A month later…
Axl yawned, stretching and luxuriating in the feeling of soft, silky blankets. A soft, mumbled sound of protest made him smile and relax back into the bed. Quosha was warm behind him, her arm across his chest and her face resting on his back. Axl casually looked over his shoulder, and smiled again. Quosha was cuddled up to him, while Ryo was cuddled up to her. It was really very sweet.
Axl finally sighed and pulled away, though, lightly poking Quosha in the ribs. She mumbled a complaint, but finally opened her eyes, blinking in the soft morning light.
"You wanted to get up early to prepare for the wedding?" Axl whispered softly into her ear. Ryo worked very hard, most of the time, and needed his rest. Being a merchant lord was definitely not a job for slackers. Quosha blinked, then nodded, eeling away from Ryo so smoothly he hardly noticed she was gone.
"Right. Thank you, Axl." She whispered back, changing into a suitable gown. Axl helped her do up the bone and cord toggles on the back. This place didn't have formal wedding gowns the way Axl was used to them, but the clothing expected of a wife was very different than that expected of a concubine. The deep blue gown she was wearing now clung to her curves but was very modestly cut. Tiny beads of gold and lapis glittered in the folds of the skirt, and a matching necklace twisted around Quosha's neck. Her only makeup was gold dust on her eyelids, to match the gold in her dress. "How do I look?"
"Lovely. You'll knock everyone's socks off." Axl said teasingly, and Quosha grinned. Axl had used the expression before, and been forced to explain the concept of socks. Here, everyone wore sandals, and socks seemed almost unknown.
"Thank you. Let's go see that everything else is in order." Axl followed willingly as Quosha slipped out. After a little while in the mansion, Axl had realized that Quosha held nearly as much authority among the staff as Ryo. The chamberlain was old and feeble, but Ryo hadn't wanted to let the man go, so Quosha had taken over much of his duties. When they weren't watching over Ryo, Axl served her as a helper.
While Ryo was in his bedroom, in the mansion, there was no real threat to him. A bodyguard watched the doorway into the rest of the mansion, and the balcony to his room was sealed by potent enchantments. Axl had winced when he'd found out why. Someone had sent a trained mini-dragon through the balcony once, killing an earlier courtesan and wounding Quosha.
"Quosha, why does Ryo have so many enemies?" Axl suddenly asked. Quosha looked back at him, surprised, then shrugged.
"Because he's very smart and usually gets the better of people in bargaining. There are small-minded idiots everywhere who take badly to that. And others who are just cold blooded enough to take out a business rival." She grimaced. "The worst attempts aren't personal, not that it helps."
"Oh. So… this is a common thing?" Axl asked tentatively, and Quosha frowned.
"Common enough. Why else do you think so many people would want expensive slaves like us?" Axl blinked, falling silent. He hadn't really thought about it, but there were over ten warrior/concubines in his class, all of whom had fetched very good prices. And in six months, there would be another class of about the same size… the demand had to be pretty high to support that kind of output. And Axl had already seen some action himself, although it had been minor… Axl considered that as he helped set up a very intricate centerpiece on the main table. It was a sculpture of flowers, meant to represent fertility. Axl couldn't help but grin at that. It wasn't as though Quosha and Ryo needed the help!
The wedding was going to be a spectacle. A hundred people had been invited, which was quite a lot in this culture. The cooks had been hard at work all yesterday and were still going at it today. Axl hissed as he spotted a server carrying out a massive dessert, a pastry dragon with red candy scales. It was very well done, lifelike… and it was about to slide off the plate.
"Good god, careful!" He ducked in to catch the pastry before it could complete the death slide. Fortunately, the scales were quite hard and he was able to slide it back onto the plate without marring it. "Here, let me carry that." He took it easily from the struggling server, who smiled gratefully.
"That goes right over here," Quosha directed him towards the dessert table with a smile. "Thank you, Axl… my word, the cooks must have spent ages on that! It even has wings." She admired the sculpture for a moment. "Ryo will love it."
"I bet he will," Axl agreed with a grin. Wedding cakes weren't customary here, but a massive feast with a huge dessert table was. The servants would bring out each course individually, but the desserts were largely visual and would be out where the guests could gawk at them. So too were the huge bread sculptures on each table… mostly fertility symbols again. Fortunately, they were mostly supposed to be strong, young forest animals, nothing as crude as an outright phallic symbol. Although… "With all these fertility symbols, I'm surprised there aren't any phallic ones." He was sure that would amuse Quosha, and he was right… she laughed.
"Oh, Axl, but they have to be cut up! What a horror that would be to the male guests!" Axl winced at the image, then laughed with her. She definitely had a point.
Soon, everything was ready, and Axl glanced around approvingly. This had all the makings of a really fine ceremony and party. Although Axl wouldn't much be able to enjoy the ceremony part of it. His duty was to stand behind Ryo, as what his world would have termed the best man. Only his job would be to keep an eye on anyone coming anywhere near the happy couple. Ryo was of the opinion that none of his cold-blooded business rivals would be crass enough to stage an attack at his wedding. That left the idiots with personal grievances, some of whom might hate him enough to try it. But the security was quite high… things might be uneventful.
As it turned out, that was only partially true. The ceremony went wonderfully, with Ryo and Quosha ceremonially bedecked with flowered wedding wreaths. At the feast, though, a few things went wrong. Ryo's family from the Southern Islands had been invited, and it was painfully obvious that Ryo had worked up from some humble roots. Axl winced in sympathetic pain as one woman got so drunk, she slipped under the table. They also fumbled the intricate cutlery required of formal dining here, but that at least was forgivable since they were from so far away. The drunkenness was unacceptable in any culture, though.
Ryo and Quosha were too happy to care about such minor mishaps, though. Axl smiled as he watched them… he was sitting at the same table, quite close, but might as well have been on another planet for all they noticed him. At least, until…
"Mama! Papa!" The roving bundle of arms and legs that Ryo and Quosha called a son almost careened into the table. Axl jumped to his feet and just barely managed to catch him, getting kicked in the shin for his troubles. A puffing, middle-aged nurse waddled up behind, her face red with embarrassment as the newly wed couple turned to look, startled.
"I'm sorry master, mistress, he just got away from me," she apologized profusely, but Ryo waved it away as Quosha took Karus from Axl with a laugh. Axl rubbed his leg, expression injured.
"Are you being a pest, Karus?" Quosha said playfully, then shook her head. "It's past your bedtime, sweety. Why don't you let Samina put you to sleep?" Karus scowled.
"But I want to stay at the party!" he protested. "You wouldn't let me come!"
"That's because it's a party for adults, sweety." Quosha said serenely. "But I'll tell you what. If you're a good boy, Axl will take you out shopping tomorrow. How about that?" Axl made a small glrking noise in the back of his throat, eyes widening. He'd already been on one shopping trip with Karus, and had ended up more worn out than he'd felt after dealing with a Maverick attack. Quosha saw the look on his face, and gave him an impish smile. Ryo was smiling, too, and Axl realized he was doomed. Karus considered it for a moment.
"Will I be able to get candy?" He said wistfully, and Axl winced. The last thing he wanted to give Karus was more sugar.
"Sure, sweety." Quosha patted him on the head, then handed him off to his nurse. "But only if you're a good boy and go right to bed." Karus nodded enthusiastically, letting his nurse take him off.
"Just throw me to the wolves, Quosha." Axl whined. Quosha gave him a brilliant smile.
"Don't think of it as a chore, Axl, think of it as an opportunity!" she said playfully. "I'm sure you can spend a few golds on yourself, as well." She glanced at Ryo, who nodded.
"Spend ten golds on yourself," Ryo said expansively, and Axl blinked. That was enough to get himself some very nice things, and very generous. It did make tomorrows trip a lot more appealing.
The rest of the feast passed uneventfully, and the tables were cleared away for dancing. Axl was intrigued by the music… it sounded vaguely Arabian, but there were hints of other cultures and even a few instruments he had never seen before. The final sound was unique, and not the same as the music he had danced to in his training. Still, it was easy to dance to, and he enjoyed his last duty of the evening… asking ladies to dance. Especially the wallflowers. Ryo had instructed him to try and draw the observers out.
The party finally ended when Ryo and Quosha departed, to a smattering of applause. The guests all departed, going to their mansions and rooms at the local inns. All that was left was the cleanup, and Axl pitched in, helping the cleaning staff return the room to its former, pristine condition.
Finally, exhausted and yawning, Axl stripped off his finery and tumbled into bed. It had been a very long day.
The next morning, Axl was quite rudely awoken at dawn by a small body landing on his chest.
"Axl, Axl! Wake up, it's morning!" Axl groaned, and tried to ignore him. The weight wasn't much… but then Karus started poking him. "Axl!"
"I'm up, I'm up…" Axl pushed himself up with another groan, sending Karus rolling off his chest with a giggle. "Ow. You're a terrible brat."
"Yes!" Karus said happily, as if it had been a compliment. He probably thought it was. Axl sighed, and pulled himself out of bed. Karus wasn't really a brat… but he was four, which was often pretty much the same thing.
"Have you eaten yet?" Axl asked as he pulled on his padded jumpsuit, then his armor. There was no reason for him to bother pretending he was anything but a bodyguard, when he was taking Karus out into the marketplace. Karus shook his head. "Okay then, first stop is the kitchen." He was very hungry, too.
Soon, he and Karus were eating breakfast in the cozy little private dining room Axl usually took his meals in. The cooks provided them with large bowls of hot muslix cereal, full of nuts and grains and sweetened with honey. There was also a small basket of oranges, little hothouse fruits grown in a greenhouse on the property. Axl ate one slowly, enjoying it. He'd come to appreciate the seasons more, in a land where greenhouses were rare, magical preservation was rarer and out of season fruit was insanely expensive. If it wasn't the season, there was no deciding you wanted an apple, unless you were willing to pay through the nose for it. Karus ate everything in front of him, making Axl grin. It was amazing, how much food one little boy could put away.
"Karus?" Axl suddenly said. Something important was on his mind… it had been since Ryo had said he could spend ten golds on himself. That was more than enough to pay for an hour of time with a good wizard, and magic was the only way he could think of to get home. Or at least explain how he had gotten here in the first place. "Would you like to go to the Street of Magic today?" Karus eyes went wide.
"Ohhh! Can we Axl? Can we, can we?" Karus bounced in his seat, making Axl grin. "There are street magicians who do illusions! It's really neat!"
"Well, we can watch them for a while, but I want to talk to a mage about something. It might be a little boring." He warned the boy. He didn't want Karus to pitch a fit when was talking to someone. Karus just shrugged, and ate another piece of orange.
"Nursie takes me lots of boring places. Are you done yet?" Axl gulped down the last of his cereal, and stood up.
"I am now. Let's go. And remember what your mama said." Quosha had instructed Karus quite firmly, and given Axl permission to spank him if he wandered off or acted up. Axl wasn't eager to do that, but he would, especially if Karus wandered off. No matter how closely he watched, that could happen, and it could be very dangerous. Karus squealed and ran ahead of him.
The day was just as exhausting as Axl had feared, but it was also a great deal of fun… and they went to the Street of Magic first, which made Axl's day.
After managing to tear Karus away from the street magicians, Axl found a very discreet little storefront. Some questioning of Quosha and Ryo had taught him that the mages, wizards and witches who put up great, glittering fronts were invariably frauds or lack-talents, trying to draw in people more impressed by shows than results. For really good magic, it was best to look for a subdued little shop with nothing but the name on a sign. That person might not be able to help… mages often specialized in one area… but they could inevitably refer you to someone else who could.
Axl wasn't lucky with his first stop, a witch who specialized in divinations. She was dubious about his problem, but directed him to a mage whose specialty was magical travel. That store was much larger, filled with various items that were clearly awaiting shipment. Several apprentices were industriously working on moving them out, using diagrams that had been deeply etched into the floor, most likely by their master.
"Hello… I was hoping I could speak to whoever is in charge?" Axl said to one as soon as he finished with a small box, which disappeared with a pop. The boy looked up, startled.
"He's in the back. Um, who should I tell him is here?"
"My master is Ryoshu Naburrez." Axl said with a smile, hoping the boy would assume he was here for Ryo. He did, and nodded, hurrying to the back. Axl kept a hand on Karus shoulder… he had a feeling something bad would happen if the boy disturbed any of the apprentices at work. Soon, an older man in a smock smeared with stone dust, paint and blood came out to see them.
"Hello, lad. Does Ryo have a package he wants sent out?" Axl blinked, then grinned at being called 'lad.'
"Actually, I'm here for myself." Axl admitted. "Although this is Ryo's son, Karus. I was wondering if I could ask you some questions?" The mage lifted an eyebrow, then shrugged.
"Time is money. I'll give you a consultation for two golds, as long as it takes no longer than an hour." Axl nodded, fishing the money out of his armor. "Alright then. Come with me. My name is Arthan, by the way." Axl nodded, and followed Arthan to what looked like a lunch room. There was a long, plain pine table, with a half dozen chairs. A kettle of tea sat in the middle of the table, and a plate of sugar biscuits. Axl blinked as Arthan poured them each cups… the tea was piping hot. He suspected the teapot was enchanted to keep it that way. Arthan pushed several cookies over to Karus, who began to eat happily. "So, what's the problem?" Axl took a deep breath, and began to explain.
Arthan listened intently, occasionally sipping his tea. When Axl was finished, he set down his cup, took a deep breath, and began to speak. "Well, lad, I have some good news and bad news. Which would you like to begin with?"
"Uh… the good news." Axl chewed his lip anxiously… he wanted some good news, some hope for the future. The mage smiled.
"Well, the good news is that I understand your problem and there is a way to solve it, which I can explain."
"Really? How did I get here? How can I go back?" Axl asked eagerly, and Arthan laughed, waving a hand.
"Calm down, calm down! Wait a moment, some props will help." Arthan left the table for a moment, and came back with several skeins of yarn, a pair of scissors and two coins, one silver and one gold. "Here…" He began cutting lengths of yarn, and laying them on the table. "This strand is your homeworld, the layer of reality you came from." He tapped a red strand of yarn, then lay the gold coin on it. "This coin is the precise instant in time that you left. Now this is the layer of reality you are in now. Somehow, the explosion you described shot you through the layers." Axl nodded, understanding the concept. He had read plenty of science fiction books, and had heard about alternate dimensions. Arthan lay the silver coin on the blue strand that represented the current dimension. "This is the precise instant in time you are in now. Now…" He began cutting dozens of other pieces of yarn, and laying them between the blue and red strands. "These are the layers between your layer and this one. Would you say that this land is similar to yours, or very dissimilar?"
"Very dissimilar." Axl answered immediately, and Arthan nodded.
"Then there will be many layers between them. Now. I have one piece of news that will gladden your heart. You have probably left friends and family behind, yes?" Axl winced, and nodded. He had already been in this strange land for almost a year. X and Zero had to think he was dead. "Well, time is part of the layers. If you do it right, you can return to the same time you left."
Axl's eyes widened, and his breath caught in his throat, as he absorbed the implications of that. He had pretty much resigned himself to the fact that he was going to be gone for a long, long time. He'd worried himself sick several times, hoping that X and Zero would be okay when he returned. Not to mention Cinnamon, Marino, Massimo… even Lifesaver… would they all be okay? But now… was he being told he could spend as much time as he wanted in this world, and it wouldn't matter? Axl swallowed hard.
"H-How… you mean… I can travel through time?" Axl squeaked, but the mage frowned and shook his head.
"Not precisely. You must be very, very careful with this, because the universe will NOT allow a paradox. Look. Let us say you go from here," he tapped the silver coin. "To here." He tapped the brown yarn right beside it… then snipped it off. "You have come into the timeline at this point. You cannot go farther back in this dimension ever again, because that would alter your own history and create a paradox. You understand?"
"Yes…" Axl said slowly. Arthan moved to the next string… and snipped it off as well. He kept snipping them, until he finally reached the red string with its golden coin. He tapped the coin.
"This is the point you are aiming for. You cannot come into your own timeline earlier… that would be a paradox. However, if you misaim your final portal…" Arthan said in an ominous tone… and snipped the red thread, far down from the gold coin. "And throw yourself into the future of your layer, that is where you will stay. Forever. The last portal must be done perfectly. But if it is…" He tapped the gold coin again. "You can return here."
"Then I'll just make sure it's done right." Axl said cheerfully. "So what's the bad news?" Arthan rubbed his chin, then smiled at Axl ruefully.
"Ah, well, that's the level of skill involved in this." He gestured to the yarn. "Playing with yarn is easy, but actually doing it… well, let's just say that doing this would be as far beyond me as my work would be beyond the rawest apprentice. What you need is an adept, a great magus of immense power."
"And they don't work cheap?" Axl hazarded at the man's grim expression. He shook his head.
"They don't work for money. A magus great enough to do this is already rich beyond your wildest dreams. I can think of nothing at all you could offer such a one."
"Erm…" Axl swallowed nervously. He didn't want to barter his body, but… "I'm trained as a concubine. I don't suppose that would…?"
"No." He said definitely, leaving Axl disappointed, but relieved. "An adept could buy a hundred concubines. Or summon up something, or make a golem. You must understand, what you are asking for is dangerous." Arthan tilted his head, then made a small motion towards Axl's armor. "I assume that comes from your land. Was it a peaceful place?"
"Uh… no. Not at all." Axl said, remembering all the death and destruction of the Maverick wars. Arthan nodded, then picked up a brown piece of yarn, smoothing it between his fingers.
"My master couldn't travel between the layers, but his master could. He told me that she once said that no matter how many horrors you have witnessed, how jaded you think you have become, the universe will always be able to find some new grotesquery to appall you with." He shook his head, replacing the piece of yarn. "The point is, no one will do this for you. The only option I see is for you to learn to do it yourself." Axl blinked.
"I could do that?"
"If you're willing to serve an apprenticeship, yes." Arthan frowned, then stood, going to a nearby shelf. "I think I have it here… ah, here it is." He pulled out a handwritten journal, and leafed through it. "My old master's diary… hm." He pulled out a scrap of parchment, and wrote down a name of a person, then the name of a town. "That's the name of my master's master, and the town she lived closest to. If she still lives there, the town's folk will be able to direct you to her." Axl looked at it dubiously.
"Your master's master? Will she still be alive?" She would have to be quite old. Arthan grinned.
"A magus of her power? Oh yes. There are ways, lad, to become immortal. She had just reached that level when she began teaching my master. And she can definitely travel through the layers. Not all adepts can do that… it's a fairly specialized skill." Arthan looked slightly pensive. "You should know… she's not an easy master to have. Not abusive, exactly, but… difficult."
"I can take it," Axl said confidently. "I was trained by Red, then Zero! I can take anything!" He folded the paper, carefully putting it into his armor, then stood. "Thank you for the help, I really appreciate it. C'mon Karus, it's time to go." He firmly took the little boy, and led him out.
It was a good start to the day.