The Cloud of Darkness (The Ingenairii Series Book 11) by Jeffrey Quyle

through her little band of followers and came face to face with Alec and Kecil as they broke their clinch and faced her.
    “I am Mother Alene, and we are delighted that you have come to us to be married,” she stated.  “Are you sure of this?  This is a decision that you are comfortable with?” she faced Kecil as she spoke.
    Kecil looked up at Alec, expecting him to answer.
    He placed his arm around her shoulders, and called upon his Spiritual energy, then began to silently communicate with her directly, soul to soul.
    Kecil, this is Alec, speaking inside your mind, so that the others do not hear me.  Do not be surprised , he told her.  In this land, the custom is that the woman asks the man for marriage.  The mother is making sure that you really want to marry me.  You need to tell her that yes, you asked me because this is what you want .
    He watched her face, from the moment of the first surprise, when she had flinched upon hearing his voice internally, and then Alec had watched her eyes move from side to side, and squint narrowly as she listened to his instructions, and considered their meaning.
    “Mother Alene, I chose this man to be my husband.  I think that we get along very well together, and we have much in common,” Kecil spoke after pausing for a few seconds more, creating a silence that grew uncomfortably long for a few of the sisters, who began to shuffle their feet before she finally answered.  “This is truly what I want; it is the way for me to make the journey to happiness.”
    She looked up at him, and there was a look of such adoration in her eyes that Alec felt bewitched momentarily, until she winked with one eye, and made him smile.
    “We will carry out a simple ceremony for you this afternoon,” Mother Alene said.  “I understand you wish to go purchase a few items at the market this morning?” she inquired.
    “Yes Mother,” Alec spoke, eager to move away from the unpredictable situation.  “We’ll go now and be back soon.  And we’ll bring sausage and eggs for everyone,” he repeated his earlier promise.  He paused to scan the assembled women with his Healing vision, assessing what maladies he might find and treat among them.  He finished his quick assessment, then held Kecil’s hand as he began to lead her down the street.
    “Is this the way to the market?” Kecil asked as they strode rapidly along the street.  Alec looked back over his shoulder and saw that the members of the religious order were filing back into their building.
    “It will be eventually,” he answered the girl.  “Do you know what you did back there?” he stopped and asked her, turning so that they faced one another as they stood on the sidewalk.  “You just committed us to marriage!  You ran away from marrying a prince of your own nation, and now you just volunteer to marry me, a complete stranger!  What were you thinking?” he asked in exasperation.
    Her eyes blazed with emotion.  “You were standing there tongue-tied, and something needed to be said.  They weren’t going to let us stay there if we weren’t married, were they?  Are you afraid that I’ll try to take advantage of you when we’re married?  Well don’t worried – I won’t!  Someone needed to do something, and I did it.”
    “Okay,” Alec stood, perplexed.   He was actually glad to see the girl show some spirit.  She was recovering from the shock of living through circumstances that had rapidly changed from being a violent sacrifice to being miraculously rescued to being transformed into a different species.
    “Okay, but we’re going to have to act like we’re in love, you know.  Holding hands.  Looking at each other a lot.  Kissing.  All the things that humans do when they get married,” he firmly instructed.
    “Have you been married before?  Are you married now?” Kecil asked with a keen interest.
    “I’ve been married,” he said.  “My wife passed away a week ago.”
    Her eyes grew suddenly