76 - Lainz Arrive, Vows are Spoken

The two Lainz, leading their birds, climbed over the last rise in the Korifar pass and looked across the valley and at Viltaria.  They’d been delayed almost another full week and they’d cut across terraformed country away from the endarkened chatty Milar who got friendlier as you got deeper into the country.  All they seemed to want to talk about, as near as Dukir could figure out was either about the enormous landslide that nearly wiped out their capitol and that their surdeniliarch was getting married, despite the disaster, or perhaps because of it, he wasn't certain which.

They’d not be able to avoid the festivities in Viltaria itself and Raghnall had even wistfully wished that they could slow down a trifle, to do just that.  The parties would surely not help their search for young Kyrus, whatever woman Ilaxandal was marrying.

The village was cleared of earth and repaired, and the terribe scar of earth to one side was already blurring with terran green, as people planted it to keep it from moving again. The scent blowing across was redolent of sweet baking spices and the mouth-watering aroma of spit roasted lambs and birds, pine from the trees along the village roads and the deep sweetness of flowering meadows all around.

Above the village the Ancestor stones were polished gleaming white and white ribbons streamed from them. The whole village seemed to be festooned with white ribbons and green branches, every lamp-post along every road, and festooned posts driven into a processional way up to the stones.

“They seem to be doing well, despite their disaster,” Raghnall said.  The deep tones of the enormous Milari wooden horns echoed across the valley, perhaps a dozen. “I can’t help think more of gigantic cows rather than music,” he continued, as he gathered up the reins and prepared to leap up to his bird’s back to ride now that they were no longer climbing.

"As yeh say, Naser."

"So they light up their big central fountain for such a big wedding?”

“Ay, Naser.  Them odd torches that green you can see even in daylight." Raghnall unhooded his bird's eyes, scratching behind its crest. It was tamed down enough that it accepted the caress, stepping off slowly rather than charging down the road ready to kill everything in its path. “You know a lot about Milari customs, Isfahsalar.”

“Yessir, mostly from the war, Naser.” Dukir answered, his own bird following more gently than it had at the beginning of its journey. The village was full of people and the processional all the way to the Stones, a mass all in their festival reds, the roads before them empty. “It’s the surdeniliarch’s wedding then, we’ve managed tah hit it bang on.”

Ragnall hid his sigh well and they stopped at the tiny guardpost with its gate raised. “Good day, Cragman.” He spoke in his brand-new, careful Milari.

The guard, stepping out, seemed completely used to warbirds. Of course any public servant who could not deal with foreigners coming into the capitol would not have lasted. This deep in the country, she wore no armour but her insignia.

“Good day, Feather-Spitter. If I might see your road passes?”

The Emir-al handed over the packet with the ease of long practice and the Cragwoman scanned them. “If I might ask, Crag—“ He blushed still when presented with women warriors. “—woman… is that Ilaxandal Vania who is getting married today?”

'

“Oh, you didn’t travel here for it? It’s a second marriage for him, and a second Lainz too!”

“Ah. We shall be happy to represent Lainz at his nuptials then!” He's marrying another Lainz woman? Diryish will be interested to hear that.

“Have a good end of journey… Naser.” She said in careful Lainz and smiled as she handed back their papers. “Careful at the second bridge… there’s a bit of water over it since the land-slide, making it harder for your birds.”

“Thank you, Cragwoman.” They were at the second bridge, looking at the hand-span deep bit of water flowing over the stone-bridge before them before he spoke again. “You think we’re going to actually find the boy, Isfahsalar?”

“We have a good chance, Naser.” And I hope he is something like his father’s reputation. He might actually be good for the people on the Empire, rather than a sacrifice to the moa-lords. “If I might suggest, Naser, we hood them to a crack and urge them. They should cross the water more easily.”

“Good thought.”

**

Light and Dark am I dreaming? Ilax’s smile... his beautiful smile...and he’s got the goblet in his hands, matching the one in mine. He drinks out of the cup in my hands, I raise my veil and drink out of his. I put my hand on the goblet and he on mine. Remember, deovar, we smash yours, not mine... We are being married. We are being married.

My heart is so full. I never thought I would be so happy. Is this real? Is this some happy ending by someone in the Basin bellowing a tale to a noisy crowd? Oh Enlightened, may this be real and not a dream.

My son. My beautiful, magnificent boy found me. And Ilax and I are being married. Ten years ago, I lay in the snow, thinking I was only fit for death because I loved a man and now we are being married. Enlightened, how is so much happiness possible?

The glass smashes into the stone bowl into a brilliant glitter of shards, each shard supposedly a year of happiness together. The whole crowd cheers and I raise the other precious goblet in my other hand and we bundle it and place it in our wedding box, wrapping our fingers together in the silk ribbons, laughing together.

The scariest part, for me, is coming up. My soul has been naked before my love, and I will bare myself before his beloved people. Thank goodness the children did not insist we disrobe at the Stones and walk nude down the mountain. The bird’s feather I clipped into my love’s hair flutters in the warm breeze as he removes his shirt, matching me, unlacing. I have to take the veil off next and he is unveiled and waits for me, smiling at me. I want to kiss him but not yet.

Enlightened, blessed blessed Light. Our soft boots... we tug off each other's to the yells from the crowd and showers of wine and mead the streams soaking us, mixed, Milari wines and Lainz mead. Our trousers next and the wind caresses parts of me I’m not used to being touched like that.

Oh, EnDarkened, I can’t stop it, I’m getting hard and as much as I blush and want to cover myself up I can’t because Ilax has seized my hands. The crowd is cheering us and singing their wedding song and he’s erect too. I look at the pink head of his penis, the slightly lower erection of a mature man, wanting to kiss him there. Not yet.

“It’s seen as a good sign! A good omen, inamor!” He has to use his battlefield voice for me to hear. 

“Let’s finish, and get clean, then you can show me how well you can perform with that Faidan! One of their many untranslatable words that means firm flesh, male, in Lainz.”

I don’t care that the fountain is cold and I shrink, we pour the cleansing palm-full over each other’s heads that means we are a couple and then everyone who can reach the fountain starts splashing us.

Mercifully I can sit and splash back and Ilax whoops and we end up back to back in the water spreading blessings with our newly coupled hands. Clean water. Clean air. Light and Dark thank you, thank you. We leap out of the fountain to be enveloped by our children waiting with enormous towels and are hustled to Ilax’s house... my house now too. We will have to apply to the Unity to add another room to it.

I am so happy. I am so happy. We will dress in dry clothes and the children will take us out to our feast and we will then vanish up to our cave. How on the planet did I ever deserve such happiness? The cave has been cleared out and we will go there for our honey time... and no one will bother us... barring an international incident, no one will look for Ilax.