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Campfires in Hatari were about the same as anywhere else. The stars were different, according to Soren, but all Ike knew was that they looked beautiful, now that he finally had time to stop and notice.
Across from them, Rafiel sat with his back to Nailah, who was preening his wings. Having seen her claws rend flesh, it surprised Ike to watch her nails so carefully parting the feathers. His own hands suddenly felt empty, and for once, not for lack of a sword. He gave Soren a sideways glance before running his knuckles along Soren’s upper arm. At Soren’s questioning look, he gave a slight smile and dropped his hand.
Soren’s own hold was on his knees, which were tucked against his chest. He kept an eye on the citizens of Hatari as they went about their business. A few played stringed instruments nearby, but most gave the visitors a wide berth. It both did and didn’t meet Ike’s expectations. He’d mostly felt at ease since coming here, finding the relaxed, egalitarian society that Nailah had promised, and that he’d left Tellius in search of. But that didn’t seem to extend to outsiders.
To be fair, it was partly Ike’s fault. He’d tried to use some of the words Volug had taught him and botched it. Not that he was a great conversationalist in any language.
Don’t take it personally, Nailah had said. You’re an oddity. The only Tellian they’ve seen came with wings.
And then, as if they’d rehearsed the cue, the pair had ended up in their current position.
It tickled his curiosity. He’d assumed they were married and didn’t feel a need to advertise it. He related enough to not question them until now, after seeing Hatari with his own eyes.
“How did the people here feel about their queen marrying someone from Tellius?” he asked.
Nailah interrupted her task to wave a hand. “This way and that, once they caught on.”
“You married in secret?” Soren asked. They were some of the first words he’d spoken since they sat down. While traveling, he’d almost relaxed, but since arriving he’d folded into himself.
“Not exactly,” Rafiel murmured. Or maybe that was just his normal voice. “Rather, we didn’t conceal it.”
“We didn’t ride out into the desert and make the sand swear not to tell, if that’s what you’re asking. We simply didn’t involve unconcerned parties. That is, anyone but the two of us,” Nailah said. She flicked a fluffed edge along the top of Rafiel’s wing.
“I would think a queen’s choice in consort would concern her people,” Soren said.
“Like I said, they caught on. A few congratulated me, a few dueled me. One tried to duel Rafiel and regretted it. Most went about their lives.”
“I take it you’re not big on fancy weddings here,” Ike said.
“Oh, our ceremonies can go for days, to say nothing of the herons’. I’ve just never been much for them. This one can read hearts—the moment mine clicked with his, he knew. What was there to justify?”
Rafiel looked fondly over his shoulder at Nailah, not quite meeting her eyes. He didn’t need to see her face to know how she felt, Ike supposed.
“That sounds convenient,” he said. She barked a laugh.
“Other than when I want to have a thought without someone fussing.”
Rafiel dipped his head. “Apologies for the intrusions. You know I worry.”
She gave him another flick. “I know.”
Maybe it was the music filtering over the fire’s crackle, or those new stars…or maybe it was just that for once, Ike didn’t have twelve jobs lined up. But with each casual display of affection, he glanced at Soren. He was all but staring by the time the queen and consort excused themselves to check on some distant yelling.
“I’m sure someone’s just bored,” Nailah said when Ike tried to rise. “Finish what you’ve started.”
Rather than gesture to the platter of food that Ike, to be fair, would have finished if he weren’t saving it for Soren, she targeted Soren with a look before padding away.
Ike half-rotated until he was almost facing Soren. “You should eat more. It’s good.”
“I tried it. I can’t say I noticed.”
Ike pulled a chunk of meat off a skewer and held it out. Soren’s face softened in the light of the flame as he took it. Always hesitant to accept Ike’s offerings, and still he did it, every time.
Ike glowed. Not like the radiant dawn that had greeted them when they stepped outside the Tower of Guidance. More like a candle at a bedside.
Inside that tower, he’d known what he later confirmed when they set out together. He was going to spend the rest of his life providing for him.
“So, what do you think about the whole marriage thing?” Ike asked.
“It’s none of my business.”
“I meant us.”
Soren choked. Ike thumped on his back until he swallowed. Soren dabbed at his chin, picked up the skewer of meat, then set it back down without eating.
“I would have assumed you weren’t, as you put it, big on fancy weddings,” Soren said.
“True. It’s just us now, though. We can make our own rules.”
Soren’s lips quirked before flattening. Ike’s knuckles found his arm again, this time in a brief nudge.
“I asked what you thought, Soren.”
Soren sucked in a breath. “We aren’t filing taxes with any government, or filing anything, for that matter. We have no children or other family around to consider.”
That around was doing some heavy lifting. If Mist were here, she’d be aghast at the idea that she couldn’t make them a cake. Ike would probably have let her, but he’d never had a sweet tooth, and Soren had never had an any-flavor tooth.
This was for them. If they didn’t both want it, there was no point.
“I guess you’re not interested, then,” Ike said.
A song ended. In the breath before the musicians started a new one, Ike thought that would be the end of it.
“I didn’t say that,” Soren whispered.
Hm? Hm.
If only Ike had heron powers, they wouldn’t need these awkward little interrogations. Then again, that was part of what he’d signed up for long before they’d so much as held hands. He had put up with much worse inconveniences for people who meant far less.
“Don’t get me wrong. Most ceremonies are a waste of resources. It’s unclear who even benefits from public weddings,” Soren said.
“The public, I guess. What about a private one, though?”
“What would that consist of?”
“Vows?”
In the distance, white wings caught his eye against the night. Rather than rejoining them around the fire, Nailah and Rafiel swiveled away. Ike wondered how far their hearing extended before he focused on catching Soren’s hushed voice.
“I already gave you mine, Ike. By your side, as long as I draw the breath of life.”
This time, Ike’s knuckles brushed Soren’s cheek. He turned just slightly into Ike’s touch.
“Promise me something else,” Ike said.
“Yes?”
“When I’m gone, you have to keep going.”
Soren looked stricken. It wasn’t what anyone wanted to see in the middle of their wedding, if this counted, let alone something Ike ever wanted to see from his—well. His Soren. But this needed to be said.
“Please,” Ike said.
That aggrieved face didn’t change, but slowly, he nodded. “I promise.”
Ike kissed him, brief but firm. They were supposed to wait until the end of the wedding for that, he supposed, but he never liked wasting time when he could be doing something that mattered.
“My vows, then,” Ike said. “Let’s see—when we get tired of traveling, I’ll learn how to build you a house. And a shed to stockpile firewood. I’ll have to grow food, too, so I can fill the cellar.”
How many years could he keep Soren warm and fed, even after he was gone? It was the sort of thing for Soren to calculate. Ike’s time was better spent chopping.
But first, to find a place where all were welcome.
Before even that, he pulled Soren into his arms, trying to anchor his shaking. “Sound good?”
Again, Soren turned into his touch. “I accept your vows. My—Ike.”
“Yep,” Ike said. “Yours.”
Rafiel and Nailah were still giving them space, standing with her hand resting at the back of his neck. He pointed overhead, but she kept looking at him.
Stars, when Ike finally stopped to notice, were beautiful. And maybe there was a sky somewhere with even more of them.
As he rubbed Soren’s back, he found it didn’t make much difference either way.