Something old..

Really early in the day Sera had worked up the nerves to send the box to Sianna. It was sent by the means of a young messenger boy, Sera still too shy to approach the woman on her own. But she wanted to give something to the kind lady.

A box of mahogany was given to her, the inside lined with dark blue velvet. Draped on top of the velvet was a diamond rose brooch with pale blue sapphires dewdrops on two of the petals. Clenched to fine, soft ethereal silk and made to be a choker. Or whatever she wished to use it as.

The note with it was elegantly written but seemed short, as if the writer was afraid to put too much or too little:

It was given and blessed by a deity. I hope she blessed your life together with Mister Johnny, for all times. It has been with me for a long..long time. So I thought maybe it could be your 'old' for the wedding. you don't have to of course!

Blessed Be,
Sera

Maeve patted her son's arm as he released her to the care of the young bride. She kept her cane close, though walked with a smooth and patient gait further into the home. "It is a sweet place you have here, Sianna." A smile as she accepted the offered seat and eased down without the old sighs and suppressed winces she had when she first met the young lady.

"Might I fetch ye something tae drink, Maeve?" A small plate of untouched food was still sitting on the table nearby. Dressed in a tunic and loose pants, her hair was yet unstyled and set in large curlers all over her head. Her smile was soft and kind as she waited for her reply. "And thank ye for the verra sweet compliment. 'Tis no' grand, but 'tis home for Johnny and I."

"Oh, no dear, but thank you," she smiled. "I think I have been in a daze of feasting for two days. I begin to think I am the holiday ham being fattened up for slaughter." A faint laugh, soft but not weak. "It will be just the thing. The grand buildings don't mean there's more love in there, and one feels the love here upon the walking in." A shift of her body to settle in her seat. "So, what is it you're thinking today, or is it hard to grasp the thoughts they go by so quickly?"

"No' verra likely, Maeve dearie. Ye are still as lithe and trim as ye were when ye were a lass. But dinna get too full now, aye? 'Tis going to be many grand things tae eat at th' reception." She grinned broadly at the woman and lowered herself to the ottoman just to one side of the occupied chair.

"Ah, you do go on," waving off the compliment and patting at her body, which was, actually trim enough for her age.

The question pulled her up short, her hands clasped over her knees. "I'm thinking I wish my Gran and mother were here." Her eyes misted with a faint sheen for a moment before she blinked to keep it from spilling down her cheeks. "I'm thinking that I'm a verra lucky girl tae be marrying such a man... and I'm thinking how verra glad I am that ye braved the trip tae come."

Sympathy softened the smile as Maeve reached to set a hand upon the young woman's and gave a pat of fingers. "Ah, dear, I would not have let myself miss it for anything. The kindness of you and the tending you saw to me, there is where you find your Gran and your mother. They are in you in the way you live and share your kindness." Her faith, of course, did not think of others looking down from on high, but her outlook in the world did believe in the traits of those before in those that came after.

Sianna smiled softly, her own heritage clinging to the idea that the elders lived on and were honored by their offspring. Fingers squeezed lightly as she smiled again. "Ye are a veritable jewel of wisdom, Maeve. Thank ye."

"Give me enough years, I might even be able to figure out my son." She laughed again. "And while I'm no relation, I hope you know I consider you quite dear. Anything you want to talk about?" She had planned, of course, to let the conversation naturally move into whatever Sianna wished to discuss, but the memories of her own joining day played up in her thoughts like gracious ghosts of joy, and she did not want Sianna to miss out on moments like those.

Resting her head in her hands, elbows resting against her knees, bright blue eyes perused the woman a moment. A smile curved her lips at the idea of Ewan being a mystery. "I appreciate ye greatly, dearie. Ye dinna ken how much." A moment passed again. "If ye had had a daughter, or if ye had a granddaughter who was marrying... what advice would ye gie tae her, aye?"

"Oh," she breathed out, smiling, "many things she knows already, but the hearing of it spoken can do its part. I would tell her to never seek the easy path when the rough one might be the best way to go. It is the polished stone that sparkles." She considered further, fingers tapping on the cane kept in her other hand. "That sometimes a moment of silence is better than an hour of chatter. And," here she looked straight to Sianna, "time is a friend, reminding us how precious each moment is, the good and the bad."

She let out a sigh of relief, as if the words solidified an inner girding of her spirit. "Aye, hearing them can do its part indeed." One hand went up to scratch a place on her scalp where the pin holding the curler in place was particularly bothersome. "What d'ye remember most about yer wedding day, Maeve? Will it all be a blur when 'tis over?"

At the question, she let the memory ghosts rise in her mind's eye again. The scents were gone, except one. "I remember it smelled like sunshine that day. There was nothing strong upon the air but light even in the cold of the winter."

More thoughts came as she examined the flittering images. "Corin had built the arch for us, and the ribbons of green and red fluttered from its beams above us in the breeze. I could feel them tickle the back of my neck when we stood beneath it. Friends and family there. I remember most of all the trembling hands, his and mine, and how we laughed when we felt the other's hand shake."

Sianna grew quiet, the scene forming from the descriptions, the young woman and man beneath the arbor, pledging their vows to the other.

"'Tis hard for me tae believe th' day is actually here, aye? Never really gave much thought tae being in a place long enough tae find a man much less wed him." She spoke wistfully, her questions more like statements as she paused to soak up the moment with her friend.

Maeve listened with a serene and understanding smile. Some things in her own life she had not thought to happen.

"Thoughts on such matters complicate things, I find. Ewan never thought to be joined either, but his for much darker reasons. Life seeks light and its continuing, I think, and when two good souls meet..." her voice trailed off feeling the rest need not be said. "I, too, had things I did not think to happen."

"Aye, ye canna control what life brings tae ye, but ye can always control how ye react and adapt tae it." The two had much in common in experience while differences in circumstances.

"That is true, my dear. And to realize that things happen through no fault of our own is the key one. If there was wisdom to pass on, that would be it."