Raeda Ihhuein

Posted on Tue 14th Jul, 2020 @ 9:04am by Verelan i'Mhiessan t'Saeihr & Maiek s'Ethien & Khellian s'Siedhri MD & Makila i'Hartelhai & Mary Elizabeth Gregory

1,311 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Resolution
Location: Romulan Shrine to the Elements
Timeline: MD: 17 1900

Maiek was barefoot, the lifegiving waters flowing over his feet as he stood in the center of the shrine of the elements. Orbs of blue and white light glittered in the fronts of the carved stone altars, bringing an eerie almost ethereal glow to the garden areas. Ceremonial attendants in traditional robes flanked each altar, and held the physical manifestations of their elements. Maiek's face was illuminated by the soft blue of the central stone orb. His eyes practically glowed, and the blue reflected in his lengthening black hair.

Tiny carved stones sat in the pools of water created by the precise cuts in the stones coming from the water shrine. The bubbling liquid overflowed the basin carved on the altar and cascaded down the front. Its quiet music was soothing, and the only sound was the whisper of Maiek's feet on the stones. There was a cadence to the waters flow, the very tides of Romulus visible in the timing of the pulse and trickling liquid from the altars face.

Avilh, The element of Earth. Ihhuein, The element of Water. Jaeih, The element of air and Okhala, the element of Fire. Each one was bright and honored in order of their precedence, starting with and ending with water. The honoring chant was started by Maiek, and taken up by the attendants of each element, in a round. Each attendant began his or her part of the song, as Maiek turned, dipped the ladle in the cascading waters that pooled before each set of stones. There was a ceremonial gesture before he poured the water over the respective altars. The fire on the fire altar glinted in his eyes for a moment, before his face was obscured by steam.

"May the peace of Ihhuein, wash over these stones and bring peace to all that hold them." Another cascade of water from the altar flowed over the stones, which Maiek was gathering in reverse order of the elements he'd called upon. They went into an intricately carved glass bowl, and the patterns on their surfaces glowed while the moisture still gleamed on their surfaces. A ladle of water over them would bring their beauty to the surface again.

Maiek spotted one, that made him feel that Mary Elizabeth was by his side and he selected it from the bowl to give to her. Or maybe he would keep it so he could feel like she was with him always. That might not help his dreams any, but the thought did please him.

The audience watching the ritual was absolutely silent, rapt with the beauty of the ritual being performed before them. Mary Elizabeth had never seen anything like it. It had all the solemnity and beauty of a High Church ritual, but with none of the stuffiness. This was simple and lovely, and the fact that Maiek was the person performing the ritual certainly added to her enjoyment of it.

When he stepped out of the circle, he was dripping wet from head to toe and fairly glittered with the tiny motes of water that misted up from the various altars.

Verelan approached him, in all her official ambassadorial garb and bowed slightly to him before taking his place in the center of the circle. His part of the ritual was completed and now she repeated the gestures at the smaller altars in between the major ones. Her voice a quiet soprano that rang out above the others.

I need to learn to read Romulan, Mary Elizabeth thought. If their rituals are this lovely, their poetry must be outstanding. The sight of Maiek, dripping wet, derailed her more exalted thoughts for a moment. She slid an appreciative but surreptitious gaze over him for a moment before reminding herself to behave.

Feeling eyes upon him, Maiek slowly turned to see where the lingering feeling of being watched was coming from. The peaceful look on his face was broken by a bright smile when his eyes met Mary Elizabeth's. He was incandescent with joy that she'd come to celebrate with him, and felt the need to honor his rituals. Water washed away doubts, and insecurities after all. Three steps with his long legs brought him to her side, and without thinking twice he buried his fingers in the hair at the nape of her neck and kissed her.

Right. I'm going to melt now, Mary Elizabeth thought as her lips parted, and she slid a hand to the back of Maiek's neck. His skin felt delightfully warm--and still damp. When they at last pulled away to look at each other, Mary Elizabeth could only smile up at Maiek and say, "Religious services at home are never this interesting!"

"This is interesting?" came the quiet question from the Romulan, who was more than aware of the looks they were getting from the other Romulans. The doctor s'Siedhri looked amused. "Would you like to walk through the water and choose a stone to bring you good fortune? Once the ritual is done, anyone can walk through the waters and cleanse themselves. "

"Well, my vicar back home would never have given me such a lovely ... incentive to return," Mary Elizabeth said with a light laugh. "I would be honoured to choose a stone."

He tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and when the center was vacated by Verelan, he led Mary Elizabeth into the flowing water and cool mist. While in the water, he briefly made eye contact with the ambassador and kissed Mary Elizabeth again as water poured over their feet. In the eyes of their people he was making his claim to courting her official. "Your birthday falls between Earth and Water, so you can take a stone from either the pool of Avilh or from Ihhuein himself."

"All right, then." Mary Elizabeth let the tranquility of the place sink into her. How she could possibly find the ritual space tranquil with so many people nearby she didn't know, but for just a few moments, she and Maiek might as well have been alone for all that she noticed anything but themselves and the pools. She walked toward the pool of Ihhuein, closed her eyes, and dipped her fingers into the bowl, brushing her fingertips against the smooth, wet stones.

And Water felt good, but it just wasn't--right.

Frowning, Mary Elizabeth said, "I think I want to try Avilh's pool."

"Please, do." he answered, his hand on her elbow gently guiding her to the pool of Avilh. The crystals were especially pretty, glittering in rainbows at the base of the pillar.

Again, Mary Elizabeth played her fingertips about the pile of small stones, until at last, one felt just right--smooth on one end, as if a lot of water had rushed over it, and rougher at the other end, oval-shaped. She plucked it from the pool to look at it and grinned. It was the color of a pint of Guinness or dark, loamy earth--or Maiek's eyes. It sparkled as she tilted it in her palm. Mary Elizabeth held it up to the light and saw the light gave it a dark, warm, brown glow. "This one," Mary Elizabeth said. "It reminds me of you."

"I chose mine because it brought me the sense that you were beside me" he said softly as he allowed his fingertips to brush the stone in her hand. Elements, the feelings those words roused in him....The sheer heat of his blood and the ache in his heart that he couldn't have her here and now. He should offer her his bracelets right now and make her his wife. She didn't know what it meant though, and the tradition would be meaningless if she didn't understand. He didn't understand Earth traditions, but now....he needed to find out.

 

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