Dedicated (Chapter 3)

Read Chapter 1: Sun and Chapter 2: Moon

And now...

“First things first,” he said once they were seated. “I would like to protect you.”

He did not blame her for the skeptical look she gave him. He continued, “The question is, how? You may be able to hide here a little longer. There is already an imperial investigator in the city, but I’ve pointed him in the wrong direction. He’s only the first; mother and father are impatient to find you. So you are living here on borrowed time. If you want to move, I will help you. But if I can find you, so can others.”

“I’m not so certain of that. You have a very unique, specific set of skills, brother dear.”

“As do you. But there are other moon-Dedicated among the investigators, and never discount wind or water. I can get you out of the city without a trace; I can get you set up elsewhere. But you will always be looking over your shoulder, anticipating the next move. If you want to stay hidden, you will need to hide for your whole life.”

“You think I don’t know this?”

His voice was gentle. “I’m sorry to say it out loud. But unless and until you abdicate, the empire plays a waiting game.”

“And I abdicate, and start a war.”

He tried to deny it, and couldn’t. So he switched tactics. “So, tell me about T’qars-alek.”

“What is there to tell? She’s amazing.”

He grinned, despite trying to impress the seriousness of the situation on her. “Not what I meant. Personally, I agree, though not in the same way you do. But how did this start? How long has this been going on?”

“You know who she is?”

“Of course. I recognized her as soon as she opened the door.”

“This has been going on since her family’s delegation visited us at court.”

“You mean--” He counted years in his head. “How? We were so young!”

“You were eleven. I was fourteen. Yes, that long.”

“How?” he repeated.

“It’s not so difficult to understand. Mother and Father bade me to show her the best our city had to offer. We spent that whole week together, and we developed an...affinity.”

“But you never saw her since then!”

“Rarely. Do you remember that I started going on diplomatic delegations at our parents’ behest once I came of age? And did you never wonder why I always took vacation in the coastal provinces, and learned to sail? A lot can happen on a yacht in the middle of a strait. And of course, we carried on a regular correspondence.”

“And that was enough?”

“Of course not! I would have spent every day with her, if I could. But it sufficed.”

“And now?”

“Now? Now I do spend every day with her, and it’s still not enough. I would marry her.”

Derren caught his breath, the wheels in his head turning. “Well, she is royal. It would be unusual, but not unheard of. There’s only one problem.”

“Two problems. One, I’m betrothed to Morgense of Rhopalo. And two,T’qars is wind-Dedicated.”

“Ah.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking hard. “I didn’t know for certain that Anisopterans practiced Dedication. Forgive me for asking, but I assume she feels the same way about you?”

“Absolutely.”

“Okay. So maybe it can work out. Without marriage, you can avoid the soul-bond. What about a consort situation?”

“Make T’qars my consort?”

“Yes. You could still marry sun-blessed Morgense, and he could give you heirs, but she would be there with you as well. It’s been done before.”

“Yes, and maybe she would agree to that. We’d rather not share each other, though. And you know what our parents would say to me becoming someone’s consort. What makes you think her parents would feel any differently?”

“True,” he sighed, defeated. “So what can we do? You defect, break your betrothal, and we send a boatload of tribute to Rhopalo as an apology and hope to avoid retaliation?”

“Do you think that would work?”

“Maybe.” But he had his doubts. Cadias had been betrothed to Morgense as an infant to end a war. Even now, the peace remained tenuous. Rhopalo didn’t know that Hetelo’s heir was missing in action. There was no official wedding date set, but everyone expected a matrimony within the next few years.

“You know,” Cadias continued dryly, “It’s not like she and I haven’t discussed all of this. We’ve looked at all of the situations over the years. And you know if I abdicate, the throne falls to you, brother dear.”

“And I am completely unsuited to the throne.”

“You couldn’t be worse than Boman.”

“He’s not bad, just...unsuited as well. Possibly more so than I.” He didn’t need to say again what they’d both said since childhood: Boman was more stubborn than nurturing. His Dedication to earth had yielded more negative than positive aspects. “He’s also deeply unpopular in the capital; that new taxation policy isn’t helping.”

“You’ve heard about that?”

“I’m surprised you have.”

“I’m not completely clueless. I pay attention. Just because I don’t want to swim in that pond doesn’t mean I shouldn’t watch the fish.”

“So no consort situation, then. But what if she became your queen? Would she abdicate and break her Dedication?”

“I couldn’t ask her to. Only Anisopterans who are wind-Dedicated are able to fly. I refuse to take that from her. It would literally be like cutting off her limbs.”

Derren remembered the look on T’qars-alek’s face as she stretched those wings. He was forced to agree.

“Would you break your Dedication, if it meant being with her?”

“In a heartbeat. Of course, that’s easier said than done.”

He slid his hand into his pocket, touched the little jewel box there. It was always with him, even when he slept. The contents were too valuable to leave anywhere.

He wasn’t sure, yet. Not quite.

“So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t. And when she and I have discussed this, it usually ends with that same answer.” She sighed. “Thanks for letting me know about the investigator. We just have to enjoy ourselves while we can, I guess.”

He reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder in silent solidarity. No words were needed. They never were, between them.

Cadias looked up. “She’s singing tonight. Will you come with me to watch?”

He thought of that voice, entrancing even muffled through walls. Listening to her on a stage, in the open, would be a rare pleasure. But that was not the reason he nodded.

“Of course,” he said, and was rewarded with his sister’s smile. “I would be honored.”

~~~~~~~~

He was waiting that night, on the roof, after the performance.

As soon as Cadias had left his apartment, Derren had gone in search of Jin. It wasn’t difficult; the urchin also ran errands for Becker and somehow had a knack of appearing just when he was needed. Once he’d found the boy, Derren just had to tell him what he wanted.

It worked. When Derren and Cadias walked into the crowded teahouse later that evening, Jin and a friend were sitting in the two seats closest to the stage, essentially reserving them. Over the past weeks, Derren had heard whisperings from sources other than Becker about the power of the exotic Anisopteran’s voice. He had known the performance would be packed. He did not know what time the two boys had arrived at the teahouse; they’d likely been sitting in these seats for hours. They’d been paid handsomely for it, though, and when Cadias realized what he’d done, the smile she’d given Derren had made it all worth it.

It was nothing, however, to the smile that lit her face when her lover walked onto the stage.

Cadias seemed to glow, lit from within by her own internal fire. And when T’qars-alek scanned the crowd and saw them sitting there, right in front of her, her eyes told Derren all he needed to know.

T’qars-alek sang, song after song, to her own love. The room at large listened, captivated, unaware that they were merely bystanders to the story being written. She poured herself into the performance, songs of love and life and heartache and joy.

Derren was not the only person with tears on his cheeks when the performance finished.

And so much later, after the accolades and the celebration and the two women embracing each other at their apartment door, Derren climbed onto the roof.

Intuition told him that T’qars-alek would seek refuge tonight in the night sky, purging her body of the overwhelming intensity of such a performance.

He always listened to his intuition.

And he was rewarded, not long after, by the sound of the window opening and the light tread of feet on the fire escape.

He met her as she came over the edge.

“Greenings, T’qars-alek, Princess Hal-Zygoptera.”

“Prince de ona Apini Strattham.”

He grinned. “Derren is fine. You know who I am, then.”

“Not at first. I did recognize you, though, after Cadi told me. You were quite young the first time I met you.”

Not that much younger than you, he thought but did not say. “Did she tell you that we spoke this morning?’

“Yes.”

“Then I have only one question for you. Do you love my sister?”

“More than anything. She is the sun in my sky and the light in my world.”

“She wishes to marry you.”

“Our wishes align, for I wish the same thing.”

“And would you be happy with that if it meant giving up your throne and living the rest of your life here, in a tiny apartment above a shady mechanic?”

“As long as she is with me, I don’t care where we are. Our time here has been among the happiest in my life”

“There is a saying, ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder.’ It seems to me your relationship was mainly one of absence.”

“And yet, she is here with me now, and still I grow fonder every day. With all due respect, I fail to see the point of these questions. Our relationship is hardly your business.”

“Not my business, exactly, but it is the business of the Heteran Empire at large. And Zygoptera as well.”

T’qars-alek’s wings drooped. “I know. She knows too. We try not to think about it, and we take our happiness where we can.”

“She stays with you, she will lead her empire into war. To say nothing of damaging relationships between our two countries.”

“Isn’t that the conflict of nobility? To give up our own happiness to save the lives of our people? What are the wishes of two people worth, in relation to so much? And yet, we did not choose to be born who we were, or to love who we do?”

“Do you have a betrothed as well?”

“No. Our people do not do such things to their children.”

He ignored the jibe. “So you could still claim your throne?”

“Yes. Although I do not particularly want it.”

He touched the jewel box in his pocket. His intuition was strangely silent, and he groped his way forward. “What if there was a way you could claim your throne and she could be with you? Would you do it? Would you make her your queen and rule together, side by side?”

T’qars-alek caught her breath. “How?”

“Would you?” he persisted.

“Yes. Absolutely. She deserves to be a queen.”

“I agree. But would your people? Would you be allowed to do such a thing?”

She considered. “For the sake of alliances, and peace, I think, yes.”

“Good.” He released a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “That’s the right answer.” For both of them.

“I wasn’t aware that this was a test.”

“We’re nobility. Isn’t everything?”

“You are an odd one, Derren Apini. And yet I begin to see why Cadi has named you her favorite brother.”

“She told you that?”

“In not so many words.” She raised her wings, lightly buzzing them in the night breeze. “Do you have any further questions, any further tests, for me?”

“I do not, and I thank you for answering the questions that I did have. I hope you enjoy your flight.”

He turned to go, so he did not see her ascend, but he felt the rush of wind from her takeoff pass over him and dissipate into the night.

~~~~~~

She was not expecting someone to knock on her door at that time of night. Then again, few people were.

The tousled hair, crumpled pajamas, and yawn told Derren that Cadias had been sleeping, or near to it, when she opened the door.

“You should be more careful to whom you open your door,” he chastised.

“There is a peephole, idiot. What on earth do you want?”

“To let you know that Morgense has a sister who is moon Dedicated, and, as it happens, neither she nor I is currently betrothed. Her parents did not follow the typical order; she is younger. So in the normal course of things, she could look forward to a strategic marriage with a lesser noble. I do not think she will mind overmuch becoming an empress.”

“What--”

“You will need to find a priest to perform the unlinking. Or maybe two. I’m not sure what is involved with breaking a sun Dedication, or creating a wind Dedication.”

“Can we talk about this in the morning?”

“I’m leaving in the morning. I wanted to tell you this now, before T’qars-alek comes back. You’ll want to arrange things, I’m sure, as quickly as possible.”

“Stop. It’s a nice fantasy, but we both know that there’s more to it. For starters, I’d need a--”

He held out the jewel box. She looked at him wonderingly before opening it to reveal a nondescript stone. Amazing in its plainness, the not-quite-pearl seemed to pull from its surroundings, filling a void within itself, as if it had somehow been formed--alone of all things in nature--without the essence of any potentate.

“--a null stone,” she finished. “Derren, these are impossibly rare. I’ve looked; they’re not available on any market, at any price. How on earth did you find one?”

“Our treasury’s had one for decades. An ancestor of ours had the chance to acquire one, and it’s sat forgotten in the vault since then.”

“You can’t just take things from the vault!”

“It’s our family fortune, and as emperor I will be head of the family. I don’t see the problem.”

“And you’ve carried this with you all the way from Melefran? How could you know?”

“Some intuition told me that it may be needed, and I always listen to my intuition. The stone’s never left my possession this whole time.”

“But you’d hate being emperor. And being married.”

There was the rub. But this was a day for decisions.

“Not necessarily," he answered. "Maybe the royal family has become too insular, tucked into the Strathtower Palace in Melefran, surrounded by nobility and sycophants. Maybe the monarch needs to explore the realm, speak with their people, feel the country again. And maybe two spouses who are moon Dedicated could roam together, or in turn. And besides, you’d hate it more. And we absolutely cannot let Borman inherit the throne.”

“But Morgense--”

“Is young, handsome, and sun Dedicated. He will have no trouble finding another suitable wife. As long as an Askov heir and a Rhopalo heir marry, our alliance is secure.”

Just like that, he discarded her every objection. Until there was only the one question left.

“But why? Why would you do this?”

He looked at her, the tears in her eyes and the red in her cheeks. Even in the night, far from the sun, she shone. He was certain she would still shine, even when no longer blessed by the sun.

He thought of T’qars-alek’s words. The conflict of nobility...to give up our own happiness to save the lives of our people. He loved his country, in an abstract way. But for the people--and one person in particular--that love was more concrete.

“Because I can. And the moon isn’t the only thing I’m Dedicated to.”

~~~~~~~

The bride was beautiful.

Both brides were, of course. But his eyes were on the one without wings, who still glowed even without the sun’s blessing, who still captivated the room with ease, whose dark hair spilled like a river down her back even as the wind gently played with it.

He turned his gaze away from the ceremony, and his eyes met those of his own betrothed across the room. Their engagement had not yet been publicly announced, so as to not take away from the happy couple’s big day. He had traveled to Rhopalo himself, in a dual role as both courier and suitor, to begin negotiations. They had taken little time, as such things went. Two moon Dedicated people could say a lot, by saying very little, to each other.

He gave her a small, private smile. She inclined her head fractionally.

Theirs would be a very practical marriage. Each would look after their own interests. In time they would likely care for each other. Perhaps they could even learn to love.

And trade alliances would be secure. And neighboring sovereignties would be allied. And his sister would be happy.

Of course this ceremony was being held outdoors, where the wind could gently caress the two it had blessed. Even the sun shone down in approval.

The moon was hidden, not yet risen. He wondered what it would be like to make the reDedication with another person. Would they trust each other enough for that?

Only time would tell.

The ceremony concluded with a kiss, and the guests rose and celebrated with a happy, hearty cheer.

And Derren, tears in his eyes, the weight of the kingdom swirling around his shoulders, cheered loudest of all.