background probably showed more than he realized.
Whatever the Bard thought, he didn't say. Instead, he gave Vyrl directions to a cabin in the Blue Mountain Dales, deep within a wild forest of stained glass trees that spread their gem-bubbles over the hills. Vyrl thanked him and gave the couple a gold chain for the marriage service.
Then he and Lily rode into the hills, headed for the cabin, where they could complete the marriage that would sunder the plans of an interstellar empire.
Flames crackled in the hearth. Vyrl leaned his arm against the stone mantel and stared into the shifting play of orange and red. With only fire lighting the cabin, shadows filled the corners. Handmade furniture covered with cushions warmed the room, and a four-poster bed with a blue-and-gold quilt stood against one wall.
The door opened behind him, and he felt more than heard Lily enter, her mood bathing him like sunshine. He turned as she closed the door. She stood watching him, twisting her hands in her skirts, smiling shyly, a pretty girl with red-gold curls tumbling around her body to her waist and tendrils curling around her face. Her lavender dress molded to her torso and swirled around her knees, adorned with laces and slits in tempting places. In the flickering light, her face seemed to glow, so beautiful to him that it almost hurt to see. He didn't know what the morning would bring, but tonight he had everything he had ever wanted.
Lily spoke softly. 'Are you hungry?'
'Saints, I'm famished.' Belatedly, Vyrl realized that wasn't the most romantic declaration. An inspiration came to him. 'For you.'
Lily laughed, her melodic voice a delight. 'Hah! You don't fool me. You want dinner.'
He grinned. 'I need my strength.'
Her expression turned sultry, yet with innocence; he could tell she didn't realize her anticipation showed in her gaze or that it would arouse him. 'Well, then,' she murmured. 'Let us build up your strength.'
Vyrl swallowed, suddenly wondering if he wanted dinner after all. He watched Lily walk to the finely engraved table where he had left his pack. Her hips swayed with each step. Taking a deep breath, he picked up a poker from beside the hearth and stirred the flames. This high in the Blue Mountain Dales, the nights were cold. It had taken the entire day to reach this cabin; stars had been sparkling in an icy sky by the time they arrived.
'Hai, Vyrl!' Lily admonished. 'What did you put in this pack? Rocks?'
He turned with a start to see her digging out the last of the trail rations. She held up his pack in one hand and the food in the other, her expression baffled.
Reddening, he strode over and hoisted away the pack. 'It's nothing.'
'It is so. Look! It sparkles.' Reaching past him, she tugged the pack farther open. 'See.' She brushed her fingers over the apparatus inside, making yellow lights twinkle on its edges. Holos scrolled across its glossy black surface.
'Oh, Vyrl! It's lovely.' She beamed at him. 'Are those magic lights from your mother's people?'
He winced, knowing that when she found out what he had done, she would scold him. But he had to tell her the truth. 'The symbols are from a language of my mother's people. They're warning you to stop banging the jammer.'
'Jammer?' She took the pack away from him and peered inside. 'Whatever have you stuffed in here?'
'It hides us,' he explained. 'It can trick radar, sonar, infrared, UV, visual, even neutrino probes.'
She regarded him dubiously. 'You are making up these words.'
'I'm not. Really. It means my parents will have trouble finding us.'
Lily took a moment to absorb his words. 'I think you are very clever, to hide us. But are you supposed to have this? It sounds—' She hesitated. 'Arcane.'
'Arcane?' He tried to laugh, but it came out scared rather than amused. 'It's military equipment you need a security clearance to use. I'm not supposed to touch it.'
Her gaze widened. 'Are we in trouble?'
'Not you. But me, yes.' Although stealing equipment from Imperial Space Command wasn't as bad as admitting to her that he danced, it came close. Add to that the damage he had done to ISC property at the starport and he was in it deep.
'Ah, Vyrl.' Instead of rebuking him, she did something even harder to deal with. She came over and laid her palms on his shoulders, looking up at him with trust. 'We are together now. If they take you away, they must take me, too.' Resolve showed on her face. 'Where you go, so do I.'
Vyrl sighed, putting his arms around her. 'I don't deserve you.'
'Well, that's true.' Impudence filled her voice. 'But nevertheless, you have me.'
He glared at her. 'I swear, you can sorely bedevil a boy.'
Her face and voice, even her posture, softened. 'But you are no longer a boy, my husband.'
His chagrin vanished, replaced by a more primal emotion. Holding her, he let his mind melt into hers. He could relax his defenses with her in a way he could do with no one else. Her mischief was a disguise; behind it, a nervous young woman faced her wedding night with uncertainty as well as anticipation. He drew her closer, forgetting the trail rations. Stroking her hair, he savored its silky texture against his calloused palms. No prince's hands, these, but those of a farmer.
Tentative, she laid her palm on his cheek. As her eyes closed, he bent his head and let his lips touch hers. She held a curl of his hair as she kissed him, more confident in her response, or so he thought, until she began to pull his hair without realizing it. He folded his large hand around her small one, loosening her grip.
Lily made a small sound, half a sigh, half a moan. He kissed her deeply, wishing he could lift her up and carry her to the bed.
A thought nudged his mind, like Moonglaze pushing him; he
'Oh!' Lily flushed. 'Goodness, Vyrl.'
Once he would have grinned, maybe pulled her hair. No longer. He felt only tenderness tonight, and a desire that he wondered how he would hold in check, or if he should. He carried her to the bed and laid her on the downy quilt. She watched him, her lips parted, a rosy flush on her face, the firelight dimly golden around them.
Kneeling next to her, Vyrl pulled his sweater over his head. As he dropped it on the ground, Lily reached for him, her arms outstretched, her expression trusting. He lay next to her and his pulse jumped, tingling through him. It was so good finally to have her to himself. As they nestled together, he felt her heartbeat against his chest. When he pressed his lips on the creamy skin of her neck, her pulse beat there as well, strong and vibrant.
She helped him with the laces on her dress. For all that they had resisted his efforts, they unraveled for her at the slightest pull. He and Lily explored each other while they undressed, their touches sweet with the newness of discovery as they joined in the dim light from the embers of the fire. Together they moved in a rhythm more ancient than the Ruby Empire. His heart overflowed; he felt as if it were an airy hall filled with stained glass windows. His love for Lily poured like light through the windows, turning many colors, each window a symbol of another way he knew her. The stained glass was so beautiful it hurt to imagine — for he knew it could shatter under the reality of life.
But in this miraculous night, the colors glowed within him.
5. Blue-Crystal Shards
The pounding dragged Vyrl awake. A booming noise bombarded his head.
'Hai!' He sat up groggily, covers falling away from his body, his eyes bleary. Morning light slanted through a window he hadn't even noticed last night. Across the room, the door shook under the force of someone's hammering fists.
Lily rolled against him, pulling the quilt around her shoulders. Seeing her that way, warm and cozy in a nest of covers, Vyrl wanted nothing more than to stay in bed with her.
The bellow could have shaken a stone wall. 'Open this door, you scum of a mush-bog slime, or I'll break it down.'
