I thanked Narhu and Oshen and Tronuck and they returned to their seats. I held Alexia’s hand and the other girls stood with me as well.
I said, “Friends of Tranna, the ratio of men to women here is one to five, or so I am told. If I were in a different place, I would be more than satisfied with any one of these wonderful mates. But so that I may set a good example…”
I paused for laughter. “So that I may set a good example of one man for five women, I wish to ask one more if she will join me. I told you that a very fine piece of fruit had caught my eye. Alexia has made me very happy by agreeing to join me. She is the princess that I would give ten furs for, except that we don’t do that now. But I have spied a singular piece of fruit in the market and my heart is captivated and my princesses tell me that we must have it. They tell me that it is sure to be juicy and delicious and tasty beyond comparison.
Now, my heart pounds again. For Alexia, my heart pounded from pride that she would accept me; now my heart pounds for fear that another might not. You see, until a moment ago, I had not so much as touched a finger to Alexia’s hand, but now I ask for the hand of one that I have never even spoken more than a word to and have never spoken of my feelings at all. I have no indication of whether she will accept me or not.
I continue to talk because if I stop, I will have to ask my question and I will find out the answer, and it may not be the one that I hope for. Can you blame me? I also hesitate because I know that I pick your finest flowers and I want to be friends with all of you, but if you think that I rob you, it will go against me.”
Tronuck shouted out, “For goodness sake, Mark! Say the name! If anyone thinks that they’ve been too slow, let every man learn a lesson from you! Men, if you see a perfect flower, pick it before another man finds it! Mark, just say the name!”
Everyone laughed, but it was subdued by the suspense that they felt.
I turned to Aeyli and she smiled and handed me a fifth anklet. I held it in my hand and looked at it and I turned toward the bench where the girls and I had sat.
Then, without raising my eyes, I said, “Fairest fruit, will you take my token and allow me to call you princess, along with these four beside me…” and I looked up and said, “Sashar?”
The girl’s eyes went wide and she screamed and put her hands to her mouth. A second later, her hands involuntarily clutched her chest, one at each breast, and she looked down at herself in astonishment and then snapped her head up to look at me. I held out the anklet with the ruby setting. Sashar looked at her chest again, and noticing her hands there, pulled them away and forced them to her sides. It was if she didn’t have any idea what to do.
Dorel said, “Well, it’s pretty plain to me what her answer is! Sashar, go to your prince!”
Sashar ran and threw herself into my arms and kissed me on the mouth! She was much shorter than the other girls, perhaps 5’0” or 5’1”. I held her a foot off the floor and kissed her back. Finally, I had to peel her from me and I set her on the floor.
I whispered, “Is that a ‘yes’?”
She yelled out, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
I think that she would have simply repeated the word over and over until she went hoarse, but I knelt down and placed the token on her left ankle and she quieted and looked down to see it.
Someone in the crowd yelled “Curtains!”
We all turned toward the voice to see who it was, and a woman stood high in the bleachers on my right and said, “Curtains. My gift to Sashar and for the House of Mark is curtains, and the mattresses that Alexia has ordered will be my gift as well.”
Another stood and said, “I will provide pillows! Pillows for the bed and for chairs and for lounging!”
Another woman said, “My gift will be… my gift will be… I don’t know what my gift will be! Oh, my gift will be to bring plants and flowers and work for five days to make the garden of the house of Mark and Sashar a place for peace!”
I called out, “Thank you! Thank you all. You are all very generous. I’m not looking to gain anything from you. The acceptance of these precious princesses is far more than I could hope for.”
The ‘pillows woman’ shouted, “These are gifts. You take no advantage of us.”
Tronuck spoke up, “She’s right. A gift given in celebration is no burden and it is much better than a ‘Bride Price’. This again has been quite the night. Mark, do you plan to take another tonight, or will you give the other men a day to consider their lives before you do?”
I laughed, “Tronuck! Two yesterday and two more today! How much do you think one man can do? You would have me build you a great hall in a single day! Even I have limits!”
Dorel said loudly, “I have heard stories from the shrine maidens and they tell me that in some respects that you seem to have no limits!”
I said, “Oh, I have limits, I assure you! But I can also assure you that when it comes to these princesses, I have not found those limits yet! They have amazing skills for motivating me! Oh, it seems that they feel that we have stayed telling stories long enough. I’m being encouraged to say goodnight, so I will.”
With that, we wound down the meeting. It seemed that the crowd wanted us to leave in front of them, so as Sashar and Alexia held onto my arms and Aeyli, Rani, and Belle followed behind, we left the hall and walked through the streets toward our home.
Many of the villagers followed us and talked with us until they turned down their own streets to their houses.
I said, “Girls, we’ll talk when we get home. For now, let’s just walk and enjoy the air.”
Chapter 25
Alexia and Sashar Come Home
When the last of the well-wishers had gone and we reached the door to the house, we went inside.
As soon as the door began to close, Alexia dropped her belt on the ground and kissed me hard. As she kissed me, she fumbled at the buckle of my belt and dropped it on the ground as well. For the first time, our naked bodies pressed against each other and I could feel a hot passion begin to rise in both of us. Alexia finally broke the kiss and stepped back from me. She looked into my eyes and patted me on the chest as if to say, “Stay as long as you need to, I’ll be waiting,” and she headed up the stairs without actually saying a word. I knew that she would go straight to the roof.
Sashar stood inside the door, but didn’t know quite what to do. I turned and smiled at her and when she saw it, she acted as if she had startled herself and quickly dropped her belt and then stood where she was again, seemingly frozen to the spot. The other girls had already hung their own belts on hooks and had retrieved mine and Alexia’s and done the same. Now they sat in the living room and watched to see what would happen.
I motioned Sashar to come to me… and she again flew into my arms. This time, she climbed up my body and kissed me with her legs around my waist. After we had kissed for a moment, she pulled her head back, but did not get down.
She said, “My prince, I love you! When you called my name, my milk rushed to my breasts. I thought that it had burst out, but fortunately it stayed within. Can you imagine if it had spilled on the floor of the council hall? But even if it had, let others be embarrassed, not me. I cannot believe that you have chosen me and that I am a princess in the house of my dearest friends.”
She kissed me again. Then, once again she pulled off and said, “Oh, Mark! We’ll talk later. I don’t have anything that you need to say to me. That you asked me says enough. But what you did say made my heart melt for you!” She leaned into my ear and whispered, “My body burns for your touch. But you have another to conquer first. Alexia is a wonderful girl. It’s perfect that you have found her. I’ll wait my turn. Go to her and have my blessing.”