Barbara and Liam held their breath. The court was so quiet that when a stray leaf fell to the ground, everyone turned and glared at it until it hopped back onto the tree it had fallen from, turning crimson with embarrassment.
Babs cocked her head to the side, pondering the question. Then slowly, she shook her head. “You are very beautiful. And I have not spent very much time with you, Your Majesty, and Liam and Barbara have told me that it is best not to pass judgment until you know someone well. But I think perhaps you could practice being nicer. Then everyone would not be so afraid of you.” A small flicker of a smile floated over her rosebud lips. “Maybe then you would not be so cranky and everyone would be happier.”
Oh hell. Barbara grabbed Liam’s arm and squeezed it so hard he grunted, but he didn’t protest. All around them, gaily dressed courtiers stood like statues, frozen in place while they waited to see how the Queen would react. A bird overhead was trying so hard to go unnoticed it forgot to fly and fell out of the sky with a soft, reverberating thud onto the soft carpet of earth below.
The Queen looked at Babs and slowly she began to laugh. A ringing sound like chimes spread over the assembled company, joined a second later by a basso counterpoint from the King. Eventually the rest of the court began to laugh too, half from amusement and half from relief. Finally the Queen rose from her seat and put one hand on the child’s narrow shoulder.
“What is that saying they have in your world, Baba Yaga? ‘Out of the mouth of babes’? It would appear that I have gotten the honesty I requested. I do not suppose I can then protest if I do not wholeheartedly embrace the truths therein.” She gave Babs a tiny nudge back in the direction of Barbara and Liam.
When they all stood together again, the Queen straightened her back, all merriment gone. The King rose to stand at her side and together they made a picture of regal splendor.
“I gave you three impossible tasks, Baba Yaga, and you have accomplished them all. I may not always be kind but I am a Queen, and a Queen is always true to Her word.” She snapped her fingers imperiously at a handmaiden and sent her running off in the direction of the castle. Then the Queen stepped forward until she was directly in front of Barbara and Liam.
“Put out your right hand,” she said to Barbara. “And you, your left, so that it is resting upon hers,” she said to Liam.
Then she unwound the belt from around her slim waist, a long strand of pearls intertwined with emeralds that gleamed in the sunlight like the first green shoots of grass in the spring.
Holding the belt loosely between her delicate fingers, she gazed into their eyes. “You are very certain this is what you wish?” she asked, looking particularly at Liam. “A hand-fasting here is not like the marriages of your world. This commitment is binding today and forever; there is no going back.”
“I would never choose a life without Barbara in it,” he said softly. “In this world or any other. She is my treasure and I am honored every day that she has chosen to be with me.”
Barbara blinked away tears she didn’t know she could cry and nodded her agreement.
“Very well,” said the Queen. She wrapped the pearl and emerald strands around their wrists, saying as she did so, “As the High Queen of the Otherworld, and as a representative of the all-powerful goddess who shines down upon us all, I bind you, Barbara and Liam, heart to heart, mind to mind, spirit to spirit, that you might live all your days in love and your nights in joy. In the name of the goddess, so mote it be.”
For an instant, Barbara could feel a shiver of power tremble through the beaded cord and the ground under her feet seemed to shudder under the weight of destiny. Liam’s hand tightened around hers and his smile lit up like the sun that never actually shone on this land.
Then someone coughed and the moment was broken. When she looked away from her truly-husband’s face, the Queen held out a goblet made of gold and studded with diamonds, rubies, and sapphires. From within its depths, a glistening liquid gave off the aroma of a perfect summer’s afternoon, with just a hint of the graveyard lying underneath.
“Drink together from this cup, but do not drink deep, for the Water of Life and Death is potent stuff.” Again, the Queen spoke mainly to Liam, who nodded, then took up the cup in his free hand and swallowed the tiniest sip. A beatific expression crossed his face and Barbara and the Queen exchanged a rare smile of accord. That first taste was one you never forgot.
Then it was Barbara’s turn and it was official. Their marriage had been acknowledged and she was free to give Liam occasional small amounts of the nectar, which would extend his life. As a plain old Human, it wouldn’t boost his magical powers as it did Barbara’s, since he had no power to boost in the first place. But she didn’t care about that. She cared only that he would be able to grow old by her side slowly, until the end of their days.