silverchain.
chapter six: a dialogue between two like-minded young men
Anonymous - i appreciate all of your reviews!:D thank goodness that somebody likes the pacing...this story has quite gotten away from me. and that's a good question! i'll go on and tell you that it's going to be a few more days in their time before Garet and Tyrell arrive, so perhaps they needed to stop by somewhere else. for the record, they didn't travel together in the first place, just happened to pass one another. Isaac and Matthew have been gone longer, as well. ...i just figured this out now, proving how much the story has control over me and not vice versa.
The five adventurers were reclining in a sitting room, sometimes conversing quietly, some lost in their own thoughts, when Amiti glanced over at Matthew and saw him tucking a pale spike back casually, fingers reaching back to the right side of his head. Teal eyes flashed at deep blue, and the young king nodded almost imperceptibly. One could not travel with a companion without developing certain shorthand signals, and Matthew had definitely just communicated a need to speak to Amiti privately.
"Excuse me, there is a matter I must attend to," Amiti said pleasantly, bowing his head respectfully. Karis looked at him with an expression he couldn't fathom, and he tried his best to appear blank and calm. Excusing himself out of the house, he rested out of view of the convenient window through which Jenna would undoubtedly peer. After a minute or so, Matthew appeared in the doorway.
They walked in silence until they were a fair distance from the happy little house, and then Matthew broke into a smile. The Mercury Adept's brow furrowed. "What exactly is the problem, Matthew?" he inquired.
"Problem?" the other young man asked. "Who said there was a problem? It's just, well, the thing is..." Matthew squirmed, looking happy and uncomfortable at the same time. Amiti waited, trying his best to be patient during the Venus Adept's silence.
Matthew fumbled in his light travel pack and held out a small box. "This," he said simply.
Amiti took the box from his former leader's hand, and opened it gingerly. Inside gleamed a gold and silver necklace, and as the young king lifted it from the box, he noticed an oddly-designed charm dangling from the pretty chain. Unconsciously raising his eyebrows in confusion, he examined the object for another moment before meeting Matthew's eyes, which were bright with excitement and other emotions that Amiti had rarely seen grace the face of the often stoic young man.
"I beg your pardon, but I'm rather puzzled."
Matthew laughed, only increasing Amiti's confusion, and pointed to the symbol on the charm. The rather farsighted Water Adept held it further away and squinted. The language was unfamiliar, and again Amiti looked back at Matthew.
"They're ancient runes," Matthew said proudly.
"They do not appear to be the same as the runes from your book," Amiti observed drily.
"I actually had the metalworker combine them so the charm wouldn't be too large," Matthew explained, taking the necklace from the other young man's hand and holding it up. It glinted in the sunlight, seeming to taunt Amiti with its mysteries. "Mannaz, ansuz, thurisaz, ehwaz, and wunjo."
The young king's expression did not clear with any sort of understand, but Matthew continued, apparently not even noticing Amiti's bemused countenance.
"Then, below that...they kind of overlap, but you know...sowulo, wunjo, ehwaz, teiwaz, and ansuz again." He beamed. "Didn't it come out well?"
"I wouldn't know," Amiti said slowly. "No offense is intended, but what exactly is the purpose of this piece of jewelry?"
"That's the best part."
The blue-haired young man waited, but Matthew, now smirking slightly, seemed to be enjoying keeping him in the dark for a little while longer. Finally, obviously unable to bear it no more, and suddenly looking a little nervous, the Earth Adept blurted out, "I'm going to propose to Sveta."
Amiti's mouth literally dropped open. Matthew's brow wrinkled with worry. "Do you think it's a bad idea?" he asked. "I know that she's royalty and, well, I'm not, but she doesn't seem like the type of girl who'd act like that. Then again, I don't know. Maybe it's too pretentious. It's not like she has a father keeping her from marrying who she'd like, but unless you think it would ruin our friendship, which it—"
"Matthew," Amiti interrupted, losing his cordiality in the rush of excitement. "I think it's fantastic."
A grin slowly spread over Matthew's face. "Oh, good," he said breathlessly, sounding more like a teenage girl than the strong and dedicated young man that Amiti knew well. "I thought...well, since you're royal and all...that you'd know."
"Why did you have to take me aside to ask?" Amiti asked curiously. "Surely your parents know."
"Yes, I told them," the Adept replied, "but Karis doesn't."
The thought of her (bright eyes, laughing happily, standing proud) made the young king come undone, and the events of the previous night rushed back into his memory. Sveta would be sure to accept Matthew's proposal; why, it was obvious to everybody that she was smitten with him, and he with her, although Amiti hadn't really connected all the dots until this moment. What had hit him then was that what Matthew was so boldly attempting was a task that, so far, had stumped Amiti. "Why haven't you told her?" he asked carefully. Was it because of some feelings that Karis harbored for Matthew? The thought made the royal feel sick to his stomach.
Matthew shrugged. "I don't really want her to make a big deal about it. To be honest, I'm worried enough without her...making things worse. I mean, I love Karis—"
Amiti's stomach dropped again.
"She's like my sister," the young man continued. "But it's bad enough that my mom knows, she's already going crazy because she thinks I'm too young to be getting married."
"Would Karis think that?" the Mercury Adept questioned, feeling awkward and embarrassed. If he had come all this way to court a girl who thought she should wait five more years before marriage, well...it was hardly fitting behavior for the king of Ayuthay.
Matthew shook his head. "I seriously doubt it. She's never been some swooning girl who talks about marriage all the time, but I think she's to the point where she's starting to really think about it. I think it's just better for the both of us if I only tell her after I succeed." He bit his lip. "Well...if I succeed."
"And if you fail?"
"I'll have to tell her anyway. I can't keep something like that from her, and besides, I'm sure Mom would break down and tell her some day. Sometimes I think the two of them are closer than I am with either of my parents."
"Well, you are gone quite often," Amiti offered.
The other young man nodded. "I know. Speaking of being gone, why are you here?" His tone was curious and unmarred by suspicion or accusation.
Despite what Matthew had just said about his distance from Jenna, Amiti knew that she was a very loving mother, and on top of that bad with secrets. Add to that the young leader's capacity for detecting lies, and the only sane decision would be to tell the truth. Should he be subtle, or blunt? For once, Amiti wished for Tyrell's personality.
"Well, I came to see my companions, mostly," the young king said slowly, still determining how much of the truth to disclose, "and to keep the alliance between Kalay and Ayuthay active."
Matthew nodded thoughtfully, but he looked at Amiti for quite awhile. The Adept tried to keep himself from sweating or appearing in any way nervous, and was surprised that he was entirely able to suppress his emotions. He gazed back at the Venus Adept calmly.
"So it doesn't happen to have anything to do with the entirely marriageable and lovely status of a certain Jupiter Adept?"
The two young men stared at each other for a few moments with stony expressions before exploding into a burst of completely unexpected laughter.
"How did you know?" Amiti asked, still laughing. Matthew raised his eyebrows and made a face.
"I didn't."
The king looked skeptical.
"I knew that she adored you," Matthew said, drawing out the word, "but I was only guessing that you felt the same way. Don't worry, you're far from obvious."
"I hardly believe that she adores me," Amiti replied, and the other man clapped him on the back.
"Well, that's between the two of you." He smirked.
"Does this mean that I have your blessing?" the Adept asked, a smile creeping back on his face. Matthew pretended to think for a few moments before nodding.
"I can't think of anybody better for Karis, honestly," he said earnestly, and Amiti smiled, feeling a new bloom of hope lightening his chest. "Of course, it's Ivan that you have to worry about."
"He has refused to make a decision until he returns."
Something like distrust flashed in Matthew's eyes.
"So, I suppose you've been helping with this?" Karis asked, waving the manuscript at Jenna. The older woman smiled.
"Of course! Ivan's gotten far too old to remember half of what happened anyway, and he wasn't even there for all of it."
Karis laughed. "Neither were you, and I thought you were the older one...?"
"Hush," scolded Jenna, grinning. "Nobody's supposed to know that. I was there for the important parts, anyway."
The young woman quirked an eyebrow. "Are you only say that because you think the only important parts are the ones that you're in?" she asked.
"Mm...maybe." They laughed, and Jenna continued more seriously, "Well, I suppose you're right. I was off being kidnapped when Isaac was searching for me, which is what a lot of people seem to think is one of the most important parts."
"And you don't?"
The Mars Adept smiled, somewhat sadly. "Well, as sweet as it was, no. Don't get me wrong, romance is wonderful, but what's more important is what comes after the thrilling love story ends. The quieter, family love."
Karis, sensing the change in tone, nodded slowly, letting Jenna know to continue.
"And in a story like ours, with global impact...I think that's what's more important. I may complain about Isaac trying to fix the world's problems, but that's what we've all been doing since we were teenagers. I can't quit trying to save everybody, so why should he? We just approach the problem different ways." Her eyes wandered to the direction of the kitchen, where the man she spoke of was currently preparing a dinner for the group of friends and family. "Now we seem to have ended up getting you kids tangled up in it as well."
"Only because we wanted to be," Karis replied stubbornly. "You think it's easy to try and live up to the kind of reputations that you, Isaac, and Dad have? It was pretty much inevitable that we were going to follow in your footsteps."
"That doesn't mean it's a good thing," Jenna murmured, and Karis had no rebuttal.