Chapter Twenty-Eight: Marriage

"You want Ahin to be your attendant?" Rhysel asked Tekaal incredulously.

He picked up the extra handout that would have gone to the day's absent student and added it to his stack of miscellaneous papers. "Based on your description of the role, it seems appropriate. Linisaar will want to make our wedding outfits and ought not to be occupied with other responsibilities, and I'm not particularly close to Esten. My cousins will want to attend, but I don't know that any would be interested in taking such a central position, particularly over my siblings."

"Ahin basically poisoned you!"

"He remains my brother," Tekaal said. "He did not believe that my channeling capacity would be affected. His apprentices who sampled the moon water have their normal capacities; I checked them yesterday. It would seem likely that he could not have learned of the danger without someone casting a sting-causing spell, which non-wizards can rarely cast safely anyway. I was the only accessible wizard test subject."

Rhysel ground her teeth. "Well..."

"I could ask my cousin Balket, if you prefer that Ahin not be involved in the proceedings..."

"No, it's fine..." She sighed. "Sorry. It's always easier for me to lose my temper on others' behalf. But if you want Ahin for your attendant, go ahead and ask him."

Tekaal kissed her forehead. "And I will ask Linisaar about the outfits. Are there traditional parameters she should adhere to?"

"We wear spring green, the attendants wear sky blue," Rhysel said. "The shapes of the outfits can be anything, except Keo and I should be in dresses. Are you sure Linisaar will want to make them for us?"

"I'm not certain she'll wish to do the attendants' clothes. Yours and mine, though, I expect she will - she made Ahin's and Kestaar's."

"We need to pick a date," Rhysel said, taking Tekaal's hand when he offered it. He teleported them to her tower and they settled onto her couch. "Keo says the first of Shuraahel is good luck?"

"So goes the superstition," Tekaal said. "It also has the advantage of occurring during the short break between the winter and spring terms. There is only a week of interim there, unlike the month after the spring term or the summer-autumn term."

"So if we want to get married when we're not in the middle of classes and we don't want to wait three and a half months, Shuraahel first is good," Rhysel concluded. "Now I just have to figure out what that corresponds to on Barashi. Ugh."

"I can use -" Tekaal paused. "I can ask a colleague to use a scrying spell for the purpose. Scrying the future is notoriously inaccurate, but for comparing time zones it should suffice. Is there some location on Barashi that will reliably show the correct date?"

Rhysel's hand tightened around Tekaal's. "The Temple of Zeram in Aristan City has a bunch of stone tablets that the clergy change at midnight every day to reflect the date. If you look there it'll have it."

"And there is only one Temple of Zeram in Aristan City?" Rhysel nodded. "Then that will suffice," Tekaal said. "I should look for a colleague to perform the scry today, before all of the faculty return home, so as to be able to print accurate invitations for Barashin guests that give them sufficient notice."

"Right," Rhysel said. She gave him a kiss. "See you later."

<Kanaat's talking to your witch brother-in-law-to-be,> Keo informed Rhysel. <About the moon water and how it might work. Kanaat doesn't know much about witchcraft, but based on the explanations Ahin came up with, we're pretty sure it works like I guessed. Ahin thinks he's gotten rid of the headache and the unconsciousness side effect and Kanaat is going to test a dose and cast something that costs one less than his CC, to check.>

<You're going to test it on Kanaat?> exclaimed Rhysel.

<I'm not,> Keo assured her. <A summoning circle would make a lot of things more convenient.> Rhysel laughed in spite of herself. Keo went on, <For instance, it might be easier to convince the new kamai teachers that we're going to need that they should commute than that they should move to Elcenia. Your students aren't going to be ready in time to teach the next batch before you and Aar Kithen have too many classes to handle, and I'd rather hire kyma than spend more afternoons tediously moving knowledge from one head to another head.>

<Okay.> Rhysel took a deep breath. <I can't really stop you, anyway, but make sure Ahin's not handing Kanaat something he's not as sure of as he can be, won't you?>

<Actually, the reason I'm telling you all this now is that I wanted to ask if you'd lifelink Kanaat for me,> Keo said. <He can tolerate a hit to his CC. Not so much dying if that risk should be involved at all. I can't kill pain from sting, but I see no reason to expect that I can't deaden the pain of lifelinking - we can test that with a bug or something first, if you want to be sure.>

Rhysel blinked. <Oh. Of course. I'll catch a bug and come meet you?>

<I'm in Kanaat's office. Once we figure out if the lifelink will work, I can teleport us both to the witch shop. Ahin has a batch of revised moon water ready and is walking Kanaat through its ingredients and properties.>

Rhysel met Keo in the headmaster's office, lifelinked a caterpillar she'd caught, and gritted her teeth in apprehension as Keo dropped a book on it. There was a low hum of something. Rhysel could definitely feel the lifelink under strain. But it wasn't painful, and she didn't have the urge to magically recoil from the insect and let it die of its injuries.

Keo poked the caterpillar with a graphite stick. It twitched. "Do you want to let it go, or bring it to the light?"

"I didn't know lights worked on animals. But I think I'll just let it go," Rhysel said. The caterpillar stopped moving as she withdrew. "That didn't hurt. Thank you."

"Shall we go supervise my husband's test, then?" Keo asked, brushing the caterpillar into a wastebasket with a bit of scratch paper and holding out her hand for Rhysel.

Rhysel nodded, touched Keo's hand, and let the dragon teleport.

Keo teleported them as close to Ahin's shop as she could, and a short walk from there had them standing with Kanaat and Ahin in the back room. Ahin eyed Rhysel warily for a moment, as though expecting her to attack him; she did consider engulfing him in flames, on first spotting him, but conquered her temper in favor of placing a lifelink on Kanaat and then standing out of the way.

"What are you going to cast?" Ahin asked the headmaster, measuring out a single dose of moon water.

"Will it work with a simple numerical read?" Keo asked. "If not, we can find a sufficiently elaborate scry..."

"Number read should do," Ahin said, glancing between the headmaster and his wife with a raised eyebrow.

<Number read?> Rhysel asked Keo.

<Spell for practicing gestures with real risk and real sting instead of just dry runs without actual casting. Same word all the way up, just makes the number of units you've pulled float in front of you,> Keo explained. Kanaat, meanwhile, swallowed the silvery liquid, then traced his hand through the air and uttered a word.

The lifelink didn't even come under strain when the number "431" appeared; Rhysel held onto it, just in case, while Keo checked Kanaat's capacity. "Just what it should be," she announced.

"Excellent," said Ahin, beaming broadly. "Do let me know if there's any unexpected side effects, but I'm nearly certain there won't be. You wanted another dose of this stuff?"

"Yes, please," Keo said.

Ahin ladled more of his cauldronful of moon water into a vial. "So the price I was thinking for the stuff was -"

"- more than covered for by my husband volunteering as a test subject, is what I'm sure you were going to say," inserted Keo sunnily.

Ahin chewed on his lip, but handed over the vial. "Pleasure working with you," he said.

"Likewise." Keo turned to Rhysel and asked, "Want a ride anywhere?"

"My tower, if you don't mind," Rhysel said, touching Keo's hand. "Do you want me to hold the lifelink, or shall I let it go?"

"I think you can let it go," Keo said. Rhysel released the magic and dropped her connection to Kanaat. "To your tower we go."

"Tell me how you want your dress," Linisaar said, arranging a marked measuring string around Rhysel's bust and then scribbling the number on a notepad. "And how you're going to do your hair, because that will affect what will look best around the neckline and the shoulders, especially if any of it's down. I don't do shoes, but I have a co-worker who does, she owes me a favor - how do you want your shoes?"

"Uh - long skirt, I think. Sleeveless?" said Rhysel, almost at random. "Keo's going to do my hair. I don't know if she's decided what to do with it yet."

"Maybe a strap around your neck, instead of over your shoulders," mused Linisaar, draping her measuring string around the proposed path for the strap. "Does it need to be all one shade of spring green, or could I use two, accent it with a little gold...?"

"A little gold, like embroidery or buttons or beading, is okay if you think it'll look nice, but not gold fabric," Rhysel said. "Shoes... uh... closed shoes, ending below the ankle, no heel. They have to hold up to some dancing," she added.

"Ooh. Tekaal's shoes too?" Linisaar asked, writing down a new measurement and taking the length of Rhysel's leg. "Or is it only you who'll be dancing? I don't know how your weddings work."

"Me, Tekaal, our parents, and our attendants all have a set of dances we're supposed to do. I suppose I should find out if Ahin and your parents know how to dance. Keo can implant enough to get along with if she has to, even if body memory isn't as easy to work with. I know Tekaal can dance a little, for stage productions..."

"Ahin can dance," Linisaar said. "Esmaarlan dances, anyway. Kestaar loves dancing and Ahin had to learn to get anywhere with him. Now he's as arrogant about that as he is about everything else he can do. Our mother used to do leherin when she was little, but hasn't kept up with it at all. And our father will step on everyone's feet, I'm sure."

"Thank goodness for Keo," muttered Rhysel. "You can make the dress something soft, right? I can't imagine a less pleasant way to spend my wedding than trying not to scratch itches."

"Of course. Silk?" Linisaar proposed. She took the circumference of Rhysel's ankle. "Oh, my company has some rolls of this lovely Kevehaar raan..."

"You're allowed to use company supplies for this sort of thing?" Rhysel asked.

"If I call it a prototype, I am," Linisaar said, smiling brightly up from her scrutiny of Rhysel's bare feet. "Will you mind awfully if people go about dressed in something like your wedding dress, next summer? Not the same color, probably, but the same cut."

Rhysel laughed. "No, I suppose that's fine."

Linisaar hopped up to her feet and gave Rhysel a hug. "I'm so glad you're marrying Tekaal," she said.

"I am too," Rhysel smiled.

<Want to watch Narax cast the summoning circle?> Keo asked Rhysel.

<The circle will be located here, in a plot of land Narax bought to put it on. He's going to hire some people to run it like a teleportation circle complex and get even more ridiculously rich,> Keo explained. <But it'll function the same way here and in one place on Barashi. It notices who walks onto it, sends them to a place, and notices when people walk onto that place, and summons them here - or unsummons or unsends, as appropriate.>

<Will it be able to unsummon people who got here with a regular summoning spell?> Rhysel asked.

<No, it can't break a summon, just undo the ones it places itself. If you were still under your summon and you walked onto the summoning circle, nothing would happen. Does all this actually have to do with whether you want to watch Narax cast it?>

<Er. Does he want me there?>

<He'll be fine. He's not as ruffled about the thing between you two as you seem to think he is, Rhysel.>

Rhysel fidgeted, but finally said, <I'd like to watch. Can Tekaal come too?>

<Sure. Is he there? I can just grab you both.>

<Yes, he's here. Give us a few degrees?>

<Of course,> came the mirthful reply. <Say when.>

The diagram for the summoning circle looked a lot like the other wizarding diagrams Rhysel had seen, but it was much bigger. "Are there any particular criteria for where the circle should point?" she asked.

"Not in somebody's house," said Keo.

"Or on top of anything that people will object to traffic on," Narax said. "Actually, it'd be best if I could just outright buy the place, wherever that may be. I'll probably make a few of these to aim at different spots eventually."

"Do you want to buy my old tower?" Rhysel asked. "The new kama for the town built a separate one. I still own the land my tower sits on. And it's got a transfer point already."

"Name your price," Narax said.

Rhysel shrugged. "I bought it for sixty-three thousand emarks. I'll take that, in aaberik, whatever the exchange rate settles out to be in a few years - no rush."

"Right then. You only have one tower? I'm not going to hit the wrong one focusing on that?" Rhysel nodded. Narax smiled and said, "Here goes."

He swigged moon water, and then made the most elaborate gesture Rhysel had ever seen used to cast a spell, accompanied by the anticlimactic words, "Summoning circle!"

<You can have magic words be anything, I take it?> Rhysel asked Keo.

"Moon water," announced Narax, "is officially amazing. You could bulk up a lot of high-pull spells to get them to arbitrary costs, if you wanted to charge them up instead of hike them down..."

Rhysel drifted towards Tekaal, whose lips were thinned in annoyance. Kanaat was carrying a small turtle, which he sent to Barashi and back without incident as a test (it wasn't quick enough to flee the radius of the circle before the delay). "Rhysel," said Keo, "want to do the honors of being the first person to test the circle?"

"I just walk into it?" she asked.

"And then stay put, and it'll unsend you right back after a ten-split delay that would let you get clear if you wanted to," Keo said. "No mess with co-casting or anything else to interfere with it behaving itself as planned."

"Can Tekaal come with me?" Rhysel asked, interlacing her fingers with his.

"Sure," Keo said.

The pair stepped forward.

The circle worked, utterly without incident.

"So on your side it'll be your parents, your brothers and sister and brother-in-law and niece, all four grandparents, two great-grandparents, your great-great-grandmother, seven aunts and uncles, how many cousins of various types...?"

"Thirty-six confirmed," said Tekaal. "And you have six siblings, seven counting your blood sister -"

"I have two of those now, remember, I added Keo."

"...Eight, counting your blood sisters, then; three are married, with nine children between them, although I'm given to understand that Aaralanik Inular and Pyga are not in any special relationship to you based on their mother's blood sisterhood."

"They're not, but I'd like them there anyway, plus Talyn and maybe some of the other students. And nine cousins close enough to come, and my parents, and one set of grandparents and two sets of great-grandparents and one set of great-great grandparents..."

"You said you would be inviting friends as well? Apart from Aaral Pyga, that is?"

"Yes, mostly people who were apprentices alongside me, a couple of people I knew when I was a kid... Maeris said she'd be there... And Ehail's coming."

"The silver wizard from the tropical house?" inquired Tekaal.

"Yes. I asked Eret and Theedy too, but they don't want to go, and I can't blame them. Ehail's willing enough and she's going to dye her hair so Keo and so on don't notice her."

"This is going to be enormous regardless," Tekaal said, boggling at the list.

"Ryll booked a big hall for us." Rhysel sat back and smiled. "We'll have room."

"The summoning circle is a mercy," remarked Tekaal.

Rhysel nodded fervently. "Now, Mother agreed to coordinate the cooking - she's not doing all of it herself; my cousin Laryn is helping and she's going to rope in a few volunteers from other quarters too - we need to decide what to serve -"

"Can I have a syllable from your name?" Keo asked Rhysel over lunch - Saraanlan food again, the best compromise on their tastes.

Rhysel blinked. "How does that work?" she asked. "I don't remember the details."

Keo put her spoon down in her double-pepper-onion-cheddar corn, and ticked off fingers. "You pick a syllable that is somewhere in your name," she said. "You recite my entire full name, with that syllable added to the end. You can't give away the same syllable again to any other dragons who ask, only ones you haven't used yet. That's about it."

Rhysel thought, and ate another spoon of lemon-cilantro rice. "Okay," she said finally. "What's your entire name?"

"Keopygavakilshelarinebna'achithkanlen," Keo said. "I can write that down if you need me to."

"Yes please," laughed Rhysel.

"They do tend to get longer over time, for contextually obvious reasons," Keo said, casting a calling spell to bring a pen to her hand and writing on a scrap of paper Rhysel handed over.

"Keo-pygava-kilshelar-inebna-achith-kanlen-sel," Rhysel said carefully.

"Thanks!" grinned Keo. "Oh, and, news. Narax is a daddy now."

Rhysel blinked rapidly. "I'd almost forgotten that Samia was pregnant..."

"Well, she's not anymore. They're going to switch off little Alyah every month on the twenty-fifth," Keo said. "And Samia has her first, so Narax won't get hold of Alyah until mid-Nidhel. But I'm finally an aunt, anyway!"

"Congratulations," said Rhysel. "You weren't before?"

Keo shook her head. "Vara and Pilar don't have any kids. Well, I suppose lots of my thudia half-siblings had kids, but those mostly died before I hatched... it's not the same; I'll actually see Alyah sometimes." Rhysel nodded. "Are you thinking you and Aar Kithen will have kids?"

Rhysel broke eye contact and stirred her rice mash. "There's a spell he isn't planning to re-cast after it breaks on our trip to Barashi for the wedding," she said, failing to restrain a small smile.

Keo laughed. "I see. Leaving it up to chance?"

"A bit. We don't know for sure if we'll be able to have kids without magical help, since I'm from another world..."

Keo nodded. "Well, magical help will almost definitely do the trick when the time comes, anyway," she said. "So don't worry about it. Speaking of Aar Kithen, who's moving into whose house?"

"He's moving in with me," Rhysel said. "He already doesn't live with his family, and I can make the tower bigger whenever I want. We're not doing the standing-on-boxes thing that Esmaarlan weddings do. We're just going to bring everything over a few days before the big one."

"Just a little over a month left," Keo said. "Excited?"

"Mmhm," Rhysel said, smiling and looking up at Keo. "He's wonderful, Keo. I just realized I never thanked you," she added. "For introducing us."

"You're welcome," Keo laughed. "It was my pleasure."

"I think braids," Keo said. "Two of them, wrapped around your head and pinned there, but with two tendrils to each side of your face and curled a bit..."

"Whatever you think is best," Rhysel said contently. There was a mirror in front of her, but her eyes were closed. She didn't have to worry about anything; on her wedding day, that was her attendant's job. "You didn't consult me about the bridal party you threw."

"I'm not consulting you now, just thinking aloud," Keo said loftily, hefting Rhysel's hair and starting to weave it around itself. "I do that sometimes. I know perfectly well that listening to me chat about your hair isn't stressing you out."

"You've been the best attendant I could have hoped for," sighed Rhysel, smiling. "I haven't had to worry about a thing. I haven't even worried about my mother throwing a fit. Until just now."

"Sh, sh," said Keo, tying the first braid and starting on the second. "It's all fine."

"You've got Maeris or somebody following her around making sure she doesn't get annoyed, don't you."

"Let's talk about your hair," Keo said, a hum in her voice. "Or your dress. It's a lovely dress. Is that raan?"

"That's what Linisaar said it was," Rhysel said, running her hands through the folds of the skirt. It flowed around her ankles like warm water. "I don't know what in the world the stuff is made of. I don't think Barashins have it. But it's marvelous."

"Cactus," Keo said. "Made of cactus fluff."

"Are you serious?"

"Completely. That's you braided and pinned less two tendrils... annnnnd..." Keo plucked up hot tongs and coiled the spare bits of hair around them. "There. Oh, aren't you beautiful."

"Is it time?" Rhysel asked.

Keo patted the top of Rhysel's head. "Yes. Off we go."

Rhysel followed Keo as she threaded through the aisles. Dozens of people were sitting along benches, watching her. And across the room was Tekaal, escorted by Ahin. His suit was the same color as Rhysel's dress, tailored trimly. He had half an eye on his brother, who he followed in lockstep, but he was also looking over at Rhysel.

When they'd passed in front of each benchful of guests, they were up at the front, with Ryll in her formal grey Senate robes and circlet and Cousin Nemifaath in her sunset-color party dress. "Join hands with your intended," intoned Ryll.

Rhysel and Tekaal clasped hands at a single point between them and turned their faces towards Ryll.

The Senator launched into a speech, describing for the audience how Tekaal and Rhysel had met. She wasn't privy to the information about Rhysel digging poems out of Tekaal's desk, but gave correct broad strokes of the story - the summoning, the attempt at breaking it, their subsequent bonding over introducing kamai to Binaaralav. She spoke serenely, as though completely unaware of the possibility that all the talk of magic would set off Allera; whether she trusted Keo to have the possibility forestalled or trusted Allera to control herself on Rhysel's wedding day wasn't clear. Either way, there was no stirring in the audience to indicate discomfort.

Ryll's speech ended; the story related, she turned her gaze from the guests to the couple. "Keo," she said, addressing the dragon attendant. "Is it your belief that Rhysel loves Tekaal?"

"Yes," said Keo.

"Ahin," Ryll continued, turning to the witch, "is it your belief that Tekaal loves Rhysel?"

"Yes," Ahin replied.

"Do you agree to stand as witness to this union?" Ryll asked both attendants.

"Yes," each replied.

"And is it your belief that they should be wed?" Ryll went on.

"Yes."

Ryll looked to Tekaal. "Tekaal Kithen, you may speak your vows," she said.

"Rhysel," Tekaal began without hesitation. "I love you with all my heart. I am yours, body, mind, and soul, and I swear to be devoted and faithful to you, unwavering, for the rest of our days together. I swear to accept you and everyone and everything that comes with you, with open arms."

"Rhysel Camlenn," said Ryll. "You may speak your vows."

"Tekaal," Rhysel said, and then she inhaled deeply and repeated the same promise.

Ryll touched their clasped hands. "I witness these vows, and witness them binding, and let what I have seen joined be joined always," she said with finality. She dropped her hands and stepped back to let in Nemifaath and her nod to Esmaarlan ceremony.

Nemifaath stepped up and held out her book. "Sign your married names, just here," she murmured.

Rhysel picked up the pen first and wrote Rhysel Camlenn on the indicated line, and then handed it to Tekaal.

Tekaal Camlenn, he wrote.

Nemifaath took the pen, initialed the line, and shut her book. "Help yourselves," she said cheerfully, "to your first kiss as a married couple."

The newlyweds and their parents and attendants danced their requisite set of dances - Rhysel was on tenterhooks, when she danced with Evaad and Tekaal was paired with Allera, but whatever passed between her husband and her mother did not resolve itself in shouting or a premature end to the dance. When the eight central people had finished with those dances, they were permitted to sit and others were allowed onto the dance floor. Their table had separate bowls of every dish; the guests would serve themselves from other sources buffet-style.

Relatives and friends swung by the central table, depositing gifts on the benches beside Rhysel and Tekaal, congratulating them, issuing hugs. Tekaal's diamond dragon great-great-grandmother staggered up to them, drunk as a fish, and half-collapsed onto her descendant attempting to embrace him. Tekaal didn't react to this as though he found it unusual, although he did shrug her away and suggest that she find a place to sit.

Rhysel's younger brother Gyre, Myret's twin, brought the only gift that wasn't wrapped in a box - "Sorry," he said, handing them a pair of rings. "The gem chips I needed didn't come in until the last slice, and I didn't have time to wrap them. Tekaal, welcome to the family - your brother gave me a picture of the kind of bird you have to work from. Cloud-chaser, or something like that, I think is how the green-haired woman translated it... Rhysel, yours is a phoenix."

Each ring did have a likeness of a bird around the band, with gem chips for eyes and etched metal for the patterns of the feathers. Tekaal's was platinum or silver, Rhysel couldn't tell which, and Rhysel's was gold.

"They're beautiful, Gyre," Rhysel said, putting hers on her right middle finger. It was a fit. "Thank you." Tekaal echoed the sentiment, similarly locating his own ring.

"Thought they'd suit. Now I need a place to sit. Hm, she looks lonely. What's her name? The pretty brunette, all alone over there..."

Rhysel looked up and spotted the only "brunette" in the region he was eyeing. "That's Ehail, but Gyre, she's shy..."

"I won't terrify her out of the wedding hall, I promise, sis." He kissed the crown of Rhysel's head and departed.

Rhysel returned her attention to her food and her husband. "Just another couple angles of this and we can go home," she murmured in his ear.

"That sounds quite appealing," he whispered back.

"Your grandmother," Keo told Rhysel, "just complimented Kanaat on his 'cute lizard' and asked to pet it. The 'cute lizard' has corrected her on this matter and denied the privilege."

Rhysel laughed, vividly imagining Runa telling off her grandma about her status as a non-lizard. "I hope Grandma is taking it well."

"Admirably so. Runa's changed her mind and is letting herself be petted," Keo reported.

At last, the party died down. Tekaal's great-great grandmother was hauled out of the hall by her grandkids, and the kyma in attendance capable of using transfer points - Eryn, Corvan, Stythyss, Talyn, Leekath, Korulen, a handful of others - began making trips to ferry home the guests who'd come in from distances. More local guests, including Rhysel's parents, took coaches home.

"Let's go," Rhysel sighed in exhaustion when there were few enough people left that she and Tekaal could politely depart. "Let's go home and collapse."

"Of course, love," Tekaal said.

A transfer point, a circle, and another transfer point had them at the tower.

"Welcome home," Rhysel said. He only smiled and kissed her.

Rhysel and Tekaal climbed the stairs of their home, crawled into bed, and curled around each other as they fell asleep.