Jude smiled, caught tears in his eyes. Each wife offered a token in turn: Susan poured spring water, Rose laid flatcakes carved with glyph-spiral, Serena tied ribbons onto ring markers, Layla scattered petals, Natalie dripped dew, Zoey brushed seed-glaze, Lucy laid memory-slates with cave-symbols, Stella lit torches once watchers' light touched their wicks, Emma and Sophie placed watcher-figures at seedling roots, Scarlet braided thread around central seedling. Children watched solemnly, copying gestures.
Watcher-lights thickened, pulsing across sapling tips. Mist brushed shoulders. Jude raised arms. "We bind cave and mountain, watchers and seed, memory and future." Their voices lifted in watchersong, winding through saplings. Watchers shimmered in answer, light arching above ring, vines rustling with thankfulness. A hush ended ceremony; watchers receded, leaving ring glowing with power.