“I’m fine…thanks…” I mumbled, suddenly feeling very shy.
“Alright. Let me explain what we have to do,” the old man said quite loudly to get our attention.
He stood behind the podium and gestured with his hand for Reiner and me to stand in front of the podium facing him.
“When King came to this island and learnt of our people’s ways, he was very impressed with the devotion and commitment shown through the ceremony of our marriage vows and we are honored that our tradition was chosen to be incorporated into this island’s marriage ceremony,” Kuman said before smiling proudly.
I began to wonder how many people on this island had to go through what we were going through based on what King apparently thought was impressive and a good idea.
As if on cue, two young boys wearing white robes similar to the one that Kuman had on walked into the building. Each of them held a silver tray decorated with white flowers in their hands. They calmly approached the altar until the two of them stood in front of Reiner and me. My eyes immediately fell to the item on the silver try. My eyes widened in confusion at the object laying there among the white flowers.
Why is there a knife here?
I glanced over at the tray that the other boy was holding and found out that the other tray also had a knife on it. My lips felt dry, and I didn’t look forward to where this was headed.
“For the marriage ceremony of our people which has been gracefully simplified by King, you have to simply take the knife in front of you and cut or carve this pattern shown here into Knight’s skin and he will do the same for you in return. I can help you by being more flexible and allowing you to choose who does it first,” the old man stated clearly as he addressed me.
His wrinkly and very tanned hand gestured to a large symbol that resembled a large ‘S’ that was engraved on a wall.
I have to…what?
“…W-what?!” I exclaimed loudly in my shock.
My hands shook uncontrollably as my eyes fell to the knife that the boy still held on the tray. There’s no way that I can cut Reiner or anyone else for that matter. This is just…barbaric! Of course, I was not fine with him carving anything into my skin either. We might as well get matching tattoos by some reputable artists. I could live with his name on my skin for the rest of my life, but I was not cool with carving a letter into his skin with a knife.
Reiner didn’t seem shocked about this at all as he stood calm and composed next to me. The old man was surprised at my outburst as he raised both his eyebrows, wrinkling his forehead in the process.
“I understand that this isn’t common anymore nowadays, but this is King’s will. King and his bride at that time also went through this. Of course, I was there to witness their sacred joining as man and wife,” the old man said before smiling brightly my way.
Queen went along with this? Seriously…?
The old man went on to explain further the origin of the symbol and how it symbolizes love and all of that, but his words slowly faded from my awareness as I tried to figure out how to avoid this. If I told Reiner that I wasn’t comfortable with doing it, he probably would let me off the hook, right? I mean, we can always get matching tattoos, or we can get the symbol tattooed on if that was what he preferred. I was more than ready to make some compromises on this just so that I didn’t have to use a knife against him even if he consented. With my mind made up, I turned to look at Reiner.
“Reiner, I think we should…” I said before my words trailed off into silence.
My mouth hung open in shock as I watched Reiner picked up the knife from the tray in front of him before he began turning the knife around in his hand as he inspected it casually. I gulped when he started running the tip of his finger along the knife’s edge. He’s not seriously going to…
“Shall we?” Reiner said as he turned to face me.
That ‘shall we’ sounded so off and wrong simply because he was still holding a knife in his hand. Alarm bells went off inside of my head and I began debating with myself whether I should turn and make a run for it.
“Umm…can I propose that we get matching tattoos or something instead?” I suggested in a weak voice.
“I think you’re worrying too much. The cut will be very shallow, so it won’t leave a scar. I promise,” Reiner said before smiling adorably at me.
That is not the point! I didn’t care if it left a scar. Why else would I propose tattoos as an alternative?
“That’s…” I muttered as I tried to search for the words.
“What’s wrong?” Reiner asked.
I could feel Reiner’s eyes on me along with the eyes of Kuman. We’re half married so I might as well get used to being very honest with him.
“Look, the thing is…I’ve never cut anyone with a knife before…you know, I’m a normal person and normal people don’t…do things like that. So, I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to hurt you…” I tried my best to explain.
Reiner might think that he can easily carve that pattern into my skin while keeping the cut shallow and light, but I was certain that I couldn’t do the same thing. I can’t carve that into anything much less anyone with a knife. Period.
“Is that what you’re worried about? You can’t hurt me. Even if it hurts, I’m willing bear it…” Reiner said confidently.
“Do we really need to do this? Like…is there some other way…?” I asked, sounding and feeling very desperate.
“Knight, I don’t want to apply unnecessary pressure but, I think you should start. As for Natalia, I do sympathize that this isn’t something easy for you to do. To help you, I’ll allow Knight to assist you when you carve the symbol on him. As long as your hand is on the hilt of the knife, I’ll count that as a pass. That’s the best that I can do to help you…” Kuman said before smiling encouragingly at me.
–To be continued…