The First Kaiaru (21 page)

T
suroko's words hung in the air. Turesobei could tell he meant them, too. He actually intended to see them get married—tomorrow!

Floored, Turesobei looked to Kurine.

Tears welled in the corners of her eyes. Brow furrowed, her lips moved, but nothing came out.

Oh crap. How in Torment was he supposed to handle this? It was up to him to convince her father. He couldn't leave it up to Kurine. That wouldn’t be fair to her. But what could he say?

Her parents were not going to be persuaded that he wasn’t an adult at sixteen. He had tried that argument, and he had failed. His mind raced through excuses….

Perhaps if he told them his people required a license first…but they weren’t going to buy that. Perhaps he could say yes, and then he and Kurine could run away in the night. But that would be cruel. Kurine needed to give them a proper goodbye, and she would never do something like that anyway. Perhaps…perhaps….

A dozen increasingly ridiculous ideas raced through his mind. None of them sounded right. None of them seemed fair and believable.

The only good one he could come up with was that his family would never approve of or even acknowledge his marriage to someone who wasn’t baojendari. That was true, of course, but he couldn’t tell her parents he wouldn’t marry their daughter because his people were racists. And he wasn’t certain that would persuade them anyway.

Her parents were looking at him expectantly. How long had he been silently thinking? His heart raced. His stomach churned so much he thought he might throw up. He really only had one option.

He swallowed then stammered, “I–I cannot think of…of any reason for us to wait any longer.”

Tsuroko cheered. “Tonight’s feast is canceled, for tomorrow afternoon, my daughter shall wed a mighty foreign prince!”

All the goronku who still remained in the common room applauded.

Ukiri kissed Turesobei on the cheek. “Thank you. It really is best to wed before temptation leads you astray.” She grabbed Kurine's hand and dragged her away. “Come! We have your dress to prepare.”

Kurine shot him a look that practically shouted, “I'm sorry!” But what she actually said was: “I'll see you at dinner.”

Turesobei trudged down the hallway, went into the bedroom they had given him before, and fell onto the bed of furs. He stared blankly at the wall. What was he going to do?

Lu Bei sat down and leaned back beside him. “Oh boy, master.”

“I’m so screwed.”

“It does seem so, master.”

“What was I supposed to say? They are briefly reunited with their daughter who almost died and who they will never see again. They want to send her off and see her happy. I just didn’t know how to counter that.”

“I would've helped you, master, if I could have.”

“And now I can’t think of a single way to back out of this that won’t offend them.”

“I would not want to offend Tsuroko, master, that is for sure.”

“I stumbled right into this. If I'd said my engagement with Awasa was still binding, until it was settled back home and properly canceled, maybe that would’ve worked.”

“Look on the bright side, master, marrying Kurine would not be the worst thing to ever happen to you.”

He sighed. “Could I see myself marrying Kurine? Sure. After we're back in Okoro, and I have settled my future, and I am maybe twenty years old,
at least
, and only if I was also marrying Iniru.” He slapped his forehead with his palm. “Iniru!”

What was he going to do about her? He couldn’t marry Kurine and not marry Iniru, too! What would she say when she found out about this? What would she do? After, she kicked his ass, of course, she would break up with him, for sure. And that would probably be it. There would be no going back. One of those special k’chasan marriages to both Kurine and Iniru might work eventually, if things were allowed to develop slowly. But not if he married Kurine first. That would ruin everything.

“You could have tried the
you are not an adult among your people argument
again. That stalled them before.”

“The Council didn't like that argument the first time I used it, and her parents are not going to buy it again. I almost said it. Maybe I should have, but….” He shrugged.

“No, you’re right, master. It would not have worked. Honestly, I don’t think Tsuroko was going to take no for an answer, no matter the reason.”

After several thoughtful minutes, Turesobei said, “So here’s an idea. We get married to make her parents happy, but then we pretend it wasn't real, as if it never happened. It will be real to her parents, but not to us.”

There was a long, unexpected silence from Lu Bei. Turesobei turned and saw the fetch staring at him with a dumbfounded expression. “What?”

“Master, the Blood King is right. You really can be an idiot sometimes.”

“How am I being an idiot? It’s a good plan. It makes sense.”

“To you, sure. But come on, master. You're going to go through a proper wedding ceremony with a girl you claim to be in love with, who has always wanted to marry you, and you’re going to do it in front of her family and her whole village, having made proper vows before the gods, and then say that it wasn’t real? You really think
Kurine,
of all people, is going to be okay with that?”

“Er…maybe. She knows I'm not an adult on my world.”

“I don’t think she cares about that either. And you do spend every other night together….”

“Still, she knows it's too soon. She knows it’s not the right move, not yet anyway.”

“Are we still talking about Kurine? The girl who fought through the Shadowland for you? She's
not
going to fake get married to you.”

Turesobei groaned. “So I really am screwed then?”

Lu Bei nodded. “Master, you really have stepped in a bigger pile of demon poo than usual.”

On his way to dinner, Turesobei met Kurine in the hallway. “We need to talk,” he said lamely.

“I agree. That's why I'm here.” She looked both ways, then grabbed his hand and pulled him back into his room. She hugged him so tight he couldn't breathe. “Sobei….” Warm tears touched his cheek as she whispered in his ear. “Thank you. I'm so happy. This is the
best
thing
ever
!”

“It is?”

She ignored his response. “I was so sure you’d say no.”

“Well….”

“That you'd have some sort of excuse. I mean, I thought of several good ones instantly.”

“You did?”

“But you didn't use any of them! You agreed to marry me! Here and now, so my family can see the ceremony.”

“So you…you think it's a good idea for us to
actually
get married?”

Kurine shoved him playfully. “Don't be silly, you doof.”

Hope welled in his heart.

“Of course, I do,” she said. “We’re in love.”

Hope was lost to him. “And you think now is a good time?”

“Oh, it’s
perfect
. There could never be a better time than now.
Never
.”

Damn. “Er…I'm glad I can….” He didn’t know what else to say. Oh, Iniru. “What about Niru?”

She frowned. “I know…I know.” She chewed at her lip. “Do you really love her more than me?”

“More?” Probably. “I don’t think so. I try not to think about things like that. I’m trying hard not to show favoritism, so we can keep everything in balance. Only this, of course—”

“Is going to throw everything off.”

“Big time,” he said.

“I understand that,” Kurine said. “And—” a pained expression twisted her face “—I don’t want you to break up with Iniru.”

“You don’t?” he asked incredulously.

“Honestly, I don’t.”

“You’re okay being married to me and me having a girlfriend?!”

She nodded. “You two are good together. Not as great as you and me, of course. But I don’t want to ruin that for you. I want to try to make it work for all of us.”

“But what about us getting married?”

“We can’t let this opportunity slip past us,” Kurine said. “Getting married to you, here at home in front of my family…it’s a dream come true. And the best thing you could ever do for me.”

“So, how do we get married and not ruin things with Iniru?”

She wrapped him in her arms. “We’ll figure something out.”

They kissed for a while, then he pulled away and traced a finger along her cheek. “Listen, if we do get married…then when we return…the others…Iniru especially….”

“You want to keep it a secret?” Kurine asked.

“It would make life easier, but…you know…only if you're okay with that approach.”

“Keeping it quiet makes sense. Everyone’s getting along right now, and we don’t want to complicate things. Not with us going into danger all the time.” She smiled. “I think we can make it work.”

He sighed. Maybe somehow this would turn out to be only a normal-sized disaster and not another one of epic proportions. “Thanks. I really don't need Enashoma mad at me—again. And Iniru….” He frowned. “When we’re married, are you going to be okay with me spending every other night with her?”

Despite what she’d said earlier, he couldn’t imagine Kurine being okay with that. He wasn’t sure if he would be. It just didn’t seem right.

She rubbed her chin thoughtfully, then nodded. “I’m sharing you with her already. I can handle it. Being married as opposed to what we’ve been doing, it’s not all that different, right?”

It didn’t seem that way to him. “Sure. I guess.”

Her ears perked up. She took his hands. “Look, you're going to spend the evening with my dad and some of his friends, doing whatever it is men do the night before a wedding. And I’ll be with my mom and some of my cousins. I won’t see you again until tomorrow.”

She kissed him on the cheek, then headed out, pausing at the door. “Sobei, someday, you will understand exactly how much this means to me.”

Turesobei stopped her. “Wait.” He went over to the packs of treasure they had brought with them. “Remember that pretty necklace that we packed last night?”

“The one with the emerald that had the matching bracelets?”

He nodded. “Take that and wear it tomorrow.”

She clapped her hands in delight. Lu Bei helped them find the necklace and the matching pieces. Then she kissed Turesobei on the cheek and darted out.

He fell back onto the bed. He didn't
already
understand how much it meant to her? Great. This was going to be just like trying to understand the Blood King’s version of the meaning of sacrifice.

Turesobei wasn't sure how long he had been staring at the wall when Shaman Eira entered, carrying a bowl of water spiced with herbs. “I have to give you a blessing. It’s simple. I will pour spiced water on your head and say a prayer.”

“Okay.”

“They say you rode in on the dragon.”

“We did. We couldn’t travel that way before, because I hadn’t yet mastered the dragon.”

“I'm definitely going to be there to watch you fly away.”

She knelt beside him and did the ritual, which was over in a few minutes. She groaned as she stood.

“Here, let me do another healing spell on you, to help with your arthritis and your vision.”

“Bless your heart, child. The last time you did that I didn't feel any pain for a month, and I can still see a little better.”

“I can do a much better healing spell now, especially for your eyes. It still won’t be permanent, but it should last at least three times longer than what I did before.”

“If you have time before leaving, I have a couple of patients who could use some help. Oh, and those heating runes have really helped in the infirmary.”

After he healed her, she said, “By the gods, I feel ten years younger.”

“Why don’t I go ahead and see your patients now and recharge those runes? We won’t be able to stay long after the wedding.” And maybe it would take his mind off things.

After helping the shaman’s patients and restoring the runes, he returned to his room and tried to nap. He didn’t succeed, and soon, Tsuroko popped his head in and said, “Lad, it’s time.”

Turesobei didn’t even bother asking what it was time for, but he was certain this terrible day was about to become worse.