Saya was dressed in a less organic dress, though no less alluring. It looked to be made of sequins that flashed and sparkled as the two women made their way down the aisle, sending motes of light flickering out over the assembled crowd. However, as she got closer, I heard a faint jingling coming from her as she moved. With a smile, which she returned, I perceived that what I had taken to be sequins were actually minute scales of armor.
I should have guessed that, even at a wedding, the Amazonian-looking blonde would have showed up ready for war.
As my two fiancées advanced down the aisle, Amara stepped in behind Saya and Penelope took up a position to the rear of Elenari. The two women followed along behind the brides in what I assumed were the roles of bridesmaids.
When Elenari and Saya reached the dais on which I stood gawping at them, they ascended regally and came to stand by my side.
It was fortunate that the ceremony did not require me to say anything romantic or witty at that point because I was like a deer in the headlights in front of those two stunning females.
Elenari grinned and said in a very quiet voice, “Mike, close your mouth!”
My lower jaw snapped shut, and I smiled.
I didn’t pay much attention to the ceremony once it began. It wasn’t that I wasn’t interested, it was just that I couldn’t keep my mind and eyes off the two stunning warrior women in front of me. It seemed so strange and wonderful that these two paragons of female beauty could also be a couple of the most ruthless, capable, and admirable warriors under the Academy’s roof.
Not for the first time, I was staggered by my good fortune.
Lorekeepers Tanila and Dasyr launched into the ceremony with as much dignity and pomp as the occasion apparently required. The wedding of dragonmancers, of course, had not taken place for a very long time, and I could tell that the two tiger-like dragonmancers were intent on doing the moment proud.
Thankfully, even the weddings of dragonmancers proved to be fairly quick and pragmatic affairs. Warring and fighting, it seemed, had left just as little time for elaborate and long-winded ceremony back then as it did now. I figured that for elite troops such as ourselves, the last thing anyone wanted to do was get all dressed up, get the band together, spruce up a venue, and then get told that you were off to fight on some distant battlefield.
I pledged myself to the two women in front of me, swearing to protect them and watch their backs as I knew that they would watch mine. I gave them my oath that I would stand and fight by them, no matter the odds.
I was sure, after my chat with the Overseer and the promise I had made her, that this was exactly the sort of thing that the Martial Council had not wanted to hear.
After exchanging our vows, I kissed my two brides and raised their hands into the air as I had been instructed was right.
As I did so, Garth, who had been lurking up in the rafters out of sight, swept down and passed over the crowd. I looked up as the Pearl Dragon performed his excitable fly-by, and saw the little gray form of Wayne sitting atop his mature brother’s head, clinging on with his sharp little claws.
With a roar of exaltation, Garth let loose a great burst of rose-colored flame, and the crowd got to their feet and burst into applause.
Elenari, Saya, and I stepped down from the dais and walked slowly back up the aisle, arm in arm, followed by our coteries, Penelope, and Amara. As we walked, people reached out to pat our backs, shake our hands, or simply wish us well. People were stamping and cheering and yelling. It was the best kind of pandemonium.
“Dragonmancer Noctis,” Lieutenant Kaleen said, leaning across Sergeant Milena to shake my hand, “hearty congratulations to you. To all three of you.”
The lieutenant was bedecked in her flawless armor, showing off her rank and importance in about as obvious and intimidating a style as was possible. A sword hung in a bejeweled scabbard at her side. Instead of a hat, she wore a burnished helmet. The effect might have been comical had it not been so damned impressive.
“Thanks very much, Lieutenant,” I said, surprised that Kaleen should make such an effort to wish us well.
“Yes, indeed,” Kaleen said, removing the helmet so that she could run a thoughtful hand through her white dreadlocks, grinning that mordant smile of hers as she did so. “The sergeant and I knew you were a brave bastard, but we didn’t know you were brave enough to marry these two at the same bloody time!”
Times changed, worlds changed, but I imagined that soldier banter stayed the same the universe over.
I had to laugh at that though. It was what I might have expected the woman to say if I had thought about it at all.
“Now, now, Lieutenant,” Sergeant Milena said, tapping her kinswoman on the arm, “no need to be so mean. I for one think that Dragonmancer Noctis has done extremely well for himself. These two women each have brains enough for two, which is exactly the quantity that our
