His aether flared when he touched the triangle, and the lines leading from the emblems lit up with blue fire. Jaw dropping, Gregory watched each of the icons blaze blue before part of the altar slid into itself with absolute silence. A small cubby was revealed and Gregory could see a glint of something inside. Reaching in, he pulled the item out.
“Is something wrong?” Baltur asked.
“Uh, no, sir!” Gregory said quickly as he stuffed the item into his bag and opened the chest up. “I was distracted. I’m sorry.”
“Hmm, yes. Do you have the forms?”
“I’m going to fill them out now, sir.” As he shut the chest, Gregory was surprised to find the cubby closed again.
“Very well. You are sure this is what you want, Bean?”
“It is, sir,” Jenn replied.
“It is very unusual for apprentices to wed, much less for them to have multiple wives. You must be quite powerful, Pettit.”
“I’m equal to them, sir.”
“Interesting… You don’t come from a powerful family, as I’ve never heard of your surname. You don’t see yourself as powerful, and are in a clan that is all but gone, yet there are two women here that love you enough to share you?”
“I was surprised by it myself,” Gregory commented as he finished filling out the papers. “I have the forms done, sir.”
“Very well. Take her hand please,” Baltur said.
Gregory handed the papers to Yukiko and moved around to take Jenn’s hands in his.
Baltur went to the side of the room and picked up a pair of cups and a bottle. Going back to the altar, he set the cups down and poured a measure into each, then slid the two cups before him.
“This small ceremony is in sight of Aether, being in one of his old temples,” Baltur said. “Two magi come together and wish to tie their lives together. Aether and Vera would smile upon this union, as your love is obvious even to an old blind man.”
Gregory and Jenn blushed slightly, but were looking at each other as Baltur spoke.
“You met because of Aether, and wed in his house. Let this drink be to him in thanks for his flame tying you together.”
Gregory and Jenn picked up the cups and drank, then exchanged them with each other to finish.
Baltur smiled and poured into the cups again. “The second drink is in thanks to your ancestors. It is because of them that this love can bloom today.”
Again, they drank from their cup, and then the other’s.
“The third drink,” Baltur went on, pouring again once they placed the cups back onto the altar, “is to each other. You wish to join your hearts together, and this pledges just that.”
Gregory and Jenn stared deeply into each other’s eyes as they drank for the last time.
The moment the cups were set down, Baltur spoke again, “You are now wed in the eyes of the gods, your ancestors, and your fellow wife. Once you turn the forms in, it’ll also be in the eyes of the empire.”
Yukiko let out a happy sound and rushed over to hug them both. Gregory and Jenn were also smiling as they held each other and Yukiko.
Baltur gave them a moment before clearing his throat. “Was there anything else I can do for you?”
“No, sir. Thank you,” Gregory said as he let go of his wives and bowed to Baltur.
“Thank you,” Jenn and Yukiko echoed.
“Go enjoy your day, for you have reason to celebrate.”
“Thank you, Grandmaster,” they each said before they left the temple.
As they walked a little way down the street, Gregory pulled the item from the altar out of his bag. The sun gleamed off the white metal of the medallion. The design etched into the metal was simple— a simple burning flame. The flame was solid ryuite that went all the way through the medallion.
“Mythrum and ryuite?” Yukiko half-asked in a whisper. “That is worth a fortune.”
“Is it enchanted?” Jenn asked.
Gregory swallowed, as he could feel the power in it. “Yes. It prickles my hand just holding it.”
“Mythrum is for holding aether,” Yukiko said. “That could hold much more than my earrings. I’m not sure what ryuite does, though.”
“Is it from the Eternal Flame?” Jenn asked. “The flame imagery is what they normally use.”
“No…” Gregory said softly. The medallion felt old, but also familiar, to him. “This doesn’t belong to the Eternal Flame. This is much older.”
Yukiko’s gaze jerked from it to Gregory. “It was yours? The ryuite of the Blade glowed for you.”
“I think it was… I touched the emblem on the altar and this came out of a cubby there. I pocketed it when Baltur asked if everything was okay. I had a feeling that telling him about the cubby would be bad.”
“You think it was tied to you?”
“It has to be. I’m sure other magi have touched the symbol before.”
“Which means the rock in the park was likely you, too,” Yukiko nodded slowly, “or someone close to you.”
“Baltur did say the temple had been here since before the town,” Gregory said.
“We should keep it secret,” Yukiko said. “Put it away, Greg. We can decide what to do with it later. We need to take the forms to the registrar.”
“Yes,” Jenn said quickly.
Gregory put the medallion into his pouch. “We’ll have to talk about it later. It makes me wonder what other temples might hold.”
“There is that,” Yukiko agreed, “but later. Today is Jenn’s day.”
Jenn smiled. “Thank you, Yuki.”
“After we drop it off, are we going to look through the shops and see if we can find something for Elsa and the others?” Gregory asked.
“Yes,” Jenn nodded. “I want to find them all something nice. Today will be like our day off at the academy.”
“Let’s go, then,” Gregory said.
~*~*~
The registrar didn’t comment as they took the marriage form and the vela required to have their marriage registered. Leaving the city building, they saw a guard standing outside. It was the first one they’d seen since being in Waterrock.
“Excuse me?” Gregory called out to the man in armor.
“Can I help you?” the guard asked with a put-upon look.
Gregory was surprised at his attitude, but pushed past it. “We were looking for a place to buy trinkets for children. Where would you suggest?”
Seeing their kimonos, the guard’s attitude changed. “Magi, I’m sorry. It depends on the children, but the market square is probably your best bet, unless you want custom-made items.”
“We’ll check there,” Gregory said.
“Magi, I hope you find what you seek. The square is down that way.”
“Thank you,” Gregory said.
It was only a few streets over to the market square. Stalls were set up, and the merchants were calling out to people who were browsing the items on display, but the majority had nothing they were interested in. They moved over to a stall with wood carvings on display.
The older woman sitting there gave them a bow of her head. “Magi, how might I help you?”
“We’re looking for things for some children we know,” Jenn said.
“Ah. Do they like wood carvings?”
“We aren’t sure, actually,” Yukiko said, “but you’re one of the few vendors who might have something suitable.”
Gregory picked up a wooden magi in a kimono, seated on a bench. “Do you have more like this one? Magi, I mean? And how much for this one?”
The woodworker pursed her lips before she stood up and looked over her table. She swiftly had another dozen magi set down in front of Gregory. Seven of them depicted men, and all thirteen pieces were in different poses, from meditative to weapon out and poised to attack. “Five vela each, magi.”
“These will work,” Gregory said. “I’ll take all of them, please.”
“There are seven with Elsa, Greg,” Yukiko said. “There aren’t enough for two each.”
“I could carve another in a day or two,” the woman said.
“That would be nice,” Jenn said. “Can you make it a woman to balance these, please?”
“Of course, magi.”
“We’re staying at Aether’s Rest,” Yukiko said. “If you could have it delivered for us?”
“Yes, magi,” the woman said.
Gregory pulled out eighty vela and placed it on the table. “For all of these, plus the extra, and having it delivered.”
“Thank you, magi,” the woman said, bowing her head and collecting the coin. “May Aether bless you.”
“May the Traveler watch over you,” Yukiko replied.
The three of them gathered up their carvings and headed back to the inn.
~*~*~
Entering the inn, they found Dia with a false smile on her face and Magus Yang seated at the table with her. Her eyes went to them and she gave them a questioning look.
“Excuse us, Magus,” Yukiko said, coming over to the table, “we have some questions we need to ask our senior. Is it okay to take her from you?”
Yang’s lips puffed out briefly before he rose to his feet. “Of course. She has her duty to help guide you, and I should be going to check on some business dealings.” He turned his attention back to Dia. “A pleasure, as always. I shall come back tomorrow so we might continue our conversation.”
“Of course,” Dia replied. “I shall look forward to it.”
Once he was gone, Dia exhaled and gave Yukiko a grateful smile. “What can I answer for you?”
“Would you like him to leave?” Yukiko asked with a small grin.
Dia laughed softly. “Yes. It is most appreciated. Did you complete everything that you wanted done today?”
“We did,” Jenn beamed.
“We even got gifts for the children,” Gregory added.
“I’ll let Brown know to make something special— and safe— for dinner tonight,” Dia said. “A celebration for the wonderful event.”
“Thank you, Dia,” Jenn said.
“What are your plans until this evening?” Dia asked.
“Empire’s Gambit?” Yukiko asked the other two.
“The game is almost over,” Gregory agreed. “It would be good to finish. It might give us time for one more.”
“We are leaving in three days,” Dia told them. “We won’t be using the enchanted carriages for the return.”
“Not enough for another game,” Gregory said, sighing. “I hope I win this one, or I will have lost all of them.”
“But you’ve been competitive in all of them,” Yukiko said.
“I’ll see you for dinner,” Dia said, standing up. “Enjoy your game.”
With Dia gone, they went upstairs and put the carvings away, then moved Jenn’s things over to the other room. When that was done, they went down to finish their game.
~*~*~
Gregory smiled broadly. “I win!”
“Indeed, dear one,” Yukiko nodded. “That was a good ploy at the end. I hadn’t expected the light cavalry, nor it being combined with a charge.”
“Right when you were taking me out,” Jenn chuckled. “I thought that flank was secure, too. It was a brilliant combination, Greg. You were going to use them as skirmishers if that hadn’t come up, weren’t you?”
“They were going to raid your supply lines until my next unit could be brought in.” Gregory flipped over his last facedown card, showing them an Iron Hand magi. “The bonuses from him would have increased my morale to the point that I wouldn’t have had to worry about my conscripts breaking.”
“I had a fire magi coming up. I was going to use him to devastate your conscripts,” Yukiko sighed.
“I had a shadow magi, but he was turns away,” Jenn shrugged. “I was going to assassinate your commanders.”
“That would have broken my conscripts and gutted my soldiers,” Gregory said.
“I didn’t get the chance,” Jenn said, “and that is what this teaches us— war is fluid, and even your best plans might come to nothing. I should have played the turtle defense card three turns ago. It would have given me a chance to survive Yukiko’s attack, at least.”
“Let’s put everything away,” Yukiko said.
It took them a while to get everything cleaned up and get the table covered again.
“We have a few hours before dinner,” Yukiko said softly. “I was thinking, Greg… you should take our wife back to the room and enjoy some time alone.”
Gregory blinked and looked at Yukiko, who was smiling at him. His gaze shifted to Jenn, who was turning red as the implication of what Yukiko was suggesting registered.
“Jenn?” Gregory asked softly. “There’s no rush, but if you’d like—?”
“Yes.” The word was barely audible, and Jenn wasn’t looking at him as she shifted in place.
Gregory looked back at Yukiko, who gave him a soft smile.
“I’ll meditate and have some tea. I’ll let you know when it’s time to bathe,” Yukiko told him.
“Okay,” Gregory said slowly, searching but not seeing any distress in Yukiko’s face. “Upstairs, it is.”
Jenn followed Gregory, her face flushed and her breath coming a little faster with each step.
