Midnight Quest (46 page)

Rialt didn’t follow the same plan as his bride entirely. He
did
worry quite a bit about the security issues involved. But the local police force lent a few men to augment the armsmen, and once they were all briefed and placed to his satisfaction, he didn’t have anything else to worry about.

Actually, he confided to Sarvell out of the women’s hearing that, “I do no care about flowers or ribbons or whatnot. As long as I be married to the lass at the end of the day, all be well.”

Rialt exercised wisdom in saying that only to Sarvell. The women surely would have bent his ear if they’d heard him, after all of the work they’d done on
his
behalf.

The ceremony started at noon, in the hastily decorated main ball room of the resort. Someone had apparently decided that white and red were the appropriate colors for this occasion, as white fabric and red flowers were all over the place. Every important official (and a few unimportant ones) were in attendance, standing on either side of the red runway carpet leading to the front of the room. Apparently custom in Jordia called for the bride to take the hands of the guests nearest to her, to give them a chance to wish her well. Sarvell was just as glad this custom existed—it was the perfect way to guide Jewel silently in the direction she needed to go, as every guest pulled her toward the front of the room.

Sarvell took her as far as the doors, standing sentinel with Chizeld as Jewel extended her hands and gripped the first person to reach out to her. He watched her carefully, in case she needed his help, but it seemed the guests were being careful to not overwhelm her.

Watching her, he felt a brief tug of envy. She truly looked beautiful today with her hair properly curled and done up, the elaborate white dress tailored to suit her, and that flush of excitement in her cheeks. Rialt, judging from that silly grin on his face, knew what a lucky sap he was.

It took longer than planned for Jewel to make it to the front of the room, where Rialt and Alexandra stood waiting.
Everyone
wanted to wish the bride well. But she finally arrived, a little breathless. Rialt calmly took her hand and guided her the last few steps to stand at his side. Alexandra recited the marriage oaths in a clear, strong voice that he could hear even at the back of the room. The couple responded and promised to keep the oaths spoken that day, exchanging marriage bracelets without fumbling.

Sarvell breathed a sigh of relief. Good, nothing untoward had happened. Now they could go to the banquet and—

CRACK!

Juven, in all of her angry glory, appeared from thin air with the most outraged expression on her face.

“Rialt Axheimer! I’ll have words with you!”

Rialt heaved a year’s worth of sighs. “Juven, can it no wait?”

“
No,
it ca no!” she snapped back at a volume loud enough to shake the building. “I do no say more than a word of protest when you raced off to the rescue on my sister’s beckoning. I did no say a word at all when you swore oath to this lass even though you had no business doing that, either! But
marrying her
? Ya eijit, have ya taken leave of the senses I gave ya?!”

And they had been doing so well… Sarvell winced at the potential fall out over
this.
He anxiously looked at Rialt, but the man just seemed resigned at this point more than anything. Jewel…why under heaven was she smiling?

Jewel patted her new husband’s arm and said brightly, “Why don’t you speak with your goddess for a moment, husband mine. I’ll deal with the guests, alright?”

Rialt turned to give her the most betrayed expression that a man had ever done. Jewel, (purposefully) oblivious to his discomfort, released him and waved both hands toward the room in general. “Everyone, let’s go enjoy the magnificent banquet that’s been laid out for us, alright?”

As
no one
wanted to stay in the same room with an angry goddess, they pretty much saw her point almost instantly and started to quickly walk for the doors. Jewel whistled for Bort, following along with the crowd as soon as the dog reached her side.

“Wifey,” Rialt protested in a near whine, “do no leave me on my own!”

“Your goddess, not mine!” Jewel called back cheerfully, not even turning her head.

“Eh, there’s truth,” Juven growled in a threatening tone. “And I’d like to know, I would, why ya’d no tell me about this wedding afore ya exchanged vows! Before Elahandra’s priestess no less!”

Sarvell waited until Jewel had safely passed him, gaining the relative safety of the hall, before waving at Rialt and silently wishing him luck. The man would need it.

~*~*~*~

Sarvell lifted the cup to his hands and took another slow sip of tea. He and Chizeld had retreated to this room on the main floor of the resort at the end of the dinner. The newly married couple had been escorted an hour earlier to their honeymoon suite with all of the expected teasing, the guests had retreated to their own beds, and silence had finally descended.

Chizeld had suggested quietly that he and Sarvell keep watch for them on this night. Sarvell had to agree with his caution—if
he
were a Daath assassin, this would be the perfect night to attack. What with the flowing wine and the overindulgence of food, most of the guests couldn’t be alert and vigilant if their lives depended on it. Normally Sarvell still wouldn’t worry as Rialt was a light sleeper. But, well…he was willing to bet that attack and defense were not on the top of the other armsman’s mind just then.

Being true friends, he and Chizeld would take turns standing watch so that the couple could have at least one night together that was not stained by worry.

Chizeld leaned forward in his seat and poured himself a fresh cup of tea. To Sarvell, the other man looked a little tired, lines of fatigue etched around his eyes and mouth. Then again, out of the three of them, he had been doing the most work recently. Everyone had been heavily drawing upon his knowledge as a historian ever since they had arrived in Jordia. Traveling back to Veris would no doubt seem restful compared to their stay here.

Chizeld had volunteered to take the first watch, so Sarvell really needed to go to bed and get some sleep, but he felt like staying up a little longer. “So how does it feel to make history instead of reading about it?”

Chizeld flashed him a quick smile before admitting, “Tiring. Reading history is much easier.”

“It seemed like you were being pulled every direction the past several days.”

“Felt like it, too.” Chizeld sat back and inhaled half of the cup’s contents before speaking again. “Been meaning to ask: never felt the urge to swear loyalty to Jewel?”

“I’ve been tempted once or twice,” he admitted. “Especially at first, when I thought she would be forced to return to Thornock. But it’s different now that she’s returning to Ramath. I can’t imagine a safer place for her. No one would dare harm a hair on her head there.” He paused long enough to return the cup to its saucer before continuing, “I’m not the type to be a good armsman anyway. Too restless. If I stay in one place for more than a month, I go stir crazy.”

“Ahhh. In that case, being a merchant is the perfect job.”

“For me, it is.” As long as they were touching on the more personal questions, he might as well ask… “I’ve always wondered, why did you re-swear your oath to Jewel when you were already sworn into the Order?  Why not just keep your previous oath?”

“Wanted to protect the one woman gutsy enough to face down Belthain’s toadies,” he said frankly. “Wasn’t able to do much in the beginning, though.”

“Well, no. But it was because of that oath Jewel was so readily able to trust you from the beginning.”

Chizeld turned to him in surprise. “Was that the reason?”

“That’s what she told me.”

“Wondered about that.” He let out a thoughtful hum as he settled back in his chair.

A companionable silence descended. Sarvell’s mind roamed free, not particularly focused on anything. The fire crackled and popped from the fireplace nearby, and the darkness of the night seemed to be encroaching into the room at a steady pace. He might well need to see his bed soon.

“Poor Rialt,” Chizeld idly commented with an evil smile of enjoyment on his face. “There are apparently cons to being a goddess’s favorite.”

Rialt had been rubbing at his temples when he’d finally joined them at the banquet an hour later. Sarvell had frankly been half-surprised that he’d managed to get away without being scalped, considering the mood Juven was in. “I have to wonder how he appeased her. Or perhaps she felt better after chewing him down and he managed to escape?”

“Last option seems the most plausible.”

“True.” The last time Juven had descended in a fury like that, Rialt hadn’t even tried to say something placating. If he kept pulling stunts like that, Juven would eventually lose all patience and start chucking lightning bolts at him.

Sarvell would hopefully be well out of range before that happened.

“Need to go sleep,” Chizeld ordered with a shooing motion.

The man had a point—if he were to truly stand watch in four hours, then he needed to get at least some sleep. “Then I’ll say good night.”

Chapter Thirty-two

Jewel gripped the saddle horn with one hand for balance. The slight chill of the air stung her cheeks and lungs as she took in a breath. They weren’t leaving at dawn, but it almost felt that way with the hasty breakfast and the quick departure. As they rode out of the inn yard, she complained to her new husband, “It doesn’t feel like we had a three week honeymoon! It felt like three days.”

Rialt chuckled and hugged her hard for a long moment around the waist. “I know, wifey, I know. Time speeds past when we be having a bit of fun.”

That
was an understatement. They had spent those three weeks at the resort, and some of the hot springs that the area boasted, and Jewel had frankly never had so much fun. Most women, after the first few days of marriage, would be worried about setting up the house and settling in to their new role as a wife. Jewel couldn’t do a thing about any of that until they returned to Ramath, so she had just enjoyed being with Rialt.

It had not escaped her notice that Chizeld and Sarvell had quietly stepped in and guarded the two of them so they could have that time. It was a wedding present to them and Jewel appreciated it beyond words.

She really had no room to complain. Almost two months had passed since they had left Veris, and it had simply come time to return. When most people were handed a task from the gods they didn’t get to stop and have a honeymoon. Granted, the logistics of freeing the Veris crystal had in part granted them that window of opportunity, but still…

Now that she had returned to the road, Jewel could feel her mind being drawn back to the work and timelines that she had set aside. By the time they reached Veris, two and a half months would have passed since she’d taken on the task to re-position the lost crystals. At the time, she had estimated that the barrier would last for another six months, but that was only a guess. If any significant body of people—like an army—consistently battered against the barrier, it would gradually lose strength. She couldn’t imagine that the Daath had simply sat still and waited, not while seeing how weak the barrier had become.

Rialt curled around her just enough to put his head near hers. “You be tensing up,” he murmured to her. “What be wrong?”

“I don’t know how the crystal in Thornock is faring,” she admitted frankly. Her head, unconsciously, turned upwards to face the sky. “The barrier above us is so weak that I can barely feel it’s there. I’m not sure if we can get all of the crystals in place and re-dedicated before the barrier fails completely.”

“You said the dedication only takes a day. It can no make that much difference.”

“The dedication takes a day,” she agreed, chewing at her bottom lip. “But the
preparation
for it will take more than that. The crystal has to be covered from top to bottom with paper lanterns that will burn all day. Do you know how
many
that will take?”

“No idea.”

“Me neither,” she grumbled. “Hundreds, if not thousands, will be needed to cover a crystal of that size. That takes time to gather and more time to put into place. That doesn’t even account for how long it will take to light all of the lanterns! If the dedication can be organized in less than three days, I’ll eat my boots.”

“Do no make that bet,” her husband scolded cheerfully. “Boots are bad for the stomach.”

She paused, thinking about that warning for a long second. “Do I want to know how you know this…?”

“Belike no.”

It sounded like he really
had
eaten boots at one point…no. He was right. She probably didn’t want to know.

“But time be no as tight as you think,” Rialt continued as if he hadn’t just made her mind grind to a halt. “Chantel had already started preparing for the dedication afore we left. So had Alexandra and Clari. I can no imagine that the High Priestess of Thornock would no think to prepare in advance.”

Jewel waved this away. “I’m not worried about them! I’m worried about
our
crystal. We’re going to be the last to arrive home. In fact, it’ll take us at least three weeks to travel back to Denzbane, won’t it?”

“Eh, roughly that. But Chizeld’s a step ahead of you, wife.”

“Eh?” she turned toward her left, raising her voice a little to carry over the din of hoof beats and city sounds. “Chizeld?”

“Yes?”

“Did you do anything to prepare for the Ramath’s crystal dedication?”

“Of course!” he sounded surprised just by the question. “Silly to give directions on how to build a new shrine without sending along instructions for dedication too. Broeske Axheimer should have everything prepared well in advance.”

Jewel felt like kissing the man. He had indeed thought things through. “Chizeld, what
did
I do to deserve you?”

“Some grievous sin,” he responded dryly. “But don’t worry. Enough years of service will make up for it.”