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Five good friends, all charges of ours, are gathered with Beryl's parents' in the Kendrick's living room. They are playing a game of random bidding with cards, similar to a game you might know as Pit.
"Two! Two! Two!"
"Three! Three!"
"One! One!"
"Two!" Dai and Water Princess trade.
"One?"
"Three!" Earth Prince and Dilwen trade.
"Three! Three!" Earth Prince puts the cards he just received back up.
"Two! Two!"
"One?" Beryl is frustrated. "Okay, eight!"
Silence.
Water Princess giggles. "Try this?" and hands Beryl a single card, taking Beryl's single in trade.
"Thanks, but nope."
As trading continues, Hefin silently slips a card into Beryl's hand, and she looks it him, then gives him the card Water Princess gave her. Counting together to three and turning the cards over, they look quickly at the cards, then at each other again, grinning, and call, "Corner!" in unison.
Silence again, then laughter.
Earth Prince counts the points. "Beryl broke 500, so she wins."
"Brig and I need to do some research in the library." Dilwen stands.
"We do?" Brigham looks up at her, and she speaks to him with her eyes. "Oh. We do."
"Can we help?" Earth Prince stands.
"Completely unnecessary." Brigham also stands to leave. "If you need anything just holler." And he follows his wife out of the room.
"More Pit?"
"How about something that allows us to talk?" Dai suggests. "You've got the Scripture Dungeons set, don't you, Beryl?"
"Right here on the shelf. You guys can set it up. Dŵr, can you help me mix some more juice in the kitchen?" Beryl picks up the empty pitcher.
"Hey, we can help."
"You're not invited."
Water Princess follows Beryl into the kitchen. "Hundred percent fruit juices."
"Uh huh. Natural sugars are better for you, if you don't drink too much. Has K-- woops, there I go again."
Water Princess grins apologetically. "Sorry. Still need to keep that distance."
Beryl opens the freezer. "What do you suggest?"
"You have cherry and mango? Let's try a mix."
They open cans and scoop frozen concentrate into the pitcher.
"Has Ddaear explained about how he is with refined sugars?"
"Does funny things to his body. Ties his miscles in knots, kills his immunity system, makes it hard to focus on hard stuff."
"I've seen what it can do to him."
They re-seal the cans and pour water into the pitcher, mixing it with the concentrate.
"Can you tell me?"
"It can make him turn inside himself. Not just his muscles, not just catching colds. He can hurt himself. Stress alone can turn him inside out a bit, but sugar makes it worse. Sometimes he has no defense against himself."
"Is that what scares you?"
"Yeah. I'd have bad dreams every time we started getting really close."
"Bad how?"
"I'd see him in my dreams coming home stressed out from something, needing my attention, and he couldn't let me get close to him. It would be too dangerous for me."
"He is rather strong."
"You can see it, too? But you're strong."
"Yeah, I can see it. I think I'll be able to let him be close enough. If ..."
"If ...?"
"If we start out right. That's why we both need the time to get used to being on our own without each other before we start courting for real. Neither of us has really been on our own yet."
Beryl washes the long spoon and puts it away.
"I'd never thought of that. But even after he lost his parents, he had Ceri, and then us. The mission was pretty close to being on his own, but he always had a companion. He really hasn't been on his own like he'll be at the Hyde."
"Right."
"This is what Hef needs to know. He was mad at you for stealing Ddaear from me, and now he's mad at you for making Ddaear wait for you. But he's not thinking of what the woman who has to live with him forever needs."
"Do you think he'll talk about it?"
"Let's go see."
Water Princess picks up the pitcher and they return to the other room. Setting it down, she asks, "Who's going to be dungeon master?"
Dai suggests, "Beryl's mom and dad might. We could call them back."
Beryl looks at Water Princess, who looks at Earth Prince. He raises an eyebrow and Water Princess tilts her head slightly towards Hefin. He nods yes.
"I'll go call them." Beryl leaves the room. We hear her call through the hall. "Mom, Dad, are you two too busy to be dungeon masters?"
Hefin collects and shuffles the cards and places them in several stacks on the table. When Beryl returns with her parents, he hands Brigham the playbook.
Brigham rolls a die and checks the book, then intones, "You are in a small clearing in a woods you have never seen before. In the clearing is a small cabin with one door, and a piece of parchment on the door. What do you do?"
Beryl says, "Read the notice," and all agree.
Hefin draws a card. "Seek, and you shall find."
Water Princess identifies the scripture, and Dai says, "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you." All agree.
Earth Prince says, "Knock knock."
Dilwen intones. "The door opens with a low creaking noise."
Water Princess giggles and says, "Now we run around the cabin five times and yell, 'Boo!' "
"No disagreements?" Brigham scratches his head, reading the playbook.
There are chuckles, but no disagreements.
"Okay, here it is. There is a loud thunderclap and the cabin disappears in a puff of smoke. In its place is a hole in the ground, with the top of a ladder poking out. As you watch, scaled hands grasp the top rung and a lizard-like man climbs out. He addresses your group and asks: 'Who is your leader?'"
With some consultation, Beryl is chosen. A scripture riddle is posed which they answer successfully, and the story proceeds down the hole.
Some half an hour later, as you would experience the time, they have made their way down to the third level, answering questions and fighting various creatures with rolls of the dice and scripture quotes.
"You have come to a four-way branch in the tunnel. On the floor of the tunnel you find a small metal ball. On the surface of the ball is a writing."
Dai says, "We read the writing." All agree.
Hefin draws another card. "You shall not suffer a witch to rebel forever. A witch who will use xer special talents in rebellion against God has not the word of life, and thus is in a state of spiritual death. You shall not promise xem either salvation or eternal life while xe remains in xer rebellion."
(Genderless pronoun: xe, xem, xer, xers, xemself.)
Again, Water Princess identifies the scripture.
Hefin looks at her accusingly.
"Hef." Dai's voice mixes warning with concern.
Hefin looks down.
"So I bewitched Tywysog, and now I'm bewitching all of you?" Water Princess smiles wryly.
"It was a lot simpler before you came."
Beryl turns to him. "Hef, there's something I haven't told you."
Hefin sets both hands flat on the table and leans on it, standing up. "You've told us that you both got 'No,' in reply, and I don't believe it."
"Hef," Dilwen puts her hand on Hefin's hand. "Beryl took it hard. I was here and we cried together. It was real."
Beryl takes his other hand. "I never told anyone about the dreams I've had except ... Ddaear until tonight. Whenever we started talking about marrying, I had dreams. I was warned. I can't give him the help he needs. The dreams made it clear. And this was before Dŵr ever came."
Hefin looks at the floor and shakes his head.
"Hef, how strong is K-- Ddaear?
"Why can't we say his name? See how she bewitches us?"
Brigham looks at Earth Prince.
Earth Prince nods.
"There's another thing that hasn't been told, but answer Beryl's question, Hef."
"Okay, he's stronger than anybody I know. So?"
"I'm not strong enough to help him. That's what I saw in the dreams, very plainly."
Hefin refuses to look at anyone. "You could be."
"But it's not what God wants. He won't help us. Not if we rebel."
Hefin is silent for some few moments. Then, somewhat grudgingly, he speaks. "Okay, I'll grant that Dŵr is stronger than any of us except Ddaear. But, in that case, why the code names? Why the talk of them not being able to marry for four years? Why can't they get engaged and then marry when Dŵr turns eighteen? Why can't her parents let them marry now, if they are so meant for each other?"
No one asks why he cares so much.
"I have been told I can match his strength, but only if we start things right."
"What, you've seen those messengers Ddaear told us about, too?"
Water Princess looks at Earth Prince questioningly.
"I did try to tell them once about the messengers, when I first met them."
"Oh."
"What? Then it's those messengers that have you all confused."
"The messengers have not told us to get married, but I have met them."
Dai leans forward. "This is interesting."
"That kind of thing doesn't happen now." Hef becomes adamant. "We have the scriptures and we have the Church. We don't need messengers."
Dilwen squeezes his hand. "Hefin, has the time come for miracles to cease?"
"Hefin, please. Before we met K-- Ddaear, it was you and me and Dai. Before we met Dai, it was just you and me."
"We were only seven. Your parents took me in to get me away from that foster home for a couple of years. And then they sent me to live with Dai."
"So we could stay close, Hef."
"We're brother and sister."
"But we aren't really."
"But you and ... Ddaear love each other."
"And I love you and Dai, too. I'm getting to like Dŵr pretty well, too."
Earth Prince speaks up. "And I have no small affection for everyone in this room. Ceri explained it to me like this when I was twelve and had a terrible crush on her. There are crushes, and there is love, but marriage is a contract to make babies. You can't marry everyone you love."
Brigham laughed. "That's what she said?"
"It was a good explanation at the time."
Dilwen shakes her head with a chuckle. "Your sister always surprises me with her wisdom. I think she was the biggest factor in my joining the Church."
Hefin's chuckle becomes audible. "Blast it K-- Ddaear, you know how to take the romance out of everything."
Dai deadpans, "What's unromantic about any of this?"
Soft laughter fills the room.
Hefin becomes serious again. "So, if those messengers aren't the ones telling you to get married, what are they telling you?"
Water Princess answers, "Things about our future. Not requirements, possibilities."
"Thus, Earth Prince, Water Princess?"
Earth Prince nods. "But they -- we -- are not required to marry."
And Water Princess adds, "It does seem to be convenient to marry, but we have to choose whether to accept the mantle."
"And whether to do so married to each other or married to others."
"We have to understand what we are being asked to do as something separate from whether we marry. That's why we have to be completely separate from each other for a year. Uhm, plus or minus a little." Water Princess reaches out and takes Earth Prince's hand, and he squeezes it."
"It's scary, but we have to do it."
Hefin smiles a tight, but sincere smile. "Okay, now I think I can see."
Brigham points out, "Things have been said here that must not leave this room."
And all agree.
Hefin finally looks relieved but he has one question left. "So, Beryl, should you and Dai get married, then?"
Beryl drops her head into her hands and doesn't say anything.
"Hef, mate, you and I need to follow Ddaear and Beryl's examples and go on missions."
"Thank you, Dai," comes Beryl's muffled reply.
But Hef's face again shows signs of fretting.
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