Dell (part 2 of 3)

Dell

"It's great down here but the world is up there,"

Dell

A shadow grew out from his chest and down across the floor before he and Mara.  They both looked up to see a tall robed man staring down smiling down at them. “Welcome home, Mara,” the man began in the slow low voice as appropriate for the somber hall.  “Dell, it is great to have you back,” he said warmly.  He crouched so that he was eye-level with the two who were still sitting.  The buoyancy in his crouch made him seem younger than his beard made him look.  “I remember when there were whole meals served during worship- very sad day when they nixed it from the order of meditation.”  Dell and Mara both nodded.  “You know I think it might have been right after they got rid of the ritualistic leeching.”

“That’s gross,” Mara said in a way that was too close to flirting than Dell could like. Who flirts by talking about leeches? Dell thought bitterly.

“Not as gross as sacrificing naked mole rats every Tuesday,” the man added facetiously. Now Dell understood because he had heard rumors when he was a child about the World Worshipers.  People had said they sacrificed creatures and did evil things in their secret ceremonies. 

“Stop it! Dell,” she turned to Dell. “There was never any leeching. See that’s why people give us such a bad reputation, John,” Mara said.

“Actually leeching is very effective as a medical treatment to help with graft or after reattachment surgery,” Dell said in defense leeching.  He could not remember meeting John but defended the fictional ritual nontheless.

One of the 46 concealed entrances to Valen

John nodded and smiled, “Well your father and most of the high council want you two to come to the ceremony and dinner.  I heard they’re going to make you two get married.”  He said ‘get married’ the same matter-of-fact way he said ‘ritualistic leeching’ but this time Mara did not take the bait. 

“They wouldn’t do that plus I’ll just deny we’ve made any physical connection,” Mara said easily.  Dell felt like he was back in Algebra II and could not make sense of even the most basic definitions.  Was it even a realistic possibility that they would force us to get married? Why would she deny our ‘physical connection’? Dell thought about the nights out in the cool fall forests with her and knew their relationship was more than just physical. If they make us get married then they are adhering to Newtopian law not World Worshiper doctrine, Dell reasoned.  The algebra equation seemed to make more sense but was still unsolvable with more than one variable.

“Why deny it?” Dell asked? “If they make us get married then we don’t have to hide here anymore.”

Mara and John went silent briefly.  John spoke first, “It’s considered an honor to worship here. We are not hiding here in Valen below the raging Pan-Atlantic.  We are celebrating our love of this planet in an intimate and beautiful place.”

“Yea, but I never saw any World Worshipers when I was growing up. It’s great down there but the world is up there.”