Tom accompanies Father and me to the HMS Victoria. It is a large ship, and I remember the last time I had been on one. Maybe this time will be better I tell myself, but I doubt it. Kartik has already stowed away on the boat, and I am eager to see him again. Father was right, and Grandmama was furious. Tom assured her that I would have a monthly allowance so I would not end up penniless on the streets, and this calmed her a bit.
The foghorn blows, announcing a rapidly approaching departure. Father turns to Tom.
"Goodbye, Tom. I will see you at Christmas."
"Yes, Christmas," Tom replies glumly.
I give Tom a hug and a peck on the cheek. "Goodbye, brother. Good luck finding that Mrs. Tomas Doyle."
Tom sniffs. "Goodbye, Gemma. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'll miss you."
"Come visit me in America sometime. I'll write you as soon as I arrive to tell you how it is."
"I'll look forward to that letter, then," Tom says, and he sounds sincere.
It is time for us to board. I give Tom one last quick hug before helping my father board the ship.
"Did that Kartik boy make it onto the ship?" Father asks.
"Yes," I reply, and I know I'm right. Kartik was too well trained by the Rakshana to have not made it.
"Good," Father says, and I can't tell if he was sincere or disappointed.
I lead Father to our quarters, followed by the luggage boy. I turn to see the luggage boy is Kartik. My heart flutters, and I smile at him as I help Father onto one of the beds. "I think I'll rest here for a while. You go explore the ship and find Kartik."
I realize that he didn't recognize him, so I give him a peck on the cheek before following Kartik out of the room. Taking my hand, he leads me to the deck, where we watch as the ship sets sail. The sea looks beautiful. The sunlight bounces off the waves, making the water glitter and shine. For a moment, I think I glimpse a water nymph at the bow of the ship, but when I look again, it is only the waves. I shake my head to clear it. Now is not the time for seeing things. Now is the time for enjoying life and seeing new things. Now is the time to forget about the realms, if only for a moment.
"Do you remember the first time we met in England, in the chapel?" I ask Kartik as I hunch over a pail.
"Yes, of course I do," he says softly, holding my hair away from my face.
"You told me you could do without the sea?"
"Yes."
"Well, I could do without the bloody sea right now, too," I groan as a fresh wave of nausea hits me.
"I know," he says sympathetically as he kisses my forehead. I'm about to give him a smile that will come out a grimace when the contents of my stomach force themselves out of my mouth and into the pail.
Land. It is a sight for very sore eyes. My throat is raw from being sick so much, but I am alive. Kartik holds my hand as we descend onto the sands of India. Oh, how I have missed this place! The sun is bright and welcoming, as soft and warm as Kartik's lips on my skin.
"Memsahib!"
I look down to see our old housekeeper, Sarita, waving at me. Her skin is as leathery and brown as I remember. I let go of Kartik's hand and hurry over to give Sarita a hug. Tears fall on her cheeks as she steps back to look at me.
"Oh, memsahib, you have grown so much!" she cries. "You are a beautiful woman now."
I smile, wiping away tears of my own. "I missed you so much. How have things been here?"
"Oh, terribly lonely," Sarita sighs. "I have not been able to find work. I had only your home to look after, but no one to live in it."
"Well, we're home now," I say as Kartik comes up behind me with the luggage, my father in tow. Father spots Sarita and gives her a wide grin. "Ah, Sarita! How good it is to see you again."
Father trails behind with Sarita, while I lead the way with Kartik. He looks around at all the street vendors and carts as if he remembers them from a dream. His eyes lock with mine, and he gives me a dazzling smile. "It feels good to be home," he says softly.
"I know what you mean," I sigh as I spot the organ-grinder and his monkey. My face breaks out into a grin as I recognize things from my childhood. I remember how I had acted on my 16th birthday and find it nearly impossible to believe I had hated it so much. Now everything looks beautiful and familiar, and the familiarity is what I had missed the most. I tired of strange, new things.
Kartik sighs as he takes my hand. "I remember this place well."
Sarita suddenly screams something in Hindi at Kartik. She runs up and has a heated argument with him. She turns to me. "Is this true?"
"Is what true?" I ask, bewildered.
"Is this man your betrothed?"
I nod. "He is."
Sarita falls into step behind us again, grumbling something in Hindi. I move closer to Kartik. "What's she saying?" I whisper.
"She believes that I tricked you into believing you loved me so I could ruin your virtue," he whispers back. I blush and intertwine my fingers with his again. "While you are very captivating, I don't believe I'm in a trance," I say flirtatiously.
"Mmm, I think I might be," he jokes as he kisses the top of my head.
The wedding is decided. It will be an English-type wedding with Hindi decorations. We find a ship captain who agrees to marry us, and Sarita makes me a beautiful dark purple sari, just as I had asked. While I'm still not sure if Father approves entirely, he puts on a happy expression for Kartik whenever he's over. My father and Sarita believe that Kartik is staying in a hut at the edge of our property, and he is, though he hasn't spent a single night in it. Every night he comes into my room and keeps me warm during the cold nights.
I appreciate his presence, for he's always there when I wake up from a nightmare. They've come more and more frequently since we went to the Winterlands to defeat the Tree of Souls. Some nights I'll see Kartik in his brother's place on the horse, staring at me with those empty eyes, others I am swallowed up by the Tree of Souls. One night I saw Pippa, her eyes blue-white framed in a thin circle of black, her skin gray and sickly, with those pointed teeth that were too small for her mouth. No matter what the nightmare is, Kartik is always there to hold me and tell me I am alright, that he is here and he will never leave me. I hold him closer to me and fall back asleep, dreaming only of the vision we shared in the Cave of Sighs, and I wonder if he dreams it, too.
The days leading up to our wedding begin to go faster. We decide to make it a private wedding, held in our backyard. Sarita takes us out to the marketplace to look for decorations. We agree on some paper lanterns to hang in the trees, and beautiful lilies to place on the tables: one for my family and one for the servants. The banquet is decided, and we pick out some strings of beads to hang everywhere while we're at it. It's time to pick up Kartik's suit.
Father goes with him, so I may not see it until I walk up our makeshift isle to the makeshift altar. Sarita does some last minute touch-ups to the sari. While she does that, another maid paints my skin with beautiful henna markings. They are exactly like the ones I bore in the dream I shared with Kartik in the Cave of Sighs. This wedding was going to be perfect, I could feel it deep within me.
The time has finally arrived. Father walks up to me, tears in his eyes.
"My beautiful Gemma," he says thickly. "I am so very proud to have you for a daughter."
"And I am so very proud to have you for a father," I choke out, wrapping my arms around his neck.
Tears shed, Father takes my arm and leads me through the doors to the garden. It's breathtaking. The garden is filled with beautiful paper lanterns that cast a soft glow on everything. A path of orange flower petals leads up to our makeshift altar, where Sarita stands next to the captain, and in front of him stands...
One man should not have the right to look so dashing. Kartik stands elegantly in front of the altar, wearing the same black clothes from the Cave of Sighs. The red dot on his brow is prominent against his dark skin. He peaks at me through those long, black, lashes, and the way he looks at me lets me know that I am beautiful, I am wanted, and I am loved.
Father leads me up the aisle. Kartik takes my hands as my father lets go. I look up at him, and tears of joy return to my eyes. This aggravating, clever, resourceful, gorgeous man is about to become mine. I go through the wedding in a trance. I recite my vows and say I do, but all I want is for the captain to say...
"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."
And those lips belong to me. The kiss we share warms my lips in the best way possible. The fire that courses through my veins blazes until I'm filled with his flame. It's over all too soon. But we are joined in marriage. This day went perfectly.
All through the meal, Kartik's hand massages my knee, slowly making its way up my thigh.
"So, do you plan to have any children?" Father asks, taking a sip of wine.
Kartik has almost reached between my legs. I grab his hand and try to slow my thundering heart . "Children," I say, my voice cracking. Getting myself together, I answer, "Well, we haven't really discussed children, Father."
Sarita sits at the family table, for she was practically my second mother. From her spot in between Father and Kartik, she says, "Mr. Doyle, they are still young. They have a while to think about children."
"Yes, quite right, Sarita," Father replies as he takes a bite of cobra.
Kartik takes my hand and leads me to the hut my father had given him. He closes the door and leads me farther into the hut. My heart is pounding faster than I think is humanly possible. As soon as the door is closed, his lips are all over me. He leaves a trail of kisses down my spine as he eases the sari off my body. I kiss the hollow in his throat all the way up to his ear as I unbutton his shirt. He picks me up and places me on the bed. His body is warm against mine.
"Gemma," he half growls, half sighs.
We are as one. We fit together perfectly.
Like we were meant to be.
The ship takes off a week after the wedding. I'm not looking forward to the ride there, but I'm anxious to begin my new life with Kartik. Sarita is all tears for me and all threat for Kartik. Father gives me a hug and a kiss, and even shakes Kartik's hand. "You take good care of my Gemma," he orders. "She will get nothing but the best I can give," Kartik assures him.
We wave goodbye as the ship starts along its course. There is a bucket ready in the room for when I will need it (there's no question that I won't) and a present for Amar. After the sun sets, we make our way back to the room, where I produce the door of light. Kartik grabs the present before we enter a world that doesn't look at all how I remember it. It's not beautiful, but it's not terrifying. It's...healing. The trees are starting to grow leaves once again, and the grass is turning a little greener. But we did not come to sight-see.
The wall of bones bordering the Winterlands looks less menacing than it did before. The gate still asks Kartik the questions for his passage. His greatest want is to never lose me, and his greatest fear is he'll never see his brother again. Taking hold of Kartik's hand, I lead the way to the Tree of Souls. It looks smaller than it did during the battle. Kartik walks up to the tree and begins to talk to it quietly in Hindi. I do not ask him what he's saying; its his private conversation between him and his brother. He takes out the gift: a large clay pot filled with the desert sand of India. Kartik sprinkles the sand around the tree before leaving the beautifully decorated within the roots.
On our way back, we meet little Wendy. She comes up and motions to the ground near us.
"What do you see?" she asks.
I notice the little green shoots growing in the white soil. "Did you plant these, Wendy?"
She nods. "I put my hand in the soil, thought about the trees, and there they were!"
It's a start to a wonderful new realm.
The trip to New York isn't quite as bad as the trip to India. The bucket is still necessary, but I am not as dependent upon it as I had been. Kartik takes me to the main deck. A copper-clad lady with a torch in one hand and a book in the other greets us. I realize now that this is the start of a new life. I rub my soon-to-be-swollen belly as I look at the smoke shrouded city. Kartik wraps his arms around me and holds me as we watch the ship anchor in the harbor.
Yes, I think I'm quite ready for a new beginning.