Senshi (Guardians)
Chapter 18: The Taelon Bonding Ceremony

Later, Kyoko and Thael entered the tunnel that led to the Shrine of the Singing Stones. There was a pale blue light coming from receptacles along the walls, so they could see their way even though it was dimly lit. As they exited the tunnel, they could see the valley, but the stones were as dark as the rings in his pocket. The light from Taelon’s three moons dimly lit up the valley, which seemed to go on for miles.

He led her around the rise and up the stairs. They sat on the bench. He had already shown her the rings and the ring ritual parchment. He had told her everything his Grandfather had told him. She agreed to it without hesitation.

Thael took her hands in his. “My Princess… The love of my life, and the brightest light in my world, will you marry me?”

“Oh. Yes. Yes. Yes. You said you’d wait for a romantic moment and this is certainly that. Oh, yes, my Prince.” She threw her arms around him and hugged him.

“I know that was a bit late, seeing we’re already married under Taelon law, but I thought you deserved to be asked anyway.”

She giggled, “Don’t forget we’ve already filed the paperwork in Tokyo too, but I don’t care how late it is, it’s something I really wanted to hear.”

They kissed.

When their lips parted: “Kyoko sama, this bonding ritual, even though the stones don’t sing anymore, is serious. There is no turning back once we do it. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I have never been so sure in my life. Just look at my eyes. They’re royal violet aren’t they?”

He smiled, “Yes, my Princess, they are.”

“Then open the box and say the words, my love.”

He removed her ring from the box. As he placed it on her finger he said, “Because I love you above all others, Princess Thael Kyoko, I give you all that I am or will become. This ring binds us together, and nothing can break this bond.”

He held the box for her. As she placed the ring on his finger: “Because I love you above all others, Prince Thael Paru, I give you all that I am or will become. This ring binds us together, and nothing can break this bond.”

They kissed again.

“What’s next, Thael?”

“The plaque… We need to follow the instructions on the plaque.”

“There it is,” she said as they stood up. “Over there by that pedestal.”

Thael looked at the plaque. “It’s a pictograph. Let’s see… You stand on that step in front of the pedestal and I stand behind you.”

When Kyoko stood on the step, she seemed to be as tall as he was, “Look! Our heights match. It’s almost as though they put this here just for us.”

“How about that? Okay. Now, you place your left hand into the indentation that looks like a hand… Yeah, like that. Now I place my left hand over yours, our rings touching. Next, we hold our right hands.”

“Is that it?”

“I don’t think so. The guy in the picture is saying something to the girl in her ear. Unfortunately, there is no clue here as to what.”

“So what do we do?”

“I have an idea…” He put his lips close to her right ear, “You, my darling, Princess Kyoko, you are my light, my song, my heart, and my life. I love you more than anything in the thirty-nine galaxies. I would wither away into nothingness without you in my life. I will love you in spirit and body, care for your spirit and body; protect your heart and physical body…”

Kyoko saw something from the corner of her eye. Their rings were glowing. Then they started to softly sing.

Kyoko wanted to shout with delight, but she felt she should say something too, so she whispered, “I love you my beautiful Angel-man that fell from the sky. You are my inspiration and my joy, my sun that warms me when I’m cold; you shine so brightly, that all my worries and fear disappear. I will love you in Spirit and body, I will care for your spirit and body, and I will protect your heart and physical body as long as I live…”

They were still confessing their love for each other when the ring’s song got louder. Only the rings weren’t singing alone. First the pedestal and the stones around them slowly lit up and sang, then another section, and another. Soon there were bass notes coming from the larger crystals. Finally, the entire valley was lit up and singing in harmony. Their rings glowed brightly.

Thael opened his eyes, “Oh my, Listen to that beautiful music.”

“Thael, somehow we’ve awakened the Singing Valley. You don’t think we’ll be in trouble do you?”

“I hope not. Maybe we should leave.”

As they tried to make their escape, they met an old priest on the stair. They stopped.

Kyoko pleaded, “We’re sorry. We didn’t mean to do all this.”

“Yes. We’ll pay for any damages…”

The old priest laughed. “Don’t you realize what you’ve done?”

“Look. I’m Prince Thael, this is my Princess Kyoko. See? We both have crowns and everything. We can pay for any trouble we’ve caused, and we apologize deeply.” He bowed low. Kyoko followed suit.

“Did you say Kiiocho?”

“Yes. Princess Kyoko.” He emphasized the Princess part.

The priest laughed again. “You brought hope to the Singing Valley. It’s as the prophecy says: “’One day a Taelon Prince who is also not Taelon will bring Hope to the Valley of Stones and they will sing again.’ You have fulfilled the prophecy and broken the thousand years of silence. Listen to them singing with joy. I am so happy I lived to hear them again. You have brought great happiness to an old man’s heart.”

Kyoko and Thael looked at each other. “You mean we aren’t in trouble?′

“Of course not,” he shook his head. “Quite the opposite, my Prince, but you and the Princess must complete the bonding ritual. You will, won’t you?”

Thael looked into Kyoko’s eyes. She answered his unspoken question, “We promised we would, my Prince. We have to finish.”

“How do we do that?” Thael asked the old priest.

The old priest went to the rocks behind them, pressed a stone and a small opening appeared. He took out a shawl. It was sheer material, so sheer you could see through it. When he brought it closer they could see hundreds of tiny crystals attached to it.

“Stand at the altar as you did before.”

They did as he asked. The priest put the shawl over their left hands. Their rings shone through it. “Now, do as you did before: Confess your love to each other.”

Thael whispered in her ear and she spoke softly to him. Their rings stopped singing for a moment and changed their tune. The stones on the shawl began to glow. It took up the new song and sang. The stones all around them fell silent a moment and then they took up the new song. The whole valley was soon singing it too.

They felt a tingling. Then their souls merged into one, their minds joined. Everything Thael had lived, said or did, Kyoko immediately knew. She saw his school days; the taunts and jeers about the freak with the violet eyes. She saw his beautiful mother, holding him and singing to him. Thael was experiencing the same thing. He knew everything about her life too.

Then the strangest feeling came over them… they felt their hearts entwine. It was as though they now had only one heart; one heart that they shared between them. As their souls and minds seemed to go back where they came from, they knew that their hearts would always be bonded as one; nothing and no one could ever break that bond. When they finally opened their eyes, they noticed a huge crowd of people gathered around the rising.

The priest lifted their left hands up and said, “It is done.” He pulled the shawl off their hands and said loudly, “His Highness Prince Paru Thael, Crown Prince of Taelon, is forever bonded with her Highness Princess Kiiocho Thael, Crown Princess of Taelon. May their lives be rich and full of love.”

The crowd clapped and cheered. They got down on their knees and bowed with their heads touching the ground. There were several Vid Bots hovering around capturing the whole scene and transmitting live images to the citizens of Taelon watching at home. The stones continued singing the new song.

Kyoko timidly spoke to the priest, “Excuse me. What is this music? It’s so beautiful.”

“It’s the song your souls sing when you are close to each other.”

“Really…? But why are all these people here and why are they prostrate?”

“You two, with your love, fulfilled the prophecy. You awakened the stones that have been silent a thousand years. They are worshiping you… and, after all, you are royalty.”

Thael walked toward the edge of the rising, “Please… Please rise. You don’t have to do this.”

Kyoko stood beside him. “Yes, please. We thank you for your respect, but please stand up.” The people slowly started getting to their feet. They could see the royal couple, their crowns sparkling in the light, and the glowing violet eyes that only royals had.

“Thank you for your kindness,” Thael said bowing. Kyoko bowed next to him.

The crowd was clapping, and shouting, “Long live the royal couple!”

They went down the stairs and came around the rise to the front where everyone was waiting. As they walked through the crowd, people put their hands out to touch them. Kyoko and Thael momentarily grabbed the hand of each one that was close, and touched the tips of the fingers of the people farther away. They looked into the eyes of each person they touched, bowed slightly, and thanked them.

As they exited the tunnel they were met by a royal transport. When they got in, they saw the King and Queen sitting, facing them. They were smiling. The King seemed pleased with himself, “I knew it. I just knew it would be you two. I knew that prophesy was about you.”

“Yes,” the Queen said smiling, “The Taelon that is but isn’t? That had to be Paru of course: Half Taelon and half Earther, and then the beautiful Hope.”

Kyoko was puzzled, “Hope?”

Thael smiled, “Yes. I forgot to tell you. It seems that your name in Taelonese means ‘Hope’. We are so used to speaking Japanese we didn’t think to translate your name into Taelon.”

“So that’s what the old priest meant,” she hesitated a moment, “Your Majesties… about the bonding ritual?”

“Yes, Kiiocho…?”

“It isn’t a myth. We really did bond. The stones… they brought us together: Heart, mind and soul… just like the legends said. This is real, not just a fairy tale.”

“We know,” The queen said softly. They held up their hands. The rings they wore were glowing and singing their own song, “This is our soul song.”

“It’s beautiful,” Kyoko said.

“I never noticed them glowing before,” Thael commented, “How…”?

“When the Valley stopped singing our rings stopped singing too,” the King replied. “To this day, we don’t know why that happened, but as soon as you awakened them our rings began to sing again.”

Kyoko looked stunned. “But that was over a thousand years ago. How…”

“We’re only twelve hundred years old. Taelons can live longer than two thousand earth years. Paru, you didn’t tell her?”

“Yes, but I thought it was six hundred to a thousand years.”

Kyoko laughed. “It doesn’t matter. It just means we’ll have more time together.”