Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li: The Morcyth Saga Book Three (2 page)

Resigned to his fate, he replies, “No.” He
takes off his clothes and first slips on the bright green tights.
When he has them on, he looks down at himself and realizes they are
truly tight and forms to his every curve down there leaving nothing
to the imagination.

Feeling naked, he pulls on the tunic which
helps to cover his nether regions, though not as well as he would
want. Despite being rather revealing, they are quite comfortable.
Once he has them on, he goes over to look at himself in the mirror
standing in the corner. Aside from the fact he’s green, the outfit
actually looks pretty sharp on him.

Jiron has his own set on as well and they
look at each other, nodding in admiration. “Actually, James,” he
says when he sees him, “it doesn’t look so bad once you have them
on.” He comes over and joins him in front of the mirror.

“You look pretty good too,” he tells
him.

“It’s still another hour till mealtime,”
Jiron says. “What say we go and show off our new clothes to some of
the serving girls?”

Smiling at his friend, he replies, “You go
ahead, I’m going to go and find Miko. He’s probably still sitting
with Nate, and I need to make sure he gets ready for the
celebration.”

“Alright, then,” he says. Going to the door,
Jiron opens it and pauses a moment as he says, “See you there.”
Shutting the door behind him, he heads down the hallway to find one
of the several serving girls he’s been ‘impressing’ since they’ve
arrived.

Under his tunic, he straps on the belt
holding his slugs so as not to be conspicuous. He really hasn’t
felt safe anywhere since coming to this crazy world, and he always
likes to be prepared. A couple days ago while they were sight
seeing in the city, he’d found a store where he was able to restock
his supply of slugs. Sitting over in the corner of their room is a
box holding a hundred of them. When Miriam had found out why he’d
wanted them, she had bought him the box.

Straightening his tunic so it will hide his
belt of slugs, he leaves his room and makes his way back up the
stairs to Nate’s room. When he gets there, he knocks but receives
no answer. Knocking again, he waits but no reply is forthcoming.
Opening the door a crack, he peeks in and discovers Nate and Miko
are no longer there.

Closing the door, he continues down the
hallway toward where they’d put Miko. Being Nate’s friend had
warranted him a room to himself next door. As he approaches Miko’s
room, he hears arguing inside and raised voices. Fearing the worst,
he readies a slug and bursts through the door.

Standing in the middle of the room is Miko,
bright red tights in hand and a stubborn look on his face. Nate is
there sitting in a chair and it seems as if they’ve been arguing.
When the door bursts in, they both turn to see James framed in the
doorway.

“James,” Miko cries out holding the clothes
out to him, “do you realize what they expect me to wear?” Turning
to Nate, he says, “If I have to wear this, then I’m not going!”

“Miko,” James says to him as he enters the
room, “we’re their guests. And if they want us to wear these
things, then wear them we shall. It’s the least we can do for the
hospitality we’ve received.”

“But…” he starts to say and then stops
abruptly when he realizes just what James is wearing. Breaking into
a laugh, he drops his clothes to the floor and sits down in a
nearby chair. “Man, would you look at you!” he says as he starts
laughing even harder.

Turning a little red, James looks to Nate
who says, “You do look good, James. It’s what everyone will be
wearing tonight at the celebration.”

“Come on ‘Torchy’,” James says to Miko as he
comes over and picks up the clothes from the floor. Handing them to
him, he says, “Put them on.”

“Torchy?” Miko asks when he calms down. “Why
did you call me that?”

Pointing to the clothes Miko’s holding, he
replies, “Wearing that will make you look like a flaming candle.”
Nate breaks out into a smile at Miko’s expense when he hears
that.

Looking forlorn, he holds the clothes and
says to James with a slight whine in his voice, “Do I have to?”

“Yes, you do,” he tells him. “Now stop
bemoaning your circumstances and put them on. Our hosts are
expecting it.”

Under James’ glare he gets into his new
clothes and sure enough, he looks like a flaming candle. When he
looks to James for approval, he does his best to not smile.

“You look good,” he assures him.

“You sure?” he asks as he looks down at
himself, not entirely convinced.

James glances to Nate for support, who
chimes in, “Miko, you do look fine.”

“Are you coming to the celebration?” James
asks Nate.

Nodding, he replies, “Yes. In a few minutes,
my servant will come and help me into my attire for the evening.
You fellows can go on ahead, I’m sure they won’t be upset if you’re
a little early.”

“Alright,” agrees James. “Are you going to
need help getting back to your room?”

Nate shakes his head and holds up his
walking stick, “I can make it that far on my own.” Getting up, he
leans heavily upon his stick as he shuffles toward the door.

James holds it open for him as he passes
through, “Thanks,” he says to him as he goes by. Once he’s out,
James shuts the door and turns back to Miko, “Relax, you do look
nice.”

“So do you,” he replies. “Sorry I
laughed.”

Smiling, James says, “Don’t worry about it,
I do look somewhat funny in these clothes. I just hope we’re not
the only ones to be wearing something like this.”

“Me too,” admits Miko.

“Shall we go?” he asks Miko.

“May as well get this over with,” he tells
him.

Holding the door open for him, he says,
“After you, Torchy.”

Miko gives him an annoyed look and says,
“Would you stop calling me that?”

“Okay, sorry,” he apologizes, not looking
the least bit sorry.

They leave the room and head downstairs to
the banquet hall where they find the servants still putting up the
last bits of decoration. Banners and flowers are everywhere, giving
the room a festive and cheerful feel. Over to one side, a dozen
musicians are setting up on a stage where they will be performing
during the banquet. James is intrigued by the different instruments
they have. Shortly, he begins to hear the beginnings of them tuning
their instruments, somewhat reminiscent of his own short stint in
the school band. He’d played the trumpet.

They see their hostess, decked out in a
flowing lavender dress and marshalling her servants like a general
on the eve of battle. She continually barks out orders and her
‘soldiers’ snap to obey. Noticing them there in their new clothes,
she gives them a nod of approval before returning to the business
of getting the hall ready in time.

Miriam walks in through a door on the other
side of the hall. A flowing blue dress with intricate embroidery
about the chest and bodice, she makes a striking figure. She
motions them to follow her as she makes her way to the main
entrance. “My, don’t we look fine,” she says when they join
her.

“You too, milady,” Miko says as he gives her
a slight bow.

“Don’t ‘milady’ me,” she says, flashing him
a smile. “This isn’t going to start for a while, why don’t we go
outside for a bit? There’s someone that I’d like you to meet,
James.”

“Oh?” he asks, intrigued.

“She’s a friend of mine and I’ve been
telling her all about your exploits, the ones Jiron has been nice
enough to share with me,” she tells him.

Tongue suddenly going dry, his stomach makes
with the butterflies as he follows her in trepidation down the
hallway to the door leading outside. Meeting new people, especially
of the female persuasion, has never been easy for him.

When he passes through the door to the
outside, he sees a girl standing off by herself under a nearby
tree, watching them as they approach. She’s a year or two younger
than he is and very lovely. Brown hair flowing past her shoulders
and wearing a beautiful dress of blue with a stylish design
stitched about the hem.

As they approach, Miriam whispers to him,
“She’s the daughter of one of the shippers on the island, a family
of high standing.” When they come close, she makes the
introductions. “James,” she says, “this is Meliana. Meliana, this
is James, and Miko.”

She gives him a curtsy and says, “Nice to
meet you.”

When he stands there tongue-tied for a
moment, Miko elbows him in the ribs which snaps him out of it.
“Uh,” he says, his voice barely audible due to the dryness of his
throat. He swallows and then says, “Pleasure to meet you too,
Meliana.”

“Miriam has told me so much about you,” she
tells him as she takes his arm. They begin to walk leisurely around
the grounds as she continues talking, “You must be very brave.”

“Well…” he starts but then has to clear his
throat to try to keep his voice clear. “Well, I suppose so. But at
the time I didn’t feel very brave, you just do what you have
to.”

“Ooh,” she says as she grips his arm
tighter. “I’d love to hear about it.”

What can he tell her that wouldn’t involve
telling her about the magic? They walk for a moment before he
begins to describe the jail break back at Mountainside. While he is
talking, she continues to ooh and aah at all the right times,
making him feel very good. Nothing boosts a man’s ego more than a
pretty girl hanging onto every word he has to say.

Miko walks along behind him, disgusted at
the whole sight.

From atop the estate they hear a musical
chime ringing out. Miriam says, “It’s time to go back to the hall,
the banquet will be starting soon.”

As they return to the hall, Meliana
continues to hold onto James’ arm. As they reach the front doors, a
man steps from within the doorway and stops in front of them.

“Papa!” Meliana exclaims happily. “This is
James, the one I’ve been telling you about.”

Her father gives a small smile as he reaches
out a hand and says, “Nice to meet you young man.”

James takes the hand and says, “You too,
sir.”

The father eyes James appraisingly and gives
a barely perceptible nod. Turning to his daughter, he says, “It’s
time for us to take our places at the table.”

“Nice to have met you, James,” he says as he
holds his arm out for his daughter. She releases James’ arm, much
to his dismay, and hooks her arm through her father’s. He turns and
leads her into the banquet hall, a slight limp in his walk as if
his leg is bothering him.

“I think he liked you,” Miriam tells
him.

James just shrugs, “Doesn’t matter, we’re
leaving in the morning anyway.” He gazes at Meliana as she and her
father enter the hall.

Miko tugs his sleeve and asks, “Shouldn’t we
go in too?”

Snapping out of his reverie, James says,
“Yeah, sure.”

Following Miriam into the hall, they’re led
up to the main table where the Ferdillons will sit. Nate is already
there at the place of honor and he gestures for them to come and
sit next to him.

Miko takes the seat immediately to his left
while James sits next to Miko. Shortly, Jiron comes in and makes
his way over to sit next to James. “Did you find your admirers?”
James asks him as he sits down.

Giving him a big smile, he replies, “Yes,
two actually.”

The musicians off to the side begin to play
and their music gives the hall a gaiety it had lacked before. The
musicians are quite skillful, though perhaps not in Perrilin’s
league. James finds himself watching the musicians as they play the
unfamiliar instruments, finding it all very intriguing.

From a table further down the hall from
where he sits, James can see Meliana looking his way. When she
notices him looking at her, she gives him a large smile and a
brief, unobtrusive wave. He nods and smiles back to her before
turning his attention to watch the other guests arrive.

Many are dressed in similar attire to what
he and the others have on, no longer making him feel so
conspicuous. From the number of other men wearing similar garb, it
truly does seem to be the current fashion trend in the area.

When the tables have mostly filled up, the
doors to the side of the hall open up and Nate’s parents walk in.
The band strikes up a processional style tune as they enter and
approach the head table where James and the others are sitting.

The mother takes her seat while the father
continues standing. The band comes to a stop and the hall becomes
very quiet. Gazing around at the assembled guests a moment, he then
begins to talk.

“Welcome all, to a banquet in honor of the
return of our son Nathanial, whom we never had thought to see
again.” He gestures to his son who stands up amidst applause from
those gathered at the tables, gives the crowd a short bow, and then
retakes his seat.

“We are also here to honor and recognize
those who helped bring this about. Miko, who befriended Nate in the
mines, as well as James and Jiron who were instrumental in
orchestrating his return. We give them our heartfelt thanks and
wish them only the best.”

At this, the crowd breaks out into another
thunderous applause. At Nate’s father’s direction, James, Miko, and
Jiron stand up and give the crowd a bow before returning to their
seats. James looks over and sees Meliana giving him a big smile and
seems to be clapping harder than the rest of them.

Once the clapping has subsided, he says
“Now, let’s celebrate with food, drink, and entertainment.”
Signaling a servant standing at the edge of the room, he says “Let
the celebration, begin.”

At that, the band strikes up a merry tune
and doors begin to open as servants enter bearing trays laden with
food. Roast pig, chickens, a veritable cornucopia of food begins to
be laid upon the tables in front of the guests. Servants with
pitchers begin passing among the tables as they fill everyone’s
glass.