by N E Riggs
Anur smoothed down her skirt. “Maybe. Come on, I don’t want to be late.” She led them out of Oisin Tower. Soon they’d left the area of Valal that David knew behind them. The buildings were still tall and had the sword motif on them.
“Which divisions use these?” David asked.
“The most important divisions.” Alosh slung an arm over David and Anur’s shoulders. “Welcome to Administration Land! The funnest place on Bantong!”
David snorted and pushed Alosh off him. “No, seriously, what is this?”
Anur giggled. “This is where most of the civilian staff in Valal works. Sword Priests can’t take care of everything, you know. They keep track of pay, of where each division is at all times, supplies, research and development.” She shook her head. “Of all the people working in Valal, only maybe a third are Sword Priests.”
“I see.” Even back home, the army had tons of civilian contractors. He should have guessed. As they walked down the block, he saw a four-story building tucked between two skyscrapers. A sign reading ‘hostel’ hung above the door. “What’s that?”
“Can we go anywhere without you asking questions?” Alosh asked.
Anur said, “It’s a traveler’s hostel. You’ve never seen one before?” David shook his head. “But you’re a traveler! Well, you’re a weird traveler.” She grinned when David gave her a dirty look. “Anyway, traveler’s hostels are all over Bantong. They take currency from over a thousand different worlds, and you can book a room for days or even hours. Each room includes food, laundry, and a copy of The Traveler’s Guide to Bantong. They’re very convenient, and lots of travelers stay at one before the Lost Priests find them and get them settled.”
“David didn’t stay at one,” Alosh said. “We met him at the gateway and sent for a Lost Priest right away.”
“I see. Oh, there it is!” Anur pointed to a dark gray building at the end of the block. Music thrummed from the building, the heavy beat audible even from this distance. As they approached, David saw the words ‘Fighting Rave’ in bright red above the door.
Alosh raised an eyebrow. “You wanted to go dancing? Then why not go alone?”
Anur ducked her head. “I haven’t been dancing since I lived in Vele, okay? I didn’t want to go alone. Say you’ll come with? Please?”
“Of course,” David said. Alosh stuck out his tongue then nodded. Having expected a nightclub, David was surprised to see no bouncer, but it was barely afternoon. Bright, throbbing lights in different colors made the inside look strange, and the music was so loud David could barely hear himself think. He grinned – he’d taken John to a few places like this in Boston to terrify him. Once John turned twenty-five and got over his fear and started refusing, David had stopped going. Without John to mock, nightclubs weren’t as much fun. And he could pick up girls better in bars.
The three of them ordered drinks from the bar, and David ended up with something bright green with a bit of fruit wedged over the rim. To his surprise, it tasted very sharp. They watched the dance floor for a few minutes while they drank. “Do a lot of Sword Priests come here?” David shouted to be heard over the music. He could see four other people with agitators.
“Oh, yeah, lots.” Alosh nodded his head up and down in time to the beat. “I’ve been here a few times before.”
Anur finished her drink in one long gulp, put the glass down on the bar, and turned to David. “I want to dance. Come on.”
“You want to dance with me?”
“Of course not.” Anur rolled her eyes. “But I don’t know anyone else, and I don’t want to stand here or go out alone. So you’re dancing with me till I find someone better.” Alosh started laughing so hard he had to hold his stomach. David gave him a filthy look then followed Anur out onto the dance floor.
Bantonan dancing was much more physical than David was used to, with lots of twists and jumps and flinging one’s partner around, all at very high speeds. He nearly dropped Anur the second time he picked her up, so she took revenge by whirling him around so fast he got dizzy. Laughing, Anur pushed him away and started to dance with another man.
David staggered back to the bar and ordered another drink – something frothy and dark brown this time that he thought might be a type of beer. It tasted way too sweet, but David drank it anyway. Alosh stood on the dance floor, jumping about and doing over-exaggerated movements that made a group of three young women laugh. After ten minutes, a slower song started, and David ventured back out. He found a pretty woman with dark skin and curly hair and impossibly long lashes who seemed very happy to grind against him. When the next song came, just as fast as the previous ones, the woman abandoned him.
He tried a few of the faster dances, turning from one lovely woman to the next. Alosh wandered over and forced David to dance with him before going back to entertaining the same three women from earlier. David wondered if Alosh was trying for all three at once and shook his head at the sight. As he walked back to the bar, he saw Anur dancing with a woman. They were looking deep into one another’s eyes.
Feeling suddenly lonely, he ordered another drink and sat down at the bar. As he nursed the drink, a couple sat down next to him, laughing and holding each other closely. They were young, maybe twenty-five, and David smiled as he pretended not to watch them.
When the woman let out a sudden shriek, he turned to face them. “Really?” the woman said, hands clasped together before her mouth. “You really want to get married?”
“Sure,” the man said. “Why not?”
The woman laughed, throwing her head back. “Well then, Moreo Caputel, we’re sitting here surrounded by Sword Priests. Let’s get married now.”
“Lujiet Nomtigue, nothing would make me happier.” The man, Moreo, turned to David, his gaze flicking down to David’s belt where his agitator was. “Brother, would you marry us?”
David nearly choked on the last of his drink. When he was done spluttering, he said, “What, seriously?”
“Of course we’re serious,” Lujiet said. She pouted.
“No, I just mean, wouldn’t you rather have a proper marriage? You know, somewhere else?” David waved at their surroundings and tried to pretend he wasn’t sweating.
Moreo wrapped his arms around Lujiet’s waist. “There’s nothing wrong with being romantic and spontaneous. Please, Brother, marry us.”
Out of the corner of his eye, David saw Alosh. He frantically motioned for him to come over. “I’m pretty new in the priesthood. You’d much rather have Alosh – he has more experience. Alosh, these two people want to get married,” he said as Alosh joined them beside the bar.
Alosh stared at him for a long moment, then an evil smile crossed his face. “Oh, but they asked you first. Go on, David.”
Moreo and Lujiet had started kissing, so David leaned closer to Alosh and hissed, “I can’t marry them! I don’t know what to do!”
“What, didn’t you cover that when you were an acolyte?”
“Yeah, but I forgot! I’ve never even seen a Bantonan wedding!” David wracked his brain but couldn’t remember anything from that particular lecture.
“It’s in The Tome of Ages. Give me your com pad.” As soon as David dug it out of his pocket, Alosh snatched the com pad from him. He flipped it open and typed something in. “Here.” He shoved the com pad back into David’s hand then climbed up onto a bar stool and shouted, “Quiet, everyone!” People on the dance floor slowed and looked at them, and someone turned down the volume of the music. “Today a very special couple is getting married, and I need all of you to bear witness.”
Cheers and wolf-whistles sounded as everyone crowded closer to the bar. Moreo and Lujiet stopped kissing and smiled and waved. Then everyone turned to David.
He cleared his throat and tried to focus on nothing but the words on his com pad. Fortunately, it was pretty short and simple. “Let this ceremony and these witnesses bear testimony before Aeons, the Yesterlords, and every world in the cosmos. These two people—” he looked up.
“Moreo Caputel,” said Moreo.
“And Lujiet Nomtigue,” said Lujiet.
“—wish to bind themselves in love for all eternity. Do you swear to love one another and only one another?”
They both said, “We do.” Blue lights shone suddenly around the room, no other color in sight.
“Do you swear to support one another in all your endeavors?”
“We do.”
“Is there anything preventing you from joining in marriage?”
“There is nothing.”
“Then you must present proof of your affection for one another.”
Lujiet grabbed her purse and fished around for a moment. She pulled out a small charm – a pink frog. “My parents gave this to me when I was very young and ill. I’ve kept it ever since. I give it to you, Moreo, because you are more important to me than anything.” She paused and sniffed then handed the charm to Moreo.
He held it close for a moment then slipped it inside his pocket. He unfastened a gold earring and held it out. “My family came to Bantong three generations ago. No gateway to our original world has ever appeared. My grandfather had this with him, one of his few possessions of his old home. My family’s home is your family’s home, Lujiet, so it belongs just as much to you.” He pressed it into her hands.
When Lujiet finished putting the earring in her ear, they joined hands and turned back to David. Looking down at his com pad, he said, “Proof has been offered and accepted. Be loving and patient with one another, sharing in both sadness and joy. I declare you married for all time. You may now kiss.”
The couple embraced and kissed deeply while the crowd broke into cheers again. David flipped his com pad into compact size and slipped it back into his pocket. That hadn’t been too bad. They looked so happy together, he thought as the two continued to kiss. Too bad he’d never have that.
Something pricked at his chest at that thought, and David had to look away. Alosh, who had sat on top of the bar during the ceremony, clapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, you did great.”
“Thanks.” The newly weds finally came up for air. The people closest to them pulled them out onto the dance floor, and music started again. Moreo and Lujiet looked into one another’s eyes as if no one else existed while they danced together. “Can we get out of here?”
“Sure.” Alosh hopped down off the bar. “Anur left a few minutes ago, and I was making no progress. Hey, are you okay?” He bumped his shoulder against David’s as they walked out the door.
The cool air outside helped. David took a long, deep breath. He knew he’d never marry. He was fine with that. Really, he was. Anyway, marriage was scary and complicated, so he didn’t really want it. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired. Let’s go back, okay?” As they walked back to Oisin Tower, Alosh launched into a story of when he’d gone bar-hopping with Lugh, Cid, and Percy. Apparently, they’d gotten epically drunk and had been kicked out of every bar in Valal. David didn’t know if he believed the whole thing, but it made him laugh.
By the time they got home, he’d almost forgotten to be miserable.
6
Shades of Desolation
“So there we were, just me and Alosh and a dozen ghouls,” David said, leaning across the table. “We stood back to back, fighting them off. And we killed every last one of them.”
“Oh,” Brigid said, closing her eyes and wrapping her arms around herself. She shivered a bit. “I could never be a Sword Priest. I don’t know how you do it.”
David grinned. “You get used to it.” He’d been a Sword Priest for six months now, and he could barely remember life from before. His hands hadn’t trembled before a fight in over a month. He shook his head. “I’m not the one to be impressed by. Bellon – remember, he was an acolyte with me? Anyway, he’s started training to become a Vicar. Alosh reckons he’ll make it in less than a year.” One of the Vicars in the sixth division, a woman named Thea Peni, was helping Bellon to train, and she was constantly impressed by his talent. From the way she looked at Bellon, David thought she might be impressed by more than just his skills in battle, but he didn’t say that. If Bellon wanted to take up with his trainer, that was nothing David could say against it, since he’d done the same with Scatha. Besides, Thea, with her long, curly dark hair and sharp eyes and dry sense of humor, was a catch.
“What about your other friends?” Brigid asked, taking a sip of her drink. She’d ordered some fruity thing, the name of which David couldn’t recall. This was their fourth time meeting up at this bar, and David had finally found a beer he liked. It tasted sharper than the beers he was used to from home, but good.
He shifted on his bar stool, an easy smile on his face. Once he’d gotten over Brigid, they ended up good friends. They often met here to talk about his missions and the travelers she worked with. It was comfortable and nice. Since he couldn’t have someone to love, he had to content himself with good friends. And he was happy being friends with Brigid. “Anur’s doing great. She’s the best tracker in the division. I think she might want to change units, but Rolan won’t let go of her easily.” Anur had been the one to track down some rocs a month ago, though David still didn’t know how she’d followed flying creatures. Rolan and Hue had been very impressed. “And Conal and Niam are getting married in a month.”
Brigid smiled. “That’s so sweet. Will either of them retire after they get married?”
“I don’t think so. Anur asked that too, and Niam said maybe when they have kids but not before. They’re both really focused on being Sword Priests.” He stared down into his beer, thinking of the soppy way Conal and Niam would look at each other. He refused to feel jealous. They were his friends, and he was happy for them.
“I’m so glad you’re fitting into Bantong, David,” Brigid said, putting her elbow on the bar and propping her head up on her hand. “I was really worried about you at first. Most travelers who come from far off worlds never really settle into Bantong, especially if there aren’t any others here from their world. And I couldn’t let you associate with your fellow Earthling.” She took another sip of her drink. “At first, all you talked about was going home, even if it meant abandoning your vows as a Sword Priest. I’m glad you don’t think like that anymore.”
“Yeah,” David mumbled, glancing away. When he was off world on missions, it was Bantong he missed first and Earth second. It still felt like a betrayal, but he had come to enjoy his life here. On Bantong, he was doing something important, something to help others. Back home, he’d never accomplished anything of consequence. “Out of curiosity,” he said, careful to keep his voice light, “have you heard anything about gateways back to Earth?” Brigid raised an eyebrow, frowning. “I am happy here, of course, but I have friends back home, friends who probably think I’m dead. I’d like to be able to tell them I’m okay.” It sounded like the truth when he said it like that.
The frown on Brigid’s face disappeared. She reached out and clasped his hand. “That’s nothing to be ashamed of, David. I should have thought of that myself. Of course you want them to know you’re still alive.” She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you at the time. You were off world, on Van-Lang I think, and I didn’t want you to get distracted.”
David stared at her for a long time, his mouth open. Surely he couldn’t be hearing her right. He’d been on Van-Lang over a month ago, and had talked with Brigid twice between then and now. She couldn’t be saying what he thought she was saying. “There was a gateway to Earth?” he said, his throat suddenly dry. “My Earth?”
Brigid nodded, her mouth a tight, miserable line. “I’m sorry.”
“There was a way back home, and you didn’t tell me because you thought I’d be distracted?!” David cried. Distantly he noticed he was standing, though he didn’t remember getting up. Heads turned to them, and he realized he’d shouted. None of that made him stop glaring at Brigid.
“I’m sorry,” she said again, wringing her hands. “By the time I
heard about the gateway, you were already on Van-Lang. There was no easy way to let you know.” His hands clenched into fists. He grit his teeth, shaking all over. Brigid shifted back in her seat, leaning away from him. “You lived in Boston, United States of America,” she said. “The gateway opened near Shanghai, People’s Republic of China. I checked, and that’s on the opposite side of your world. The gateway was only open for ten minutes. You wouldn’t have had the time to see your friends anyway!”
David forced his hands behind his back, where he clasped them together. He closed his eyes and made himself take long, deep breaths. After a minute, he stopped shaking. If the gateway really had only been available for a few minutes and opening to China, it wouldn’t have done him much good. He still had his wallet and money and cell phone, but his money would be useless in China, he didn’t know if his cell phone would still get reception on Earth since he hadn’t used it in so long, and even his driver’s license might be useless. He’d been gone for nine months. He’d probably been declared deceased. And he didn’t want just to call John, he wanted to see him, talk to him.
He slowly sat back down. Brigid’s shoulders relaxed, and conversation started again as people looked away from them. “You’re right,” he said, slumping in his seat. “I’m sorry. I just…” He rubbed at his eyes, which stung. “I miss John.”
“I know you do,” Brigid said, clasping his hand. “Being a traveler can be a terrible thing. When you need to talk about it, I’m here for you. Just because you’re happy here doesn’t mean you don’t ever miss your home. When you feel lonely, find me.”
David managed a smile. “Yeah.”
“I am sorry about the gateway,” she continued. “Even if it was on the other side of your world, I would have told you about it if I had more warning. The Passion Priests only saw it a day before it appeared. Next time a gateway to your Earth opens, I’ll let you know, no matter how inconvenient the gateway is. Alright?”