Chapter 8
When I woke up that afternoon, I glanced at the small calendar.
Mid summer's day or summer solstice was only a week away now and we had a lot to do before then.
The large dining hall in the main house was being cleaned up in preparation for the wedding reception to be held there after our wedding up at Cerrig Duon.
The consummation would take place that night at Waen Lleuci with just a few of us in attendance.
Tom, his wife Ann and her sister, Beatrice were to witness the act and pray alongside Mary.
The fervency of their prayers combined with our passion, was needed to entice Queen Mab herself into visiting our world to retrieve her daughter, Mary.
I was a little ambivalent about having sex with Branwen in front of anyone and when I expressed my concerns.
Tom grinned and replied,"If it's any comfort to you, when Ann and I were wed, we also consummated our vows at Waen Lleuci while our parents prayed over us. It's an old tradition among our people."
I rolled my eyes and replied sarcastically, "I find that strangely comforting."
He chuckled and retorted, "When our own children get married, they will be doing the same thing while we pray for healthy grandchildren."
"Still, it's that doing it in front of an audience thing." I commented.
That afternoon, Branwen and I were inside the manor house cleaning the banquet hall when we heard a knock downstairs and Tom's voice called out, "Hello?! Anybody in here?"
Moments later I turned around and saw Tom standing in the doorway with an unknown woman.
That explained Branwen's sudden disappearance, her marvelous ears had heard a second set of footsteps and an unfamiliar heartbeat.
Tom came into the banquet hall with the woman and said happily, "I've never been inside this house before, it's in better shape than I thought."
We shook hands and he said, "I'd like you to meet Doctor Janice Llewellyn, Janice is that astroarchaeologist I told you about. Turns out, she's one of us!"
I smiled at Janice as we shook hands, her grip was firm, confident and self assured.
Completely at odds with her quite petite appearance and tiny, doll like build.
Janice Llewellyn PhD. Was no shrinking violet.
She smiled back and said, "Just call me Jan, most everyone outside of my students does so. Doctor Llewellyn seems so formal outside of academia, don't you think?"
"Okay, Jan it is." I replied with a grin.
Jan held up a copy of the report I had shown Tom, it was opened to the paragraph mentioning the standing stone that had been removed during the construction of the house back in 1580 or so.
She grinned and said matter of factly, "Tom and I are going to investigate this site a bit more thoroughly. This report deals mostly with the house and outbuildings. The stone is given only a passing reference, a 'mention in despatch' as they used to say in the army."
Jan looked around inside the banquet hall and remarked, "Still, it is nice seeing the inside of this famous house."
Tom smiled and asked, "So how is Branwen? I expected her to be with you."
"She was right here just a minute ago." I replied.
Tom grinned and spoke in a ringing voice, his Welsh tenor voice. "It's okay Branwen, she is one of us! Come say hello!"
Moments later, Branwen came out of hiding.
She was wearing only a short, pleated skirt hanging low on her hips while up top was a white sleeveless top tied below her impressive breasts.
She stood smiling shyly at Jan who took in her great lupine ears, thick mane of glossy black hair, powerfully muscular arms, legs and body.
Her smouldering eyes, luxurious tail and great clawed feet and hands in one lingering glance.
Jan started literally hopping up and down in place and when she finally spoke, it was a torrent of words all jumbled together.
"OhmyGawdYouarereal!I'veheardthelegendsandstudiedyouandwonderedifthestorywastrueeversinceIwaslittle!"
After a quick breath or two, she gathered her scattered thoughts and said with a smile." I based my master's thesis in Welsh mythology on your story. Actually meeting you will be a highlight of my lifetime, I promise you that!"
Jan stepped forward, tiny, doll like, barely five feet tall.
She stepped up to Branwen who loomed over her at several inches over six feet tall and extended her hand with a brilliant smile on her face.
"It is truly a pleasure to meet you at last, Branwen."
Her hand disappeared into Branwens massive paw and Branwen's eyes flared in pleasure as she replied, "It is a pleasure to meet you too Doctor Llewellyn."
Jan laughed and said, "Just call me Jan, 'Doctor Llewellyn' is reserved for my students, my friends call me Jan."
Branwen grinned, her eyes flaring briefly in amusement and replied, "Okay, Jan it is."
The two separated and Jan asked out of curiosity, "So what are you doing in here?"
Branwen smiled and replied, "We're going to have our wedding reception in here after we get married at Cerrig Duon."
She grinned at Jan and asked, "Would you like to join us?"
Jan looked like she was about to cry as she quickly nodded and said, "Yes!"
Tom chuckled and said drily, "We do have a site to look at Doctor Llewellyn."
Jan laughed and retorted, "Hang the site! I'm talking to a living legend here. And no fair using my formal title on me!"
I said quietly, "You are welcome to come back, Branwen and I will be here for awhile."
Jan thanked us and followed Tom outside to look at the site where the stone had been.
To my surprise Branwen remarked, "She is of the blood, though it is faint, she is related to you."
When I looked at her in puzzlement, she lightly touched the side of her lovely nose and said,"Just like my ears could hear her heartbeat, my nose can smell her bloodline. People of the blood have a distinctive scent, once I clasped hands with her, I could smell her bloodline. She is truly one of us."
"Does she know that?" I asked.
"If not, she will." replied Branwen with a toothy grin.
I shrugged and continued cleaning.
My future bride was one incredible woman, of that, I had no doubts.
Hours later, we set down our brooms and mops and cleaning cloths...The room was now clean and free from cobwebs, dirt and dust.
It was ready for the reception in five day's time.
Taking our equipment with us, we locked up the big house and saw Tom's van still parked in front of Mary's cottage.
Tom and Jan were sitting inside Mary's cottage, enjoying her tea and nibblies.
Jan was taking copious notes while Tom guided the conversation.
Mary smiled at us as we entered her now somewhat crowded cottage.
"How is it comen?" She asked.
"We have the banquet hall all cleaned up. Now we'll need tables and chairs. Those we can either rent or borrow, if needs be." I replied.
She smiled and said,"I've been haven the most delightful chat safters. Jan here turns out ter be a distant cousin of yourn, she's related through a branch of the family that dent change its name after the battle of Agincourt."
I smiled and replied,"I know, Branwen told me she is of the blood after she and Tom left."
Jan looked puzzled and asked, "May I ask how you knew that? I only just now mentioned it."
Branwen smiled and touched the side of her nose as she replied,"I can smell your bloodline just as I can hear your heartbeat. You're of the ancient bloodline, just like my fiance is."
This casual reply set off another round of rapid scribbling on Jan's part.
Her hand fairly flying over the note pad's pages as she jotted down Branwen's revelation.
She stopped to look over her notes and made a few corrections.
She looked up from her notes and grinned, "I learned how to take shorthand in grammar school and it comes in very handy!"
Tom and Jan ended up staying through dinner and afterwards, with Jan filling up page after page in her notebook.
Leaving Tom and Jan with Mary, Branwen and I retreated to our apartment and spent a most enjoyable evening engaging in connubial bliss.
As usual, the alarm went off at 4 A.M.
Well before dawn, and as usual, Branwen rose from our bed, got dressed and returned to Mary's cottage.
Thereby keeping her promise not to spend the entire night with me before our wedding.
Wink,wink, nudge, nudge and all that.
I returned to slumberland with a colder, emptier bed awaiting me.
That afternoon, Tom and a couple of other men from the gwydonnod circlet showed up and began unloading his big van.
I quickly opened up the big house and we carried the chairs and tables they'd brought up to the banquet hall.
Tom's wife Ann and a couple of the ladies also pulled in behind them and began unloading the table cloths and other wedding related decor.
When Branwen and I offered to help, Ann smiled and said quite firmly, "This is our wedding present, now run along you two and no peeking!"
For emphasis, she held out her hand and said stoutly, "Give me the keys!"
The look in her eye told me I had no recourse.
Handing her the keys, I muttered, "To paraphrase a line from that famous song, 'Men of Harlech' "Welshmen will not yield". Apparently their women will not yield either."
Ann grinned as closed her hand over the heavy keys and said, "You'd better believe it buster!"
With that, Branwen and I beat a hasty retreat to our apartment to plan our next move.
Not wanting to just stay in our apartment.
We went into the garage where my Norton model 19S sat with battery fully charged, waiting only for oil and gas to make it rideable again.
While Branwen watched curiously, I filled the oil tank and gearbox, then siphoned about three gallons of gas from my truck.
I carefully kicked the bike over a few times to free up the clutch plates and to prime the oil pump.
Turning on the gas taps, I carefully pressed down on the little button to hold the carburetor float down until raw gasoline slobbered all over my finger tip.
With fingers mentally crossed, I gave the Norton a mighty heave on the starter lever. The Norton coughed back through the carb and almost started running.
I briefly looked up to see Branwen's excited face, her eyes were fairly blazing in anticipation.
I briefly tickled the carb again and gave it one more kick, the Norton coughed once and began running.
The booming coming through the exhaust was like music to my ears.
Branwen clapped her hands and was practically hopping up and down in her excitement.
The Norton soon settled into a steady throb of an idle while I checked its lights and tooted its horn.
Satisfied that it was running properly, I donned my helmet and gloves, threw my leg over the seat and flipped down the passenger pegs.
Patting the seat behind me, I grinned at my future bride and said cheerfully, "Let's go for a ride!"
Branwen quickly settled onto her portion of the dual seat, placed her clawed feet on the passenger pegs and slipped her powerful arms around me.
Tucking her ears back, she held me closely while I put the Norton in gear and we eased out of the estate driveway.
Branwen snuggled against me while I pretty much let the Norton choose its path.
The powerful single cylinder engine easily shouldered its load and we with little effort, climbed the hilly roads winding throughout the Brecknock region.
The bike seemed to sense it was back in Great Britain and it ran very nicely, seemingly better than it ever had in Southern California.
Several times, I was glad of the powerful double sided drum front brake I had fitted to it as the brakes easily scrubbed off the speed we were going as we entered the turns.
We eventually found a point where we could gaze over the entire Brecon Beacons National Park and the little town of Brecon itself.
Shutting the bike off, we parked it and stood enjoying the gorgeous view and each other.
I stood behind her and held her closely while she deliberately rubbed her marvelous fanny against my crotch and her tail waggled between my legs.
He took over and a short time later, Branwen was leaning over the Norton while I manfully did my best to keep up with her demands, my hands holding onto her muscular hips for dear life.
She let out a full throated howl as I climaxed deep inside her hungry pussy.
While still grinding my hips against hers, she groaned and murmured, "That was wonderful my love, I really needed that!"
We rearranged our disarrayed clothing and resumed our ride.
The Norton's deep thumping exhaust note burbled out behind us as we slowly made our way back home.
Branwen held onto me in her contentment, we were out riding at night, had a moment of unbridled pleasure and no one had noticed us.
By the time we got back, the others were all long gone and while I put the Norton away, Branwen went inside and opened up our apartment.
By the time I had put the bike away, she had stripped and was waiting for me with smouldering eyes.
Our brief coupling on the mountain top had only whetted her appetite.
Hardly had I locked the door behind me when I was overpowered by Branwen, who ravished me very thoroughly.
She pinned me down, engulfed me and ground her incredible hips against mine as I desperately tried to keep up.
Her eyes blazing with excitement every time I came deep inside her.
I grimly clung to her, refusing to let her completely dominate me, yet again.
Our wedding day dawned wetly, a dense fog had settled over the Brecon Beacons.
I ate my breakfast alone one last time and after wards went out to gaze over the fog shrouded hills around us.
The fog was rolling over the peaks and flowing through the valleys in between.
I imagined I could see the ancient forms of the fae and the occasional stray human, who once lived and loved here.
Forbidden from seeing or speaking to my betrothed before our nuptials and with hours to spare.
I got out the Norton model 19S to take it for a gallop over the ancient Welsh hills.
It started on my first attempt and I quickly donned my riding kit while it warmed up.
I soon found myself riding through the densest parts of the fog, the chill air seeping into my very bones.
As I rode past Cerrig Duon, I thought I saw people standing silently amongst the ancient stones, waiting for someone to return.
When I wiped off my goggles to get a better look, they were gone.
Thoroughly chilled by now, I stopped at the White Hart Inn in town to warm up with a cup of hot cocoa.
As the chill seeped out of my bones, I smiled at the thought of how Branwen would prefer to thaw me out and how her methods would leave me utterly spent.
Feeling human once more, I thanked the landlady and rode back home.
Putting the Norton away and after taking a long, hot shower, I contemplated the up coming wedding.
The joy of the occasion would be dampened by the surreptitious departure of Old Mary, as she was called.
Her true nature was known only to a few, it was hoped a portal would open to the faerie realm during the ceremony and she could go home to be healed and restored to her true form.
A homunculus would take her place and be buried in her grave.
Branwen had little chance of ever seeing her mother again, while I wondered what the outcome of marrying Branwen be.
We intended to have children, what would they look like?
Would they be accepted?
I wondered.
The gwyddonod circlets would accept and support them, it was the rest of the world I wondered about.
The afternoon shadows were lengthening and I got dressed in the outfit given to me by the gwyddonod circlet.
It was a simple white linen shirt worn over a plain kilt with plain white stockings and hiking shoes.
It was a little breezy with no underwear being allowed, I was told I would get used to it.
I wondered how long that would take?
Tom arrived shortly after I finished dressing and he was to escort me to Cerrig Duon. With him were several other men from the gwyddonod, also dressed just like me and Tom.
I did not ask about their underwear, I already knew the answer.
We parked as near to the site as the road would allow and got out of the van.
Nearby were several other cars, one I noted had a 'clergy' placard attached to it, I wondered if it belonged to the priestess.
The short hike to the stone circle took only a few minutes and I soon found myself standing alone at the end of a double row of well wishers.
Among them was Fr. Flanagan and his wife, which surprised me.
The other guest I knew was Dr. Janice Llewellyn or "Jan" as she preferred to be called.
She was not a surprise, she had been invited by virtue of our distant blood ties.
All the rest were of the gwyddonod circlet and were only slightly familiar to me for now.
A small group of white clad women approached from the direction of Waen Lleuci, in the center of the group wearing a veil was Branwen, my heart skipped a beat and my mouth went dry, this was it!
They stopped at the stone called Maen Mawr where Branwen remained standing while the others moved to either side.
Ann Jones wearing all white with a garland of ivy resting on her blonde hair, stepped up to the altar and beckoned to me.
I gulped and moved up to stand alongside Branwen.
Instinctively, I reached out and took her clawed hand to squeeze it reassuringly.
I became aware of a faint glimmering coming from the altar stone and the ancient stones around us.
Faint murmurings coming from behind us told me they could see it too.
Branwen's powerful hand squeezed mine, she was also seeing it.
Ann Jones smiled radiantly, her eyes literally shining.
Dabbing at her eyes, she began, "Dearly beloved..."
A pause as she dabbed at her eyes again.
"We are gathered here..." More dabbing.
"To join..." Still more dabbing, "This man...And this woman..."
Ann smiled through her tears and said apologetically,"I'm sorry, I can't stop crying...We are about to end a centuries old curse, and all around us stand the stones placed by our ancestors, among them stand the ghosts of those who placed them. They are bearing silent witness to this occasion, this moment when a mortal man descended from the ancient kings of Cymru weds a woman spawned from a cursed act of rape. A woman unfairly called 'Hellhound'. They have found love together and wish to share their lives together and thus, end the curse."
Ann cleared her throat, smiled again and declared, "In holy matrimony..."
The rest of the ceremony became sort of blurry as Branwen and I stood there before the glimmering altar stone, our hands firmly clasped.
In a fog we said our "I do's" and at the pronouncement, "I now pronounce you man and wife!...You may kiss the bride."
In a fog of emotions I turned to face my bride and gently lifted the veil concealing her beautiful face.
She smiled shyly, her great wolflike ears folded back in her shyness, her blazing eyes now merely embers waiting to be fanned back to life again.
I took her white clad form in my arms and as her powerful arms enveloped me.
We shared our first kiss as husband and wife.
As our lips met, I felt an almost electric tingle coursing through my body.
Our first married kiss lingered while our gathered 'dearly beloveds' softly applauded.
Our lips parted very reluctantly and we held each other tightly while Branwen murmured in my ear, "I am yours and you are mine, now and forever."
Letting go of each other and joining hands, we turned to face our well wishers and found ourselves getting hugged and kissed by all the guests.
Even Fr. Flanagan and his wife joined in, while he may have been an Anglican priest, he did respect the old ways and did not judge them.
After he and his very petite wife gave us each a hug and a kiss, he smiled and said cheerfully, "I don't think I have ever hugged anyone with such a powerful physique!" His wife only smiled and fanned herself.
Mary came to us and said very softly, "Come, it is time!"
We joined hands with her and began our processional towards the standing stone called Waen Lleuci.
The rest of the group fell in behind us as we slowly walked to our destination almost a kilometer away.
As we walked, the fog and the darkness seemed to close in behind us and follow us, while the way before us was guided by the faint glimmer of the stone.
Silently we approached the towering stone, its roughened, lichen encrusted edges glimmering a faint blue in the darkness.
The group stopped while Ann, myself, Branwen and Mary continued towards the stone.
The fog seemed to be closing in around all of us, we were effectively cut off from the rest of the world.
Ann stood before the stone and bared her breasts to show her sincerity, while Mary and Branwen did the same.
Ann spoke to the stone in the ancient Cymru tongue, she spoke earnestly and passionately as the stone's glimmering slowly became brighter and brighter casting a soft, bluish light over us.
A blanket was spread on the ground and I lay down with my new bride, we embraced and began kissing deeply.
Before long, he was rising to the occasion rather well.
Branwen pulled me over on top of her and engulfed me by wrapping her powerful legs around my hips and forcing me deep inside her.
I held on for dear life while we thrashed out our first coupling as man and wife.
Her sheer strength was, as always, incredible and all too soon, I spilled my seed deep inside her fertile womb.
I groaned and she moaned as we climaxed together and held each other tightly.
As I had made love to my wife, the stony surface glowed and became clear as glass and it showed a world apart from ours, a world unseen by mortal eyes, the faery realm.
The door into summer was now open.
Undaunted by the changes, we had continued our coupling for no one or no thing, was going to interfere.
Our mutual climax was an incredible exchange of spiritual energies and bodily fluids, we lay there, our clothing disarrayed, our bodies intertwined in our eternal bliss, that lasted until a melodious voice spoke, "Would that be my granddaughter with her new husband lying there?"
Branwen and I hastily separated and straightened out our clothing.
Branwen's poor wedding dress had barely survived our consummation activities and half hung from her powerful physique.
Our clothing had rarely survived such encounters previously, so we had learned to allow ourselves time to undress before our bedtime romps.
We straightened up and I saw this tall, slender woman of unearthly yet so earthly, beauty standing there with a smile upon her marvelous features.
She was clad all in white in an outfit that defied my powers of description, at times it was flowing and molding itself to her slender curves in an almost immodest manner, at other times it was concealing her true form from my gaze.
Her skin was milky white, her lips were ruddy and her long hair raven black and glossy, she had me simply enthralled, standing there with my mouth agape.
She and Mary were hugging and crying and speaking to each other in an unknown tongue, the fair speech of the fae.
Branwen stood beside me, her hand clasping mine and her tears flowing freely.
I squeezed her hand and said, "Go to her!"
Letting go of my hand, she stepped forwards and was swept into an embrace by her mother and her grandmother, their tears flowing freely.
They paused in their reunion and the woman took Branwen's face in her delicate hands and kissed her ever so gently.
Their lips parted and she spoke to her for a few moments, before she laid a delicate hand on Branwen's lower abdomen and rubbed her hand in a gentle, circular motion over Branwen's flat tummy.
The white clad woman beckoned to me and I felt myself drawn into her embrace, an embrace where I felt as if everything bad that had ever happened to me, no longer mattered.
The purity of the love I was feeling from her simply washed it all away.
She said softly to me, "You will be a good husband and father to my granddaughter and her children will be loved by all who know them. The curse is ended this night and my child is restored to me. You have my gratitude."
The brief kiss we shared seemed to linger for a long time, in fact it would always be in the back of my mind, the night I was kissed by the Faery queen.
Another form came through the door into summer, it was the homunculus.
Mary quickly removed her clothing and the witless homunculus was dressed in her clothing.
Standing so near to the faery realm, Mary already looked decades younger as she tearfully hugged her daughter goodbye.
Then she embraced me and as I held her nakedness so near to me.
She murmured, "Thank you so much fer comen into our lives, fer everythen you have done. Remember, this very moment forever, someday you an' Branwen wull join us in the faery realm. But not fer many years ter cum."
Mary then hugged Ann Jones who was freely crying until the faery queen said to her,"You all have my eternal gratitude for taking such good care of my daughter and granddaughter all these long years."
Ann turned to her and she briefly hugged Ann, her tears ceased flowing and she had a fey light in her eyes, for she had been touched and blessed by Queen Mab herself.
Queen Mab held out her hands and in them were a pair of red gold circlets.
Instinctively, I knelt before her while she stood tall and terrible in her unearthly beauty, she paused and declared, "I sense that there is one other who is of the blood, a woman. I wish to gaze upon her."
Half a minute later, Janice Llewellyn stood beside me while I continued kneeling.
The faery queen said softly, "I see the eyes of ancient Cymru in your eyes, it is a pleasure to meet you and to know that your bloodline still lives."
Janice too, knelt beside me, we joined hands while Queen Mab placed the red gold circlets upon our heads.
"These circlets of gold were worn by the Cymru royalty, one for the king and one for the queen. I am restoring them to you as co-regents. Wear them well, wear them wisely and strengthen the ancient blood line."
Janice and I stood up again, glancing around I saw that Branwen and Mary were still hugging each other while the poor, witless homunculus stood nearby.
Queen Mab addressed the group gathered below us. "I am happy to see all of you gathered here, you who have kept the old ways alive and you, man of the young god from the south, are welcome too. I am aware that you have treated our ways with respect and I thank you for that."
She gestured and the fog dissipated to reveal the darkened hills of the Brecon Beacons National Park.
Here and there we could see the faint bluish glimmering of the ancient stones dotting the landscape, even the faint ley lines connecting many of the stones were visible to our mortal eyes.
"Behold!" she cried,"The stones are awake once more."
Branwen and Mary said their last tearful goodbyes and Mary smiled at me as she stepped through the door into summer, never to be seen again in the mortal realm.
Queen Mab stepped to the threshold and paused, turning, she said to me, "You will know when it is time for you to come. Come to this stone when it is time."
To my surprise, she said to Janice, "Though he is my granddaughter's husband, I would wish that you and he have children together to strengthen the bloodline. That is my desire."
Janice curtsied to her in reply and Queen Mab stepped through the door into summer and the light vanished.
The door into summer was now once again, merely a lichen covered stone among the many others scattered over the ancient hills of the Brecon beacons National Park, Wales.
With flashlights in hand, we made our way back to our cars and piled into them. Branwen and Mary's homunculus rode with me as I drove a bit faster than necessary to get back to the big house before the others arrived.
Tom Jones aided and abetted my scheme by falling in behind me, taking the lead and driving fairly sedately with the others in tow.
We got back to the house and half carried the tottering homunculus into Mary's cottage.
I held it up while Branwen stripped it bare and put Mary's night gown over its nakedness.
It felt rather odd handling the poor thing, it resembled Mary exactly but lacked any intellectual capacity and only had rudimentary internal organs to keep it alive until it had served its purpose.
It had been created solely to die and take Mary's place in her grave.
We laid it in her bed where it lay staring blankly up at the ceiling, its chest rising and falling, weaker and weaker until it had stopped breathing altogether.
I reached over and closed the doll like eyes, it was dead.
We would 'find' it in the morning and report "Mary's" death to the authorities.