Yuri smiled into his mug of ale. Beltane night was an interesting time of celebration. He still remembered when Conrad had explained the rituals, the meaning, and the consequences of Beltane's celebrations three years ago. Both he and his godfather had been sporting a light blush by the time Conrad had finished explaining exactly what a Beltane marriage or a Greenwood marriage was, exactly what they entailed, and why Yuri should refrain from going out into the forest on Beltane night unless he wanted to find himself in one. He'd been exceedingly grateful for that embarrassing discussion a few hours later, when Wolfram had tried to convince him to go 'bless the forest' with him.

Yuri shook his head dislodging the ghosts of the past and turning his mind back to this year's celebration of fertility and the spring equinox. He glanced up as Wolfram settled himself down onto the log he was currently using as a bench, slinging one arm over his shoulder. He smiled, leaning into his blond fiancé, and went back to watching his subjects celebrate. The feast they all indulged in earlier had been the height of perfection; as usual, the cooks had outdone themselves. Tonight was the one night of the year when the entirety of the crown city ate food that was prepared for the king's table.

Yuri had been glad to note the curry he taught the palace chefs to make was among the first things to vanish; although he knew from experience that may have simply been due to the fact that he himself had taken a generous portion of the stuff. Sometimes his subjects acted as though his enjoying something was a royal mandate for them to like it as well. He turned his attention to the two steadily burning sacred fires, and the people dancing around them.

He couldn't help smiling at the sight of the usually stoic Lord von Voltaire dancing around one of the fires wearing a new tunic of his mother's devising, the soft fabric embellished by delicate embroidery. The man was slowly dancing his way over until he was dancing directly between the two fires – with his wife, Rosalina, dancing at his side.

The fiery young lady had come to the palace last year about three months before Beltane, the youngest sister of a minor lord. Gwendal had fallen for the young woman and fallen hard, however in typical fashion he refused to admit it. That had all changed last Beltane, and Yuri had found himself legally recognizing their marriage the following morning. Although seeing how they'd brought with them a sprig of a sacred Rowan tree, Yuri knew the marriage had already been recognized and blessed by The Great One and the old gods.

There were no Rowan trees in the forest surrounding Shin Makoku, yet every year at Beltane great stacks of Rowan wood simply appeared just inside the Temple walls – in time for the Beltane eve celebrations. And every year at least 30 couples out of the 200 or so newlyweds Yuri recognized came into his office carrying sprigs of the sacred trees.

He glanced around, noting Lady Cecilia, Anissina, Gisela, and Gunter all dancing around the fires. With a sigh, he looked around for Conrad, who tended to spend the majority of Beltane lounging against a tree. Although he still remembered his surprise the first time he'd seen his normally quite conservative godfather jump naked over the Beltane fire – once it had burned down low enough. He'd known it was part of the Beltane rituals, and while he'd seen everyone from the lowest peasants to Gwendal and Lady Cecilia jump over their respective fires – he hadn't expected Conrad to participate in that particular part of the celebrations.

Finally he found Conrad perched quietly in the branches of a tree, where he could avoid the advances of men and women interested in his company while they blessed the forest. He shook his head. He'd often wondered why Conrad didn't participate in any part of the rituals save the fire jump. Every year, Conrad jumped over the fires because it was expected of him. But he never really seemed to enjoy himself on Beltane eve.

The only one not present for the celebrations was Yozak, but then the spy was never present for Beltane. Then he watched Conrad drop down from his hiding place, landing lightly on the ground. Yuri expected him to liberate a mug of ale and return to his tree as he had every year previous. However, Conrad surprised him.

The man simply walked over to the fire, passing right by where he and Wolfram were currently sitting, and Yuri noticed Conrad's eyes were empty. For a second, his godfather simply stood there, and then he began to dance. At first he danced alone, however, on his third rotation around the dancing flames, another figure joined him, and Yuri recognized the other dancer's hair in the firelight.

~~~***~~~

Murata Ken, Great Sage of the Demon Tribe, stood silently overlooking the celebrations. He smiled at the sight of a certain spy returning from his mission early, riding through the darkness. Firelight flashed off his glasses even as Lord Conrart Weller dropped down from his hiding place to join the festivities, seemingly oblivious to the world around him, his movements supple and graceful, particularly for one no longer in control of his own body.

Murata sat back and watched, as the two possessed dancers came together by the fire, both men now completely oblivious to their surroundings, or even the motions of their own bodies. He turned his head and shared a smirk with his companion. "You know, it's not nice to take over other people's bodies. However, I see you've lost your patience with the situation."

"This night has been delayed by more than 25 years. I have been patient enough, I think." The Great One replied. "Come morning, the situation will no longer be up for debate."

Murata inclined his head. "I did not say it wasn't high time this situation was laid to rest, my friend, just that it isn't polite to borrow another's body. I'm well aware of the fact that you crafted their souls to compliment and support each other, but don't you think this may not necessarily be the correct way to bring the issue to its proper closure? What if, one of them was to come to harm by your actions?"

"You worry too much Daikenjya." The Great One responded mildly, gently flicking his wrist.

Murata shook his head. "And you don't worry enough, my friend," He muttered, watching quietly as Lord Weller bolted off into the forest, with his future husband in pursuit. Come morning the young lord was going to be very sore.

~~~***~~~

Conrad yawned as he slowly woke up. Abruptly, his sleep fogged mind registered something wrong. He was outside, asleep in a bed of pine and cedar needles. He was also naked as the day he was born! He shifted slightly, and whimpered at the sharp pain in his lower back. It was a new pain, unlike anything he'd ever felt before. Apparently he'd 'blessed the bloody forest' last night, and judging by the discomfort he currently felt he'd had the dubious pleasure of being the uke.

He whimpered. He didn't remember anything about last night past climbing into his customary tree. As far as he knew he hadn't come down, and the only thing he had to drink was water, and his customary mug of ale. He shifted slightly, ignoring the discomfort that persisted after last night's erotic behavior, and attempted to shimmy out from under the heavy sleep-slackened arm draped across his waist, and the leg that rested uncomfortably between his thighs. The trick would be getting away from his partner without waking him. The situation was embarrassing enough without having to face the complete stranger he'd just slept with.

He closed his eyes against the threatening tears—he'd never been with another man before. Now he had, and he couldn't remember any of it. His movements were countered by his sleeping partner pulling him closer, and he felt the soft brush of leaves against his chest. Glancing down he noticed a sprig of Rowan clasped in the other man's hand. His breath caught in his throat, threatening to choke him.

He felt faint!

He hadn't merely 'blessed the forest' last night, he'd had a Beltane Marriage.

Oh Great One, he wanted to die of shame.

The arm around his waist tightened again and he shivered, hoping the ground would rise up and swallow him whole so that he didn't have to face this.

"Conrart?" a soft voice asked from directly behind him. "Where are we?"

He went limp with relief – it was Yozak who held him in his arms – not a stranger at all. He loved Yozak and had wanted nothing more than to marry the other man for many years but when he'd gone to Gwendal with that fact a little over 25 years ago, his brother had objected based upon the differences in their ranks, and the battle lines had been clearly drawn between them. After a year Yozak had stepped aside, refusing to be the reason why Conrart was at odds with his elder brother.

"Woods somewhere," he replied mildly. "Do you remember anything about last night?"

"No, do you?"

Conrad shook his head and rolled over so that he could bury his face in Yozak's chest. "Not a thing." He swallowed, and then continued. "You're holding a sprig of Rowan wood. Are you okay with this?"

"Couldn't be happier," Yozak replied truthfully, pulling him closer to his chest. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm a little sore, honestly."

Yozak gently kissed the top of his head. "I can hear a stream around here somewhere. The cold water should help. We can head home and face your brother after you've bathed, love."

~~~***~~~

Yuri sighed as he signed yet another Beltane Marriage into legality. He glanced behind him and slightly to his left, Conrad's customary spot whenever he was dealing with his general population, only to see Gwendal leaning casually against the wall. Not that he hadn't expected that; he had sent for the man early this morning when Conrad failed to show up for duty. It was well past noon, and he was starting to become seriously worried.

Conrad had never been this late, for anything.

He dismissed the happily wed couple standing before him, offering them a few words of wisdom in terms of relationships, pearls of wisdom he'd long ago memorized from a rather long list Conrad had written up for him his first Beltane Day.

He rubbed his temples carefully; that was couple 150.

Taking a deep breath, Yuri called for one of the last couples to enter.

Then he shot out of his chair in surprise when Conrad limped into the room with Yozak at his side.

"Conrad!" he gasped at the sight of his disheveled godfather. "Where have you been? Are you okay? Why are you limping?"

He'd hardly gotten the last question out when Gwendal exploded behind him.

"CONRART WELLER!!!" The man thundered, his face twisted into the most terrifying mask of pure rage Yuri had ever seen. Apparently, it was the most terrifying Conrad had ever seen his brother as well, since the younger man shrank back against Yozak. "How could you deliberately disobey me like this? I expressly forbade you from marrying so far beneath your rank! Yet you dare to pull a stunt like this?!!" He turned on Yozak then. "You—this was your idea wasn't it? Well? What do you have to say for yourselves?!!"

In answer, Yozak held up a sprig of Rowan wood.

Yuri laughed as he dipped his pen into his inkwell, and deftly signed Conrad and Yozak's name into the book on his desk before proceeding to pull out one of the many ready-made marriage certificates resting in his desk drawer. Without a word, he signed Conrart's name on one of the blank lines provided and Yozak's on the other, before signing his own name as witness to the legality of the matter on the bottom line.

He cleared his throat. "Gwendal—shut up, that's an order!" he told the still ranting man, as he calmly shook the document to dry the ink, before rolling it up and handing the paper to Yozak.

"Congratulations" he said mildly. "Oh, and I want both of you to take the next week off."

Yozak chuckled. "Thanks kiddo, we'll make the most of it." He replied, before whispering something into Conrad's ear that Yuri didn't catch, but it made Conrad flush an interesting shade of red.