Downtown Druid

Dantes stood to the side, a little bit behind the platform. He’d combed back his hair, and was wearing a new long green coat with silver buttons over a matching green vest covered in patterns of wildflowers, a crisp black shirt, and matching black pants held up by a black belt with a buckle in the shape of a silver leaf. On his arm was Syn, still wearing the form she’d grown used to as Sevryn, and making small adjustments to her own outfit even as they stood there. The only thing that stayed the same was that her dress was a rich green with silver flowers sewn on it so that she could match Dantes.

Next to them was Zilly, wearing a dress of deep purple with green vines creeping up it. Her hair was down, and Dantes had never realized just how long it actually was, with it falling all the way down her back. On the other side of them were Alessa and Jacque. Alessa was wearing a low cut dress of deep burgundy that hugged her tightly, and Jacque was in a little black suit and gazing curiously at all of the familiar people wearing unfamiliar things around him.

The rest of the wedding party was there as well, with Tieara lying against a tree with a pipe full of weed in her hand before passing it to Clay who sat next her, Decker holding Hema’s hand in his own as she explained the unique qualities of elf-lilies to him, Sera was wearing a very trendy white gown with golden doe’s sewn along the hem to look as if they were dancing in a glade. Jayk and Jayson were wearing similar long coats, Jayk’s was a forest green so dark it was almost black and Jayson’s was a rich navy blue that he paired with a jaunty tricorn hat. In the corner Argenta wore a black dress that emphasized a slim figure and a string of pearls long enough to hang a man with. Her daughter, Alby, wore not a dress, but a longcoat of black and a vest of silver along with high black boots. Merle, Orebus, Felix, and Wane wore traditional Academy robes with sashes of rich purple, marking their return to their old school. He’d invited the druids to attend, but they’d all only just recently managed to get back to their own loci after they’d traveled so far to help him with Serpica and had a lot of things to attend in their own territory.

Aside from them were a number of Vera’s old friends from other whorehouses across the city, as well as those with whom she had a professionally friendly relationship like Dosia, who was wearing nearly as much tight leather as she did for work. Aside from them were a number of mercs that considered Vampa a friend even if it was impossible to tell if he felt the same.

Jacopo walked out from a dark corner to stand next to Dantes. He was wearing a dark gray coat and a black vest with gold buttons. His long wild hair had been tamed and placed into a ponytail and he’d even worn a few rings on his hand that Dantes had let him borrow.

Dantes fixed one of the buttons on his vest. “You look sharp, friend.”

He nodded. “I like Vera and Vampa. I wanted to show up in the way I interacted with them the most.”

Dantes patted his shoulder. “I think they’ll really appreciate it.”

Jacque pointed at Jacopo. “Unc. Ra.”

“What was that?” asked Alessa. “Uncra,” he repeated seriously, pointing more.

“What’s he doing?” asked Jacopo.

“Pointing and calling you names. The same as most people do when they see you,” said Dantes with a smile as he walked over to rub the dark hair on the top of Jacque’s head.

Jacopo nodded. “Well, I like it when he does it.”

There was a sound of knocking on wood and Dantes looked to Alessa and Syn. “That’s the signal.”

They nodded, and Alessa handed Jacque to him gently, and moved over to one side of the wooden platform that had been assembled, while Syn took the other side. Alessa started first, taking a deep breath before she started to produce a singular and beautiful tone. After a few seconds Syn matched that same tone perfectly, though she didn’t breathe in to make it. Alessa began to vary the tone, slowly bringing it higher and lower. Syn matched it perfectly, but very slowly she started to vary hers as well. Soon they were both making different tones, and that’s when the harp began to play. Syn began to make both tones as they shifted and changed and alternated, and Alessa started to sing. The words were in elvish, and that meant that no one in attendance could understand them except for Zilly, but its beauty was undeniable.

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When it ended, there was complete silence aside from the rustle of leaves and the shifting of feet on grass and moss. Everyone had been so enraptured by the performance that speaking almost felt like it would be breaking a spell.

It was at that moment that Vampa and Vera stepped into the glade, arm in arm. They were a beautiful couple. Vampa wore a coat the same silver as steel and a deep vest. There was a ceremonial blade at his hip that Dantes had commissioned for him as a wedding gift, its hilt was molded in the shape of a beautiful woman, at least the one Vampa found the most beautiful. Vera was wearing a long trailing purple dress threaded with silver and golden flowers and cut low in the same fashion as the outfits she wore to run the Vixen. Her golden bangle shone beautifully in the light, and over her shoulders was a stole made of bright orange fox fur. Her hair wasn’t up in it’s usual ornate hairstyle, instead it flowed freely down her back. The finest accessory they both wore, was a smile. Dantes was familiar with Vera’s smile, she was always free with them, though this one was a particular favorite of his. Vampa’s smile on the other hand, was new to him. He’d seen smirks of satisfaction through Jacopo’s eyes when they were training together, but this was different. It was soft, warm, and he couldn’t take his eyes off of Vera as they walked to the platform.

Everyone watched in silence as they walked, stepping up onto the platform. Vera smiled and nodded at everyone, her eyes tearing up just a bit as she saw Dantes, Jacque, and Jacopo. Vampa only broke his gaze from Vera to look at Zilly, whose eyes were wet with tears as they exchanged a warm nod with one another.

When they reached the center of the platform, they faced one another and stared for some time into each other’s eyes. They then clasped their left hands together and drew one another close.

Dantes handed Jacque back to Alessa, and took a rough hewn rope from within his coat. He wove it gently, but quickly around their arms, tying an old sailors knot at the top before grasping both of their hands with his own for just a moment and stepping backward.

Vampa spoke first. “With this, I bind myself to you. My life is yours. I belong to you.”

Vera spoke next. “With this, I bind myself to you. My life is yours. I belong to you.”

Vampa grasped her by the hips and pulled her in close, squeezing her hard as they shared a long deep kiss.

At that moment, Dantes released his will and all of the elf-lilies in the garden bloomed at once, their sweet smell hitting everyone like a warm breeze on a summer day. When the newlyweds finally broke apart, the silence could no longer hold. Everyone began to clap and cheer, filling the dead silence with joyful sound.

Dantes watched all of it with a smile. He didn’t put much stock in people ‘deserving’ things, he’d always been more focused on what they wanted. Vera deserved to be happy though, and it was good to see her get what she deserved.

…

While the first part of the ceremony had been in many ways, formal and traditional, the second part was very different. The middle floor of the Vixen had been cleared of all tables and chairs to make way for a dance floor, food flowed freely to the tables of anyone who was hungry with all of the dishes Zilly had chosen being enormous hits. After Vera danced first with Vampa, they’d all started switching partners, with Dantes having the second dance with Vera, the Jacopo, then Decker. Vampa on the other hand had his second dance with Zilly, his third with a woman with an eyepatch, and even Syn who extended her legs just a bit to keep up with his longer stride.

Dantes watched as the ladies all shared a dance with Vera, except for Tieara who was having quite the dance with Felix. He’d been much more popular since he’d risked himself to save them, and Dantes had even forgiven some of his debt, not enough to get rid of it of course, but enough that a non-gambler could dig his way out. As he sipped some wine, Argenta approached him.

“We have the council vote locked up.”

“I was hoping to convince them, not have them thrown in jail.”

She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Sorry. I’m a bit in my cups this evening.”

“Understandable. Once we have the vote tomorrow, we’re going to start bringing up changelings one by one to change the binding and give them their…freedom.”

“We can finally start thinking about next steps.”

Argenta nodded. “Rebuilding is the first step, though the damages aren’t as bad as they could’ve been. Next will be getting trade to return to the city.”

Dantes smiled and raised his wine glass to her. “Let’s save that for tomorrow.”

Argenta smiled and raised her own glass, clinking it against his. “Agreed.”

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