Thawed Fortunes (17 page)

"Oh, you've some sweetheart, do you? Well,
even my dear Bob'ae never got away with dictating those kinds of
things to me. We'll spend the normal year together before a second
wife is considered, and then I may grant you permission to marry
whoever it is your heart is currently set on. Even assuming you're
still enamored of her, there's the question of whether or not
she'll make a good second wife. After all, she'll probably be a
first wife soon enough after I go to join my Bob'ae."

Va'del opened his mouth to tell Vi'en that he
wouldn't marry her, but she interrupted him. "Don't be forcing me
to call your bluff, boy. You'll accept my terms and smile about
them because there's a need in you to become a Guadel. There must
be, or you'd never have put up with everything those fools in the
Council have done to you. Bob'ae never would have put up with that.
You don't have a tenth the self-respect he did, but that's part of
what I'm here to teach you."

Vi'en let her husband-to-be stew in his anger
for several seconds and then looked up from the embroidery she'd
picked up while they were talking. "I don't think we've any more to
talk about, and since we aren't married yet there really isn't need
for us to spend any more time together. I'll let Va'ma know that
you've agreed to the marriage. You can let yourself out now. Don't
trouble yourself to stop by before the wedding."

Va'del stiffly got to his feet and turned to
leave, but Vi'en had one last parting comment. "Now that we're
engaged, the rules of courtship are in play, and I'll expect you to
limit your contact with whomever it is that's caught your eye to
the standard three cycles a week."

##

On'li watched Va'ma finish his presentation,
and felt a wave of relief that the big man had finally abandoned
his alliance with Ja'dir. He wasn't necessarily on their side yet,
but he didn't always vote against them either. Of course putting
Vi'en forward as a wife for Va'del might have hurt Ja'dir, but it
wasn't exactly what On'li had been hoping for either. Allies like
that were only a bare step above enemies.

The one time that On'li had tried to talk to
Vi'en about the upcoming marriage, the other woman had been so
incredibly inflexible that she'd made the old Cindi look positively
accommodating. The other woman had made it very clear that while
Va'del might belong to the Stephens bloodline, Vi'en still looked
to Va'ma as her commander and chief. Meanwhile she'd probably told
Va'ma that she belonged to Stephens now. There wasn't any kind of
precedent for this situation, and On'li was worried that going to
Va'ma and asking him about the status of the pair would give him
the leverage he needed to steal both of them out from under her.
Poor Va'del. As opposed as she'd been to the marriage from the
start, she was becoming more and more certain that things would end
up even worse than she'd feared.

"It is obvious that there's some force
driving the bag'ligs further up the mountains towards us. They are
becoming increasingly bold, and it is only a matter of time before
they attack one of the smaller villages. Now is the time to do
something about the root of the problem. We must send down a
substantial party to the lowlands with the purpose of figuring out
what's causing the bag'ligs to migrate."

Ja'dir lunged to his feet, full of anger and
obviously feeling more and more cut off from the rest of the
Council. "I've told you. Our people have had extensive
conversations with every lowland power within a week's journey of
Crimson Rocks. There's no reason to believe the lowlanders are at
all involved in what's going on."

Va'ma shook his head, his grizzled face
showing the first hints of a matching anger. "With all due respect,
we've just finished mopping up a sizeable armed force that was very
much intent on making life miserable for us. By definition, it had
to have come from one of those lowland nations. Something is going
on, and it may be that we need someone with a fresh perspective to
figure out what it is."

All but frothing at the mouth now, Ja'dir
shook off the restraining arm of his last remaining ally on the
Council, and slammed his hand down on the gray, stone table. "Fine,
send your party down, but don't expect any help from my bloodline.
If you're all so convinced we're incompetent, maybe you should try
your own hands at negotiation and see where you get. We won't
interfere or distract you all with anything as prosaic as mere
facts."

On'li got the feeling Ja'dir would have
stormed out of the Council chamber if the massive stone door hadn't
been shut. Instead the furious Councilor sat back down and ignored
everyone else as plans were made for a large force of guards and
Guadel to be sent down to Crimson Rocks village in two weeks.

Eight days after the marriage. Poor
Va'del.

##

Va'del shivered in the cold as he waited for
the ceremony to begin. He'd followed Javin and Fi'lin down through
the darkness until they'd finally reached the sound of dripping
water, and then the three of them had waited for nearly half a
cycle.

It was expected Va'del would use the time to
reflect on the decision he was making, but if he'd done that there
was a chance he'd have turned and walked back up into the dim light
of the inhabited parts of the Capital. Instead, the young man had
spent the time thinking about Jain and the fact that On'li had sent
word with Javin, promising to smuggle the Daughter down to the
ceremony.

As the minutes passed, the barely-perceptible
sound of a handful of people breathing was the only clue that the
few spectators had taken their place. The breathing suddenly grew
quieter, so that it was almost possible to believe the spectators
had somehow disappeared, leaving him and his two escorts alone in
the cold.

A gentle breeze tugged at the thin material
of the white shirt and pants tradition had dressed him in, and then
the expensive, holy candles in Javin and Fi'lin's hands suddenly
ignited themselves. Accustomed as his eyes had been to complete
darkness for so long, the candles seemed brighter than the sun, but
their glow, bright as it was when contrasted against the darkness,
was still too weak to penetrate more than a few feet ahead of the
trio.

From somewhere ahead a small gong rang out,
and then a clear voice echoed through the cavern. "Two come
separately but not alone, surrounded by the cold and dark to which
they were born. Listen. Those who have given them light now
approach."

Javin, his sword bare and raised against
possible attack, strode off towards the voice. Standing in the
smaller pool of radiance provided by Fi'lin's candle, Va'del
watched the progress of the other point of light that had appeared
from off to the left.

As Javin came to a stop, a new, deeper voice
called out from the center of the cavern.

"Advance, your path illuminated by borrowed
light, your safety ensured by those who have come before."

Va'del strode out into the
darkness at the slow, stately pace Ah'bi had drilled into him,
stopping once he reached the half-illuminated figures in the
center. Vi'en came to a stop next to him, looking bored.
Pretend it isn't her you're marrying. This is all
for Jain, for the hope that we can be together someday.

The hulking figure that Va'del knew had to be
Jas'on, the Goddess' Arm, had hidden A'vril, but now that the young
man was closer he could make out the slight form of the Goddess'
Heart just beyond Jas'on.

The low altar, which separated the
individuals there to be married from those present to perform the
ceremony, was covered in a shiny black cloth and contained Va'del's
naked sword, a slender white candle, a heavy, wide cloak, and a
thin chain bearing a pendant with the tiny snowflake that had
served as the Goddess' sign since she'd first guided them up into
the mountains.

The Goddess' Arm nodded to the pair, and
shifted his sword slightly before continuing. "Where there were
two, there will now be one. Do you each bind yourselves to bring
warmth to the other?"

For a moment, the words
refused to come from Va'del's mouth. For all that he didn't want to
make those promises, he knew that once he made them he'd have to
honor them.
 
A few more seconds passed, and then Va'del cleared his
throat.

"This I do swear."

Vi'en looked up at Va'del with an expression
that seemed to say she knew exactly what had been going through his
mind, and then shrugged.

"This I do swear."

Javin picked up the heavy, white cloak, and
with Fi'lin's help, draped it around the betrothed pair in such a
manner as to leave their outside hands free.

"Do you each bind yourselves to defend each
other so long as you shall live?"

Va'del's heart seemed to stop for a moment as
the words brought back memories of his failure to protect I'rone
and his wives. It was a bitter moment. Where Jain would have looked
up at him with trust and faith in his ability to protect her, Vi'en
did nothing to cushion him from the painful memories. All Va'del
could do was his best and then pray that the Goddess helped him not
fail those who relied on him in such a manner ever again.

Voice rough, Va'del once again answered
first. "This I do swear."

Vi'en mumbled something that sounded close
enough to the ritual words for Jas'on to let them pass, and then
A'vril stepped forward slightly.

Va'del had heard enough less than
complimentary remarks from On'li about some of the Goddess' Heart's
beliefs to understand that she was as fallible as any human. Even
so, when the belief in her voice washed over him, for a second he
forgot that she was just a mortal woman, and instead just basked in
the feeling of being close to the divine. "Do you both bind
yourselves to be faithful and true to each other in all possible
ways?"

Another affirmative came from the two to be
wed, and the frail figure before them smiled. "By the powers
allowed me by the Goddess, I pronounce you husband and wife."

Jas'on took Va'del's new sword from the altar
with his left hand and handed it to him hilt first. "With this
weapon, defend and keep your wife. Strengthen your union that the
two of you may strengthen you brothers and sisters among the
Guardians, and thereby defend and protect the Goddess' People."

A'vril then picked up the symbol lying next
to the candle. "With the gifts given you, strengthen and protect
your husband. Strengthen your union that the two of you may
strengthen your brothers and sisters among the Guardians, and
thereby defend and protect the Goddess' People."

Vi'en allowed the other woman to place the
symbol around her neck so that it rested against the one she'd
received upon marrying Bob'ae so many years ago. It was a studied
insult. Traditionally, there wasn't anything wrong with her keeping
the old symbol, but to wear it to the wedding acknowledged the
ceremony for the mockery it was.

A'vril then picked up the unlit candle from
the altar and used the one she'd been holding during the ceremony
to light it.

As soon as Vi'en had accepted the candle,
A'vril stepped back and took in the barely-visible spectators
standing in the darkness.

"Another light has been kindled to help
protect and serve the People."

Looking around, Va'del was
surprised to see how much easier it was to see the
spectators.
Who would have thought a
single, tiny candle would make such a difference?

On'li watched the group of students,
candidates and guardsmen alike, finish up their last few segments
of practice. Va'del was recovered so completely it was hard to
believe just how close he'd come to death at Be'ter's hands.

Of course he'd recovered enough to pass the
tests for advancement out of candidacy so it shouldn't have been
such a surprise. Thought of the tests drove a twinge of guilt. That
was another thing that she should have torn herself away to go
attend, but which she'd let slip by. There'd been reasons, two
judicial settlements that'd needed overseeing among other things,
but there would always be excuses.

With a mental sigh, On'li checked her runaway
thoughts and admitted, at least to herself, that part of the reason
she hadn't made more of an effort to visit Va'del was that even
with the reconciliatory gestures that had been made on both sides,
she hadn't been entirely sure how well her presence would have been
received.

He was right that he'd been wounded, both
mentally and physically, by her actions, but that didn't wholly
explain her worry. On'li had a sneaking suspicion that part of her
concern came down to the fact that Va'del, more than any other,
represented the future of her bloodline. That was the only
explanation for the way she obsessed over his responses so much
more than she ever would over Mi'lo or Ba'loc. There was now a very
real possibility that she'd offended him so badly that he'd abandon
them entirely, and if that happened she was convinced it was only a
matter of time before Stephens' legacy would be destroyed.

Va'del finished up the form he was working on
and sheathed his blade. The youngster whose emotions had been
easily visible despite his efforts to make his face unreadable had
disappeared sometime between when he'd first arrived and the
present. There might still be something in his eyes, they weren't
quite the emotionless voids he was striving for, but they were
close. Jain was likely the only person still able to read his
thoughts through them.

On'li was half-surprised when Va'del
stopped.

"I never thanked you for smuggling Jain down
to the ceremony. I appreciated it. It made things a little
better."

Dark Powers take Vi'en, she's even worse
than I'd feared.