The Journey From Oidhche Shamhna

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

The Journey From Oidhche Shamhna

Chapter 25

Helga's Gathering

Erwin went to collect Helga and found her kneeling on the floor holding a dress that appeared to be wrapped in lace and shimmering with a hundred pearls. Her hair hung loose on her shoulders, still wet from the bath, and her eyes were full of tears.

"Helga?" He walked over and squatted down in front of her. "If you do not want this I will send everyone away. You do not have to go through with this. I will talk to Hanson for you."

"Of course I still want this, but I wanted my mother here." She sobbed again. "It is foolish. I am not a child to cry like this."

"Dry your eyes then. Helga, he waits for you." He lifted her chin. "The day of your claiming should be a happy one. He needs to see your smile, to know you really want this."

"Look at the dress that Temin and Kista sent." She held up the gown as she tried to put on a smile. "Do you think he will like it?"

"Helga?" Erwin frowned. "I will ask you again. Is this what you want?"

"Erwin?" She looked at him and bit her lip before letting the words out. "You feel the same as I. You want a dwelling as we used to have. You wanted your family with you. How do you put that away?"

"I do not know, Helga. I have not yet been able to forget and to not want more." He stood and stepped back from her. "Today is not about me. It is about you."

"Does it get better, Erwin?" She stood up, holding the gown to her chest.

"No. It never goes away. I think it will be easier with time, but it will not leave."

"Wait for me. I will only be a moment." Helga quickly kissed his cheek then ran to her bedchamber to get dressed. She pulled out her wand and put her hair in coils wrapped around her head and slipped the shimmering golden gown on before walking slowly back into the sitting room where she looked at Erwin shyly.

He stepped up to her and released her hair with a flick of his wand, and lifted her face to his. "Do not take away his tradition. He has waited too long to do this right. Leave it down for him to tie, let him see it free and know you come to him the same way."

Then, kissing her on the cheeks as tradition dictated, he took her hand and brought her to the meadow.

Hanson was pacing and running his hands through his hair. He would stop and look up at the path and then turn back to pace again. When he saw her on the slope to the meadow, he stopped pacing and thought he had forgotten how to breathe.

He had never seen her with her hair undone, cascading down her back to her waist. He had never seen her in such a gown. The long, tight sleeves ended just before the bare shoulders and joined with a tight bodice that allowed the top swell of breast show above the lace. The skirt was full, fuller than any he had seen; it spread out beside her, taking the entire path, and flowed behind her as the billowing of a summer cloud.

He walked toward her and took both her hands in his. He was no longer conscious of the others behind him as he leaned forward and softly kissed her. He felt his arms circle her waist as if on their own, and heard her laugh and her hands on his chest as she gently pushed him away.

"I take it you approve?" she said.

"Merlin." He nodded at her and grinned. "Come, all of a sudden I am in a hurry to get you out of that dress."

He pulled her by the hand to the centre of the circle made by all the others that now called this place home. The students stood behind them, forming an outer circle.

"Helga." He turned and stood in front of her. "It is customary in my clan to bring a gift to the circle. I did not have the wealth to give you your worth. Will you accept this?"

He pulled her to him, spun her around, holding her back to his chest, and pointed to the pass. There stood eleven wizards and six witches dressed in the robes of her people. There were so many children she was not sure of the count. She stood and looked, afraid to ask, afraid to move or to think this could be what she hoped.

She spun back to Hanson, saw his face, and knew it was true.

"Hanson?" she said, looking at him.

"Run," he said.

She gathered her gown in her arms and began to run up the path to the slope. She cried, laughed, and called their names. She closed her eyes and thanked the gods and when she finally met them half way up the path she fell into them, crying and touching each face in turn. She hugged the five wives she had never met and did not even know to which brother they belonged.

She fell to her knees with her mother as they cried together and pulled the children close to hug and learn their names. She would hug one and the say a prayer only to find another standing near. In all, nine children came to her and two more babies laid in their mother's arms. She knelt until she felt her father pull her to her feet and into his arms.

"Papa." She whispered her childhood name for him and held on as if she would fall.

"I am still angry, you know." Her father's voice was thick with his own tears. "You left without saying goodbye."

"How did you come here? How did you know?" She looked around at the family she had missed so badly, not able to see them for the tears in her eyes.

"That wizard of yours can be quiet persuasive," one brother said.

"Yes, we are the delivery people," said another.

"Brooms! Can you imagine? I was scared to death," said one of her new sisters.

"Nonsense, it was fun," said another.

"Your gown is filthy," said the third.

Helga looked down at herself and blanched at the damage she had done to the gown while running up the path and hugging her mother on her knees.

"It is fine, dear," the third sister said. She pulled out her wand, cleaned the dirt from where Helga had been on her knees, and repaired the damage caused when brushes and stones had tugged on her gown as she ran.

"There, I am sure your Hanson will like it better now."

"Hanson!" Helga's hand flew to her mouth. "I forgot about him!"

She turned and began running back, horrified that she had left him for so long on this day of all. She saw him sitting on the meadow waiting for her return with far fewer in the circle than there had been before. She gathered up her skirt so her knees were clear and ran faster until she was in the meadow and he was standing, watching her run to him.

She leapt on him, wrapping her legs around his waist, and kissed him firmly on the mouth.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she said, kissing him after each word. "This is why you wanted to wait?"

"It was all I could think to give you," he said as he held her firmly against him, glad to see her smile. He felt her as she slid her legs to the ground and stood leaning into him. He wanted to moan out her name at the feel of her, but could only look at her family as they came walking toward him.

He leaned down to her, pulled her away from his body and whispered in her ear. "If you keep doing this, witch, I am not going to be able to claim you for a while. You will have me spent here on the meadow."

She looked at him and opened her mouth to say something but nothing would spill out. She closed her mouth and opened it to start again. Seeing his lip begin to curl up in a smile, her hand began to come up when her mother called out to her.

"Helga! You will do no such thing." She came up to her daughter and shook her finger in her face. "Not here but a moment and you have me sounding like a fishmonger's wife."

"You, young man." She then turned on Hanson. "Have you not learned that when her mouth stills, her hand flies?"

"That or food." Salazar joined in.

"Oh yes, she is good at that," her brother said. "And never ask her why it took her so long at the well or you will wear the bucket on you head."

"I think it is time we got this over with before he changes his mind." Her father walked up, took her left hand, and then grabbed Hanson's right. Putting Helga's hand in Hanson's, he signalled his acceptance of the joining.

"Hurry, before you hear too many tales and change your mind." Her father laughed at Hanson. "As much as we want her back, a daughter should not remain at her father's hearth at her age."

"I am not that old!" Helga put her hands on her hips and looked at her father in shock.

"Good." Hanson pulled her to Gryffin. "I always wondered how it would be with an older woman."

Gryffin once again stood in front of a couple wishing to join in the way of men and watched as they preformed the necessary rituals. Hanson pulled Helga's hair back to secure it with the combs, and then turned to her mother. He looked at her and her other daughters, and then looked up at Kista and Alya. He released Helga's hair, then pulled her hair back, only at the temples, securing the combs over each ear. He let the cap fall to the ground, but placed the cloth over her head, and looked to Gryffin for approval.

Gryffin looked up as Hanson had and saw the tears in her mother's eyes and the smile on her lips and nodded. It was enough to take her as a wife, enough to not hide her away. Gryffin remembered his feeling of remorse when he had first seen the cap covering Lara's hair and thought yes, this was more than enough.

Hanson pulled Helga to her feet and waited until she went to each of her family for their blessings. She turned to Hanson, suddenly shy. She saw Rowena standing with Erwin, who held Helena on his hip and rushed to the witch, throwing her arms around her and crying and laughing as if saying good-bye forever.

Hanson had learned to keep still when he did not understand his witch. He did not think this a good time to test his theory that she cried when she was happy and slapped when she did not understand her own feelings. He led her to her chambers and once inside he warded the doors and turned back to find her standing in the middle of the room looking at the floor. He walked over and stood in front of her, almost touching, almost taking her in his arms.

"Now is no time act shy." He ran his finger from her forehead, down her nose, touched her lips and chin as he trailed it to her breasts.

"I know," she said with a gasp as his hand reached its destination.

"What is wrong, witch?" He tipped up her face and saw tears in her eyes. He leaned down and kissed them away, then lowered his mouth to hers.

His hands stayed on her arms as he moved his mouth to her neck just below the ear, he heard her moan but moved no faster. His hands held her steady as he lowered his head to kiss a line from her neck to the throat then to the swells of her breast on the same path his finger had just made.

"Hanson." She said his name softly as she tried to put her arms around him only to find he held them still.

He turned her around and undid the lacings on her dress. Pulling her back into him, he pushed the dress down to her waist and moved his hands to cover her breasts, holding her back to him. She leaned her head back to allow him access to her throat and groaned when he gently nipped and kissed at the place that her neck met her shoulder.

"Now tell me, witch," he said, barely able to control his breathing, "are you still scared?"

"No." She breathed heavily and fought to turn around.

He held her firmly and then pushed the gown completely to the floor. She pushed back into him, needing to feel him closer, only to have him push her away, and slide one arm behind her knees, and the other around her shoulders, picking her up and turning to the bedchamber.

"Wait." She struggled as he carried her naked and put her on the bed.

"Wait?" He looked at her incredulously. "This better be good."

"The claiming, our hands." She looked up at him, biting her lip to keep it from trembling.

"Now?"

"Well ..." She looked at him and tried to smile "I guess it could wait a few minutes."

He put his head back and laughed. "I don't think I will be done with you in a few minutes. You do know that is not a nice thing to say to a wizard ready to bed you?"

"Umm, I ... I always say the ... the wrong thing." She grabbed a pillow and held it in front on her with both arms to hide her nakedness, lowering her head and fighting back her sobs.

"Helga?" He looked at her and lifted her chin. "Something is bothering you. Something more than what is about to happen."

"I guess, I don't know... I am scared."

"You have never acted scared before." He frowned at her.

"Not of you, I am not scared of you." She did not know how to explain what she was feeling.

He leaned down to peek at her face. "I have not thought of anyone else since that first day I saw you. If I remember right I could have taken you any number of times."

"I only thought that you never asked me, not really." Her eyes filled with tears. "I had to ask you."

"I didn't have to say yes." He grinned as he lifted his robes over his head and crawled to her on the pallet. "Now let's see if we can take more then a few minutes doing this."

He saw her face as he pushed her back to the mat and leaned over her. He lowered his head to taste her breasts and slowly sat back on his heels when he felt her reaction to him.

"Put on your cloak, witch," he said, frowning at her. "If you want the claiming first, so it will be."

She sat up and, trying to cover herself with her hands, nodded and jumped up to grab her cloak. "I am sorry, Hanson. I just can't... I don't know. Two weeks ago I didn't care, but now... now I need...I don't know."

He had pulled his robes back on and stood, holding out his hand to her. "Come, wife. We will finish this."

As they walked to the lake, she had to hurry to keep up with him. Once there, he climbed on the rock that he used to offer his prayers and turned back to her, again holding out his hand to pull her up beside him.

He offered up prayers to the gods of his people in a language strange to her ears. She frowned when she tried to follow him, and to accept his gods as hers, looking at him, suddenly unsure if he would be allowed to claim her. When he was done, he turned to her and smiled.

"You will learn the prayers if you want, or keep your own gods. It does not matter how many we have." He laughed at her look of confusion. "Our children will learn both, and decide for themselves, or, if you want, teach them only yours."

"You would let me keep my own?" she asked.

"If you want."

She nodded and smiled at him as she fell to her knees and held out her hand to him. He completed the ceremony, drawing blood on their hands and then sliding the iron ring over her finger. As he reached out to take her hand, she jumped up and sprinted away.

"Helga?" he called in confusion, watching her sprint down the path away from the school.

"I want a walk, Hanson. Come walk with me." She laughed as she pulled her robes off over her head and ran up the mountain naked with him following in the light of the full moon.

He caught her as she slowed down enough to let him. Then, putting his arms around her naked waist, he pulled her to the ground and rolled her over until he lay above her.

"Wife," he said, looking down at her.

"Not yet." She laughed and reached up to pull him down to her. "But I am sure you will change that."