In The Beginning, Gail Daley [red white royal blue .TXT] 📗

to get his attention, and the boy jumped. "What? Oh, pleased to meet you ma’am," Lucas said, bowing, but his eyes went straight back to Drusilla.

Seeing what had drawn his gaze, Genevieve’s lips twitched, but she turned her attention to Jayla. "Welcome to Vensoog, Lady Jayla," she said as the girl, having been coached by Katherine on the trip out, dropped a curtsey. "Lord Lucas, I am pleased to meet you. I can see you will be a welcome addition to the Clan."

She gestured Drusilla forward. "Gideon, this is my youngest sister, Lady Drusilla who has been largely responsible for organizing the ceremony this afternoon and the journey back to Glass City we will take later this week."

"Please to meet you," Drusilla said shyly, blushing when she met Lucas’s openly admiring eyes.

"Excuse me," Genevieve murmured to Gideon. "Protocol," as she moved back over to Katherine.

"Lady Genevieve, Lady Drusilla," Katherine said formally. "This is my fiancée Zackery Jackson and his wards, the Ladies Violet and Lucinda, and his nephews Lord Rupert and Lord Roderick. And this," she added standing behind Juliette and putting her hands on both the girl's shoulders, "is my First Daughter, Lady Juliette O’Teague ni'Jones. Everyone, this is your new Laird, the Lady Genevieve O’Teague, and my sister Lady Drusilla."

Genevieve’s eyebrows rose, but she held out both hands to Juliette and said, "Welcome to our family, First Daughter. I am so pleased to meet all of you."

She and Katherine then moved off to the waiting new clansmen so they could be formally presented to their new Laird.

As the shuttle brought down new arrivals, everyone moved toward the docks and the paddlewheel barge they were to take to O'Teague Isle. Once everyone had boarded, Katherine stood at the rail of the large paddlewheel boat with Zack and the children and looked out over the smoothly flowing channel of water as they threaded the gate of the inlet leading out into the main waterway. The water was a translucent green, clear enough to see the bottom, in spite of the plants coating the shore and drifting across the expanse of water. A warm breeze laden with aromas of drying algae and scented plants warmed her skin as the boat moved slowly along. In the distance, a family of Nessies lifted their heads to watch the boat.

"How far to the Manor?" Zack inquired. "Is it large enough to hold us all?"

"It’s not just the manor," Katherine said. "When we first landed, the entire clan stayed there until we moved onto Glass Isle. There is a manor house, outbuildings and an outdoor meeting hall. Drusilla told me we would be staying in the main house. Normally we would stay there anyway, but because there are so many of us, it’s going to be crowded. She assigned all the children beds in the dormitory so that as many of the newly married couples as could fit would have a room to themselves. Of course, some of the women have brought their own pop up domes with them."

"How long will it take to get there?" asked Juliette.

"O’Teague Manor is about a half hour from the city," Katherine answered. "We’re lucky our land extends down to the edge of the water so we reach it by river boat."

"Do all the Clans have land around the spaceport?" Zack asked curiously.

"Yes. It was agreed that for the first year all the clans would set up a permanent base around the spaceport. We had a limited amount of materials and equipment that had to be shared. O’Teague and most of the others didn’t move onto our assigned territories until the third year after landfall."

As she spoke, the barge was carefully sliding by with about eight feet clearance from another paddlewheel barge going against the current toward the spaceport. At last they rounded the final curve of the channel and angled in toward a plastacrete dock.

"Look," Katherine exclaimed. "Isn’t it beautiful?"

Several smaller colorful dome roofs had been put together to form a large area for the outdoor hall. The domes were held up with poles, wrapped in colorful ribbons and left open to take advantage of the breeze coming in off the water. Decorated tables of food with stasis shielding were laid out, and chairs were placed around other tables set up for dining. A leaf-covered bower for the Handfasting ceremonies had been erected under the dome. Behind it and a little to the right were three smaller tables one holding red and silver braided ribbons, the second a stack of small crystal boxes and the third table several decanters, each with two pouring spouts and sets of glasses.

Up the hill from the oudoor hall were s series of larger domes including the main house and dormitories. Extensive and fragrant gardens marked with stone pathways led up from the oudoor hall toward the main house. Twenty or thirty smaller, colorful temporary domes dotted the gardens as well.

It took most of the morning for all the new clan members to arrive. Katherine and Zack spent most of it making sure the children and Jayne were comfortable in the space Drusilla had assigned them. Making sure that each couple had an opportunity to meet their Handfasting partner before the actual ceremony took up considerable time.

The Handfasting

A CRYSTAL GONG sounded a single clear note and everyone quieted, directing their eyes towards the tiny woman who would officiate at the Handfasting ceremony. She stood under a canopy of green, sunlight filtering down through the leaves. The woman was dressed in shades of blue, purple and orange, making her eyes seem an even more vivid green than the arbor. Her white hair was braided in a coronet around her face. A large multi-colored crystal pendant rested on her breast, and large drops of the same crystal hung from her ears and were braided into her hair; she was attended by two slim teenagers with the colors in their garments a much paler hue.

"Good Afternoon," her voice had a deep bell-like