Watching Yute (14 page)

Marcus walked up between them all as if
they were well trained puppies. “Elder Armil!” he called out with a
welcoming smile.

The miniature sand storm that seemed to
greet all visitors dusted the area as the Grand Elder emerged from
the airlimb with a gentle but careful stride. While most shielded
themselves from the sand, today was an exception. The Storms only
squinted, and the Grand Elder closed his eyes serenely as if
accepting this baptism of sand which passed quickly
enough.

As his title suggested, the Grand Elder
was not a young man, and his movements told of his age as much as
his weathered face. His warm smile matched Marcus’, and he put his
hands on Marcus’ shoulders. “Marcus! Things go well?”

“
As always, Elder.” As
formal as the grammar was, Marcus still sounded warm, casual, and
almost like he was speaking to family.

Armil faced the temple, visible in the
distance, and raised his arms as if to greet it; to embrace it. The
gesture displayed his robes well, the pinnacle of traditional
materials and design. Light fabrics of soft yellows and blues,
braided in patterns that were tight and detailed around the
neckline, but growing broad and flowing towards the dangles hanging
off the sleeves. His hair was a mix of black and aged grey, pulled
back and braided tight, nearly down to his waist.

“
Ladies?” Marcus waved
Cassidy, Cheryl and Cipriana over. Once closer, Cassidy began to
reflex into a stance of attention, hand half way up to a salute.
Cheryl was about to follow her lead, but Cipriana diffused their
moment of formality by reaching out and holding both of Armil’s
hands.

“
Elder,” Cipriana said in
her usual soft tone, “it’s good to see you again.” It struck
Cassidy that Armil and Cipriana had a very similar vibe to
them.

Marcus spoke up again. “Elder, let me
introduce Cassidy and Cheryl.”

“
Hello Sir.” Cassidy said.
“Uh, your honour… er, grace? Grand Elder?” Cheryl only shifted
uncomfortably, and waved meekly.

Armil stepped towards them, and took
one of Cassidy’s hands, and one of Cheryl’s, much in a similar way
that Cipriana had done. Armil chuckled softly. “In times like this,
titles are not needed. ‘Elder’ or ‘Armil’ is
sufficient.”

“
Um, okay then, Elder.”
Cassidy picked the more formal option, still feeling as if more was
needed. This was the man she’d seen on TV most of her life, showing
up to great ceremonies, making speeches, and talking about Aguei
affairs. “It’s really a huge honour!”

“
Y.. yeah! Ditto!” Cheryl
was having trouble doing anything but staring wide-eyed. Their
timid reactions only made Armil chuckle warmly.

“
Let’s head inside.” Marcus
said. Armil nodded, and two of the Storms anticipated the path,
rushing silently ahead of them. The other two Storms and their
Colonel fell into position behind Armil and Marcus, leaving
Cassidy, Cheryl and Cipriana to follow behind at their own
pace.

“
So, Storms, huh?” Cassidy
asked idly towards Cipriana. “They’re different.”

“
Well, the G.E.G. Storms are
Aguei for one thing. Some by blood, some honourary, but above that,
they know the weight of their duty, guarding the Grand Elder. They
also report to the Grand Elder specifically, and never receive
orders from the federal government. The feds just write their
cheques. Kind of like us, I guess.”

“
Huh?” Cheryl lifted an
eyebrow. “What, so I’m an employee of the Grand Elder since I
transferred here?”

Cipriana tilted her head slightly. “It
might be more commonly said that we’re employed by the Aguei
nation, as funded by the federal government as a matter of treaty…
but it’s rather a matter of splitting hairs.”

Marcus and the Grand Elder had a light
snack with tea. Someone had provided a slightly fancier table and
chairs, so the Elder wouldn’t have to cram into the standard mess
hall benches with his robe. There was a time in the past when
efforts were made to prepare something a bit fancier for the Grand
Elder, but by some way of the other, the fame of Alan’s cookies won
out. Today, however, the ‘stupid greedy apes’ respectfully didn’t
come running at the smell of fresh cookies.

Typical small talk faded to the
wayside, and the Elder brought up a more serious issue. “Marcus,
there’s been a bit of interesting talk among some of the High
Elders of late.”

Marcus raised his eyebrows. It was hard
to tell if it was good talk or bad, with the Grand Elder’s
ever-diplomatic tone. “Oh? Interesting how?”

“
Well, many seem to favour
the idea of allowing- even encouraging- a small tourist endeavor at
the temple.”

Marcus cocked back a bit. This was a
notable change of policy. “Ah.. why? Er, If I can ask.”

The Grand Elder smiled. “Of course you
can. Well, there’s two reasons. The lesser of the two is that we
could make a little bit of money, and put that towards the funding
of the guard here. Put a little back into things, as it were. But
the main idea is that it could be a good way to connect, to reach
out to non-Aguei peoples. A goodwill project of sorts.”

Marcus absorbed the idea, and wore a
look of mild scrutiny as he gazed into nowhere, weighing the pluses
and minuses.

“
I wanted to talk to you
before we took any steps, Marcus. It’s your stomping ground, you
know it best. The idea of a small guided tour came up. We could add
more personnel to deal with the added duties.”

Marcus resolved the notion with a smile
and a short nod. “Ah! Nonsense Elder! We’re soldiers around here.
We work an easy job eight hours a day here, but we’re not
restricted to it! This isn’t some fast food restaurant. We’re more
than capable to running a little tour. If you think it’s good for
Aguei relations with the rest of the country, it sounds like a good
idea. Never hurts to try it out.”

“
Well, if you're sure you do
not need more people, alright. We’ll work out some details later.
Oh, we’d just as soon have people not taking photos inside
though.”

“
I don’t think that’ll be a
problem.”

An hour or so later, the miniature
ceremony had begun with relatively little fuss.

The Grand Elder stood In front of the
statue. The top of Armil's head was still a fair distance below the
stone hound’s chin. Maybe it was the moment, but Cassidy thought
the statue’s eyes gleamed especially bright now. Even if the
statue’s meaning was unknown, Grand Elder Armil and all his humble
grandeur somehow very much fit in with it.

With Marcus and most of the base’s
complement gathered casually around, Cheryl and Cassidy stepped
forward to Armil, and stood beside each other.

Wanda smirked, and whispered to
Cipriana. “Is it just me, or does it look like they’re getting
married?” Cipriana restrained a smile. Cassidy heard the whisper
enough to get the idea of it. So much for her plan to keep rumors
and speculation to a minimum. No plan survives the first shot of
battle, so they say.

The Grand Elder turned around and
opened his arms to the statue. The statue seemed to mean something
to him, anyway. After a moment, he turned back, and looked at
Cassidy and Cheryl with a gentle nod.

Cassidy was still fighting the urge to
salute, and the two of them smiled back softly. Armil reached
forward and took their hands, looking both of them in the eye for a
moment, eventually speaking softly.

“
Cassidy. Cheryl. As gentle
spirits, I welcome you to our people. You are Aguei.”

And suddenly, it was over. The
spectators surrounded them all, some offering casual
applause.

“
That... that’s it?” Cheryl
said, teetering near a nervous giggle.

Grand Elder Armil smiled and nodded,
and Marcus gave the verbal reply. “Ah, why make something
complicated when it doesn’t need to be? What were you expecting?
Holy chants and hymns? To be knighted with a spear?”

Happy small talk filtered around the
group, many of whom took the chance to speak to Armil directly
about this and that. Cassidy caught Wanda’s eye and shot her a
little ‘tsk tsk’ glare for the marriage remark. Wanda tried not to
smile, and covered her mouth, wide eyed.

Everyone started filtering out, the
group breaking up into clusters. Armil ended up walking with
Marcus, discussing some of the details of changes to
come.

Cassidy saw Jim talking casually with
Karl and a couple other guys. Ah, right. Karl. “Hey Karl? Can I
talk to you for a sec?”

“
Huh? Sure.”

Cassidy looked at the other guys to
hint that she wanted a little privacy. Jim looked tense, but went
along with the others. Dammit, Jim. Between Jim, Cipriana, Maxine,
and Wanda with her big mouth, the whole friggin unit was going to
know she thought Cheryl was cute before long. It was a wildfire
situation, and she needed some kind of water bomber. But she’d have
to find water in the desert later. First thing’s first.

Cassidy led Karl out of the way,
trailing behind the main stream of people, and once out of the
temple, off into some neighboring ruins.

“
What’s up
Cassidy?”

Dang, she had a basic plan, but she
didn’t really flesh it out. Okay, time to think on your feet. “Hey,
um.. I got kind of an awkward problem, and I thought you might be
able to gimmie some advice.”

Karl ducked his head in a shrug. “Uhm…
okay, I’ll try..”

Cassidy squirmed a bit, trying to think
her next move, aware that it could just look like she was having
trouble saying it. “Well, you mighta heard I’m …”

“
What, gay?”

Cassidy pointed at him and touched her
nose. “Yeah, so you know, I thought…”

Karl raised one of his eyebrows, bit
his lip and shrugged again.

Cassidy talked with her hands, trying
to grab the right idea out of the air in front of her. “Well, I
figured you’d be able to gimmie your opinion from your perspective
cuz you’re also….” Ha. That was the hook, perfect. If he’s not,
then this is about to become embarrassing and funny, but there was
no other way around that.

Karl chuckled. “What? Cuz I’m also into
girls?” Damn. A swing and a miss.

Cassidy sighed. “Yeah, you know what?
Forget it. Forget I said anything.”

“
Uh, I think you’re
attractive enough and all, if that’s what you’re trying to get an
opinion on.” The poor lad was bewildered.

“
Naw, no, forget it. It’s
nuthin’.” Defeat. Poor Jim. Well, better this way than Jim finding
out firsthand.

“
Well, okay, Cassidy…” Karl
started heading back to the base, and stopped after a few steps,
turning. “Well, sorry I couldn’t be more help with whatever it was,
but I just remembered. Maybe you want to talk to Cheryl instead.
Oh! Unless this is about her…”

Cassidy could almost feel her pupils
dilate. “Cheryl… she… she’s…?”

“
Oh, you didn’t know? She
mentioned it when I was talking to her in the mess.”

Words couldn’t form in Cassidy’s mind
for a few moments, and she finally spat out a few. “Oh. Well.
Thaaat’s…. good too know!” She tilted her head and
smiled.

Karl was half creeped out, and half
amused. “All right then Cass. Be seeing you.”

“
Yup. Right. Thanks.”
Cassidy stood in a fog of unformed thoughts for a moment, watching
Karl walk off. Then a thought jumped to mind, a split second before
she acted. She called out to Karl, pointing. “Hey Karl, you’re not
bi, are you?”

Karl stumbled in his stride.
“What?!”

“
Ehhh, didn’t think so. Had
to be sure.”

Karl continued on, and hollered back at
Cassidy. “Ya got a screw loose, miss!”

Cassidy slumped against a nearby chunk
of wall, and looked out across the sea of sand. That was
psychologically exhausting. She was almost trembling. But she
couldn’t argue about having a screw loose. What a fruitful exchange
that turned out to be. She got vital info for Jim, even if it
wasn’t the result he was hoping for, and as a bonus, found out
Cheryl was playing on her team. Hm. Bah. Doesn’t change a thing.
There’s still professionalism, and the whole idea of not going into
a rebound. This didn’t change a bloody thing.

Not a thing.

Nope.

The barracks were a little busier than
usual, with many people checking in after the little ceremony. When
Cassidy got in, her eyes locked onto Cheryl as she was going about
her little tasks.

A mild panic trembled through Cassidy.
She repeated in her mind, quickly, over and over, trying to assure
herself. “Doesn’t change a thing, doesn’t change a
thing.”

She realized she had been just standing
in the doorway, staring. She closed her eyes and exhaled. Be
normal. She walked over to her bunk, trying not to look at Cheryl
too much, and her eyes happened to land on Cipriana.

Cipriana’s subtle expression was mild
as could be, but it was aimed at Cassidy, and it somehow spoke
volumes. It said in a schoolyard sort of way “Cassidy likes
Cherrryl!” Well, no, that wasn’t quite Cipriana’s style, but that’s
how Cassidy translated it in her head. Cassidy replied with an
expression that had the intent of “Oh yeah? Well, you keep your
mouth shut, missy!”