7 - the union

Razeen fiddled with the lapels of his suit and took a few deep breaths. The scent of the erica blossom soothed him for some unknown reason. He was thankful that his cousin was here with him. Since Tamsyn arrived, things felt different in a way that Razeen could not articulate. It was like there had always been a hole in his life that she had filled since she arrived at his life. 

When he first heard about his mysterious cousin from the north, he was not sure how to receive her or how to feel about her in general. She was the daughter of his aunt and uncle that died in an unfortunate fire when they were little. It was a tragedy, and it broke his heart that she probably barely remembered her own parents. In a way, he could relate. His father told him that his own mother died shortly after he was born in the same fire. He and Tamsyn had both lost a parent in the fire. Only she had lost both. Yet, they were still kindred spirits through their shared grief. There was just one thing that did not sit right with him and that he would have to question his father about once he fully crossed the of manhood and became his equal. 

Why did they send Tamsyn to a foreign land as if she was an orphan without relatives to care for her in her darkest hour?

“Are you ready, my boy?” his father asked from behind Razeen, effectively jolting him out of his thoughts. 

“Yes, sir,” he said with an uneasy smile. 

His father chuckled deeply and put a firm hand on Razeen’s shoulder. He looked down at him with a proud grin on his usually stoic face. This was the proudest day of any father’s life. The day their son decides to settle down and make the ultimate commitment. The say came second only to the day he would see his first grandbaby, but he could wait for a little, very little, for that day to come. Until then he relished in the sight of the dapper son standing on the cusp of adulthood. 

“Breath, son, the worry only lasts a few moments. After that … the real struggle begins,” The chief spoke and Razeen’s heart stopped in his chest as he whipped around to stare at his father with tea saucer eyes. His father laughed a full-body laugh. “I’m only pulling your leg, my boy. Your bride is beautiful, the most beautiful our village had to offer in fact. Her father assures me that is a wonderful cook and had a wonderful singing voice. The perfect wife for a Chief.” 

Razeen forced out a smile at his father’s words. He listened to his list of bride’s attributes and tried to convince himself that he was lucky. She sounded wonderful. Perfect. Boring. But at least she was beautiful, and his family approved. The rest would have to come with time he supposed. All in time. 

Speaking of time, the Sangoma stood at the altar and signalled for both the bride and groom to walk out. They would walk at the same time with a veil over their faces. Razeen’s was placed on just before he walked out and was fitted like a mask around his eyes while Kelly’s covered his entire face. The couple would finally get to see each other for the first time in a few moments at the altar in the union. 

“Everyone, rise for our guests of honour. Razeen Okpara, our next Chief, and Kelly-Leigh Kandake, my own beloved daughter, are here to forge their union in front of all of us, their ancestors and the all-mighty Orishas who watch over us,” the Sangoma announced to everyone in attendance. 

Razeen pulled his shoulder back and marched towards the altar, his eyes fell on his bride to be. She was wearing a taupe dress with a frayed veil that covered her face. The dress clung to her petite curves and Razeen took a shaky breath and took the final step towards her wife. 

On the other side of the altar, Kelly was trying her best to stay composed as she walked towards the stranger that she was set to spend the rest of her life with. The stranger that cost her the woman she truly wanted. The last week had shaken her to her core. She’d spent so much time listening to her father’s tales about the fabled Orishas. Now that she’d actually met on, it all seemed out of touch with reality. Her father painted them as deities send from above to solve mortal problems. But Kelly knew differently. They were blood and flesh and carried the weight of life’s problems on their shoulders like the rest of the world did as well. 

Tamsyn was not like the tales said she should be. She was not perfect or impervious to pain. Kelly witnessed the young god break and her façade of immortal strength shatter right before her eyes. The look in Tamsyn’s eyes when Kelly told her that she was promised to another was almost unbearable to see. She looked like she was getting ready to melt into the very Earth beneath her. Kelly cried out for her and begged for her to stay. She would have left with her; ran away and never returned. But in the end, it was Tamsyn who left. She ran away from the shore like it was the sight of homicide and Kelly was her latest victim. 

To be quite honest, most of her nerves surrounding the union today were because of Tamsyn. Before her, Kelly would have gladly followed along with her father’s advice to marry the next chief of their village but now… Now the act felt like one of betrayal and all she wanted to do was evacuate the ceremonial building and run into Tamsyn’s arms. 

She tried to find her among the guests, but she wasn’t there. Her piercing brown eyes were the only pair missing from the ceremony and that was enough to tear Kelly’s heart clean through the middle. But the show must go on and Kelly forced herself to focus on the task at hand. Get married. It was placed on her path for a reason after all so she simply placed her faith in the gods, hers and whichever others were present today, that everything would work out as it should. 

“We have all gathered here today to bind these two souls…” the couple in question both zoned out. Neither Razeen nor Kelly were paying any particular attention to the Sangoma. Even Kelly could not bring herself to listen to her father as he blessed their union. Considering they knew little to nothing about each other, all Razeen and Kelly really had to do was bind their hands and then… pledge themselves to each other until their last breath. 

Simple. 

Kelly snapped her attention back to the ceremony as her hand was lifted and placed in ‘Razeen’s’ hand and a white cloth was placed over their joint hands. Her father began to chant out loud while placing his hands slightly over their hands. A mysterious wind blew from beneath them and then through their overlaid fingers. She looked up at the future chief just as his eyes raised to meet hers. 

Then everything went white. 

Kelly was pulled into a world painted in ethereal white. The sky looked more like a dome than an atmosphere. The only thing that wasn’t white was also the only thing that Kelly hated in the world. For as long as Kelly could remember, she’d always hated the desert. Now, here she was, standing in the middle of a vast desert with only a white sky to keep her company. She bit her lip and looked around, despite the less than pleasing terrain, she was still giddy about the trip. This was her first time entering the spiritual domain, another not so subtle reason that she’d agreed to get married in the first place. Every person entered the spiritual realm on the day of their union. The only true promise was one made to the ancestors. 

“Kelly,” a voice with the weight of the ocean as it vibrated across the desert plains. “We have been waiting for you, my girl,” the voice continued. 

“Who are you?” Kelly asked in return. 

“We are the San, and you belong to us,” the voice echoed and sounded like it was coming at her from the very grains of sand beneath her feet. It rumbled all around her as she began to sink into the sand. It was rapid and Kelly’s heart dropped into her stomach, and she sank deeper and deeper into the sand. She tried to scream for help, but her lungs filled with sand. And the air around her turned to ash. 

“Close your eyes, Kelly. You’re almost home now. We have been waiting for you. Come find us. Come find us,” the voice said and Kelly took her last breath before her world disappeared again.