Reality's Plaything 5: The Infinity Annihilator
Page 74
Moving up the runway toward the main stage, he sang for her, doing his best to make her feel it through the song. When it came to a close he was breathing hard and needed to catch his breath. A murmuring went through the audience and some even clapped.
They stood only thirty paces apart now. They were only one song from finally being together. The King and Queen were smiling. Janai was grinning and Ryelle was applauding discretely.
The music changed and picked up tempo. Sarai moved side to side and sang. “My prince you’re with me in spirit wherever I go. To the ends of the Eternity and all points high and low. Each night I wonder where you are, the unsettled wayward spirit. Ageless and timeless with ancient blood. Oh love, come to me and don’t lead me on…”
Rocking side to side he moved across the stage toward her singing the counter point. At the same time, Sarai started toward him. “Arminwen, you’re my inspiration, my foundation of strength. Love is my leader and binds me in my search for the truth. And yes it’s that truth that has me rushing out, I’m a fool and it’s honestly clear. I need to see your beautiful and luminous eyes. Princess, I need you as much as you think you need me. Come to the wood tonight and well fly to your dreams. And we’ll…”
Now only ten paces apart they sang together. “Sing for the day, Sing for the moment. Come for a bell, stay for a moment. Stay for the rest of your life…!”
They met at the middle of the stage, not quite touching, circling as they performed for each other and the audience. Seeing his love up close made the waiting and worrying worth it. Powders, jewels, and glamour made his already attractive princess into an exquisite sight that made his throat tight to see. Happiness made her glow as much as the sun and jewels.
He struggled to sing properly, he knew he was grinning like an idiot just reveling in being with her, being close enough to touch, close enough to look into her violet eyes and see her smile.
The song drew to a close and they joined hands. Through her thin lace gloves, he felt the warmth of her skin and felt her trembling. They pulled close as the audience applauded.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you,” she responded.
They turned and bowed to the King and Queen. Jhaan and his wife were applauding too, and Kalindinai looked pleased. He guessed the performance had been adequate so far. They turned back to the audience and bowed again.
He sighed. All he had to do was get through the next part. The rest required no talent, just a few memorized words that he and Sarai had rehearsed until he had been hearing the ceremony in his sleep.
The King and Queen must have wanted to give them a slight breather because the music for the maiden’s dance did not immediately start. Hands joined they stood looking out into the crowd. She squeezed his hand so tight it hurt.
Sarai leaned close. “Are you okay?” she whispered.
He leaned down so she could hear. “Fine,” he answered. With Sarai at his side, he could bear actually looking into the crowd searching for faces that they knew. The Kergatha family was easy to spot with Idun’s glowing gold hair acting like a beacon. Vanidaar, Euriel, Azir, and Idun were smiling up at them. Wren was not with them, she along with Gaea and others who were part of the ceremony would be watching from the raised galleries behind the stage. As the Queen promised, Bronawyn and her husband Caldorian had seats down in front. Mercedes, Octavia, and Wysteri the three healers sat together with them. He spotted Marna, Dominique, Dulcere, and Corim sitting together in another row.
There were so many people clothed in such bright colors that faces—even gold ones—were difficult to find. There looked to be at least a hundred in the first row alone, the rows getting wider as they got further from the stage, by the tenth row there were at least two hundred seats. With more than thirty rows plus pavilions and other seating, he didn’t really want to think about how many were really out there.
“Damn there’s a lot of people,” he whispered out the side of his mouth.
“A lot more than I expected,” Sarai returned, keeping a smile on her face.
Behind them the music started playing. The half a breath respite was over and Janai and Ryelle rose from their seats. He approached Janai while Sarai went to Ryelle.
Janai held out a set of jeweled pipes to him. These were far more elaborate than the ones that he had been practicing with up until now, and from the feel possessed strong magic as well. His sister-to-be leaned in close and touched his shoulder. “You’re doing great!” she encouraged.
He nodded in response and turned to face Sarai. Ryelle was stepping in to release the trailer on Sarai’s gown so she could do the maiden’s dance. When the eldest princess nodded to him he closed his eyes, drew a breath and raised the pipes to his lips. He tapped a beat and blew the opening note.
The sound startled him and made him flinch. It was far louder than he expected. The tune he was about to play fled from his mind. Startled, he stood there in front of that giant crowd like a salted fish, his brain emptied of thought.
Sarai thudded a hard heel on the wooden planking and clapped her gloved hands. He met her gaze.
That snapped him back to reality and he started again, keeping his gaze on his wife-to-be. The music of the pipes made the stage and the rock behind tremble, the sound easily able to reach outside the glade. Once into the tune it was far easier, he played for Sarai and she danced for him, bouncing, turning and pirouetting. As he played, he swayed and moved in a slow rhythm. He once played for the royal ladies of his family-to-be. This time it was all for Sarai. He summoned up everything she meant to him and played for her.
Lost in the rise and fall of the melody, the song ended after what seemed a very short time. Sarai kneeled on the stage breathing hard looking out at the audience that was clapping and cheering.
He stepped forward and helped her up. Grinning, she slammed a power hug on him, and thumped his back. “Nice!” She laughed.
Together they bowed again. It struck him again how different this ceremony was from a commoner’s wedding which was simply a celebration of the union of two people. Here they were performing to entertain, to gain the approval and acceptance of the nobility who represented the most powerful and influential of their subjects. He guessed something had to be offered when you asked people who didn’t know you personally to follow your decisions.
He had worked and fought with King Jhaan and Queen Kalindinai. Both were honorable and fair-minded leaders who demonstrated strength, bravery, and the ability think tactically and strategically in the most adverse situations. He would follow either one into battle without a moment’s hesitation—in fact he had done exactly that several times. Now, the King and Queen wanted their subjects to accept him the same way they accepted them.
A half-dozen crossbow bolts fired at him had showed what some of the noble families thought of that. The thought of it made him sigh. There would always be some like Bertrand, the Queen’s brother, who would irrationally hate those different than themselves. The biggest irony was that he wasn’t human. Would the fact that he was a savant turned ascendant make it worse or better?
He doubted that possibility would be broached. His true nature would probably just create a different group of haters. Even if he were an elf, there would be resistance. Either he would be not noble enough, as Queen Kalindinai had weathered, or he would be a part of or allied with the wrong family. Sarai had convinced him to not let it bother him. No matter who or what he was, someone would hate and or be jealous of him.
They turned and hand-in-hand proceeded to the stairs that would lead them to the next part of the ceremony. The King and Queen met them, Jhaan taking Sarai’s hand and Kalindinai taking his and leading them up the stairs to the next tier.
Kalindinai leaned close, giving his arm a firm hug. The Queen didn’t say anything, but her body language said she felt things were going well.
Laramis and the two princesses followed them
up to the next tier.
They were separated to stand several paces apart. The King stepped up on a raised dais between them. The Queen took up a position with Ryelle beside Sarai while Laramis and Janai stood with him as his seconds.
“Seekers,” King T’Evagduran intoned. “Part of noble marriage is the defense of blood; husband for wife and wife for husband. The mates must be willing to confront hardship for the sake of each other.”
Bannor glanced at Sarai and Sarai looked over at him at the same time. If there was one test they had passed, it was this one.
The King looked at Sarai. “Bride.” He looked to Bannor. “Groom.” He held his hands out toward both of them. “Your weapons.”
He unclipped the swords from his belt. Laramis took the Caan-sword and Janai the dan. His jaw dropped as Sarai produced a sword and dagger from the depths of her gown. He blinked. They weren’t full-sized, but more than enough for defense. Leave it to the thoroughness and inventiveness of elves to find a way to arm a bride dressed in a wedding gown without it even being visible!
The King looked between them. “Sarai T’Evagduran are you ready to seal your blood oath with Bannor Starfist?”
Sarai’s eyes were on him. “I am.”
“Bannor Starfist are you ready to seal your blood oath with Sarai T’Evagduran?”
He smiled. He felt a catch in his chest. “I am.”
“So be it,” the King said. “Let the maiden of swords come forth.”
From behind the stage drums thumped. In a few moments the audience began stirring and murmuring. Carrying a metallic case in her outstretched hands, Wren came up the steps into view in all her ascendant glory. The elven artisans had enhanced the Kel’varan’s already impressive appearance. Her golden hair stretched all the way to the floor, the strands dancing and twitching with elemental energy. She wore nothing more than a jeweled silver Malanian war-web over one of the black Kriar body-suits. The skin-close fit and color contrasts highlighting her already impressive physique.
People continued to murmur as she swayed across the stage toward the King’s podium.
Wren stopped at the King’s shoulder, glowing blue eyes smoldering with magical power. She smiled and tilted her head, nodding first to Bannor and then to Sarai. The crackling aura around her cast shadows on the dais and made the air hiss and dance. Shortly after Sarai chose to include Wren in the ceremony, Kalindinai decided to change her role. With the nobility continuing to cause trouble, the Queen had decided to use Wren to send a message. Today, the ascendant stood on the stage as much to intimidate as she did to impress and entertain. While most would assume the glow was merely an illusion, those with true magical power would know that display was not trickery. Wren represented real power, a strength that backed the King and supported this union.
“Maiden of swords,” the King said. “Are you ready?”
The blonde ascendant sighed. When she spoke it was the full resonant power of an immortal that could easily be heard throughout the glade. “I am prepared.”
Bannor felt the unease and fascination tremble through the audience. From Wren’s expression she was enjoying performing her role.
“Please proceed,” T’Evagduran requested.
Wren nodded and stepped forward off the dais into the space between Bannor and Sarai. She tossed the case into the air which exploded with a thunderous rush that made the audience jump. Two jeweled swords dropped out of the dissipating fireball into her hands.
She spun the blades and dropped a battle stance, tongues of lightning and flames dancing around the edges of the weapons. With a thunderous stomp that shook the stage she whirled into a combat dance the edges of the weapons trailing smoke and sparks.
The Queen, princesses, and Laramis all backed up several steps as Wren whirled into motion. She performed a sword ballet with amazing speed and skill. Bannor’s heart picked up tempo even though he knew what was coming. The ascendant was moving with a speed and power that would crush boulders and sever thick metal. He gritted his teeth as she circled Sarai blades passing within hairs of arms and legs. His wife-to-be held still. Several times the audience gasped as the G’Yakki trained woman performed acrobatic maneuvers, her blade passing perilously close to Sarai’s head and chest. After a long few moments, she whirled toward him. He swallowed and steeled himself. Despite however much he trusted the woman’s skill, it was tough not to flinch when a blade came hissing around so fast it appeared as nothing but a blur.
Sarai responded.
Wren thudded to a stop, blades crossed in front of her. She stared out into the audience, then turned to look at Sarai. She surveyed the princess with burning eyes for a moment before swinging her gaze to him.
“Bravery,” Wren rumbled in that voice that made the skin prickle. “It is more than taking your own life in hand. It is also having faith in your mate and their ability to guard their own life and yours.”
Wren spun one weapon and loomed over Sarai. “Maiden Sarai, are you ready to take up sword and oath to defend your One?”
Sarai raised her chin. “Yes.”
The ascendant knelt and held out a sword to Sarai that she took.
Wren turned to him, repeating the maneuver. “Master Bannor, are you ready to take up sword and oath to defend your One?”
“Yes,” he responded.
Wren held out the sword and he took it.
The ascendant stepped back to the space between them. “Maiden—Master—draw your blood so it can be mingled.”
The oath swords possessed phenomenal edges. It took barely a touch to open a cut on his palm. Sarai did the same.
“Join hands,” Wren directed.
They laced the fingers of their cut hands, pressing wound to wound.
Bannor stared into his love’s eyes, feeling her strength, feeling her determination.
“Repeat after me,” Wren said, taking their gripped hand in both of hers. “With this blood, I am bound.”
“With this blood, I am bound,” he repeated.
“With this blood, I am bound,” Sarai said with him.
“To cherish, honor, and defend my One for all my days.”
They both repeated the words.
A glow radiated from Wren making a tingling go through his arms. “So it was said, so it is witnessed. Rejoice and defend each other well!” Wren took her hands off theirs turned and held up their uninjured hands.
The audience applauded.
Wren bowed. She kissed each of them on the cheek. “That was fun,” she whispered. She nodded to the Queen and princesses, then turned and bowed to the King who returned the gesture.
With a toss of her glowing hair, Wren exited the way she came, the audience still murmuring in appreciation of her presentation.
With the blood rite completed, the King and Queen led them to the next stage. Hand-in-hand they topped the stairs and stepped onto the Tier of Solstices. Here they would don the vestments of nature and undergo the seasons ceremony.
The King and Queen went to thrones on either side of the stairs leading to Tier of Kindred. Laramis stood at the King’s side, while the two princesses took positions on either side of their mother.
A swarm of maids and stewards rushed in from the wings, taking away the oath swords, adjusting their clothing and helping them shoulder the heavy moss “vestments of nature”. As they prepared, grove-master Celerus, and her two seconds came down from the upper stage and stopped on the third stair.
The grove-master was a tall russet-haired lady elf with a greenish skin. With a rainbow of flowers woven into her hair and clothed in nothing but strands of colored beads, she had the exotic appearance one came to expect from wood priests. Her two male seconds dressed far more conservatively, in laminated bark-weave cuirasses embossed with unicorn sigil of the fore
st militia.
Dressed and prepared Bannor and Sarai joined hands and stepped forward to the feet of the priestess.
Celerus bowed to them and then raised her hands. “The ancient circle bids greeting on this auspicious day,” she said in dark syrupy voice. “Today the family of T’Evagduran grows by one. Will the petitioners accept the canon of the green alliance and guard the Wood Ways?”
“We will,” Bannor said together with Sarai.
The priestess raised her chin. “The land fosters us, nourishes us, and helps us grow strong and wise. It is the duty of all who partake of nature’s bounty to keep and protect our lands. Are you prepared to enter into this covenant?”
“We are,” they intoned together.
The priestess nodded and turned to the assistant on her right, and received two large thumb-sized red objects. “Petitioners, eat of the land.” She stepped forward.
Sarai sighed and opened her mouth. The priestess placed the object on Sarai’s tongue, Bannor realized it was a large berry of some kind. Sarai closed her mouth and began to chew. The priestess turned to him and he followed Sarai’s example. Celerus placed the heavy fruit on his tongue. He bit into it cautiously, not knowing what to expect.
Fortunately, the tart sweet fruit with the coppery aftertaste was not objectionable. After a few moments, he recognized the flavor—blood berry. He swayed a little and put a hand out to steady Sarai as the powerful juice took effect. Blinking through slightly blurry eyes, he watched the priestess turn to her other aide and take two metal vials from him. She handed one of each them. “Drink of the land.”
Sarai unstopped hers and drank it down without hesitation. After the berry, he hesitated a moment before complying. The liquid had the crystalline metallic taste of water from the high mountains. He sighed, finding the cool liquid more than welcome in his dry throat.
“Now accept these tokens as signs of the oath you will now take.” She turned to one of her aides who handed her a large intricate white blossom. This she pinned in Sarai’s hair. For him, she placed a braided circlet of blue titan’s reed over his brow.