Child Of A Guardian And Of The Free (Book 3) (29 page)

‘
It can’t be!’ Araas looked like he’d been hit by a brick.

‘
How is that possible?’ Timbul whispered, staring ahead with his head inclined in concentration.

‘
What?’ Kelian wondered why the guardians were both intrigued and amused.

‘
Someone please tell me I’m not crazy,’ Callian murmured.

‘
Why? What do you sense?’ Kelian was becoming frustrated with the lack of forthcoming information.

Callian
took a deep breath. ‘Baron Dale. I heard his thoughts, then he was gone and then back again for a moment, like someone was trying to hide his thoughts but wasn’t doing a very good job, or was falling asleep or something.’

Kelian
stared at Callian, barely believing what he was hearing. ‘Where is he?’

Callian
pointed. ‘He’s somewhere that way. Not far.’

‘
Let’s find him,’ ordered Kelian. ‘Maybe he knows more than we do about what’s going on around here.’

Callian
turned to lead him through the masses of jumbled rocks when he paused again.

‘
What now?’ Kelian asked, urgently wanting to find Dale and leave the docks behind.

‘
Eibhear!’ said Callian. ‘Just for a second...oh that’s not good. I think he’s hurt.’

‘
Move!’ Kelian urged.

They all scrambled after
Callian. The rocks became more difficult to negotiate with deep crevices and high jagged points. As they scrambled into a rugged depression an arrow shot past Callian’s head. The guardian ducked and gave a chuckle.

‘
Definitely Dale,’ he announced loudly. ‘If I hadn’t ducked it probably would have taken me fair in the eye.’ There was a scrambling sound and Dale’s astonished face appeared. He was speechless as he stood staring at Callian. His mouth dropped open as Kelian’s face appeared from behind Callian. ‘So, have you finished trying to dissuade our visit?’ said Callian, nodding towards the bow in Dale’s hand. Dale nodded wordlessly.

‘
How did you get here?’ he finally managed.

‘
It’s a long story,’ said Kelian. ‘Callian said he could sense Eibhear. ‘Is he hurt?’

‘
He is,’ said Dale gravely.

Callian
crawled past Dale and knelt beside Eibhear. ‘Ugh, this is a mess,’ he muttered. ‘I’ll need help.’ Milgorry crouched at his side. ‘Here. Press the sides of the wound together. Don’t let them move apart.’

‘
Just a moment,’ Dale said raising his hand. ‘We should clean the wound again. I had difficulty keeping it clean whilst trying to get him back into this cave. Have you got anything suitable?’

‘
No. Nothing,’ Callian admitted. ‘What did you clean it out with in the first place?’

‘
Salt water,’ said Dale grimly.

‘
Ow.’ Milgorry raised an eyebrow. ‘I’ll bet that made him yip.’

Dale shook his head and looked sadly at Eibhear.
‘He didn’t make a sound, except I could hear his teeth grinding together.’

‘
Would you just get on with it,’ Eibhear whispered wearily. ‘Just wash it out again if you have to, and let Callian at it.’

‘
So...what did you carry the water in?’ asked Borgulnay, looking around.

‘
I didn’t,’ said Dale. ‘I dragged him down to the edge of the water, washed out the wound and then dragged him back up here. That’s why I had so much trouble keeping the wound clean. It’s not good. There’s a rough path over there.’ He pointed towards the water.

‘
Fine,’ said Milgorry. He picked up Eibhear’s body and carried it down to the water. He was back within minutes. Eibhear was unconscious.

‘
Must have been too much pain,’ Dale observed.

‘
No.’ Milgorry shook his head. ‘I made him unconscious. He can stay that way until Callian’s finished with him.’

‘
Two minutes!’ Dale groaned. ‘That took you two minutes!’

‘
How long did it take
you
to get him down to the water?’ Gilgarry asked curiously.

‘
Two minutes of course,’ Dale lied, his face reddening. ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’

Ten minutes later the huge open wound on Eibhear
’s chest looked like a dark red, angry welt. Eibhear was still unconscious. Everyone sat together in quiet conversation.

‘
Kelian, I have a place we can go, but it’s a long walk,’ said Dale.

‘
You need to tell me how you got here.’

‘
I will, but we should leave this place immediately. Eibhear and I are definitely not welcome here.’

‘
I doubt they’ll be throwing any parties in our honor either,’ Kelian admitted. ‘Fine, you lead us out of here and we can exchange stories. It seems we may have some work to do here before we follow through with our original plans.

‘
What’s your plan?’

‘
They brought us here by ship. We’re planning to take it back to Castle,’ said Elena.

‘
That’s ironic.’ Dale smiled. ‘Stealing a ship was high on my list of objectives too. I was planning to go back to village and get some more information, but right now I just want to get Eibhear somewhere safe.’

Kelian
nodded. ‘But I still want a lot more information about what’s going on here before we leave.’

Over the next hours they discussed in great detail all that had happened from the moment Kelian had left Castle. He was saddened to hear of the loss of Charie,
grieved that Dale’s life had been filled with losing so many he loved. Equally grievous was Dale’s account of the death of Captain Mervin and First Officer Colin, whom Kelian had known personally and for whom he had great respect. The sky was black when they reached Cathaoir’s home, and Kalinya was asleep in Borgulnay’s arms.

‘
At least now I’m beginning to understand the fiasco at the Sanctuary,’ said Kelian as he listened to Dale’s account of his visit with Eibhear to the village around the bay.

‘
If we can make enough sense of what’s going on, perhaps we can come up with some kind of strategy for dealing with it,’ said Dale.

‘
Definitely,’ Kelian agreed. ‘We’ll discuss this more once we arrive at this home you’ve spoken of. And then we can work on a plan.’

‘
There’s something we need to do first,’ said Dale firmly. ‘It can’t be put off any longer. You really did arrive at an extremely opportune time, your Majesty. It’s very important and must be done correctly. I think if it’s not done soon...well, one of the warriors isn’t going to be amused.’

‘
What do we need to do?’ asked Kelian, looking apprehensive.

‘
We need to perform a marriage ceremony.’

Chapter
32

Wedding

The day was sunny but cool and Raline
was inside all morning, being fussed over by Jemicka, Louisa, Elena and Immosey. Jemicka gladly provided everything Raline might wish for, but as it turned out her shoes were far too long for Raline to borrow. Raline hadn’t made a fuss, just a comment that Rezon hadn’t seen her in shoes often enough to notice whether she was wearing any, but Jemicka was not satisfied and sat by candlelight in the early hours of the morning stitching together a pair of slippers. She made them in simple white linen, which was the only fabric she had available, and fashioned them as a plain slip-on shoe with a silk ribbon to tie over the ankle. Then she took some pink glass beads from a delicate necklace and stitched them onto the front of the shoes in a pretty floral pattern. The effect was beautiful with the long, pale pink dress that the warriors had stolen. The dress was too long for Raline, but Immosey took up the hemline and now the dress was the perfect length, barely touching the floor at the front. Jemicka assigned Immosey and Louisa to prepare Raline’s hair and the two women worked together enthusiastically. Raline’s hair fell in soft folds to her shoulders and once the women finished their work, it was a glowing mass of beautiful deep brown. Elena rested until they finished. She’d been feeling quite ill since they arrived, and had even vomited several times. It annoyed her that one moment she felt hot to a point of being feverish and then next she was shivering with cold. She pushed her nausea away, determined not to spoil Raline and Rezon’s day.

At midday,
Immosey and Louisa went into the courtyard. The changes were breathtaking. The stone paving had been cleaned until it shone. In the center of the courtyard, stones had been removed and a small pond had been made. Flowering water lilies floated on the surface of the water. At each of the four corners of the courtyard, stone pedestals stood each bearing an urn of flowers, and between the two furthest from the home, a long oval table had been placed and covered with a white cloth. What was on the table could not be seen as a second cloth was draped over the contents. White wooden seats were placed round the edge of the courtyard.

Elena
’s face appeared in a window and Kelian left Rezon’s side and went indoors. Immosey and Louisa joined the guests and waited patiently. Ben stood beside his brother, who was now looking decidedly nervous, and slapped him on the back encouragingly, whilst casting impatient glances towards the home. Callian watched Eibhear and Rudiger in amusement, noting that he’d rarely seen either warrior wearing a shirt, let alone wearing neat shirts, trousers and clean, polished boots. Eibhear rolled his eyes at Callian and nodded towards Timbul and Araas. The two brothers were dressed entirely in black and standing side by side in the sunshine, and other than the slight difference in hair color, they might have been twins. Araas had a peaceful look on his face, but Timbul’s expression held elements of sadness and regret. He caught Callian’s eye and the Guardian General gave him a nod of acknowledgement, remembering the terrible death of the woman Timbul loved.

Dale stood in front of the table, next to Rezon and his brother Ben. Dale, under Kelian
’s orders, had agreed to perform the ceremony as the King knew quite well that Dale would remember the entire ceremony word for word. Jemicka and Cathaoir sat together at the side of the courtyard, holding hands and talking quietly. A small silver flute rested on Jemicka’s lap. Cathaoir rose and opened a little gate at the back of the courtyard to admit Milgorry, Borgulnay and Gilgarry who had done a quick sweep around the area to ensure the wedding would not be interrupted, though Callian had agreed that if someone unwanted should approach he would ensure they had a sudden urge to go in the opposite direction. The only person who seemed a little out of sorts was Kalinya. The guardians and warriors seemed to think the boy was extremely amusing, and eventually Dale could bear it no longer.

‘
What?’ he mouthed, looking questioningly at Callian.

‘
I’m sorry. I can’t say.’ Callian failed to hide his grin. ‘You’ll have to ask the jilted young man.’

Dale
raised one eyebrow. ‘So Kalinya, exactly why are you so morose on so happy an occasion?’

Kalinya raised his head and sniffed haughtily.
‘Yesterday I asked Raline if she’d marry me instead of Rezon, and she said
no
.’

‘
I thought you were in love with Louisa,’ said Immosey, looking confused.

‘
That was ages ago!’ Kalinya rolled his eyes as though this was obvious. ‘And Milgorry is a bit scary. I don’t want to cross him,’ he said in a whisper. Milgorry frowned dubiously at Kalinya from where he sat across the courtyard.

‘
Does that mean you don’t find little Rezon scary? The rest of us do.’

‘
Maybe a little bit. But I think he’s just scary on the
outside
.’

Milgorry snorted indi
gnantly. ‘That’s nice, isn’t it? He’s only scary on the
outside
.’ His eyes flicked towards the home. ‘They’re ready,’ he announced. Everyone stood.

Elena appeared first
, graceful and elegant in a stolen dress. As she stepped outside she turned and glanced back, then moved forward, sprinkling tiny white flowers onto the stones. Raline had been reluctant to ask the Queen of Alkira to act as her wedding maid, but when Rezon had told Elena of Raline’s wish, Elena had been delighted to agree and had thrown herself enthusiastically into the task of preparing the bride. Jemicka lifted the silver flute and began to play a soft, traditional, Alkiran melody. There was a simultaneous drawing of breath as Raline stepped into the sunshine. She was holding tight onto Kelian’s arm and she gazed around each guest’s face until her eyes rested on Rezon. A powerful surge of adoration burst from the warrior filling the hearts of everyone present. Raline couldn’t tear her eyes away from him. By the time she followed Elena’s pathway of petals to stand at his side her eyes were glistening and her heart pounding.

Dale was as good as Kelian had expected. With absolute precision, he performed the Alkiran marriage ceremony, which involved declarations of love and commitment, then to the surprise and appreciation of the warriors, he began a reasonably accurate version of the Nyinakun
Ceremony of Unity, a ritual which had been performed for many years by the people of Nyinaku, where a warrior would declare his love and devotion to the woman of his choice and dedicate himself to her wellbeing and protection. The woman was also given the opportunity to state her love towards her new husband. Both partners were required to kneel before each other and swear to give themselves to the other, acknowledging that they are no longer entirely their own master. Rezon had quite obviously not been expecting this, and when Dale began the formal speech of the Ceremony of Unity he drew a quick breath and looked gratefully into Raline’s eyes. She smiled at him, feeling overcome that this beautiful warrior could belong to her. The knelt together and Rezon sat back on his heels, though Raline still seemed tiny beside him.

Neither ceremony was very long. Towards the end
Dale parted slightly from tradition. His face was serious and sad.

‘
It is every parent’s desire to see their daughter happily married, and it pains us all that Raline’s parents are not here today. We will break from tradition to remember Raline’s mother and father.’ There was silence for several minutes. Finally, Dale began what was, in Alkiran tradition, the most important part of the ceremony.

‘
Your Majesty,’ he prompted.

Kelian stepped forward. He took Raline
’s hand and placed it in Rezon’s. ‘I give you now to be married to this man. May you live and love together in peace.’ And without missing a beat, he pulled a short dagger from his belt sheath and passed it to Rezon. ‘In accordance with the tradition of your people, I command you to protect this woman with your life, to love her and care for her forever.’

Rezon took the dagger and placed it over his own heart.
‘With my life,’ he declared. He placed the knife back in Kelian’s hand.

‘
Isn’t he supposed to keep it?’ Kelian whispered to Dale.

Dale whispered back,
‘He can take it back any second he wants to, and I don’t think it matters as part of the ceremony. Besides, he’s not wearing a belt sheath and I don’t suppose he wants to be carrying it when I say...’ Dale raised his voice. ‘Seal your marriage with a kiss.’

Rezon
leaned down and kissed Raline’s lips.

Dale glanced at Jemicka. She placed her flute to her lip
s and began another traditional melody, this time Nyinakun and lively and joyous. Everyone began to talk at once as Raline and Rezon turned to face them. Elena, Immosey and Louisa hugged Raline and then Kelian also gave Raline a congratulatory hug.

Dale glanced at the table and silence fell. He grinned.
‘No need to ask if everyone’s listening to my thoughts!’ he said. ‘Yes. It’s time for the wedding banquet.’ Elena and Louisa removed the cloth from the table and then turned to see Raline’s face. They weren’t disappointed. Her wonder at the spread was obvious. She felt overwhelmed with gratitude.

‘
Well, let’s eat!’ Rezon said enthusiastically, guiding her to the table. He handed her a bowl. ‘You’d better fill up, it’s a bit of a walk to our destination tonight - not that you’ll be walking - unless you’d prefer to of course,’ he added, knowing from previous experience she had a particular fondness of being carried by him, to which he had absolutely no objection. ‘Well, fill up anyway. I can’t have you getting too thin. People might think I’m neglecting you.’

‘
You have to try everything!’ Jemicka added, gesturing along the length of the table.

‘
I’ll probably get fatter than a blood sucking leech and Rezon won’t even be able to pick me up!’ Raline observed, taking a lettuce wrapped meat parcel from the table. Rezon laughed and added a sweet pastry to her plate.

It was later than either Rezon or Raline expected when they finished celebrating and set o
ff together through the forest and after half an hour’s walk it was dark. In the end Raline climbed onto Rezon’s back and he ran up into the hills. Even so, it took several hours to reach their destination. Rezon, with the help of the other warriors, had spent many hours fixing up the old deserted mountain cabin, and now it was unrecognizable. The walls were straight and sturdy looking and the roof had been entirely repaired. Inside there was a huge bed with soft, warm covers and thick feather pillows. There were two comfortable chairs outside and a small table. Raline preferred not to ask where the decorating pictures and furniture had come from, but the cabin was laid out like a beautiful, miniature house. The floor boards were clean and small tables holding oil lamps stood beside the bed. There was a set of shelves with table cloths, crockery and cutlery, ground salt, bowls of fruit and nuts, several bags of vegetables, and loaves of bread wrapped in clean cloths. In the corner of the hut there was now a traditional Nyinakun fireplace, a pile of firewood, flint and steel, a large tinderbox and a fire poker. There was a long lounging chair facing the fire place, and on the low table in front of the chair was a round wooden canister containing sweet biscuits. Next to the door a bow and a quiver of arrows stood. Raline supposed it had been left earlier, as when they left Cathaoir and Jemicka’s home Rezon was armed with several knives that Raline knew he used for hunting, but he’d not been carrying a bow.

Raline had packed what clothing she had, and several other personal items into a small bag belonging to Jemicka the night before and she knew one of the
guardians or warriors must have brought it to the little cabin during the night, for there it was sitting on the bed. Rezon also had a small bag of clean clothing. She wondered if she might bathe even though it was already so late. Without a word, Rezon took her hand and guided her through the trees to the warm spring. He helped her take the lovely dress over her head and hang it carefully over a clean branch, then he untied her undergarment and slid it down, allowing her to step free. He stood back and stared at his wife.

‘
You would have to be the most incredibly beautiful creature I’ve ever seen,’ he murmured and she blushed. He stood still as she removed his clothing. They slid into the water together. Raline trembled as she stared into his almost black eyes. She took a deep breath and ran her hands down his chest to his perfectly muscled abdomen.

‘
I thought you didn’t like this warm water,’ she observed.

‘
I’d probably jump into a volcano if I thought you were in there waiting for me,’ he said smiling. ‘Definitely if you were naked,’ he added jokingly. They laughed together as they sank deeper into the water.