When they arrived at the banquet hall, Master Rowan took a rge gulp from his goblet of wine and eyed Volithur with a touch of exasperation. “You cause me a great deal of stress, Ward Harridan.”

  “You have my sincere apologies, Master Rowan. You have always been kind to me.” The lie came easily. Rowan had never been hostile to him, so he bore him no ill will, but his most kind actions would be better described as polite.

  “I have been kind to you,” the man agreed. “Mention that to the Lord General if he asks about me. Only if he asks, mind you. I don’t want his attention called to me unnecessarily.”

  Khana stepped past her uncle to stand before Volithur, a wild look in her eye. She looked radiant in a red wedding gown. “How was your time with the Lord General? I heard you were granted permission to address him as a casual superior.”

  His lips quirked into a smile despite his attempts to keep a straight face. He had been quite annoyed at her for the terror the wedding invitation had caused him all morning, but at the moment something else occurred to him. He was no longer misrepresenting himself to his bride. He had publicly received the favor of the Lord General. Whether or not an invitation to join the famous retinue was extended, Volithur had already proven himself worthy of Khana.

  “It was fun,” he said. When the Casteln gasped, Volithur amended his statement to something more appropriate given their retive stations. “It was a great honor to be in his presence.”

  “I bet you left a good impression,” she said.

  “Hopefully,” Volithur said.

  The Marshal snorted. “I arrived to extract Ward Harridan after two hours and discovered my efforts entirely unnecessary. He seemed quite at home.”

  The Casteln began pointing at seats. “The Lord General is likely to pce himself at either the head of the room or next to the windows. The positioning of the wedding party will be dictated by which is chosen and his level of interest in the proceedings.”

  Volithur found himself rapidly lost in the complexities of the Casteln’s pn. It was an insane attempt to premeditate a response to whatever whim might possess the Lord General. As always, everything in the Fifth Household revolved around its ultimate master. That situation was only exacerbated by the Lord General being physically present.

  When the Casteln finished lecturing them on every anticipatable permutation of seating, they went outside to where a wooden arch had been erected on the porch of the West entryway of the pyramid pace. “Once those in attendance have formed up in the yard, the two of you will be escorted by your representatives from the house to stand beneath the arch. While there, you will each swear to provide for each other physically, mentally, and financially. At that point you csp hands and step out towards the guests. The officiant, in this case myself, will be holding a marriage contract. It is bad form to stop holding hands before both of you have signed. At the conclusion of the signing, you are expected to greet every witness. I trust I do not need to expin who you should greet first?”

  They rehearsed the ceremony a few times, Khana taking his left hand in her right because she had been practicing signing her name with her left hand. Then came a quick lunch in the pace, which was far more eborate than the bread and water provided in the barracks. Volithur sat with Khana at a table in the banquet hall and ate a veritable feast. The first course was crumbles of hard-boiled eggs served over toast with various seasonings sprinkled on top. Then came steamed mussels with a creamy garlic sauce, which came with a side of rice. Finally, dessert consisted of various fruits.

  Khana chatted away as they ate, describing how she had been awoken by her uncle and aunt in a panic. Her guardians had not been very clear about their expnations and she’d originally thought she had somehow slept so te that she was in danger of missing her wedding ceremony. It took her a few minutes to understand that the Lord General they kept referencing had come in person.

  To Volithur’s gratification, Khana revealed that she had experienced many moments of self-doubt and regret for sending the invitation throughout the morning. Her concerns had only been repced by relief when she heard the rumor that the Lord General was swapping jokes with his ward. Servants and family alike were astounded by the development.

  “I heard Lydia was inconsoble,” Khana ughed. “She thinks you are going to speak ill of her to the Lord General.”

  Volithur shook his head. “I’m amazed at how self-centered that kid is. As if I would even think about her when I’m in the presence of a man who is… a hundred and twenty-eight times more powerful than me.”

  “Your talent at calcutions still amazes me,” Khana said. “I’m amazed you can be successful as a soldier and a schor.”

  He almost ughed. “I don’t know that I should be considered ‘successful’ as a soldier.”

  “Of course you are! Your body enhancement is better than most of the soldiers.”

  Though he knew the measure of soldierly competence wasn’t so simple as that, Volithur didn’t truly want to convince his bride of his deficits. The end of their meal saw them separated once more. The Casteln had Volithur bathed, groomed, and dressed up in a red wedding tunic by servants.

  He was given a tea powder elixir afterwards and instructed to bring all the cosmic energy into his soul so that he would appear more impressive to the senses of his fellow Xian. So Volithur sat and cultivated, first bodily and then using the aura method, for once not immediately using the gathered energy to enhance portions of his physique.

  The day had been the best one since his abduction. He felt a sliver of guilt cozying up to the man whose egotistical invasion led to the deaths of his parents and friends. Volithur fought back against the moral reaction. He couldn’t hold onto his grievance and move forward at the same time. He wanted to be happy. He wanted Khana to be happy with him. The price of that was low, he simply had to ignore a fact that he could never change. His old world was dead to him and the man responsible for that was the ticket to everything he wanted in this new world.

  The Marshal collected him when it was time and guided him to the doorway leading to the West. There were still hours of daylight remaining, but the angle of the sun had turned it into a spotlight illuminating the arch. Off to the side, Master Rowan arrived with Khana in tow.

  The wn filled with members of the family, all of whom were strangely docile. Though he knew the reason for their subdued behavior, Volithur had trouble reconciling the egotistical creatures in his mind with the somber crowd. The hush grew more pronounced when the Lord General and his retinue descended from the sky to nd at the front of the crowd.

  That was the signal. The Casteln moved forward to stand as officiant, his private clerk at his side holding a portable lectern with a piece of paper secured to it. “Lord General, esteemed guests, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the wedding of Khana Shaocheth and Ward Harridan. All of us know of the love these two have for each other and share in their happiness. In the sincere tradition of the Amaratti Xian, then, let us witness the public procmations.”

  The Marshal led Volithur through the door to stand at the right side of the porch, the arch still between him and the audience. Then Master Rowan led Khana to stand on the left side. As rehearsed, the two of them left behind their chaperons to step under the arch.

  “I, Harridan, Ward of the Lord General, swear to provide for you, Khana, physically and mentally and financially for so long as I live.”

  “I, Khana Shaocheth, descendant of the Lord General, swear to provide for you, Harridan, physically and mentally and financially for so long as I live.”

  Khana took his left hand in her right and they stepped forward towards the audience, leaving the arch behind. Taking the offered pen, Volithur signed his name and then handed it to Khana. Once she had signed, the Casteln took the pen. They bowed deeply to their witnesses and the ceremony was complete.

  They intended to greet their guests, starting with the Lord General, but that proved wholly unnecessary. The Lord General stepped forward with the dour man Stowaway at his side, speaking in a voice that carried quite some distance.

  “I receive a lot of invitations to these sorts of events. It’s not often I have the time or inclination to attend, but today I am pleased to serve as witness. May this marriage be blessed by fortune and fate. Descendant Rowan, Marshal Lethevar, I bestow upon you each as marriage sponsors a double dose of silver psma elixir.”

  The Lord General held out a hand and Stowaway pced the extra rge vials in it. Master Rowan and the Marshal rushed forward to kneel and accept the gift, words of thanks tumbling from their lips.

  “Descendant Khana, Ward Harridan, I bestow upon you each a double dose of gold psma elixir made from the blood and core of a bear I personally hunted on Xian.”

  Volithur accepted the rge vial pced in his hand, too shocked to take a knee as etiquette dictated. Beside him, Khana was simirly out of sorts. The Lord General’s smile grew sad as he stared at Volithur. No doubt missing the real Harridan. The joker with impeccable timing.

  Well, here’s my cue.

  Volithur cleared his throat. “I cannot thank you enough for your generosity, Master Thrakkar. Though now I must content myself with being the second best thing my bride received on our wedding day.”

  For several seconds, horrified silence followed his cheeky reply, the severity of the impropriety highlighted by the absolute horror writ across the Casteln’s features. Volithur’s stomach clenched as he wondered if he had made a severe misjudgment.

  Then the Lord General erupted into ughter. His retinue joined in with the merriment, and then the crowd of family members rushed to titter politely. The Lord General cpped Volithur on the back. “That’s the risk of inviting a lord to your wedding, Ward Harridan. Marshal!”

  “Yes, Lord General!”

  “I will send someone to evaluate Ward Harridan in one year’s time. See to it that his training is not neglected. I may have need of his services.”

  “As you command, Lord General,” the Marshal snapped.

  The Lord General stepped back. “As pleasant as this has been, it is time I return to my army. We have to prepare for our appointment with War Barge Kevin.” The Lord General held out his hand imperiously.

  Volithur gnced at the dramatic gesture, instinctively using his sensory ability in the ‘mimic monkey’ game. Instantly, he saw a nightmare he had almost forgotten unexpectedly come to life: waves of primordial chaos rising in a cohesive up-welling.

  It was like what he had seen countless times before with the ‘twin touch’ game, except whatever the Lord General did nullified the self-canceltion effect that prevented chaos from exploding into a virulent reality-eating cancer. The restraints of mundane reality were slipped and chaos released upon the world.

  With mounting horror, Volithur watched the doom of reality. Time slowed to a crawl. Every momentary, random fluctuation was highlighted in excruciating detail as the microscopic bubble of primordial chaos swelled in size and intensity and grandeur. It was raw and beautiful and absolutely captivated him mind and soul.

  And then his perspective twisted. With sudden crity, he saw before it happened how the rapidly infting sphere of disorder would transform. Countless threads of randomness would merge into perfect cohesion.

  It transpired exactly as he knew it would. The rapidly expanding ball of chaos shifted instantly into malleable, pristinely pure cosmic energy that manifested as a mirrored sphere capable of ferrying humans between universes.

  Barely noticeable to Volithur, the Lord General and his retinue entered the fully grown sphere and were spirited away. When the Marshal spoke to him, he couldn’t make sense of the words that were spoken. He couldn’t stop staring into space, his mind repying what he had seen. Not even when Khana shook him, panic in her voice.

  Nothing reached Volithur. He had been transported beyond the reach of his senses. Again and again, he saw the indescribable beauty that had been id bare before him.

  Chaos broke free of the invioble symmetry restraining its rise.

  Chaos raged as it rapidly expanded.

  Chaos colpsed into the purest cosmic energy he had ever seen.

  The steps endlessly repeated in his mind. He anticipated a thousand potential variations. A million. More. There were infinite patterns in chaos, and beyond all of them was an ineffable truth deeper and stronger than anything.

  Though he vaguely realized he had lost all contact with reality, Volithur felt awake for the first time in his life.