by L Ward
Nobles were arriving in a flurry of carriages; foreign ambassadors, lords and ladies of the court, alchemists and holy persons from around the country. Evan was stunned into silence, their footsteps echoed on the waxy floor.
The King stood in the center of the church, bathed in moonlight and surveying his guests.
Nath led him to the northernmost point of the circle, formed by all the other guests. When everyone was stationed, the King moved between his son and wife. He raised a palm and sweet, heavenly music filled the room. Evan felt lighter, more relaxed.
“On the most sacred and beautiful night of the year, we give thanks to the gods for their protection, not only for the souls present on earth tonight, but the souls departed to the afterlife. We give thanks to those who sacrificed their lives, worldly possessions, and their well-being to protect and nurture others,” his deep voice boomed. “It’s in this mass we bring all souls together for one fated night.”
The Queen rose, she was tiny but her presence was dwarfing. “Erik Joseph Keenly, Rank 4 Officer of the King’s Guard. John Beadleman, Rank 4 Officer. Alina Rosford, Rank 3 Officer, Omar Abidi-Yates, Rank 3 Officer. Bernadette Linnman, Rank 4 Officer and Ernest Mann, Rank 3 Officer. The brave soldiers killed in the Dead Country Border disturbance,” she recited, face a mask of regality. “We remember you all, your service was invaluable and the price you paid to protect your country and fellow officers will never be forgotten.”
One by one guests came forward reciting names and prayers for souls long gone.
“This part is my favourite,” whispered Nath, “it only happens once a year. Brace yourself.”
Evan watched with vibrant curiosity as everyone around the room joined hands in unity.
Will was opposite holding hands with his mother and elder sister Frances. He stared at Evan with a puke-green mix of disbelief and hatred.
Evan ignored him and joined hands with Lady Cascade. The second his fingers touched Nath’s a spark shot through the circle and the church plunged into darkness. Silence descended; Evan couldn’t see a thing. Death could be staring him in the eye, and he wouldn’t know it.
Nath squeezed his fingers.
He was about to ask what was happening when he felt it, a sudden crackle of heat cut through his body igniting every cell. Magic roared in his ears and he almost choked hanging onto Nath with an embarrassingly sweaty grip. And just like that, sunlight spilled into the room, radiating from the King and Queen.
Nath had explained how his mother, a pyromancer by birth, received blessings from the gods when she married Elijah which gave her the ability to harness sunlight in a way ordinary pyromancers couldn’t. Elijah was a true solarmancer by birth, anointed and blessed by god of Solaris.
Evan turned and was blinded by the brilliant light of Lunara blazing from Nath’s skin, he was pearl-pale and shimmering like a fallen angel.
Around the room guests began to blaze, bubble or float. The air hummed with a thousand magical songs until their teeth chattered and heads filled with cotton. It felt as though the air was being ripped from Evan’s lungs.
Opposite, flames danced over Will’s body, his eyes a deadly shade of crimson. His father burned beside him; his mother and sister trapped inside vortexes of their own reckoning.
Evan’s focus was dying, the tendrils of mist swirling around Lady Cascade faded until he could no longer hear the choir of magic, or taste the power rising up his throat. He tilted his gaze upward, the waxing gibbous was a monument of the gods. He’d never seen so many stars! They bloomed across the heavens and filled the church like fireflies. It was all getting far too loud and far too bright. Evan’s bones were vibrating and his teeth chattering so loudly he was certain they’d shatter. His vision vanished in a blaze of light, the rush of magic pierced the domed ceiling and ignited the sky in a brilliant burst of gold. Everyone turned their gazes to the splitting heavens, erupting in a volcano of colour.
Applause rang out.
Evan was transcendent for a moment, and then he fainted.
He came to seconds later, not on the cool, golden-orange floor, but in Nath’s arms. His body felt light as a daydream. “I warned you I’d embarrass you,” he said, daring a grin.
Nath helped him to his feet and the room turned to him, faces masks of horror.
The silence was deafening to the point Evan nearly screamed just to break it.
“Bless you!” cried an elderly Solarian monk who threw himself at his feet, hands raised in a saviour’s salute. “The gods shine on you, young man!”
A small procession of monks and nuns hurried forward sobbing their praises and offering their blessings.
“What happened?” Evan asked, fear slashing up his back streaking him red and poisoning him with anxiety.
“You awakened your powers fully. I should have warned you this could happen, but I didn’t think it would overload you,” Nath replied. “The gods blessed you.”
“It felt…” he swallowed tasting gold dust and spent magic. “I didn’t know I had that much magic in me.”
Nath’s smile twinkled the stars; more had appeared just to look at him. He was a lunarmancer, after all. “I told you you’re special.”
Evan opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by several nobles wanting to shake his hand or question him about his powers.
“Have you always known about your gifts?” asked Sandeep Bashir, the warlock ambassador of Nepal, flourishing a tiny bronze hand from beneath technicolour bell sleeves.
“Yes,” said Evan, the warlock’s fingers were papery and reminded him of biblical texts and leathery spines.
His lips twitched in a smirk, eyes glittering like midnight onyx. “If you’re ever looking for extremely well-paid work in an Indian paradise then I’m certain we can work this out,” he said, smile barely touching his lips.
Evan returned it politely and allowed Nath to guide him through the curious guests and clergymen out into the night air.
Owls hooted, an old monk tooted, and Evan was high as balls.
“Is this what it felt like the first time you came?”
Nath snorted loudly, doubling up with laughter.
Evan turned to him, cheeks blossoming. “I meant here. The first time you came here.”
Nath’s pupils were endless caverns; droplets of silver fell from his fingertips hitting the ground and winking out of existence. “Yes,” he said, “feels amazing, doesn’t it?”
A snort behind announced Will’s presence.
“I’d say your sister felt amazing, but next time I’ll stick my dick in a dragon’s ass,” he barged past Evan, eyes a darker shade of murder. Something flickered in his bottomless pupils but it was gone as quickly as it came. Will hopped into a lone carriage, slammed the door and gestured for the driver to leave.
Evan’s mood wouldn’t be dampened by that bag of crap. He was the luckiest guy in the world right now and Will was nothing short of envious. “Bringing me here was as good as announcing the betrothal, wasn’t it?” he asked, turning to Nath with a sparkling smile.
“Yeah, and that’s why he left,” said Nath, intertwining their fingers. “He was there when I told them I want you.”
“Your Majesty, I was wondering if I could have a quick word—” a stout little wizard with a slick, peppered crew cut and a bad pencil moustache that looked drawn on mumbled up behind them as Elijah appeared at Nath’s side. The little man’s beady eyes darted to Evan and back to the King.
Elijah raised a large palm, “he isn’t now, nor will he ever be up for auction.”
Stout man walked away.
Evan released a breath he’d held since birth. The air was glistening and he could feel the magic surging through the forest. The Mass of the Gods wasn’t just a spiritual experience, it was deeply magical and the amplified power would seep into the earth for the year to come. Subjects all over the country would brave the cold to watch the sky light up as though the sun had risen at midnight, the beautiful trails of coloured smoke st
reaking the horizon and millions of stars speckling the expanse
“I was accosted the second you stepped out the door,” Elijah’s chuckle was low and gritty. “Everyone present felt your magic.” He watched Evan with guarded curiosity. “It was remarkable.”
Evan’s colour rose higher than Heaven. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Nath slipped an arm around his waist leading him into a sparkling carriage of diamonds drawn by two enormous pitch-black horses with blazing red eyes.
“Whisking me away before anyone else makes a bid?” he raised his eyebrows.
“You’re all mine,” said Nath, smiling. “Besides, I’ve a full week planned for us. We’re going to need sleep."
Chapter 30
Evan thought he knew everything about the beauty of the season until he woke on Christmas morning in Nath's gigantic bed, twined with tinsel, and hugging the most beautiful guy in the world. “Watching me sleep?”
“It’s impossible not to, you’re mesmerising,” said Nath. He pushed back the covers and got up wearing nothing but a smile
Evan was on the verge of laughter. “No-one’s ever called me mesmerising before,” he said.
“Perhaps they were too mesmerised to say it.” Nath grabbed their boxers before heading into the parlour.
A blizzard raged and it was impossible to see anything but white through the windows. Childish excitement belted Evan’s stomach when Nath pushed him into a huge pile of presents. He instantly recognised the traditional lumpy parcels from home with his mum’s glittery tape and the giant stick-on bows Kalani bought. They were flanked by dozens of parcels wrapped perfectly by Santa’s elves; sleek and knotted with scarlet ribbons.
“How did these get here?” he asked, fingering a tag from Ian. Some of these he’d stuffed in his wardrobe two days ago.
“Magic,” said Nath, dropping to ransack his own pile. Evan took it as a green light tear into the gifts like a pair of hyenas.
Presents from family filled Evan with warmth and amusement but the main gift from Nath topped them all. His hands shook as he held the gold velvet box and cracked it; a thin silver band with a square diamond embedded in the center winked back.
“It’s platinum, and I personally selected the diamond,” said Nath after many moments of open-mouthed silence. “Do you like it?”
Evan’s heart would surely burst if it didn’t stop swelling. He kissed Nath making him drop the candy cane home-knitted socks from Elise.
“I love it,” he beamed as Nath slipped it on his finger. “Doesn’t accepting this give you an answer before the Seven Days are up?”
Nath grinned, eyes twinkling. “It’s part of tradition and marks you as my betrothed,” he said, “it’s also Christmas and I wanted to give you something special.”
“You’ve given me plenty of special things,” said Evan.
The Prince gazed thoughtfully at the tree. “You deserve special things. Elaborate gifts are part of royal life, you’ll receive gifts from foreign lands, so prepare yourself.”
Evan’s skin was glowing, he’d never felt such an immense blast of happiness. That’s what it was. Happiness; not pleasure, not spur-of-the-moment excitement that wore off when the novelty faded. He felt happiness in its purest form. “I love you,” he said.
Nath smiled and cupped the back of his neck in the way story book princes do and Evan went to pieces right there in a pile of Santa wrap and Christmas socks.
∞∞∞
“We do this every year,” said Nath, sweeping Evan along the gilded corridors to the snow-lit parlour where the royal family would host Christmas dinner.
Evan, sweating with anxiety, was regretting his choice of a bright blue snowman jumper as it stuck to his back with static.
They stopped outside the doors; music was humming inside. Somebody laughed.
Two large-and-in-charge female guards were posted outside, armed with cursed staffs and swords. They watched him with sharp, curious gazes that reminded Evan of childhood villains and hawk-eyed predators.
“You’ve had dinner with my parents before,” said Nath, turning and clasping both of his hands.
“They’re the most powerful people in the country, and, I hate to bring it up, but I'm still a commoner and they scare the shit out of me,” said Evan. “It’s not just them, though, is it?” What he really meant to say was, Will is going to be there and he makes me anxious as a bag of chihuahuas on crack.
Nath’s cheeks dimpled. “Nobody has the right to treat you any differently. As my betrothed, the only people who could say anything are my parents and me, but that’s not going to happen. In fact, Mum thinks highly of you,” he said.
Relief swarmed Evan but it wasn’t enough to calm the churning in his stomach. He smiled, holding Nath’s hand as they walked into the festivities. Better to dive in, he supposed.
“There you are!” Elijah boomed. There were more people gathered than he expected. “I told you he’d wear one again,” he gestured to Evan’s jumper, and then to the crimson Santa Clause jumper he was wearing.
Evan’s cheeks bloomed like the poinsettias lining the windows and he burst into nervous laughter.
Will was seething beside his mother.
“Come and get a drink,” Elijah beckoned them over.
“Merry Christmas,” Nath went to kiss his mother in greeting.
Evan’s stomach twisted when Elijah patted his shoulder and passed him a flute of glittering champagne. Not sparkling, glittering. Elijah then launched into conversation with Gerard and his daughter Frances. He took the opportunity to sip his drink and sink beside Nath on the sofa.
Dinner was called over forty minutes later and Evan was grateful to take a seat at the extensive mahogany table draped in cloths of gold and lit by dozens of scarlet candles.
The Queen sat at the opposite end with Marianne Starstone and her daughter, while Gerard and Nath flanked the King. Frances seemed much nicer than her brother with her black hair cropped stylishly above her shoulders, a nose ring and huge chocolatey eyes.
“It feels good to be back home for a while. I’ve been on tour for the last six months with my band,” she said. “It’s exhausting, but worth it when you get to see so many places.”
“It sounds awesome,” said Evan.
“Yeah, but there’s no place like home,” she grinned and put down her wine glass. “Anyway, I hear you’re a bit of a doctor, can I ask what’s the craziest thing you’ve healed?”
Nath choked on his drink. “Me,” he said brandishing his weapons of mass erections.
Unfortunate as it was, Will sat opposite drinking a large glass of whiskey and staring at Evan like he was the bane of existence.
The main course arrived: a glazed, golden turkey presented on a silver platter studded with rubies. Servants rose dish after dish of winter vegetables; sauces, stuffing, Yorkshire pudding, potatoes of every kind dripping in butter, and, Evan’s favourite, pigs in blankets glazed with maple syrup.
The chink of a knife on crystal silenced the table. Elijah as rose, holding a glass of whiskey. “A toast to old friends,” he said, sweeping the Starstone clan, “and new,” he nodded to Evan. “We’ve a lot to be thankful for this year: health, the successful opening of the university, the economic boost with the foreign trade union, and my son finding his true love,” he continued. His beaming smile reminded Evan so much of Nath’s. “This year has also been difficult with the riots, the border control problems, and the werewolf attacks,” he said.
Evan glanced at Nath; he was staring solemnly at his plate. He remembered Nath's anguish when the news broke of the hunting party. The full moon looming in a matter of days had become a turmultuous nation wide concern. What if it happened again?
“But this doesn’t mean we should give up. No, a new year dawns and it’s time to stand up and fight the injustice to save our country, and our people,” said Elijah. “So, here’s to the New Year, a new start, and my first resolution is to put an end to this Dead Country nonsense,” he
downed his courage and sat with a flourish.
“Here, here!”
Evan raised his glass and drank. With alcohol swelling his balls, he held Will’s icy stare, reassuring himself he couldn’t do anything without repercussions. He flashed Will a brilliant smile and watched the disgust turn to confused hatred.
The succulent smell of turkey filled the chamber and it’s meat flashed like a pile of snow. Elijah looked every bit the king, carving it perfectly and passing the meat around the table to words of praise.
“The food is delicious,” said Evan, savouring every bite. The Christmas dinners he had at home were amazing, but this was cooked to perfection by the best chefs in the country.
“You say that every time you eat,” Nath chuckled.
“It never stops being delicious,” said Evan.
With a loud pop, Christmas crackers appeared all over the table; Evan crossed his arms, tugging one with Nath and the other with Frances. They exploded in turn with various noises from a screeching cat to a window-cracking fart, showering them in brightly coloured sparks and leaving a heavy smell of pudding in the air. He ended up in a blue paper hat; Nath a red. Everyone laughed at the ridiculous self-playing marbles and tap-dancing mice.
Desserts flew in: leaning towers of profiteroles, traditional British Christmas cake so boozy the fumes made Evan dizzy, tarts, pies, fat balls of ice cream, fruit-laden cheesecake and trifles topped with cream. By the time Evan was done eating he wondered if he could pop his trouser button under the table without anyone noticing.
“I’m going to be in the gym seven days a week for a month to work this off,” said Frances, laughing into her flute.