Part 22

The main hall of the Dairai was a dark and empty room swathed with pillars and lines of candles. In front of a statue of a golden goddess wearing a veil the empress knelt in front of a small table upon which a single bowl rested. Heero looked at Duo, who was wearing a black robe that was so heavy with gold thread it actually chinked, and had a veil pinned back to show his face, under the semi-transparent veil his hair was loose. Duo smiled at him, and recognising that that smile was meant to calm him Heero squeezed the hand he held.

"Come," the empress said, without moving from her position sat in front of the goddess, "and give your oath to god and country."

Hand in hand and more than a little sheepish in the face of all this ceremony, they approached the table and knelt on the two cushions facing each other. Minako had told them, in length, what to do.

"Heero," she had said, "first take the bowl in front of you, it is full of red wine, nothing more, and take a sip, then turning the bowl so your lip print faces Duo give the oath, no sword will kill you unless it be mine. Then Duo repeat the gesture."

As Duo said the words, the rich red wine burning it's way down his throat, it was spicy and metallic, the empress smiled and from a small box beside her pulled out two small crowns of flowers with ribbons tying them together. She gave one to Heero to place over Duo's head and then placed the second upon Heero herself.

"The crowns," Minako had said, "Are to mark you as lords of each other, as Duo is Tennosha then you will be Senshisha." She smiled a little to herself as if she held some great joke. "Then repeat the ceremony with the wine, the empress will give you a pair of rings for you to keep, to mark your pledge to each other."

The ring was slender and silver and carved to look like a snake swallowing it's own tail, there was a small loop at the snake's eye that was clearly to take a chain. It felt cold on Duo's hand as he fought the urge to appraise it. He wondered idly how much it would be worth if he sold it. It was strange wearing a ring on his thumb but Heero looked unmoved apart from a flicker around his eyes that suggested amusement more than discontent.

"On the third pass," Minako had told them, "the empress will take a black ribbon and tie your hands together with about a foot apart, then she will give the invocation and cut the ribbons. It is considered bad luck to remove the ribbon for at least a week. Then she will bind your hands together with a piece of red thread and present you to the goddess where you will make the oath one last time, and that's it. It's just a fancy way of drinking a cup of wine together." Mamoru had rolled his eyes but said nothing.

Heero knelt beside Duo in front of the statue of the goddess as the empress quickly and rather deftly tied them together with the thin red thread, their hands were pressed together and both lowered their eyes to the clasped hands as they fell to their sides, still together and the empress smiled at the two young men before her in ceremonial robes and like Minako before her seemed to be repressing the giggles. "Are you ready?" She asked, outstretching her hand.

Duo looked to Heero for reassurance. Heero squeezed the hand tied to his own and together they stepped forward as Tennosha and Senshisha.

Kneeling when your hands were tied was not a graceful procedure and with a peal of silvery laughter Duo fell unto Heero's kneeling lap, knocking the crown askew and almost completely pulling free the black veil. "Baka," Heero murmured softly but it wasn't an admonishment, he said it like a term of endearment. Minako had told him that when he called Duo a baka he was really saying something else, for the first time he believed her, because when it was pointed out to him he saw what Minako saw, and how reluctant he was to let Duo slide from his lap.

"Together, boys," the empress murmured.

"No sword will touch you," Heero said but he didn't look at the statue of the goddess, he looked at Duo out of the corner of his eye, and it was clear the empress noticed the gesture. "unless it be mine."

Standing in a fluid gesture of ripping layers of heavy silk the empress held out her hands to them, "beautifully done." She reached forward and with her cleverly painted doll mouth kissed Duo on the left cheek and Heero on the right. "Beautifully done, now come, my bishonen, and let us enjoy the day of the dead."

Before he could realise what had happened the Senshi appeared from one side and the Hentai from another and pulled the two of them apart, "come, " Diamond said brightly, "we must get you ready for the festivities, it's not enough that we get such a ceremony and never on the day of the dead, there will be a massive feast."

"Duo." Heero said reaching out for the boy.

Duo smiled at him, "it'll be all right." He said, "it'll be all right."

Heero scowled under the porcelain mask he had over his features as he looked at where Duo was playing with the children. They had dressed him in a very loose white yukuta and white hakama that was identical to what everyone else wore and if it wasn't for the rope of a braid swinging behind him he could have been any of the young Senshi that occupied the courtyard where only this morning he had shot and killed a Seraphim.

The children were all dressed in the same white with the same plain porcelain masks but they were laughing. They called the game that they were playing demon tag and it featured them throwing a small doll and keeping it away from Duo, they were all laughing and Heero found peace in Duo's laughter, every now and again he would look across at where Heero sat so stern and Heero knew that Duo was smiling at him before he lunged after which ever child had the doll.

"Sweet isn't it?" Terenz said sitting beside him, "I can remember Mina playing demon tag, the day of the dead is one of the greatest festivals in the year, but I imagine you have questions about the ceremony today and what comes next." If it hadn't have been for the blur of words Heero wouldn't have known him from anyone else.

Heero said nothing but his eyes lingered upon Duo where he was playing with the children, he thought briefly of the black ribbon around his wrist and the red thread underneath it and wondered if they meant what he suspected that they did.

"I had questions, but I suppose I'm the best person to answer them and all, being a doctor, and well, because of my Val, I love the day of the dead, don't you? You have to try the pink rice cakes, it's the best thing in the world for getting that musky after taste of Meirin Blood Wine out of your mouth."

"What is it?" Heero asked.

"What, the rice cakes, they're dyed with cochineal but made with sugar and ground almonds, they're like mock funeral cakes."

"No," Heero interrupted him, "Meirin blood wine."

Terenz was silent for a moment. Then he lowered his eyes. "I never said I wouldn't tell you, I don't think they expected you to ask. Meirin blood wine is, well," he paused, "blood-wine is the blood of a stallion mixed with honey and sugar and fermented. It's got great medicinal purposes." He paused again.

"And Meirin blood wine." Heero pressed. It wasn't a question it was a demand.

"When," Terenz stopped, "this isn't easy to explain, I'm sure they didn't give you Meirin blood wine, it's probably just me being paranoid, I mean you don't know what it is, it was probably just normal red wine."

"What is it?" Heero continued.

"When someone makes an incursion unto Darin soil and they are not killed just captured they are cultivated, then they are cured and then bled out and the blood mixed with hops, wheat and sugar, it is fermented. It's used for ceremonies where things are made absolute."

Heero sighed. "Human blood." He said as if it explained everything.

"Yes," Terenz answered, "invader blood, it's supposed to give you their wisdom and strength." He looked at Heero, "You don't seem horrified."

"Should I be?" Heero asked.

"You did just share a cup of human blood with him," he flicked his eyes at Duo where he was leaping amongst the children, obviously not quite catching them to prolong the game, Heero doubted that the children noticed it.

"Soon you will learn how bitter as salt and stone is the bread of others, and how hard are the ups and downs of stairs that are not your own."1 Heero answered blankly. There was no emotion in his voice, "nevertheless it might not be such a good idea to let Duo in on that information, he might do something foolish in reaction."

"What do you mean?" Terenz asked.

"It's entirely possible that he would regurgitate the blood." Heero told him, "and then he would miss the celebration."

"And it wouldn't do any good, this being his wedding night and all, I mean that's why they sent me, I mean they thought you'd have questions, we don't know what kind of education you got, and well, I mean I know you two have been sleeping together since you got here but there was no evidence that you were sleeping together" he put a different emphasis on that, "so we didn't know if you just didn't know how, or you were waiting, or if you were worried about our reaction, when in truth Prima and Otonna both were kind of disappointed that you hadn't."

"I'm sorry." Heero stammered, "what did you say?" Terenz blinked, his train of thought broken, "I think I misheard you, did you just say that Duo and I are married?"

Terenz looked surprised, and then amused, "they didn't tell you, of course, how else could you bind a senshisha to a tennosha if not through marriage. The sharing of the wine, the crowns, the ribbons, the red thread to tie your destinies together, what did you think it was?"

Heero looked bewildered for a moment, "please excuse me," he said, fighting free of the porcelain mask, "I think I'm going to be sick."

Terenz rolled his eyes, "take off the mask and put your head between your knees," he said stepping into the role of doctor, "it's just a surprise, you'll be fine, now take deep breaths." He smiled to himself, "if you have this reaction, I wonder how Duo's going to take the news."

"What news?" Duo asked, he was holding two glasses of punch, one was obviously for Heero.

"That you're married." Terenz said.

Duo fainted.

Author's Note:

1 - "Soon you will learn how bitter as salt and stone is the bread of others, and how hard are the ups and downs of stairs that are not your own" Heero is actually quoting Dante's inferno here, back down people who say he's not literate. Besides it's such an absolutely fantastic quote. Kind of if you're going to quote Dante you want a line like that. (it's one of two I know, the other being abandon hope ye all who enter here.)

2 - I kept telling you that Teishi had an agenda that was in no way harmful to the boys, this was it, by forcing Heero to take the oath she married the two of them, and they did it willingly.