Chapter Twenty-Four
[Adam, Ami is your bride.]
Adam had been immensely grateful to every god this world had that he was alone in library when Megabyte made that announcement. It was only by luck that he was not being beaten to a pulp by Stewart or Hagen this morning, or he certainly would have found himself eating Stewart's sword when Megabyte said those words.
Things had gotten a bit confused after that, and he hadn't been able to find out until a bit later precisely what happened. Megabyte's announcement caused Ami to trip, resulting in the Damiar Princess being swept away by her attendants so that she could 'rest and recuperate' from the journey. Ami, when he tried to speak to her, was not very talkative and more than a little annoyed, not so much with him, or even with Megabyte, but with her attendants. She promised to be in touch later, when she could actually "breathe without having one of them check my lung capacity."
Well, he had wanted to find Ami, had been worried about her ever since that odd dream and it looked like fate was paying attention. Of course, if he had been paying closer attention, he might have put two and two together and not been so surprised by the revelation. After all, he had been the one to point out to Megabyte how similar their names were in this world to the names they had in their world; and he was the one who never really paid that much attention to the name of his bride.
He just worried about having to go through with the wedding.
To tell the truth, he was still worried about having to go through with the wedding.
In a way, he envied Megabyte. At least his matrimonial problems had more or less resolved themselves. Yes, there was that little problem with Sarena but that was taking care of itself thanks to Megabyte displaying the moral fiber and spine Adam had always known and teased his friend about having. And with Megabyte and Jade, things were different; they took up the lives of their alter ego's, without a lot to worry about. Marmion and Jadina were already married - and living on opposite ends of the Keep and avoiding one another as much as possible. Yes, Megabyte and Jade had brought some changes to that relationship dynamic, but there was no pressure on them.
In the official grand scheme of things, Lord Marmion and Lady Jadina were insignificant. Their every move was not watched, and aside from the debate between whether Marmion was insane or growing up, their lives were not commented on. And even the sanity-maturity debate stayed within the walls of Elspera Keep. Besides, it wasn't like his every move was being watched and commented on by the entire court.
Adam knew that he and Ami would have no such luxury. They would be stuck under the microscope and analyzed. Every word would have to be perfect, every agreement would have to be honored, or the treaty would collapse most likely taking Ami with it. He had just gotten all of his friends back, and he wasn't about to have them separated now.
But marriage? Marriage to one of his best friends? As much as he dearly loved Ami, he had to admit the idea made his skin break out in a cold sweat.
[Now, that's what every woman wants to hear from her husband to be,] Megabyte snickered.
[Megabyte, keep your mind out of my thoughts and on what you're supposed to be doing,] Adam 'pathed with a mental rap.
[Hey, I'm not the one who's broadcasting loud enough for the entire kingdom to hear.]
Was he? Adam felt his cheeks color. What was wrong with him? Since when had he ever been so lax with his shielding?
Since coming here. Since learning that the rules were different here, finding out that in order to be heard by Megabyte and Jade, only a day's ride away, that he needed to concentrate a bit harder and focus a little bit more. Since he began to take for granted the fact that telepathy didn't work as smoothly and easily as it had on earth.
Clearly it still worked well enough when one was distracted or highly emotional.
[If it makes you feel any better, I don't think Ami's paying attention at the moment,] Megabyte replied dryly. [You really think that it's going to be that bad? I mean, if I can survive Jade,] Megabyte sent him a visual picture of him shrugging, [You and Ami always got along far better than me and Jade.]
[It's not about getting along,] Adam reclined in his seat, shaking his head although he knew that Megabyte couldn't see the action unless he projected it. Of course, for all he knew, he might have been projecting it. [It's about . . . ]
Adam trailed off, not certain how to put it into words that Megabyte might understand. Hell, he didn't even understand why his reaction to the knowledge that Ami was to be his bride ran the range of happy relief to blood chilling fear and every single emotion in between.
"Maybe you're just taking this too seriously, pal." The familiar tingling along the hairs of his arms and back of his neck as the air became charged with electricity accompanied the words. A loud popping sound echoed before Adam could yell at Megabyte to *not* teleport in, his friend solidified beside him.
"It's marriage, Megabyte. It is serious," Adam glared at him from his seat, "And you're not supposed to do that. What if Master Ilarms, or Stewart, or Hagen had been here?"
"Hagen? In a library?" Megabyte snorted and dropped into the seat beside Adam. "Tell me another one."
"What about Master Ilarms then? Or what if Legan had seen you? We've talked about this, Megabyte, you can't just --"
Megabyte held up a hand, "Adam, relax, all right? I was completely alone. I made sure of it. Besides, the last thing I want is to get burned at the stake for being a witch."
The words were said in jest, but Adam knew that that there was a genuine worry behind them. Teleportation had been one of the many topics of their conversations; while they had no way of knowing how the natives would perceive it, they couldn't take the chance that it would be ill received. Even if Adam could pass it off as some sort of new magic, which he very much doubted he could considering he would have to prove it Stewart, and perhaps even Halista, and they would not be easily fooled. No, it was far, far better to just err on the side of caution, hence the reason that Adam had not taken the liberty of teleporting to Elspera Keep just for the sake of visiting with Megabyte and Jade.
"You could have been a lot more careful by not coming here at all," Adam pointed out.
"Yeah, well, I'm here now," Megabyte reached across the table, pulling the book that Adam had been reading towards him. It was on myths, namely the myths regarding something called 'Stepping Stones,' which seemed to be some kind of magical portal, but the story was just that - a myth. "'Sides, it's not like I was doing anything anyway, except trying to stay out of the way and not offend the Damia Reina. Which is a lot easier said than done. I think the woman is looking for a reason to be offended."
"It would certainly give her a reason to pack up her *daughter* and go back to Albarasque."
Megabyte flipped through the book. "Why would she want to do that? Kind of kills the treaty doesn't it?"
"My understanding is that the Damia Reina doesn't want the treaty," Adam leaned back in seat, stretched his legs and folded them at the ankles, "This was all due to the power and influence of Damiar Roleran."
"Oookaaay," the other man stretched out the word, blinking curiously at Adam. "Then if the Damia Reina doesn't want Ami to marry you, why are they here?"
"The Damia Reina doesn't want Amideira to marry Adam Aldaric," Adam corrected. "Other than that --"
"News flash, pal, you are Adam Aldaric and Ami is Amideira, so --"
"Do you want me to answer your question or not, Megabyte?" Adam paused and waited for Megabyte's nod before he continued, "The real power behind the Sun Throne is the Temple of Damiaren. As a High Priestess of Damiaren, the true power in the Imak'tiq family belongs to the dowager reina, Damiar Roleran.
"For years, I guess, Stiborn and Albarasque were ... rivals ... if not blood enemies. Stiborn has numerous resources, economic power, and with its varied landscape isn't an easy country to take or invade. Stiborn also has had the support of the Temple of Zolnar. That's the god of war, by the way."
"Yeah, I did do my own reading, Adam."
Adam smirked. "Anyway, Albarasque has always had a powerful navy *and* the Temple of Damiaren behind them."
"A navy? In the desert? Don't you find that weird?"
"They also have miles of coastline that they've been defending for years against Carelle Ichtung and pirates."
"This history lesson does have something to do with here and now, right?"
"World War II did have something to do with Germany becoming East Germany and West Germany, right?"
"Point."
Convinced that he now had Megabyte's full attention, Adam pulled his thoughts back on track. "At least once every sixty or seventy years, Stiborn and Albarasque would go to war. No one really got anything out of it, the war usually ended in stalemate, but they both kept trying. Except for the last almost ninety years. No declarations of war, no attacks, not since Stiborn and Albarasque combined their forces to prevent the expansion of Carelle Ichtung's borders ninety years ago."
"They had a treaty then?"
Adam shook his head. "Not Stiborn and Albarasque. The Temples of Zolnar and Damiaren. Some agreements were made, and I still haven't found out anything about the details of those, but Stiborn and Albarasque stopped going to war. Anyway, at that time, the Damiar Reina apparently suggested a true alliance treaty between the two countries, but the Temple of Damiaren refused to sanction it."
"Huh? But they already had a treaty --"
"No, they had some sort of binding contract with the Temple of Zolnar," Adam held up a hand to forestall any other questions. "I'm having enough trouble with royal politics, I'm not even going to try to understand the theocratic politics between the different temples."
"Okay, so why didn't they agree to the alliance? The Temple of Damiaren?"
"They didn't want the blood tainted. Stibornans aren't exactly renown as mages, Megabyte. Once they had to have been more powerful, but," Adam trailed off for a moment, thinking of the Swords of Houses, thinking of Halista and her rumored associations with the Temple of Damiaren.
"But?" Megabyte prompted.
Adam pulled his thoughts back to the here and now. "But, they aren't now. Prince Adam Aldaric is the first in several generations to actually be considered as a candidate for true training and study at the Temple of Damiaren. And that also means that he was first to be considered as a likely candidate for marriage to a member of the royal family of Imak'tiq."
"All because he's a mage? That's kind of snooty."
"Part of it is snobbery, I'm sure. But the other part has to do with heirs. Chances are pretty damn good that if you marry two powerful mages off to one another that their children will be mages. At least, that's their thoughts. Without knowing whether or not being a mage is genetically linked, there's no way to guarantee that. But right now, I think that Mendel is not going to be found in any of these books."
"Speaking of books, what are you reading?" Megabyte returned his attention to the open book, resuming flipping through the pages.
"Bullfinch's Mythology."
The red head blinked at him. "Really?"
"No, not really. Not in the literal sense anyway. It is a collection of myths though, mostly Stibornan. A few from Carelle Ichtung and Elaisias. Nothing helpful."
"Right." Megabyte didn't look up from the book, which was why his next words surprised Adam. "So, the Damia Reina doesn't want this marriage, but Damiar Roleran does. And King Martine does, but Adam Newman doesn't?"
"I never said that!" Adam objected. He ignored the incredulous look that the other young man tossed his way, or tried to, "It's just that now that I know *who* the Damiar Princess really is, a part of me thinks that it would be easier to marry a complete stranger."
"And a part of me thinks that a part of you is nuts," Megabyte remarked. "I mean, it's like I said before, if I can handle being married to Jade then you and Ami should be no sweat."
"Except there's a difference. You and Jade came into this already married, well Marmion and Jadina were already married. With this marriage . . . it's going to be a real marriage, Megabyte. There is going to be a ceremony and vows exchanged and expectations to meet and . . ." Adam drifted off, unable to find the words to convey what he wanted to say, or at least unable to relay those thoughts to Megabyte. "I don't think that I'm ready for this."
"Cold feet?" Megabyte teased.
The words brought a small smile to Adam. "Maybe." Then, he shifted, raking his hands through his hair, "I don't know, Megabyte. It's just that when I think about it all, the big picture, really think about it, I realize that this is so much broader in scope than what I previously thought. You really are a lord, I really am a prince and I don't even know anymore where we stop being the old us and start being the new."
"Do we?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do we ever stop being the old us? I mean, I still think I'm Megabyte and I'm pretty sure that you're still Adam. And Jade is still Jade, and if Ami's attitude is indication, she's definitely still Ami." The red head shrugged, "Maybe there isn't a place where one stops and the other begins, maybe we're just kind of . . . meshing."
"Meshing, huh?"
Another shrug and the familiar lopsided grin, "Sounds as good as anything else doesn't it?"
"I guess it does," Adam returned his friend's smile easily and allowed them to lapse into a comfortable silence for a few minutes.
It was Megabyte who broke the silence first, standing and slapping his palms against his thighs. "I better get back before someone misses me. That's if your panic attack is over?"
"Very funny, Megabyte."
"Well, is it?"
"I think that I'll manage to hold it together for a few more days," Adam remarked dryly.
"Well, you know how to reach me," Megabyte flashed him a cocky smile and teleported out of the library.
Rapping his fingers on the table, Adam stared at the space where his friend had stood only a few seconds previously. He could, and would, hold it together a few more days. A few more days and a few more weeks, what more could he do? And what other choice did he have?
He was the High Prince Adam Aldaric and nothing had changed.
Everything had changed.
For better or for worse remained to be seen.
*** End of Chapter Twenty-Four
