Page 11 of Leviticus
“You make a beautiful bride, Ruth,” my mother whispered, situating the voluminous veil into my hair. My beauty was not the important part today. I was to be a perfect bride, a perfect wife, a perfect mother. The Lord saw beauty in our hearts and in our works, not in our bodies. Our bodies were for procreation and for filling the world with God’s Followers.
All that being said, Mama’s words brought me joy, and I allowed myself a moment to feel beautiful. Today, my new life would begin.
“I’m glad it fit you,” my elder sister’s voice called from the doorway.
“Thank you, Adah.” I was happy she was here. Her rounded belly made her waddle into the room, rather than walk. She was due in only two months. Suddenly, the thought of finding myself in the same situation, of being rounded with my husband’s child, hit me like a ton of bricks. That could be me next year. I shook the thought from my head and focused on the task at hand. Within the hour, I would cease to be the person I had always known. I would cease to be the second oldest, sweet-natured child of my parents and I would become Mrs. Temple, wife of Leviticus and homemaker. It was as terrifying as it was exciting.
“It is time, Ruth,” my father called from the door. My mother and sister left, hugging me goodbye with happy, if not tearful, smiles. We made our way, my father and I, to the sanctuary, standing behind the doors as the soft music played and the Reverend spoke words of welcome to our community.
The doors opened, and I was overwhelmed by the amount of people present. It wasn’t often that the entire congregation gathered together. More than often, the women went to one service while the men were in classes and then the men went to service while the women went to class. It was rare that the men and women gathered together. Seeing everyone all in one space was breathtaking and mildly terrifying. I felt the blush hit my face and was grateful for the heavily layered veil that covered my face from view. No one would see how the sheer amount of people affected me.
Faces smiled down on me from every direction. I wasn’t used to being the center of attention, and honestly, I didn’t much care for it. Looking down the church aisle, I saw him. Leviticus Temple. I had seen him in town and at church. Who hadn’t? The Temple family was renowned, working closely with the Reverend. They were a family any girl would be blessed to join. I was that girl. Somehow, instead of feeling elated and blessed, I felt the weight of the world weigh down upon me. I felt immense pressure to be worthy of such a family.
“Who gives this woman away?” Reverend Jacob spoke loudly, startling me out of my musings. Oh, we had stopped walking and were there. Or rather, here, I suppose.
“I do, Reverend.” My father spoke proudly, looking down at me with the biggest smile I had ever seen of him. Suddenly, my father’s arm was no longer supporting me and I was stepping up onto the pulpit.
The words flowed from the Reverend’s mouth. Will you honor? Will you promise? Will you be faithful? Will you obey?
The words, “I will,” flew from my lips without thought, although, in truth I did promise each of those things. I did promise to love and honor and obey Leviticus. I did promise to do my best to be the wife he deserved. I only wished I knew him a little better. Surely my parents would not make a match for me that made such things impossible. Granted, according to my mother, all things were possible through sacrifice and the love of God.
As he recited his own vows after the Reverend, I found myself looking at him for what felt like the first time. He was tall, much taller than my slight frame. I was barely over five feet tall, the shortest of all the girls in my family. My father had praised that my short stature was a blessing, though I couldn’t rightly say I knew why.
His dark hair was styled nicely, very fitting for his face. The dark shadow of his beard made him look older, distinguished, and made me feel butterflies in my stomach. He was a handsome man. Quite possibly the most handsome man I had ever met. Granted, if you asked any girl in town, you would hear the same thing about all the Temple brothers. They were handsome men, the lot of them.
His dark blue eyes found mine, though I doubt he could see me through the veil. I could see him, though. His eyes on me made it nearly impossible to concentrate on the Reverend’s words.
Leviticus lifted my hand in his and I felt myself tremble.
“With this ring, I thee wed.” The deep, rich timber of his voice surprised me and warmed me in a way I had never felt before.His hand was warm as he slid the glove off and he slid the dainty gold band over my finger. It was pretty, but simple, but before I could look at it for longer than a second, the glove was being placed back on my hand. Then it was my turn. I took his large hand in my own and repeated the words softly. I slid the gold band over his own finger before dropping my hands back down to my sides.
“… I now pronounce you husband and wife.” Great cheers rang throughout the sanctuary. That was it. It was over. I saw Leviticus reach for my veil. Oh bother! Why had my mother chosen such a massive fluff of tulle for a veil? Luckily, my new husband deftly pulled the veil back, baring my face to him for the first time, as his wife. He leaned in to me and those butterflies I had felt burst into a swarm, their wings beating against my insides, echoing the hammer-like thudding of my erratic heartbeat.
His lips found mind in the quickest and softest of kisses.
In the space of a single breath, it was over and the veil fell back over my face like a shroud. I should have felt grateful for the privacy as we were paraded back down the aisle and into the vestibule. We were led down a corridor I had never seen, my arm tucked into Leviticus’s elbow, almost tightly. I glanced up, ready to find the same joy on his face that I felt in my heart, but what I was met with was anything but joy.
No, his face was set, stone solid, into a clenched jaw scowl. I felt my own face fall in disappointment. Was he not pleased to be wed?
I didn’t have enough time to think about it as we were led down a darkened staircase, making it that much harder for me to see through the shrouded veil of endless layers. Leviticus held tightly to me, tucking me closer to his side until I was deeply aware of the warmth of his body pressed against the side of mine. We were ushered by Elder Jared into a room, a room that many of the Elder men were quickly filing into. The festivities had begun above us, great sounds of music and joyous laughter rang out as I took in the sight of the room before me.
I could feel those thousands of swarming butterflies immediately turn into a solid massed stone in the pit of my stomach and dread filled me. There was a single bed in the center of the room with scattered chairs and such in no apparent pattern surrounding it like a shrine. A shrine that I would have to lay back and —
I looked up, through the veil, at Leviticus as fear filled me. Elder Jared was speaking some nonsense that I wasn’t understanding, pulling me by the opposite arm towards the bed. It was time for the inspection to begin.
There were easily over a dozen men present.
I hadn’t known there would be so many. Mama had made it sound much more clinical, like going to see Dr. Hansen for a checkup. This was anything but clinical. It felt dirty, there in the darkly lit room.
Leviticus’s hand squeezed against my arm, still clenched in the crook of his elbow, and I held onto it like a lifeline.
““Surely, you can allow me just a moment with my wife first?” I heard his voice raise in protest. Reverend Jacob was there now and graciously allowed us a moment before I was to be pulled away.
Leviticus lifted the multiple layers of tulle from my face, securing it carefully behind my head. He took my face in his hands, the most intimate touch we had shared yet. I wanted to melt into his touch. I wanted to learn my husband and share this special moment with him. I began to look back at the bed, but Leviticus held my gaze fast within his own.
“Hey there,” he spoke softly, his eyes searching my face as the corner of his mouth twitched up in the smallest smirk of a smile. My own smile answered, and I felt connected to him for the first time.
“Hi,” I barely whispered. This was all surreal; a little too fast and a little too real. I felt alone, with not a single soul to ground me as I had looked around the room. They were all men I knew, but they were all men. I hadn’t spoken a word to a single one of them save a kind greeting or a few words spoken with the Reverend. But here was Leviticus, offering me something.
