lotta, for example, doesn't look too good because of the old Curse — and that's putting it mildly.
They lay in the dew of the meadow grass, fumigating each other with the smoke of fragrant herbs, and then...
"I am the son of a glorious family and its founder
"I now stand before you
"And I declare to You
"That I intend to continue my family line.
"I am firm and confident
"That I wish to take these women as my wives.
"My path is for the continuation of my lineage
"And this is the Right Way.
"The spirits of my ancestors
"And the spirits of my unborn descendants...
"Behold, these are my wives and your mothers.
"My protection is the strength of my family and my race.
"My word is strong
"And I give it before the face of Heaven.
The power responded, enveloping us in a soft glow...
Distorted nature*" In "Llewellyn," a theory was put forward that once upon a time, everyone was a wizard, and before that, they were even more "correct" beings. Muggles, on the other hand, are mutants, descendants of those who led very incorrect lives for generations.
P.S. I understand that many people are now spitting and grimacing, but I'm not making anything up. As usual, I'm basing my ideas on certain facts. And the facts here are that most truly ancient and more or less preserved religions say that once upon a time, Higher Beings lived on Earth... Further on, the imagination of authors and interpreters diverges, but as you understand, the idea is quite suitable for fantasy about magicians).
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