Inside, the shards were many and she looked for those memories with Oslin. She crept past memory after memory and was confused: where were those memories? Suddenly she saw a thick shard, black and without visible images. What’s this? she thought. It slid through the other memories, which sparkled brightly with colorful scenes. That must be it, she thought. But where is it… She almost screamed: the thick black shard was moving towards the ear. The memory was going to erase itself forever. Jorli sped through the shards, not bothering to dodge them. One by one, Saria remembered different parts of her life: her parents’ shouting, her solitary nights in the Forest, her training with the Keeper. The Black Shard was at the ear when Jorli grabbed it, wiped an opening through the soot and jumped inside.
What Jorli saw in those particular memories left her speechless. Out of shame for finding out about her closest friend’s most private and intimate moments, she reached for another memory. And then, another. All she was able to convince herself of after she went through them was that there was no doubt that Oslin and Saria enjoyed being in each other’s company. Finally she came to one memory that wasn’t so vividly explicit. She tapped it and was instantly inside.
“I’ll be in my quarters a little later if you have time to discuss tomorrow,” started Saria. Oslin beamed at her and held her close. He whispered into her ear. “I am yours forever, my flower, whether you remember so or not.” He kissed her on the cheek and she started to walk out of the room. Oslin sat back down with the King of the Drendhils.
Jorli ran after her.
“Saria!” she called out.
“Jorli! What are you doing here? I thought we were supposed to meet in your quarters?”
“I couldn’t wait,” she replied quickly. She had to keep this up long enough to keep the memory from vanishing. She motioned for Saria to follow her to a corner of the castle out of earshot. “I wanted to know now.” She took a deep breath.
“Are you in love with the Warlock of the Wind?” Saria’s face lit up.
“With Oslin? He is such a wonderful person; so caring and sensitive.”
And a lot of other things too, thought Jorli.
“I just want to make sure that he’s good for you. How do you know?”
“How?” Saria smiled shyly. “I like it when he holds me and treats me as if I were the most precious thing in the world. I like it when he kisses me and makes me feel like each part of me is sensual and…” she blushed heavily.
“What?” asked Jorli. Come on, just a little bit more.
“Delicious,” she said a little exasperated. “I cannot believe I just told you that.” She was now several shades of pink.
“What is the thing that most attracts you to him? His looks?” Remember Saria, remember…
“He knows how to listen and I really love the color of his eyes and how they seem to smile. I love his hands and how they caress my skin.It’s so strange that we even seem to understand each other better than I could have ever imagined. His hair, when it is wet, smelling of pine needles…”
“Keep going…,” prodded Jorli.
“I feel like we were made for each other and I don’t even know him…” She stopped. She stood up straight as her body shivered in a sudden spasm. Her eyes blinked several times before she could register that she was seeing. She looked at her hands, as if she could not believe that they were there. Then, slowly, she turned to Jorli.
“I remember…everything…” Jorli yelped with happiness. She closed the memory and now saw that the Shard had broken up into many fragments, releasing all the memories with Oslin as the soot fell as dust and trickled out of Saria’s ear. She jumped out after the soot.
The Warlocks jumped at the sight of Jorli as Oslin rushed up to her. The Fox held out a paw.
“Let’s just make sure,” she said and took out a small vial from her pouch. Uncorking it, she dropped one drop into Saria’s mouth. Momentarily, her eyes opened.
“Jorli, what happened?”
“Saria,” she said cautiously. “Do you know who that man is?” and pointed to Oslin. She blinked once, as if adjusting her sight and her eyes grew wide; it was with recognition.
“Oslin!” She stood up and ran to his waiting arms. They kissed as only two people could kiss when they are in love. Fenlin coughed loudly and cleared his throat twice before Oslin detached himself.
“My love, come and meet my brothers,” he said with a smirk.
And as Yorlin had mentioned, there was much to celebrate. Oslin and Saria waited before announcing their union so as to wait for Urlin, who went to rescue his love from the Anemone Beds. Once freed, Elizabeth went into the painful explanation of what she had done with Oslin and tearfully asked for forgiveness. She had realized that Oslin had only done what he had done for the sake of the act and really did not care at all. And upon comparing his behavior with Urlin’s, she understood the magnitude of her mistake and immediately went to search for him in high waters. She offered him her heart, if he be so considerate in taking it. His love could not help but overflow and he kissed her sweetly, after which he offered to show her how much he was in agreement with her proposal if she would be so kind as to follow him to private quarters in the Merlands where they could discuss the matter at length. She assented by saying that she had several things she would like to show him. The fact of the matter was that after several days of lengthy discourse, they finally agreed to prepare for the double wedding.
Many came from far and wide to the celebration, which was held in the Land of the Tower where the Tower was adapted for living, although Saria and Oslin decided to keep the bier as an eternal reminder of their first meeting. As for Zjorn, he was completely healed by Saria’s blood for it was liquid given out of one human’s free will that was what he needed and now was conscious enough to understand his horrible greed for knowledge and power. When he finally was reunited with Saria and then later with the Keeper, it ended in a tearful meeting that left everyone feeling content with finding several additions to the family. On petition of the Keeper, Zjorn went to live in the Forest where he also helped in its protection. His physical body was still beset by the trials of time but he began to regain in strength and color. Sebastian and the Keeper were quite shocked when they received the notice from Perlen and Sinlar, who flew back with the news of Saria’s union to the Warlock of the Wind but upon meeting their future son-in-law, they realized that there really was nothing to fear.
Saria, Oslin, Elizabeth and Urlin were all wed and though they did not promise many children to their respective spouses and parents, they did promise love, respect, communication and many intents at children, however unsuccessful be the intent. With these four things, the two couples lived happily albeit with their occasional dispute, which would be followed by an escape and quickly closed by explanations and apologies. They continually renewed their passion in the most creative of ways, some of which, for Saria and Oslin, involved reenacting their first meeting whereas for Elizabeth and Urlin, it was playing shark and victim.
Urlin was the first to become a father, after which he and Elizabeth had ten more. It seemed that he had to make up for lost time. As for Saria, she and Oslin wanted to enjoy their couplehood before they had children. They found that as their love for each other grew, it also augmented their desire to unite for a product of their love for each other.
Now that they were free from their guard duties, Fenlin and Yorlin were also able to find mates, though they did not see the need to marry. Fenlin, a hard-to-please sort, took a bit longer to see that as an option in his life, was happy with living his life with liberty and not complicating himself too much. Yorlin was more sensitive but was not very lucky until he finally allowed himself to understand the wonders of tolerance and self appraisal. Once that was learned, a whole world of possibilities came knocking on his door: in other words, he was not so choosy. They both, in their own ways, lived the sensual bliss that marked Oslin’s rebirth with their own incursions into love.
Our heroes and heroines, however, did not always live that wonderfully false romantic happy ending. They fought like the fiercest of creatures and made others tremble in their shoes. They broke things, sometimes hearts, and cried a great deal but they did learn that their lives were dictated by the choices that only they themselves made. Creators of their own destinies, the power of choice distinguished their happiness from their loss of interest in life. And as the years trickled by, they would all reminisce about the past and however different were their experiences, they all had one thing in common: none ever regretted a single thing they did or did not do.
But that is another story to be told another day. Today, we live.
