The Last Unicirim’s Bride

by Hollie Hutchins

  He didn’t know how long he waited there, though he considered trying to find a house in the forest somewhere, and he couldn’t hear what happened in the battle. But going back there wasn’t an option yet. Not until he knew it to be safe.

  Maya’s eyes fluttered open. They appeared confused, unable to focus, but eventually locked onto Renne’s face. He resisted the urge to hug her tight and exclaim in relief, though his hands began to tremble again.

  “Renne? What – what’s happening?” Her pupils contracted, and she inhaled sharply. “What… did I fall?”

  “You fell unconscious. I got us into the forest,” Renne replied, deciding to skim over his own ordeal. “You were as cold as death. You scared me.”

  “I have to get back –” she began, but Renne placed a firm hand between her shoulders.

  “No, you’re not going anywhere. You’ve done enough. Might have killed yourself.” Might have killed me.

  Killed you? How would I? Maya’s thought dropped off when she sensed the fear and relief mixing in him.

  “You really did think I was dead,” she said softly.

  “For a moment, yes.” He rested his head against hers, closing his eyes for a moment. “We pushed you too hard. I’m sorry, Maya. This was too soon.”

  “It’s not your fault,” she replied, patting him on the back. “Uh… I’d say it was mine. I didn’t listen to you. You guys did everything you could to prepare me. But I wasted a lot of time.”

  Bitterness laced her words and the Bond between them. He helped get her upright, though she could barely stand straight and got her used to walking.

  “I feel like I’ve run a marathon.” Maya wobbled some more until her steps became sure and steady. “I suppose this is what it feels like if I abuse the magic.”

  “That’s just for ice. I don’t want to imagine what abuse of arcane turns into,” Renne said.

  “An explosion, probably. I felt like a balloon on a pump.”

  “Balloon…?”

  “Uh, like I had a full stomach?”

  “I understand that. The lightning wasn’t much fun, either.” They leaned into each other. A quiet, gentle moment, just existing in an embrace.

  “We need to go and check,” Maya whispered against his neck.

  “We’re too weak.”

  “I won’t cast, I promise. I just – I don’t want to wait out here. How much time was I out for, anyway?”

  “I don’t know. Possibly two or so hours. Spent most of it rubbing some life back into you.” Even though it was an entirely inappropriate time, it struck him in that moment just how beautiful Maya was. Those long eyelashes, those currently dark eyes which held a promise of light. The way she smelled, felt, sounded. How close he’d been to losing all this. The emotion welled up in him, and Maya paused long enough to hug him again.

  “I’m alive, Renne. I’m okay. You don’t need to think about something that didn’t happen.”

  “It could have, though,” he said, recalling icy hands and icy lips. “I couldn’t feel you at all. The Bond was silent.”

  Silent. Such a strange word. The connection didn’t grant silence at all. Now silence scared him, more than something he longed for again. He didn’t want to lose what bound them together, what pointed their destinies in one path. Though he wondered if they might have fallen in love anyway, even without it.

  Creeping back towards Bastion, the dread within them rose. Renne’s brothers and sister, Witslaw, Yvonne, Artur – all of them might be dead. Near the edge of the forest, they heard sounds. Yells. The battle still raged?

  “Renne...” Maya turned to look at him, her eyebrows raised high. “I only hear human voices.”

  Both of them hastened their walk from hobble to stride, and the yells intensified in volume. Yells that sounded like cheers, jubilation. Now in sight of the wall, they saw a few soldiers hugging one another, standing in front of a dragon’s dead body. When they spotted Renne and Maya, they vaulted over to help, since Renne and Maya still struggled to walk unaided.

  “What happened, soldiers?” Renne panted, now supported by two of the men. The third man carried Maya in his arms.

  “We won!” said the man to his left. “The dragons took too much loss. They flew away!” His dark eyes burned with triumph. “By Damnation, we won. We can defeat them. We can win against the dragons!”

  Renne smiled.

  Portions of the city still burned, but most of it remained intact. People had died – they always did, in war – but a good many soldiers walked through the streets, gathering the dead bodies, dragon and human alike. Banners flew from the intact houses, and merchants were already back in the market squares, selling food and drinks. Before the day’s end, a royal procession was arranged, with the royals, generals, and soldiers marching proudly through the streets, drawing excitable crowds, and people cheered hoarsely until their voices gave out.

  For once, Renne felt like a king as he proceeded with Maya on his arm. With the confirmed knowledge of his and Maya’s marriage happening tomorrow, people seemed much friendlier to him, though there were always some people who found fault. Yvonne enjoyed the attention as well, showing off with her water magic like a carnival trickster, and by the time evening fell, and the generals feasted, Renne decided he’d had quite enough of being paraded around, and Maya still wasn’t quite recovered from her overuse of magic.

  He did ask Yvonne to do one thing for the marriage tomorrow, something that made him nervous, anxious that it might backfire upon him, but at the same time, it seemed like the only right thing to do.

  Maya deserved it. For everything she’d put on the line for him. For fighting when she had no obligation to. For loving him in a way that made everything seem a little brighter. Even if perhaps they didn’t always see eye to eye.

  Since she had sacrificed – he was prepared to sacrifice in turn.

  Epilogue

  Maya

  They kept it as a private ceremony. Renne didn’t want all the attention anyway, and Maya much preferred having Renne to herself. Yvonne ran her through the basics of a druidic ceremony. She was expected to give a gift to her husband to be, something valuable that would also serve of use in their relationship to come. This could be anything from bowls to clothes to houses, depending on how generous people wanted to be.

  Maya chose a fine, wolf-eared cloak for Renne. When the hood was pulled up, the top was shaped like a wolf’s skull, with the furred ears still poking up. It might have looked pretentious on someone else, but she knew Renne would adore it, given how he preferred fur clothing to anything else. She didn’t like the fact they had to open the gifts to one another before the marriage – it gave a sense that if the gift was inadequate, somehow, it might taint the rest of the ceremony. Luckily, since they were doing it alone, aside from the druid overseeing things, at least they didn’t have craning necks trying to judge their gifts.

  She wore a white, floral dress with frills upon the seams which made her feel like an overdressed fairy cake, but Renne couldn’t take his eyes off her. In the quiet of the temple, with incense burning all around, so that she felt annoyingly sleepy and drugged up on “calming herbs”, she watched as Renne unwrapped his gift from brown parchment. The cloak unfurled, trailing like a blanket, and when he held it up in the dim light of the temple, she grinned at his reaction.

  “This is some cloak,” he said in an impressed voice, instantly draping it over his shoulders, though it didn’t quite match the tailored suit underneath. “And it’s even kept the ears!”

  The druid gestured for Renne to give his gift. Bridal and groom gifts did seem like a nice idea – they didn’t, however, seem to think of a ring as a necessary commitment to marriage. If she was ever to convince her mother at some point she was married, Maya needed to get some sort of ring for the job, maybe persuade Renne to wear one. His gift came in a little box – the kind of box that might have housed a ring. Maya carefully tugged off the red ribbon covering it, to reveal an odd little black stone on
a velvet bed.

  “What’s this?” she asked, taking it out. It felt light and fragile, somehow. An expensive material?

  “That,” Renne said, though for some reason, he appeared and felt worried, rather than delighted, “is a waystone.”

  Maya gaped at him, uncomprehending for a couple of seconds. “Wait. This is a waystone?” When he nodded, she added, “This will get me back home?”

  “Yes.”

  Oh. She stared at the little stone in her hand, and to her horror, tears prickled at the back of her eyelid.

  “Why are you crying?” Renne said, aghast, only stopping himself when she waved towards herself.

  “It’s not bad tears. I think. You’ve given me a way back home. This was all I ever wanted.” She sniffled, now even more glad no one else was there to witness her dissolving into tears. And she wasn’t even on her period. How embarrassing.

  The druid, now satisfied she wasn’t crying in horror of the bad gift she’d received, asked them both to clasp hands and repeat the vow of binding.

  No matter where we come from, what our destinies were like before, today we are entwined. Today we step to the future as one, blessed in health and there in sickness.

  My love is yours.

  Embarrassing words, but Maya said them, reassured when Renne repeated each syllable. The druid wove a green twine around their clasped hands, ending it with a knot, proclaiming them bound together. This was the part where they could kiss, and Maya did so enthusiastically, wriggling herself out of the knot to do so. Renne clutched her tightly, pouring so much passion into his kiss that the world seemed to vanish for Maya. At least, until the druid cleared her throat.

  “I advise you to continue your love elsewhere. I do have a temple to run.”

  Grinning and holding hands, they left the temple and waved at the people who were gathered outside at the rumor of the unicirim and his witch marrying.

  “I wanted to give you the choice,” Renne said, as they walked back to the castle. His cloak rustled magnificently behind him. “If you want to return home, I’ll do nothing to stop you. The good thing about that stone, however, is that it will return you to Albalon if you desire as well.”

  “You could come with me,” Maya said, heart fluttering and giddy with joy.

  “I have commitments here. I’m sure your family might be a little puzzled for you appearing on their doorstep with me.”

  True. It’d likely be difficult for him to adapt to the modern world without magic.

  “I’ll come back, you know,” Maya said, sending in the same instant her thought. I love you.

  Love you, too. “I know you will.”

  More By Hollie

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  © Copyright 2018 by Hollie Hutchins - All rights reserved.

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