by Murray, Dean
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?
Chapter 15
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.
The confident young man who'd just finished one of the more challenging forms with panache and grace, who'd approached her with calm despite the fact that she still had the ability to add untold unpleasantness to his life, bore so little resemblance to the figure before her.
"I know that you're headed to evening prayers. I won't keep you, I just came to ask you to accompany Javin, Mar'li and me down on the expedition to the lowlands."
A trace of spirit suddenly returned, flickering through clear, blue eyes. "I didn't think you needed to ask. You're the head of the bloodline."
On'li felt her own temper start to rise, but grabbed it with a mental hand and forced it back down where it belonged. "Javin and I have discussed the matter. We won't order you down with us. Even if a newly married pair didn't traditionally have some right to remain in the Capital during the time immediately after the ceremony, we still wouldn't force you to come with us."
The silence was uncomfortable, but somehow it lacked the edge that On'li had expected.
"Why?"
"Because we would like you there. Frankly I don't like the idea of leaving you alone with her. She's obviously worse than I expected. As to why we're asking rather than ordering, mostly because it isn't a critical matter, and you were right. You deserve some thanks, some latitude for what you've been through."
Va'del's gaze was steady. "This
is how you'd treat Ba'loc and Pavir?"
There was another flicker of something in Va'del's eyes as she nodded, an emotion that On'li couldn't identify.
"I'll come then."
On'li nodded again, ventured a small smile. "I didn't want to influence your decision beforehand, but I'll do what I can to see that Jain is included in this party, just like the last time we sent you out."
The look in Va'del's eye was the first one all night that On'li hadn't had any difficulty recognizing. As long as we can all still feel gratitude we're not too far gone.
##
Va'del picked up half the assembled packs and then waited while a pair of brand new Guard trainees picked up the rest. Once he was sure that they weren't leaving anything behind, the young man nodded to the two boys and then led the way out of the small suite of rooms.
Va'del wasn't going to miss the rooms in the slightest. The suite was the same one that Vi'en had shared with her late husband, and she'd refused to move. Instead Va'del had found himself relegated to a bed in the smallest of the rooms, where he slept for a few cycles each night before fleeing almost as soon as he woke each morning.
Vi'en seemed to have an endless supply of friends from her old bloodline, all of who appeared to be in complete agreement with her that Va'del still had a long way to go before becoming an acceptable husband.
He'd tried, at least at first. Unfortunately, every single thing he did turned out not to be good enough for her. He'd even read through a protocol book to make sure he wasn't neglecting some important duty. All he'd really learned was that Vi'en wasn't holding up a number of the duties that were traditionally a wife's responsibility. He'd tried a couple of times to broach the idea that she was being remiss, but she'd just laughed, and responded that Bob'ae hadn't ever expected that kind of subservience out of her. He'd overheard her laughing with her friends about the irony of 'some child who wasn't even a full Guadel' expecting such things.
Va'del had still been expected to attend classes on the subjects that he hadn't tested as well in, but luckily the other candidates had no idea how his wife mocked him. Now that Be'ter had been discredited and Va'del had been promoted, the other boys actually treated him with the same kind of respect they would have shown a full Guadel.
Now that Va'del was a sub-Guadel, he could in theory begin courting a second wife, but Vi'en had reiterated her restriction of no more than three cycles a week with Jain, and the young man had complied with her wishes. He didn't really have much of a choice. He had to figure out how to keep Vi'en happy or she'd never let him marry Jain once the traditional year had passed.
Va'del hadn't expected Jain to react well to the restriction, but he'd expected her to behave a little more rationally after having told him to go through with the marriage. It almost seemed like she expected him to instinctively understand that what she said and what she meant weren't actually the same thing.
Being included with Javin, On'li and Mar'li in the group headed down to the lowlands was a relief. With any luck Vi'en's friends wouldn't be on the trip, thereby saving him from having to listen to them talk about all of the ways he wasn't a proper Guadel yet.
Va'del and the two trainees rounded a corner in one of the corridors leading to the stables and he was immediately struck by the amount of sheer activity filling up to overflowing what he'd always thought was a more than adequate space.
Neither On'li or the rampant rumors had hinted that the group headed down was this big. Trade caravans were always huge, but this was beyond even that. It felt like they'd included half the Council and two thirds of the Guard in order to assemble so many people.
Callan, the stable master who Va'del had been apprenticed to for a short time before being included in the candidate classes, saw the trio standing with their mouths open and waved Va'del over.
"Javin told me that you'd be in this circus. I found a couple of decent gurra for you. Nothing like that pair of I'rone's that you used to travel with, but serviceable beasts all the same."
Va'del followed Callan's pointing finger and nodded his thanks before gesturing for the two boys to follow him through the shifting crowd. The two gurra were indeed decent animals. Va'del made their acquaintance and, after finding that neither animal was an exception to the rule that the way to a gurra's heart was through a vigorous scratch behind its ear, checked their feet pads and the thickness of their coats before thanking the boys and sending them on their way.
Neither animal was in its prime, and Va'del suspected that Callan would have preferred not to be sending them off on such a long trip, but the stable master had let their coats grow out a bit to help make up for the fact that they weren't as hardy as younger animals, and as long as Va'del was careful to make sure neither gurra was pushed too hard, they should hold up just fine.
After harnessing both gurra, Va'del picked the more stubborn of the two creatures and began hanging his packs from it. The task wasn't as simple as one might expect. If the weight wasn't evenly balanced, the creature could lose its footing on the treacherous ice and snow. Additionally, you wanted to make sure that the vital pieces of equipment were where you could get at them quickly should the need arise. Food and water were of course very near the top of that list. The caravan would stop at night for big meals, but anyone who didn't eat and drink at least something at each of the many short stops they'd take during the course of the day would never make it until evening.
Va'del had just finished arranging the last of his packs the way he wanted it when Vi'en pushed her way through the crowd. "What? You're not even going to pack my gurra for me? I suppose I should have expected as much."
His ears burning from embarrassment, Va'del nearly gave his wife a piece of his mind, but a whip-thin man who looked like an older version of Fi'lin interrupted Vi'en. "If I'd caught him packing your beast for you I'd have given him a sound dressing-down. Old Bob'ae might have known where to put stuff well enough to get away with packing your gurra for you, but there isn't any way Va'del could know that yet. You'll pack your own beast and you'll hurry. I heard some nonsense about you claiming to still be in Va'ma's bloodline, but if I have to hold the caravan up for you, both Javin and Va'ma will hear about it."
Si'mon nodded to Va'del. "It's a pleasure to be traveling with you again youngster. That was a fine piece of work you did surviving the cold to face those bandits. I'll be hoping that we can manage to finish this journey together for a change."
"I'd very much like that as well, Guadel Si'mon."
Vi'en looked like she wanted to bite the caravan master's head off, but she swallowed whatever she was going to say, and set about tying her various packs to the gurra as Si'mon was pulled away to deal with one of the handful of minor emergencies that always seemed to crop up whenever a party went outside.
As the still-muttering Guadel finished packing her poor beast, one of Callan's senior apprentices came by to check their loads. The boy patted Va'del's gurra as he made sure that the weight was balanced evenly, and that the straps were all tensioned correctly. "Looks good. This one be called Frost."
The boy shrugged at Va'del's surprised look. "It's a stupid name, but seems like every time we get a batch of beasts in from an outlying village there is at least one of them named either Frost or Snow. Some of them will answer to something different given enough time, but this old guy refuses to come to anything other than the name those fool villagers hung on him."
The apprentice turned to Vi'en's gurra. "This fine lady is called Dainty." The boy fussed with a couple of straps and then finally straightened. "She'll be okay for today, but you'll want to make sure that you don't put any more weight over this front right quarter or she'll go lame. If anything you should move a little of the burden back to the opposite corner."
Va'del nodded his thanks to the stable hand and got the poor boy moving along before Vi'en could explode. It was funny. She thought nothing at all about insulting Va'del in front of others, but bristled if there was anyone around to see her reprima
nded in the slightest way. It was going to be a long journey.
##
On'li helped Mar'li into her heavy coat as Si'mon started moving people out into the cold. For all that the older woman hated being on the Council and dealing with the unending petty politics, she hadn't missed going out into the cold. It seemed like the older she got, the less resistant her body was to temperature extremes.
Once it had been decided that a group was going to be sent down, the Council had decided a proper show of force was called for, and quickly expanded the size of the caravan beyond anything they'd ever sent down to the lowlands before. It was hard to pick any one person from the mass of hooded individuals standing around the stable, but amazingly enough On'li was able to find Va'del's tall form after only a few moments of searching.
He looked miserable, so much so that On'li wasn't sure even Jain's presence would cheer him up. Not that anyone could really blame him though. If On'li had really known just how hard Vi'en was to get along with, she'd have told him to reject the marriage offer out of hand.
The women of the various bloodlines had a longstanding tradition of competing to see which group was able to supply the most worked gemstones. The magical gems required years of effort to create, but the unending supply of light, heat and breathable air was the only thing that allowed the People to survive, and to a limited extent even thrive, at such high altitudes.
Vi'en had incredibly expected the Stephens bloodline to outfit her, all the while refusing to work together with them on the heat stone that the Stephens women had been tasked with preparing for the next village location the scouts managed to find.
Before On'li could lose herself any more than she already had in remembered anger from her last confrontation with Vi'en, Javin caught her attention and led her and Mar'li out into the biting cold.
Chapter 16