At sunset, Raven comes into the bedroom after having spent the afternoon replenishing some of her spells, and says to Jacob, "Come, darling, there is something I want us to do tonight."
She leads him outside and through the woods; as they walk, he can tell by subtle changes around them that she is shifting Shadow: the sky becomes a darker blue, meteor showers begin to pass overhead with abnormal frequency, the vegetation around them changes gradually but significantly.
The winding path--little more than an animal trail--ends at a clearing deep in the woods. The night air is cool and still; the only sound is the faint chirruping of insects. In the clearing is a rudimentary hut built of logs and sod. A stream flows out of the hut's single opening, burbling on into the woods.
"In here," says Raven, pointing to the opening, and leading Jacob into the dark interior, dimly lit by a wedge of moonlight slicing through the doorway. "We have had an 'official' wedding ceremony; tonight will be our 'unofficial' ceremony. I learned of this ceremony during the years I wandered through Shadow after first walking the Pattern. It is something I always wanted to share with my husband, when the time came."
She strips naked, and bids Jacob do the same. In the darkness, he can see that she removes something from her blouse pocket, but he can't tell what it is, save that it is small enough to hide in her fist.
She moves to the middle of the room, where there is a primitive pedestal. With a brief conjuring gesture, two white candles appear, burning brightly atop the pedestal.
With the additional illumination, Jacob can now see that the hut is built around a spring, from which issues the stream that goes out the door. The pedestal is right beside the spring, and on the ground nearby is a simple bowl of unglazed, fired clay. There is a third, unlit candle beside the other two on the pedestal, although it is much larger than they are.
"The ceremony is very simple," says Raven. "It incorporates, air, earth, fire, and water, and represents the shedding of the old and the embracing of the new. Leaving behind our old lives, and embarking on our new life together."
She points to a spot on the other side of the spring, directly opposite where she is standing. "Stand there," she says.
Once Jacob has assumed that position, she kneels and takes the clay bowl, and fills it with water from the spring.
She speaks formally: "This bowl is the earth from which we are grown and to which we shall return, "And it holds the rushing waters of life, and gives them shape and meaning, "I shall empty this earth of the life I have known, and fill it with another."
With that, she lifts the bowl, and pours it over Jacob, soaking him. The water is icy cold in the night air.
Less formally, Raven says, "I have washed you clean of the past. Now repeat the words and do the same for me."
He repeats what she has done, dousing her in the frigid water and reciting the words. When he is done, she turns to the pedestal: "Washed free of the past, I am left with only the breath in my body, "The words I speak to seal this choice, the wind which blows new life into me, "Extinguishing my solitary soul, so that another may burn more brightly."
She blows out one of the candles, and motions to Jacob to repeat what she has done, which he does.
When it is dark, she reaches out and presses something small, flat and metallic into Jacob's hand. Simultaneously, the single unlit candle flares into life.
Looking down, Jacob can see that Raven has given him a small metallic carving of a raven in flight, dangling from a fine metal chain. The carving seems to be black, but on closer inspection is revealed to be very, very dark green ... like his hair and eyes.
"This is my wedding gift to you, my husband. You may have noticed that I do not take the raven as my own symbol. That is because it is a representation of my name, of who I am, and I believe names and their representations have great power. This carving is the symbol of all I am, the only such symbol created by me, and I give it to you, to be yours forever."
She steps across the spring and kisses him gently, then says, "Now let's put our clothes back on. I'm freezing." The ceremony, evidently, is over.