Part 33 (1/2)

I could see Carlos fighting back tears now.

”Trust. Respect. Compa.s.sion. These are the cornerstones of a lasting relations.h.i.+p.” Lilith placed her hand upon Dominic and Ursula's. ”Art thou ready now to pledge these to one another?”

”I am,” said Dominic.

Ursula's reply came much softer, her voice seemingly trapped in her constricting throat. ”Aye. 'Tis all I have, my word, for thou hath taken my heart already.”

”Wonderful.”

Lilith took the thin piece of rope from the altar and wrapped it around the couple's hands, leaving a loosely tied knot dangling below.

”Handfasting is a tradition as old as witchcraft itself,” she said. ”It symbolizes commitment to one another, a union divided only in death. It is not a commitment born of duty but of love. What others find burdensome, may you find effortless. Respect your spouse's feelings and ye shall never sleep a restless night. Remember always to be patient and understanding with each other. So seldom do we do annoying things with the knowledge of their consequences. Be free with your affection. Share the warmth of your bodies often and all the seasons of the year. Take delight in the beauty you see now as always. Do this and ye shall remain happy always.

”Tony?” Lilith handed me the athame. ”Would you draw a line in the sand please?”

I did as she asked, striking a line left to right behind the couple. When I finished, Lilith instructed them to cross the line together, planting their feet on the ground at exactly the same time.

”This symbolizes the effort it takes to make a committed relations.h.i.+p work,” she said. ”As you cross this threshold together, so shall you cross other thresholds in life. Remember to do so as a team. Do not fight the changing tides of nature. Instead, work with them together. This is my advice to you.”

With that, Lilith untied the rope and freed the couple's hands. ”Have you words for each other now?”

”I do,” said Dominic. He turned to Ursula and brushed away a tear trailing down her cheek.

”Ursula, I have loved you since the moment I first saw you.” He kissed her hand. ”Your rebirth that day in the gra.s.sy field was my rebirth, too. Before you, my heart knew no love, no pa.s.sion, no desire or direction. I have wandered this earth blind to life's promises. My days void of meaning. My nights lonely, cold and endless. Finding you has freed the boy within me, allowed me to become a man. You have given me a sense of purpose, a sense of belonging. More importantly, you have shown me what love is. Your humble ways inspire me. Your beauty astounds me and your innocence captivates my imagination. I see virtue in everything you do. And that you see none of that yourself touches me profoundly. I am a better man inside for simply knowing you, and for that, I am forever in your debt. If you will have me, Ursula, I promise I will love you with all my heart for all the days of my life, so help me.”

I stood in silence, enthralled, unaware that Dominic had such intensity of emotion within him. For the first time ever, I realized that I wanted to see Dominic and Ursula together. That what I felt for Ursula, or thought I felt, was nothing akin to his feelings for her. And to say I felt ashamed for harboring feelings for her of any kind, spell-born or not, would hardly be a lie.

I looked at Lilith. Her eyes grew hauntingly bright. Her stare distant. Her pupils, undiminished in the glow of firelight. I sensed her thoughts were far away, perhaps in the past, recalling a love she had known long before. I could only wonder.

Carlos cleared his throat and gained her attention. She blinked and returned to the folds of the moment. We were all looking at her now. She smiled softly, and though I suspect a whisk of embarra.s.sment brushed her, it did not sweep the look of serenity off her face.

”That was nice, Dominic,” she said. ”Very nice.” To Ursula she said, ”Sister?”

Ursula thinned her lips and nodded. She turned to Dominic, and though she spoke in a hush, her words were clear and audible.

”My love. Thou hast bestowed upon me more than thy heart. 'Tis for thy love that I live. Lilith, my sister of blood and of the coven, did cause my being. By skill and majick she hath spun life into these bones once more. Yet life is but a fragment of true existence, a perception shared in the blink of ageless energy. We are here only as perceived. We live only if life presents a reason to live. Sadly, but for love we have no other reason. Aye, 'twas my sister who brought me back from a time long ago. Thanks be to her I say and mean it. Still she cannot claim sole affinity for my being, for 'tis thy love what giveith me breath and reason to live. I have faults, yet you see them not. I act in selfish ways and ye sing me praise. I fear I am worthy not of thy love, still thy love rings true. 'Tis for this and more I shall work to honor thee. To earn thy breath of love. I pledge to thee my devotion. If love be lost, be it thine not mine, that I might cease to live.”

Carlos choked back a tear and said, ”Wow. Now I know I'm not in Kansas anymore.”

Lilith smiled at that. ”Do you have the rings?”

I answered, ”I do.” I reached into my pocket and handed one to Dominic. He took Ursula's hand in his. No longer were they shaking. He seemed perfectly in his element now.

”Ursula.” Her name flowed off his tongue like a song. ”Will you take this ring as a symbol of my love?” He slipped it on her finger. ”Will you wear it always and know that it represents my undying devotion to you for this and for all the days of my life?”

”Aye,” she said. ”I will.”

I handed a second ring to Ursula. She took his hand in hers. Their eyes met. She wet her lips softly. Swallowed. ”My love.” She slipped the ring on his finger.

It was then I felt Lilith's hand at my side. She took mine in hers and squeezed it gently. I reciprocated by squeezing back. We looked at each other. Smiled. She mouthed, ”I love you.” My heart sank. I leaned in, kissed her cheek and whispered the same to her.

Ursula said, ”Take this ring, for it is my soul. I give to thee with no regrets. Place it with my heart, which I have surrendered and thou hath taken. Join these with thine and make it one. Feel joy where I might feel joy and share it with thee. In pain feel not, that I might feel thy pain instead. That I may bear what burdens fall upon thee in times of sadness. In times of plenty, rejoice in thy fortunes. Spill none but what thou wants not on me, and I shall gather it happily for futures less bright. I am yours my love. My heart beats for thee and none other. Feel it pulse.”

She led Dominic's hand to her breast and pressed it there lightly. ”May thee find warmth here when thou art cold, comfort when thou art malaised. Seek pleasure and I shall please thee. Take what thee will and I shall ask naught in return. This I promise forever and a day.”

”Splendid,” said Lilith. ”One last thing.”

She took the small bottle from the altar, uncorked it and handed it to me. Using the athame, she sliced a thin lock of Ursula's hair and another from Spinelli. She then mixed the black and brown hairs together, braiding them like wires before dropping them into the narrow bottleneck and corking it.

Ursula seized the gardener's spade from the altar. She handed it to Dominic and pointed to the ground. He understood that and proceeded to dig a hole on the line I had drawn earlier in the dirt. When it was deep enough to contain the bottle, Lilith dropped it in. Dominic covered it and both he and Ursula stomped on it, packing it tightly into the earth. The symbolism needing no explanation.

We all turned to Lilith then, awaiting the words we antic.i.p.ated all year. She smiled at the couple, placing her left hand on Ursula's right shoulder, her right on Dominic's left.

”By the power invested in me, through the spirits of the coven, I now p.r.o.nounce you man and wife. Dominic. You may kiss the witch.”

With that one kiss, my fears and apprehensions faded completely. As if a spell had lifted from my soul, I suddenly felt no longer worried that I might continue harboring feelings for Ursula. Or that I might resent Dominic for laying claim to something I had no right to in the first place. And when I looked to Lilith, I sensed she knew somehow that my struggle was over. That she even knew I was struggling made no difference anymore. She came to me, laced her fingers behind my neck and kissed me. I locked my arms around her waist, pulled her in tighter and returned the kiss deep and heavy. She moaned, pressed her body to mine. I bit her lip teasingly. She broke off, smiled and came back for more.

I suppose we would have continued longer had we been alone. h.e.l.l, even with Dominic and Ursula there, we would have kept at it. What with them entwined in their own lover's grip. But Carlos was feeling left out. He tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention.

”Umm, excuse me. I think there is some cold champagne in the fridge back at the house. Eh?”

”Yeah,” I said, returning less attention than he deserved. ”Get a handle on it. We'll get there.”

He punched my arm. ”How 'bout you get a handle on it and get your girlfriend to let me out of this ring of fire?”

”Oh, sorry,” said Lilith, and as she peeled herself off me, she grabbed a handful below my beltline and squeezed. ”I got your handle right here,” she cooed, thankfully only loud enough for me to hear. ”What do you say we put it to good use tonight?”

I jerked back with a yelp, only then realizing how much handle I had made available for her to hold. She walked away but turned and looked back over her shoulder at me, her leveled eyes tied to her serpent's grin. I knew that look. She saves it only for me. It is one of the things I love most about her. One of the many things.

She took the athame and directed it at the wall of flames along the eastern side. ”Thanks be to the spirits of the coven,” she said, drawing the athame downward and taking the flames with it. ”May this circle be closed but not broken. Let those who pa.s.s now pa.s.s in peace. This be the word of the guiding spirits, so say we all.”

”So say we all,” came the chorus from the black mirror just before the faces faded.

”So say we all,” Ursula repeated.

Carlos, Dominic and I followed. ”So say we all.”

With that, the ring of fire went out. There were no pops, no spectacular flare and no sputter from dancing nymphs with firefly flashlights unwilling to leave. Simmering were the stones from the circle, hissing like snakes, as the moisture in the ground around them vented in whisks of steam into the night.

We spent a minute, all of us, hugging and congratulating one another. I told Dominic I was proud of him and warned him that he better take good care of Ursula. He said he would. Really, I had no doubts. When it came my turn to congratulate and hug Ursula, I did so, and without thinking, kissed her on the lips. The look on her face was of complete shock. I pushed her back gently, looked around and saw that no one else had seen us.

”Ursula, I'm sorry,” I said, keeping my voice low. ”I didn't mean that. I don't know what came over me. For a moment I thought”

She stepped toward me again and pressed her finger to my lips. ”Speak not a word of it.”

I started to thank her, when her eyes found that level squint and her lips that serpent's grin that Lilith gave me moments earlier. My heart sank to my stomach. My throat tightened and my palms grew sweaty. She returned to Dominic. He was talking to Carlos and Lilith. They were laughing, the three of them, engaged in their bubble of ignorance while Ursula and I kept an eye lock on each other. She was reading me. Feeling me. Exploring my mind while I tried and failed to read hers. I watched her eyes fall away. I followed them to the ground, and there between us, in the dirt, was an electric blue vein of energy tethering us, tying the two of us together. I could feel it tingling in my toes. My jaw dropped. I looked up at her again. She smiled and then turned her head dismissively.