Chapter 5 The Religious Order
An excerpt from The Guardians Book 1: Formation of the Guardians
Boe and Maegin worked hard and didn’t notice their childhoods slipping away. Being elves, they were in their twenties when they finally reached adolescence. But they were studying and learning more about scientific facts everyday to notice until dramatic things happened to them.
Through their efforts, Boe and Maegin discovered the four fundamental forces of nature. Julio applauded them and was proud that they didn’t give up.
Maegin had a tendency to experiment in the kitchen while the domestic staff was cooking or baking. Her experiments yielded the results of alchemy and chemistry. She discovered the strong and weak nuclear forces. She also learned more about nutrition and that the domestic staff had it right to feed everyone a rainbow of color. They grew a wide variety of plants in different colors in the yard.
Maegin also learned some bacteria was good and others harmful. Her knowledge helped the domestic staff to keep fermented foods around for the good bacteria and also to avoid the bad bacteria so fewer people would get sick.
Boe learned about gravity and electromagnetism or light. Those discoveries were nearly eclipsed by his discovery of how beautiful Maegin was when she was working. He found he couldn’t stop watching her play with her alchemy and chemistry sets.
Julio noticed and smiled. “Boe, have you heard there are elves and fairies building a convent or monastery nearby?”
“What? Oh, no I haven’t.” Boe looked between Julio and Maegin.
“Yes, they are creating a religious order based on the four fundamental forces you and Maegin have discovered, plus they are including a fifth one.”
“A fifth one?” Boe watched Maegin as she furled her eyebrows watching her experiment.
“Yes, they are calling it psi. It represents magic and psychic phenomena for them.”
“How will they prove the existence of psi force?”
“I don’t think they plan to. Perhaps that’s what we should do.”
“Good idea. Let’s ask Maegin what she thinks.”
Julio grabbed Boe’s arm. “Wait a minute. She’s still busy. Her experiment will be done in a few minutes.”
“Yeah, perhaps we should wait for that to finish before talking to her.”
“You know, you remind me of me when I was your age. I couldn’t keep my eyes of Penelopi. I was fairly distracted at times and at others, I couldn’t stop looking at the stars.”
Boe looked at Julio and blushed. “Well, I guess you know all about it then.”
“You two have been going on growth spurts lately. My wife has told me how they are having a hard time keeping with up you and the other children’s spurts. At least the younger children don’t mind the hand me down clothes.”
Boe smiled. “Yeah, I’m trying not to complain, but sometimes the clothes just get too tight and I have to say something.”
“Yes, the sleeves and pant legs are getting a bit short on you.”
“Same thing happening to Maegin— her dresses were getting a bit high, nearly above her knees.”
“Yes, and we know what comes next, right?”
“Uh, I don’t know about that—”
“You don’t have to get married just yet.”
“Oh, good. I don’t think she wants to.”
“No, probably not if it means she can’t be a scientist. My wife and I have been talking about it and we think she should remain a scientist if that’s what she wants to be.”
“I can agree with that. I wouldn’t want her to give that up just to marry me. I couldn’t ask her to do a thing like that.”
“Good. In the meantime, I hope you at least understand what not to do with her so she doesn’t get pregnant.”
“Uh?”
“I guess we need to have a little talk about biology. All three of us, plus my wife. She seems good at explaining things like this.”
“Okay. I think that would be a good idea. They never let us learn anything like that in the village.”
“No. It’s a sad thing. They just expect us to get married and figure it out on our own. We’ll talk tonight at dinner. Looks like the experiment is done.”
Maegin checked the results and recorded them. “There! Another success.”
“Maegin, have you heard about the new religious order based on our discovery of the four fundamental forces of nature?”
“No.” She cleaned up her table and then looked out the window. “Oh, you mean practically next door to us? Yeah, I heard Jazmin and Darius talking about that last night at dinner.”
Julio interjected, “They are claiming a fifth force, which they call psi to account for magic and psychic phenomena.”
“Oh, interesting. We haven’t researched that force yet. Perhaps we should. I’m sure the religious buffs won’t do that.”
“I was going to suggest that we all work on it.”
“We’ll have to come up with some rigid testing or else it won’t turn out well for us.”
Julio nodded. “If we need ideas, I’m sure we can get some by talking with the religious ones.”
“Good idea.”
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The monks and nuns labored all day and all night to build their new home. They felt it needed to be in the Silver Mists with the Guardians nearby. They felt a kinship and a need to have them near. They vowed to be open minded and worship the five fundamental forces of nature.
They worked with the domestic staff, scientists, and Guardians everyday. They shared meals and what skills they had with growing food and making clothes. They felt accepted and they belonged somewhere away from the main society.
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At dinner, Julio sat down with Boe, Maegin, and Penelopi. The Fairy guard pair were nearby.
“Dear, Boe and Maegin need to have a talk about biology as it is affecting them now. I believe they are both adolescents now.”
Penelopi smiled. “Yes, indeed, I know they are. We are trying to keep up with the clothes, young ones.”
Boe and Maegin smiled.
“Dear Pen, how do we tell them, so they don’t end up with an unwanted baby too soon?”
“Oh, we just tell them the truth. Sometimes I wish we knew enough about herbal birth control. That would help the conversation and understanding.”
“Would you use some?”
“Perhaps. With all the orphans here, I don’t think we need to have lots of children. I don’t regret the one I’m carrying.”
“Good point.”
Maegin looked at Penelopi. “Are you trying to tell me that I could get pregnant if I do certain things with Boe?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, dear.” Maegin blushed. “I’m in no rush for those things.”
“You don’t need to be in a rush. Did those pads we made you help out?”
“Yes, they were easy once you explained it to me. I haven’t gotten any more blood on my clothes.”
“Blood? You were bleeding?” asked Boe.
Penelopi smiled. “Boe, all women bleed about once a month. I haven’t been because I’m pregnant. However, after I give birth in several months, I will bleed again.”
“Oh! You mean, it’s not a bad thing?”
Julio smiled. “No, it’s the blood of life. I’m still amazed that she can carry a child inside of her and then give birth to it and feed it later with just her body. I just supplied some material to her and now… Sometimes I still have a hard time believing it myself.”
Maegin sighed. “You two make it sound like a good thing. I suppose it could be, but for me right now I don’t think I could stand it.”
Penelopi smiled. “You can wait. I think Julio is worried about you getting pregnant. It’s okay if you and Boe feel differently about each other.”
Maegin smiled. “I still have the poem you wrote to me, Boe. It was silly.”
Boe blushed. “I remember that. I can’t believe you kept it after all this time.”
“It simply says, ‘friendship with you is a flower which blossoms every spring.’”
Boe shook his head. “What was I thinking?”
Maegin smiled. “You were thinking of me. It’s still true, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Penelopi looked at both Boe and Maegin. “Listen, you two won’t create a baby doing what you’re doing right now. It requires that you both are naked and touching each other.”
Boe and Maegin gasped.
“I had to tell you so you’d know when you’d be getting to a dangerous part. You don’t have to do that at all.”
Boe and Maegin kept staring.
“Dear, I think you scared them.”
“Well, they need to know, but I don’t think they want to act on those hormones. I’m sorry if I’ve upset you two, but I felt you need to know before anything bad happens.”
Maegin closed her mouth. “Well, actually I’m glad you did. I’m not sure my own mother would have told me any of this before she married me off to someone I probably don’t even know very well.”
Boe closed his mouth. “Wow. I didn’t see that coming. I just find Maegin so beautiful when she’s working.”
Penelopi smiled. “It’s okay. Take your time. There’s no need to rush anything.”
A few monks and nuns spoke up. “You mean you tell the young ones about where babies come from?”
“Sure. They need to know. I figure it will cause fewer problems if they know what is happening inside their bodies, then if they found out on their own. Too many people have ruined their lives because they had no way out of those sorts of problems.”
The monks and nuns nodded. “Makes sense. Some villagers will find it scandalous, but you do have a point. We of the new religious order of the Five Fundamental Forces have all vowed to be celibate. We shouldn’t have any children, but would still like to help out with the orphans and the domestic work in exchange for protection from the Guardians.”
“Fair enough. We could use all the help we can get with the orphans and the domestic work.”
“Thank you, Lady Penelopi.”
Boe and Maegin studied the psi force with the monks and nuns. They also studied biology and kept notes of everything. They couldn’t stop from blushing when they studied reproduction, but they had to admit it was helping them get through their adolescence.
