When we arrived in Melekeye, it was early morning, but we were greeted by the whole tribe and quickly taken to the king's tent set off to the side of the village. I took the sword out of my saddle bags as Demni went in to announce my arrival. As I entered, Ishtar was right at my heel and I bowed to my future father-in-law.
"Rise," he said happily. "Welcome, Prince Jaspen."
"Thank you."
He smiled and I rose, scanning the seats for Callan. Her seat to the side of her father was empty and I worried about why she wasn't there.
"I have brought you the sword," I said. "I forged it with my own hands."
He beckoned me forward and I laid it in his lap. I watched as he took it out of the sheath and inspected it, sweat from worry trickling down my face. If he didn't like it, my work had been for naught.
"You are very skilled. I am happy to have a prince for blood kin as skilled as a blacksmith like you, Jaspen. Many of the royal suitors don't know more than to wield their weapon and how to lead."
I flushed, still not used to so much praise as a Raksheesh.
"Thank you."
The project had taken several attempts and with some help from my adopted father, Thekros, I had been able to make a blade as good as this. It was the first time I was glad I had some formal training as a blacksmith.
"Aye. Callan!"
She entered to the right of me and sat down in her seat her father glancing over at her happily.
"Tonight we feast!"
*****
And feast we did. I ate till my stomach felt as if it would explode and danced till my legs gave out under me. I did a special engagement dance with Callan where we weren't allowed to touch at all – not even our hands- and everyone in the village was happy. It wasn't until I was carried, half asleep, to a tent the king had asked to be set up for us that I remembered why I had been so on edge.
"You two seemed great together," whispered Ishtar breaking my train of thought. "Goddess Sharlek surely fated it."
Goddess Sharlek was the Goddess of Fated Love and also of Fated Enemies- one of the major goddesses in my culture. She was married to the God Temille who was the God of Balance and Guidance- the primary god.
I wasn't sure how much I believed in these gods for how much had their hand been in my life? If any of them were playing their hand it was Ander- the God of Chaos. He pretty much summed up my life.
"Aye," I said finally in a whisper.
I heard Demni stir.
"You've been very quiet the last few days. Are you alright?"
"Aye," I whispered. "Just ... worried."
"About the white hair incident?"
"Mm," I said. "It worries me. I thought he was back in limbo with no connections to me anymore."
"You're fine, my prince," he said. "You've been fine the last few days. It might have been a fluke."
I shrugged and covered up with the furs the king had given us. "I hope so."
It seemed he was trying for my sake to help me feel like I was normal – that nothing was yet again going to go wrong with me. I wasn't a normal Raksheesh. I could hear people's thoughts if I wished and possibly now being possessed by Iblis. Was it possible the connection wasn't broke due to Iblis being related to me? Was that a reasonable possibility? My life had to be handpicked by Ander, the God of Chaos, to be filled by his kind of medicine. It would make sense.
"It is," said Ishtar.
A while later, I got up and went out to the latrine. As I was heading back, I saw Callan.
"Jaspen," she said stopping me.
I smiled weakly. "Callan."
"Everything alright?" she asked, taking the two steps between us.
I nodded my head forcing a smile to my lips. "Aye, just tired."
She looked me in the eye and for the first time it occurred to me that she may possess the gift of mind reading as I did.
"Nightmares?" she asked.
"A ... aye," I said. She smiled weakly.
"Why don't we go for a short ride?"
"How about to the oasis instead?"
Even in my tired state I knew a ride was a bad idea. We would have no guards- not to say that we couldn't handle ourselves. We were warriors so that was my last fear. I just needed to show her father that I respected his daughter enough not to put her in foolish danger. I knew they had bandit problems here.
She nodded and I could sense she was disappointed with my idea, but she agreed. We walked towards the oasis and half way there she took my hand which, caught me off guard. It was still hard to believe that I was marrying Callan, the warrior princess of the Melekeye tribe.
"You're a quiet one, Jaspen."
I smiled weakly. "Aye, on occasion."
She smiled weakly.
"What's bothering you?" she asked after a moment.
I sighed. "Just some Scortha things coming back to haunt me. When I woke up, they told me that he was dead- that Neo was dead. I lost two years with my best friend and my half-brother. I doubt I will ever fill his shoes- he was a good prince whereas I was thrust into it so fast..."
She touched my cheek, looking at me with her ember-colored eyes. "You are a good prince. You're healing the rift between Raksheesh and the lesser and greater demons of your tribe. You are doing good, Jaspen."
The gentle gesture caught me off guard for it was the first time she had touched me since I had arrived.
I nodded, not knowing what else to add. It sometimes caught me off guard how much Callan knew about me.
"Something else is bothering you."
I lowered my gaze. "Aye, but I do not want to scare you off."
She forced an uneasy laugh. Even without reading her thoughts, I knew she was worried about what else was bothering me- what I was keeping from her.
"You wouldn't scare me off."
I didn't want there to be secrets between us. No secrets as big as Iblis perhaps still lingering in my mind, but I still wasn't sure. Perhaps it had been a fluke and I didn't want to worry her over something like that.
"I just… I'm not sure I'm ready to be married yet," I whispered.
She didn't speak for a moment and I sat there restlessly. I'm sure it was the last thing she wanted to hear.
"I know. With our marriage, I will have to give up being a warrior and become a housewife."
I looked at her strangely. "Why?"
"It is tradition."
"Callan… I couldn't ask you to do that," I whispered. "Not if it wasn't something you weren't ready to give up."
I could tell something else was bothering her. Looking back on the day, I realized she didn't seem as thrilled about seeing me as when I had asked for her hand before.
"Something else is bothering you too," I said gently.
She bit her lower lip; her cheeks slightly flushed a light color of pink.
"Nay," she whispered.
Even without reading her thoughts, I could tell she was lying. Not that I wasn't hiding my own share of secrets, but I wanted to help her. And she was shutting me out. She stood up abruptly, claiming she was tired, and went back to bed.
What was bothering her? I sat there a while longer in the sand, worried I had somehow upset her. Perhaps I had made the sword too fast even though she said that whenever I had it done, she would be happy. I sighed, placing my head in my palm. I didn't understand women. It was possible I was over analyzing as well, but I doubted it.
Demni found me a while later, plopping into the sand beside me.
"If you weren't the prince, I would have you flogged for the scare you gave me."
I smiled weakly. "Perhaps if you hadn't slept?"
Color rose in his cheeks and his gaze shifted away from me. "Aye, I guess you are right, my prince."
Sometimes I hated myself for the sharp tongue I had. "No, you were fine to sleep, Demni."
"Nay. My job is to protect you- if something would had happened on my watch…"
"Nothing was going to happen."
Demni said nothing for a few moments.
"How long have you been out here?"
"About an hour I think," I said stretching. "Come, let's go to bed.