“You may now kiss the bride!” the human vicar announces.
“And I get to kiss the GROOM!” Rachel giggles at her equine-related joke. Then she and you share a passionate kiss. The onlookers at your open air wedding - the entire centaur haras and your transformed friends - all cheer.
Rachel adjusts her spectacles - then fingers her veiled head-dress and white bikini top that are her only attire, on this special day. As for you , you are dressed solely in a smart shirt, waistcoat and tie. Your St Christopher lies underneath your clothes.
Together, you both display your wedding rings proudly to your guests. Mr Amiacing beams happily - and Miranda, still human, claps with delight.
Rachel tosses her bouquet of flowers high into the air - and there is a sudden movement amongst the female guests. The bouquet is caught by the tallest lady in the crowd - Marina. She looks startled at her achievement, then she grins and winks - first at a smiling Theo, then at you and Rachel.
You extend your hand to your new wife. “Shall we proceed, Rachel?” you ask her.
“Why not, my beloved husband?” She grins.
Together, you trot forward as a centaur couple - to be congratulated by the crowd. First of all, Ixion, Themis, and Stephen greet you warmly. You smile, as Stephen embraces his happy wife. After their efforts, Themis is pregnant - and due to give birth within the next month or so.
Harry and Krista are present, too - and they now come forward to offer their congratulations. Having managed to master the art of transforming back into human form some months back, they are today furless and smartly dressed for the occasion. They are now a smitten couple, of course. What’s more, the twin babies that Harry and Krista are holding in their arms are their recently-born children. Two tiger cubs - who’ll grow up to be shape-shifting weretigers.
“Arrrhhh!” Rachel rocks one of them in her arm, and tickles the cub’s whiskers.
“Careful!” Harry warns, with a smile. “We wouldn’t want Deirdre to bite your fingers, Rachel.” Your friends have named their cubs Sigmund and Deirdre, in memory of your fallen friend and comrade. It was a decision that you all heartedly approved of.
“Don’t worry,” you reply. “We centaurs are immune.”
“We could pretend we’re not.” Rachel growls playfully. She nips your ear. “Grrawll!”
You grin and stroke her grown mane. Then a splashing and screaming from the hotel pool close by, distracts you all. Felix, now perfectly at ease with being both male, and a merman, with play-fighting with Sapphire and Emerald. Seeing an opportunity for some innocent fun, the satyrs Dick and Anarosa jump into the pool, also.
Marina approaches and kisses you and your wife on the cheek. “Brother Ben, sister Rachel.” She flashes a beaming smile. “I’m so happy for you both! You two deserve each other!”
“Thanks Marina.” Rachel smiles back. “Are you going to be dancing at the disco reception with us and the rest of the gang? Well…Felix can’t actually dance - but…”
“Of course! I understand the dance floor is big enough for our kind!”
“I’d better warn you, my sister,” you tell Marina. “One of Rachel’s requests to the DJ was for a certain duet between Elton John and Luciano Pavaroti.”
“Oh, I use to have that on CD! What’s it called now? ‘Live like hor…’” Marina pauses - then you all laugh at the reference joke.
Later, you reflect back on the past year. Kaymarl had managed to turn most of the rogue satyrs into reformed characters who are now happily mated, and are no longer sexual predators. Those who remain HIV positive and unrepentant for their acts of debauchery remain in a secure enclosure.
Miranda was found to be free of the HIV condition, and was allowed to return home. Today, she is accompanied by a male friend from her past - who is taking in the various life-forms on the island with amazement. Miranda has recently confided to you and your friends that she has done some detective work, and confirmed that all memory of each one of you has vanished from the human world.
You and Rachel still feel sad about the loss of your families and former friends - but neither of you have any regrets about the choices you have made. Especially about typing the knot. And, despite being members of four different races, you and your circle of friends - including Felix - regularly get together on the beach, to enjoy each other’s company and celebrate your new lives. After all, each of you belongs to the island now - and you share a kinship that is broader than that of one species.
And as to Cedius and Amalthea?
Well, a committee of the Management - plus the elders of the various races on the island - approved of Mr Amiacing’s proposal. So, using powerful magic, Cedius and Amalthea were both dissolved and each reformed into fifty Black Widow spiders. Every one with the head of either Cedius or Am althea - and each with a shard of that satyr’s soul.
Consequently, you have all witnessed the aftermath of the mating between a Cedius-spider and an Amalthea-spider. On each occasion, the shard of Cedius screams in silent agony as his companion is drawn by instinct to eat him alive. And as time goes on, each occasion that one of the spiders dies, the soul fragments are reborn as the new offspring of the mating couples. Thus the two satyr-spiders are trapped in a prison of their own continuation. For as long as they can’t avoid coupling, their souls will never be whole.
A perform form of hell for the perverted Cedius, you think. And after watching one particular mating between the satyr-spiders, you took great delight in squashing the Cedius-spider flat with your horseshoe. Rachel added her hoof to your handiwork.
And that is just about the end of your story. In the past year, you and Rachel have fully adapted to being part of the haras. Each day you work together to grow fruit and crops. Rachel sometimes adds to the entertainment of the evenings by playing her flute. You and your wife continue your archery practice. And Rachel races with you along the beach each day - sometimes with Marina, Theo, Michael, and Lara, also - as you exhilarate in the power and beauty of your centaur forms.
On your wedding night, after the reception party, Rachel and you retreat to a clearing within the woods adjoining the centaur meadows. After shooing away two peeping toms (in the guise of Dick and Anarosa), you fully explore each other’s bodies, then consummate your marriage in the centaur fashion. You know you will be loyal partners for the rest of your lives. Not even your mate’s new nickname for you - ‘Stud muffin’ - can ruin your joy.
As you both lie down next to the prepared wood fire, you pull your blankets over your bodies prior to falling asleep outdoors. Rachel snuggles her human chest against yours, and lightly brushes your grown mane. You take off her glasses, then finger her matching St. Christopher, which she asked for as a wedding present from you. After all, if it hadn’t been for yours, you might not have been able to resist the satyrs when you first saw them - and hence you wouldn’t have become centaurs, instead.
“It’s been a terrific day, Rach,” you tell her, before planting a kiss on her lips.
Rachel beams at you. Her green eyes shine brightly. “It has. And it’ll be a terrific life, for the two of us.” She kisses you back. “Goodnight Ben. I love you.”
“Ditto, Rachel. Goodnight.”
Minutes later, you are both asleep - with nothing to spoil your happy dreams of the future to come.
THE END!