Luxan (Selected Book 10) by Robin Roseau

Author:Robin Roseau [Roseau, Robin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

A Wedding

It was an outdoor ceremony held on the beach at Tranquility Village. Every Martian on Earth – there weren’t that many – was in attendance. Everyone living in Tranquility Village attended, as did many from the Center. Muriel was there in her avatar.

The two brides, each accompanied by someone dear to them, approached from opposite ends of the beach. Arete walked with Brook, and Isla walked beside Chelsea. Benjamin and I stood together, somewhat to the outer edges.

Waiting for them was Audra.

They came together, Chelsea smiling broadly, and the adoration from Brook was evident. They clasped hands facing each other, and there was a moment of applause just for that.

Audra waited for people to grow quiet. She smiled at the brides then looked around, meeting an eye here and there, and then she began to speak. “My name is Audra Andrews Beamer. Years ago, one of my mating candidates granted me the extreme honor of officiating for her wedding.” She looked around some more. “Gathered today is the most disparate group of people I might imagine. I count ten distinct species, evolved on ten different planets. We have male and female. We have people who didn’t even have a name for male until they encountered others. We have bare skin, and we have fur. We have several Loris, and we have Ardents, Niecor, and Luxan.”

She paused, smiling. “We each come with our own views on a mating of two people. We don’t even use the same words. In English we call it marriage, but there are other words.” She spoke them. I recognized Catseye. I didn’t recognize all the words she spoke, but she used the Luxan word, which might better be translated into English as pairing, although it’s the word we use when talking about human marriage. She smiled again and returned to English. “I apologize for my poor pronunciation of those words.”

Then she pointedly turned to Chelsea’s family in a place of prominence. “This is a mating of human and Martian, and one must fairly expect a merging of customs.”

And that was when I realized much of what she’d said so far was setting expectations not only for the ceremony, but for the entire relationship. I thought the point might be heard by some of Chelsea’s family, but certainly not all of them.

“This is a happy day, a joyous day. I see smiling faces and quivering tentacles. I see one bride looking just a tiny bit greener than I remember her from previous days.”

At that, Brook laughed and nodded.

“And,” Audra added. She lifted her hands, pointing her index fingers, and simulated Martian antennae. “See them waving?”

She looked about. “I see tears of joy. I see dear friends and family, joining together to celebrate love.”

She set her hands on theirs. “Brook Dareek, do you clearly understand my words, spoken in this language?”

“I do, Audra.”

“Chelsea Butler, do you clearly understand my words, spoken in this language.”

“I do, Audra.”

Audra looked out. “That answer isn’t always yes,” she explained. “This ceremony is not symbolic.

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