To any who discover this, the opening part of the 'saga' of Robert and Cherine, I'm going to repeat a comment I made elsewhere, in the hope you check out the introduction/explanation:

._.

I think (even if I say so myself) that this is a useful and lovely introduction to Cherine. Reading it does give some of the story away, but nothing that will spoil it for any readers and may even help make some of the oddness more understandable.

https://steemit.com/sfandf-fiction/@arthur.grafo/giving-birth-to-the-magical-syncosmi-of-the-cherinians