Tala felt incredibly nervous.

She was within Kit, entirely under her own control, and within her own authority.

Tala still felt like she was under direct attack.

She had expected to feel as much, but that didn’t make it better.

I’m excited, not nervous. This is a wonderful day. Everything is great.

She stood at the end of a long aisle, a few dozen people looking up at her from either side of the walkway between chairs.

Kedva’s friends and family were to Tala’s right, and Brandon’s to Tala’s left.

The two sides were meant to be representative of the couple’s souls, and this was the only point during the process where the groups would be separated. In fact, for all following pieces, the guests would be purposefully intermixed to symbolize the soulbond.

In the front row, Brand and Lissa were beside two empty seats where Adrill and Artia would sit after their ceremonial entry.

Two seats were similarly empty on the bride’s side, awaiting Kedva’s parents.

Tala shifted her feet slightly, feeling the comfort of her standard clothing moving with her. Even though her clothing felt normal, she’d woven iron through the off-white tunic and silver through the dark gray pants to set the attire apart from her standard look.

She hadn’t done more because she hadn’t wanted to steal the show.

After all, today wasn’t about her.

In truth, however, what clothes she wore was the entirely wrong way of thinking about things, if she had wanted to upstage the main event.

And there is no way I was going to do this naked…

She focused outside herself once again, attempting to quell the nervousness—Excitement.

The local area within Kit was decorated and trimmed for the occasion. Behind her was Irondale’s lake set among mountains.

Across everything was the illusion of predawn light.

That illusion matched reality as weddings were always performed to have the union occur as close to sunrise as could be managed.

Her gaze swept over the mini-mountains, a smile pulling at her lips.

We really did find a lot of granite within the superstructure of the doomsday vault.

-Yeah. It was a bit odd, but I’m glad. It let us make a rather stunning landscape.-

Yeah. It did indeed.

Several Refined and Paragon defenders had joined them during preparations, having some fun in making vegetation grow at least in the area near to the lake.

With that lake at her back, the town was before Tala, behind the crowd, and it was nearly complete.

The outsides of the buildings, at least, were done well enough that they provided a lovely setting for this wedding, this joining of lives and souls.

Tala was continuing to maintain the lower magical density in the band of easily accessible space.

That said, she was allowing higher density around Brandon and Kedva in the rooms in which they were finalizing their preparations with the help of their parents.

The higher density pockets would stay with them throughout the wedding.

Speaking of which, it was almost time.

The last of the guests had arrived, coming through the door into Kit, from where the external manifestation waited on the inside of the northern gatehouse.

There had been some hesitation on their parts, as they were—generally speaking—mundane folk. Still the invitations had been clear that the ceremony would be taking place in a magical setting, so they weren’t entirely caught off guard.

The musicians began to play, pulling Tala from her thoughts once again and announcing the start of the ceremony.

The crowd stood as the bride and groom came out of the buildings to either side of the main path.

They wore the traditional marriage garb, which were essentially the same as a casting Mage would wear: as little as possible while maintaining a sliver of modesty.

Brandon stood in a loincloth—a simple cotton cloth wrapped around his pelvis—undyed and unblemished.

Kedva wore a similar garment, with another strip of cloth around her neck that crossed, wrapped, and wove to cover and support her breasts.

Aside from the minimal covering, they wore no clothes.

Kedva’s hair was held up with a long, thin iron spike in a style that was as beautiful as it was simple.

Her skin was adorned with thick white lines in a similar style to inscriptions, without actually looking like them in the least.

They were much too large and not nearly detailed enough for anything magical.

Brandon’s lines were black to Kedva’s white, and they were done in a far blockier pattern, all straight lines and right angles when compared to Kedva’s sweeping spirals and softer curves.

The line designs and color were traditional, and it was also tradition for the parents to paint them on their child.

It was yet one more symbolic statement from the parents that they had prepared their child and approved of this marriage.

I’ll probably be able to do my own lines… one day. It wasn’t like she’d have her parents there to do it.

Brandon carried a heavy, iron-banded, wooden shield.

Kedva carried a simple short sword, sheathed and borne in her left hand.

Otherwise, they had nothing.

Even their feet were bare.

They walked side by side—but out of reach—to the start of the aisle.

Each of their parents flanked them, fathers toward the outside of the formation.

When they reached the aisle, Kedva and her parents stopped, allowing Brandon to walk forward with his own parents.

The three stopped before Tala and bowed.

Tala felt herself color under her through-spike illusion.

Alat!

-Tala, you have perfect memory.-

I know, but please?

-Fine…-

The couple had chosen a variant of the ceremony more traditional for Mages, because of their new-found magic.

There were, in fact, four versions of the wedding ceremony that Tala knew of, though she hadn’t seen all of them.

If both were mundane, if the husband was a Mage and the wife wasn’t, if the wife was and the husband wasn’t, and finally, if both were Mages.

Kedva and Brandon had chosen the final version, and that was what Alat provided to Tala.

Tala smiled. “Who comes before me, and to what purpose?”

Brandon spoke in response, his words as scripted as hers, “I come, seeking to be bound to the one whom I love.”

“Who stands behind you in this request?”

Artia and Adrill spoke in unison, “We, bound in our love, stand behind our son in this request. Our bond, unbroken, is an imperfect example of what he seeks.”

Tala swept Brandon with her threefold sight, verifying his lack of soulbonds while seeing his reality connections to everyone in the crowd before speaking her response, “I testify that he is bound to none.”

Normally, the Mage overseeing the ceremony would need to use a construct to verify the lack of a soulbond to another, but an Archon with the proper magesight scripts didn’t need such a device.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Her eyes turned to Kedva, and the young woman strode forward, head held high.

Each row of the audience turned as she passed them, symbolizing that it was her actions, her will, that solidified this process.

She and her parents stopped before Tala, bowing as Brandon and his had before.

Tala spoke again, “Who comes before me, and to what purpose?”

Kedva’s voice was a bit quieter than Brandon’s had been, but it was full of conviction, “I come, seeking to be bound to the one whom I love.”

“Who stands behind you in this request?”

Her parents bowed and spoke in unison, “We, bound in our love, stand behind our daughter in this request. Our bond, unbroken, is an imperfect example of what she seeks.”

Tala examined Kedva in turn. “I testify that she is bound to none.”

Then, she added a bit, as the couple had requested.

She looked at the reality connection that was between the two who stood before her. “I further testify that they have no greater connection to any here, beyond what they feel for one another.”

There was some murmuring in the audience at that deviation but not overly much.

“Please be seated.”

The crowd sat, the parents joining everyone else.

Everything that followed—more than what had happened so far—was chosen, customized, and finetuned by the betrothed couple.

“Brandon, what do you present?”

He stepped forward and laid the shield before Tala with a bow before stepping back beside Kedva. “I present a shield, as I will be a defender to my bonded and my family.”

“Kedva, what do you present?”

She laid her sword atop the shield. “I present a sword, as I will strike at those who seek to do harm to my bonded or my family.”

Tala smiled, “Of violence and safety, I am satisfied. Who will govern the household’s finances?”

Brandon bowed. “My hand will ensure the accounts are balanced.”

“Who will nourish the household?”

Kedva bowed, “My hand will ensure all mouths are fed.”

“Who will raise the children?”

Still bowed, they spoke as one. “Only united can we hope to raise the next generation.”

“In disputes, who will reign?”

They responded again, as one. “Reason will rule.”

There was chuckling through the audience, not because the words were unexpected, but because essentially everyone there was married, and they all knew just how well that worked out much of the time.

Tala, in turn, smiled once again, “And when reason makes no choice?”

Kedva spoke then. “My choice is to defer to my husband’s choice.”

Brandon spoke next. “My choice is to honor and lean on my wife’s wisdom when choosing.”

Tala prompted again, “And when there is hardship from an unwise choice?”

Brandon responded. “All punishment shall be mine.”

Kedva spoke just after him. “As one, we will endure the fruits of what we have chosen.”

“Let it be as you have said.”

The two straightened.

Tala motioned unnecessarily and a small table appeared between them at her will. Three candles and two fire-starters were all that adorned it.

Traditionally, the table would have been carried in at this point, but that was unnecessary within Tala’s domain.

Brandon and Kedva each lit a candle and turned back to Tala.

“Two flames—two souls—stand before me today. From two, they shall become one.”

They picked up their candles and used them to light a single flame in the center.

“Now that there is to be one forged of the two, let the separate flames—the separate lives—cease at their bearer’s will.”

They each blew out their own candle.

Tala fought down her own embarrassment to keep her voice level as she said the traditional words addressing the audience, “These two have chosen to be bound, pledging themselves to right conduct before you all. Shall their bonding be short or long?”

“Long!” Everyone responded. Then, once again, there was some laughter and chuckling.

“So shall it be.” Tala gestured to the nearest building behind the audience. “Brandon, Kedva, your words have been heard, your intentions made known. Go now, and forge your bond that we may bear witness to your eternal union.”

Brandon took Kedva’s hand, both of them blushing deeply across much of their bodies.

The audience called and cheered as the couple hurried back down the aisle and into the nearby building.

Outside of Kit, dawn had broken across Alefast, and Tala had Kit mirror that, the full light of dawn in evidence.

Tala pulled back her threefold sight to give the two privacy.

The musicians continued to play, and the audience rose and mingled, having hushed conversations as everyone waited.

Finally, they settled back down, the two sides utterly intermixed.

A reasonable amount of time later, the couple returned, stepping out of the door together.

The still wet paint that had adorned their skin was now gray in many places, the lines broken and smeared across their bare skin.

Their cloth coverings were in place, but they, too, bore a mix of black and white paints, often blended to gray.

The two were red with embarrassment once again even as the audience cheered.

Everyone could see the light aura of power around the two, a white aura visible to the mundane eye that would fade over the next couple of days.

Even so, Tala had one last thing to say, by tradition, “Bound by choice, bound by word, bound by deed. Two have become one, souls bound for eternity. May the stars themselves burn away any who dares try to come between these two.”

Everyone erupted in cheers once again.

There would be celebrations, feasting, gifts, and games, but the marriage was complete.

Tala’s duties were done.

* * *

The wedding effectively had three days of celebration. Though Tala only participated in the first, as was traditional.

Day one began with the pledging ceremony—which Tala had overseen—and the remainder was a celebration for the couple and their community.

Brandon and Kedva’s community was actually much smaller than was standard, but it was still an enjoyable time of food, feats of strength, and entertainment.

Tala didn’t participate in any of the contests as it would hardly have been fair, and the overseeing Mage usually didn’t participate regardless. So, it didn’t cause any issues or raised eyebrows.

The second day was strictly for family, though Lissa and Brand were included as part of Brandon’s family.

Kedva and Brandon didn’t have much family in Alefast, but there were still nearly fifteen people participating in that second day.

The final day was for the couple alone, and they had free reign of all of Irondale in which to walk and talk, eat and simply be together.

In times long past, the couple might have been given as much as a month for their private celebration, but that tradition had fallen out of favor.

After the third day, the couple fully cleaned themselves of the now thoroughly gray paint—though the composition of the traditional pigment meant that it remained viscous and pliable until the end. They then dressed and presented themselves at the City Administrative building.

The glow of their new soulbond had faded from mundane sight, but it was still visible to anyone with almost any version of magesight.

Giving time for the glow to fade was actually one of the theorized original reasons behind the multi day celebrations. That was supported by what Tala had found in the Archive. Not that she’d delved too deeply.

Not at all.

The remaining glow would fade over the next few days even from magesight, though it would obviously still be detectable as any soulbond could be.

Regardless, the marriage was registered with the Archive, Tala providing official witness of the pledging ceremony and the soulbond.

Tala did not share what her threefold sight had noticed the morning of the second day of the wedding.

A new little soul was attached to Kedva’s belly, tucked alongside Kedva’s own.

Because of the mysteries of life and fetal development, the soul was the first part of a baby to come into being, during the physical and spiritual union of the parents.

That was the only real way that a child could inherit traits from the parents’ souls.

Tala did not look closely to determine if the physical fertilization had occurred as of yet.

She really, really didn’t want to know.

As to the baby: as expected, the new little one did not have a gate as neither of the parents had.

But all of that was beside the point.

With the registration at the City Administrative building, Brandon and Kedva were officially wed, bound down to their very souls in this life.

* * *

Tala and Rane traversed the lush, mid-summer wilds, heading toward Marliweather.

They were bypassing Bandfast on the way there, but they planned to stop through and visit at least Lyn on their way back to Alefast, waning.

The hope was to have a week in Marliweather with Nea—Tala’s sister—before her twelfth birthday and her final decision about whether or not to attend the Academy.

Rane had been fully inscribed for the journey in order to ‘not be a burden on the trip.’

His magics were more effective than ever, even though he still didn’t reach Refined ability or magical density.

In truth, Tala was becoming a bit concerned about him.

He seemed mostly recovered from his latest session Refining, but he had a sad look in his eyes whenever they were around Refined or Paragons.

The fact that he’d gotten inscribed was also concerning to Tala. Master Grediv—for his part—seemed a bit… off about the whole thing as well.

The Paragon had gone out of his way in order to thank Tala for all her efforts. He’d spoken as if the process was over.

As if they’d failed.

Tala didn’t think Rane had given up, but she also hadn’t been through the Refining process alongside someone else before.

She just didn’t know enough to know whether or not she should be concerned.

Rane’s one month check in had happened just after Brandon and Kedva’s wedding, and while he was given a clean bill of health, he wasn’t given a definitive date on which he could undergo another session, if he so chose.

The Healer had simply said, ‘At least four months more.’

As to Brandon, Kedva, and Adrill, they had all stayed in Alefast with Artia, allowing their magics to fade away in the lower-magic, city environment.

They were all still working on the exercises that they could, even as Artia continued to pore through information as she worked toward mastering her own gate and magic.

Master Simon and Mistress Petra were with Tala in Kit, obviously, as were their children Metti and Segis.

They had asked the children’s tutors to join them on the trip, and the two teachers had agreed for this singular trip.

Thus, Tala had six gated humans within Kit, living in the mostly finished—and mostly empty—Irondale.

The Zuccats had moved over to their home in Irondale, beneath the illusory sky, and the teachers each had a small place to live there as well.

The artificial sun for Irondale had been delivered by the Constructionist Guild, but Master Simon hadn’t gotten it fully integrated as of yet.

He was still running tests, but that was fine with Tala. It gave the man something to be working on while they were out of Alefast, away from his assistants.

All in all, it was shaping up to be an uneventful, relaxing trip.

…to see her family.

…with Rane.

…who might never Refine.

Why couldn’t things just be simple? For once?