Chapter Twenty-Two
Now, how was this for irony, Megabyte mused as he fell into step besides his father, he was actually going to meet Adam's bride before Adam did. Well, not so much as meet her, from what he understood of Albarasquan culture, being of the male gender he would be fortunate to get within a few meters of the Damiar Princess, but he would be one of the first to greet her. He would be one of the first to lay eyes upon her and the several meters of cloth that would make up the veil that she wore.
Veils, now there was a concept that was absolutely foreign to Megabyte. However, in light of his recent situation and his problems with Sarena, he thought that maybe the Albarasquans had the right idea. Properly hidden and veiled, Sarena wouldn't be nearly the distraction that she was, and she wouldn't be able to advertise herself the way she did. And quite possibly, he wouldn't have found himself in the unenviable position of having to put an end to Lord Marmion's affair.
Possibly, yes, but not probable. If Megabyte had learned anything about his alter ego, it was that the other man not only lacked decency and respect for others, but he reveled in doing so. Which went a long way towards explaining why the kitchen staff now fell silent whenever Megabyte entered a room, why the servants tip-toed lightly around him, and why Legan watched him as though he fully expected stalked eyes to pop out of Megabyte's head, or rather, Marmion's head. He wasn't Marmion Ruele, and he had no intentions of living the life the other man had led; and people were beginning to notice.
People were beginning to think, as Jade so properly informed him, "that you've either gone mad or grown up."
He would have preferred the latter to the former, but as long as people were noticing, then he truly didn't care that much.
"Remember, my lord, to keep a respectful distance. The Damia Reina is particular about such things," Legan's voice at his elbow reminded Megabyte of the valet's presence. "And remember that she is a High Priestess of Damiaren before she is Queen. Pay homage to the church --"
"And then the throne," Lord Bial cut in smoothly, dismissing Legan's words with a brief flicker of his wrist, "I think that we can not drill the necessity of proper etiquette into my son's head any further Legan. If he has not taken the words to heart by now, then he never will." The words were spoken lightly, as if in jest, as if Lord Bial truly was not concerned with how his son would receive the queen, heir, and dowager queen of a foreign kingdom, but Megabyte had walked in Marmion's shoes long enough to know that his father was far from calm.
Had Marmion been there, Megabyte knew the man would have done something, albeit small and petty, to at least create some discomfort and bitterness. But Marmion was not there, Megabyte Damon was, and Megabyte Damon had no intentions of offending a powerful and respected foreign queen.
Megabyte Damon had no intentions of offending any queen, or king, ever.
Lady Margot waited for them in the front courtyard, her ladies-in-waiting lined up neatly behind and beside her as she took her proper place besides Lord Bial. As for the Lady Jadina . . . well, the wife of Lord Marmion was conspicuous in her absence.
[Jade?] Megabyte sent the thought to her telepathically, not even trying to hide his impatience. He knew it wouldn't do any good to get annoyed with her, here, as in their world, Jade paid little attention to any sort of chastisement from Megabyte. Besides which, she would receive enough of said chastisement from Lady Margot before the day was done.
[Coming!] She punctuated her frantic exclamation as she raced, quite literally, into the courtyard. Dressed in her riding habit, her skirts held in one hand and hiked up to her ankles as no properly bred lady would dare do unless the devil himself was chasing her, she charged forward to his side. Her other hand, the one not occupied with holding her skirts up high enough to permit running, attempted to hold a large, feather adorned hat, a gift from Queen Carrina, on her head.
If the Keep thought that Lord Marmion had gone mad, times like this made him wonder what they thought of Lady Jadina.
"I'm sorry," Jade pulled to a halt before his parents, letting her skirts drop, her face flushed bright pink. Several strands of unruly blonde escaped from beneath the hat, and as Megabyte watched the reactions on the faces of the current Lord and Lady of Elspera Keep, in particularly that of Lady Margot, he felt sorry for the words Jade would hear later. "I was out riding and somehow I lost track of time. I didn't mean to be out that long --"
"Where is Sarena?" Lady Margot nodded to her personal maids, and the women moved instantly, fluttering around Jade in an attempt to hurriedly put her to rights; as much as they could on such short notice.
"I -- I --" Jade stopped, the words that had clearly meant to be a lie dying on her lips under Lady Margot's watchful eye. Her head dropped, allowing one of the maids to replace hatpins and tuck hair beneath the monstrosity of a hat, and her voice grew smaller, "She didn't go riding with me. She was feeling ill."
"Convenient." The word was a low snarl and an accusation from Legan, loud enough for only Megabyte to hear. And while Megabyte was able to ignore the man and pretend to not have heard the word, he couldn't ignore the slow burn of anger and annoyance that Jade's words produced in him. Not anger towards Jade, but towards Sarena and towards Marmion Ruele for ever creating this frustrating situation.
Sarena kept her distance, just as he had made it clear that she should. She kept her distance, but went out of her way to remind him in subtle and not-so-subtle ways that she was still there, an annoying itch just beyond reach that would not go away. What better way to get his attention than by raising his ire, by embarrassing him and making certain that Lady Jadina was not only late, but most improperly dressed, by Stiborn standards, at this time.
"Too ill to see that her lady is properly attended to?" Lady Margot raised an eyebrow.
"No, that wasn't it at all. I didn't want her out if she wasn't well. It's my fault, really. I should have known better. I do apologize, Mother, Father . . . Marm."
The fact that she included him in her apology, gave Megabyte a start. That was unexpected, and it made him bite back the words he had been about to deliver to her with regards to how Sarena was not worth the breath Jade wasted defended her. He and Jade got along a little better these days, but there were still things that could send them bickering like children - Sarena was one of those things. Jade thought Megabyte was unnaturally cold and harsh towards Sarena, and he, of course, couldn't explain why he was that way.
It was a lose-lose situation.
This time, Megabyte swallowed his annoyance and let the words remain unspoken.
Something tickled the back of his mind, a subtle and soft brushing against his awareness. It caused him to react instinctively, pushing against it, warding it away before he turned his head enough to glare at Jade. [Something you wanted to say?]
Still being attended to by Lady Margot's attendants, it was hard to catch sight of her between the moving and busy bodies. [I said I'm sorry. And it won't happen again. What more do you want?]
[You just -] Megabyte stopped in mid-sentence. If Jade had been fluttering around inside of his head, she might have denied it, but she wasn't any good at hiding things. She wouldn't have reacted with those words, with the blank puzzlement and hurt that said she was bothered that he didn't accept her apology. [Never mind.]
If it wasn't Jade pressing against him, attempting to slip past his shields, then they might have a few more things to worry about. Like the possibility of there actually being Tomorrow People, or at least telepaths, in this world.
[Marm?]
[Nothing. Forget it.]
[Fine. Be that way.]
By the time the carriages, and the wagons, carrying the Damiar Princess of Albarasque and her court pulled into the courtyard, Jade was by his side, looking as much the Lady Jadina as she possibly could. But Megabyte was too distracted to pay much attention to the goings on around him, already regretting the fact that he had pushed that elusive telepathic touch away instead of trying to find whom it belonged to.
Not that the first two carriages held much of interest. Those carriages contained the attendants of the royal family and a few priestesses and acolytes from the Temple of Damiaren. Only one of those women actually held his attention for more than a moment, and that was because Megabyte could actually see her face. Far older than the priestesses, acolytes and attendants with her, she still wore the veil, but it was thin and light and Megabyte was certain was worn more for tradition than any other reason. Aside from its sheerness, her veil also only hid her nose and mouth, and eyes as dark as a hawk's peered out at those assembled in the courtyard, and Megabyte received the distinct impression that they were all being measured.
Her eyes lingered the longest on Jade, taking in the outlandish hat and the slightly mussed riding dress and causing the girl to blush a few different shades of red. Something sparked in those dark eyes, and Megabyte could have sworn he saw the hint of a smile beneath that veil, but he blinked and it was gone, replaced with the hard eyes and face of a woman of wisdom and age.
"I don't think she liked me," Jade whispered as the woman at last turned away.
"It's the hat," Megabyte muttered, grateful that they were in public and that Jade would not slug him for the words.
[Is she there yet?] The inquiry came from Adam, laced with more than a little bit of curiosity. He was waiting for Megabyte's first impression; not that it would change anything, but as was often said, "Forewarned is forearmed."
[Well, she's here, but we haven't seen her yet,] Megabyte replied, his words meant for Adam only. The first impression report was strictly between them, namely because Adam had actually shown a bit of embarrassed humility when Jade accused him of trying to judge a book by its cover. [Although I think they brought half of the Sun Palace with them.]
[If the progress being made on my royal apartments is indication, we have more than enough room for it.]
[I wouldn't make any bets on that, pal.]
The first to emerge from the royal carriage was Prince Calend'et. Slightly taller than Megabyte, with dark skin and dark eyes and a boyish face, he carried himself like royalty and like he knew that all eyes were upon him. He greeted each of them in perfect, only slightly accented Stibornan, placing a kiss upon the hands of Lady Margot and Jade.
He was the kind of guy that Megabyte had always wanted to deck.
The Damiar Princess Amideira was next, and as the priestess from early announced her name, something tugged at the back of Megabyte's mind. One of the conversations that he and Adam had while Adam was visiting the keep, something about names and titles, an elusive thread of thought that he couldn't seem to grasp and bring to the forefront of his mind. Not until the Damiar Princess stepped from the carriage, hidden and swathed beneath layers of lace and silk and linen. Not until he saw her head turn, that motion not hidden by veil, not until he felt the mixed waves of shock and absolute hysterical relief ram into him.
Marmion and Marmaduke. Jadina and Jade. Amideira --
"Ami," he both said the word softly and sent it telepathically to the woman that was somewhere beneath the layer of veils.
[Megabyte! It's you!] Ami's delighted telepathic squeal would have been bearable.
Would have been had it not been in perfect synchronicity with Jade's, [Ami! Marm, it's Ami!]
[Ami?] Adam sounded both mystified and relieved. [Ami is there? Ami, you're there?]
This was just too rich. Megabyte actually chuckled softly, not caring about the odd looks that Legan and several of the gathered servants gave him, after all according to rumor, Lord Marmion had taken leave of his senses.
[Adam, Ami is your bride.]
At that announcement, the Damiar Princess of Albarasque, alias Ami Jackson, tripped down the final step.
***
