Born From A Divine Gamble

In order to help himself fall asleep, he started repeating the vows over and over in his head. The repet.i.tion should send him to sleep and if not, at least he would have had a lot of practice for that day. The trick must have worked because the next thing he knew, he was dragged along the floor of the house by Marcy and his head kept b.u.mping into the floorboards.

"Ya slag of an apprentice better get up already. It"s not proper to make a girl wait." She was telling him.

Emp hurried to agree and got up from the floor. The other two girls were already up as well and Harriett had made breakfast. That was great because since Calla gave him her offering, she had to refrain from showing up to bring them food in order to follow the tradition. Marcy was glad to eat something better than a few fruits and old smoked meat.

Once they had eaten, Emp was made to take a bath and then, the two girls and his mother helped him prepare for the confirmation. They arranged his hair, made sure his clothes were as good as they could, Harriett took care of his facial hair with a razor, Marcy had him repeat the vows again just to make sure he actually remembered them and finally, he was ready to go.

The only thing he didn"t do was practice lifting the hammer but he could forgo a single day for something so important. He left the two girls and his mother there as they gave him some good luck wishes and started walking towards the Champom house.

He came across a few of his friends on the way and they all gave him a few words of encouragement. Most of them were curious and wanted to ask about the knights but since they knew what it meant for him to be walking towards calla"s house, they chose to wait and simply support him for now. From the look in the eyes of many of those he pa.s.sed by, he knew that many would just go ask Him or Calla how it went right after he left and ask to see the gift he had prepared for her.

A smile crept up his face despite his nervousness. He was really proud of his gift after all, they could all come and take a look at it, he was sure they would be impressed.

He reached the Champom"s door, took a deep breath and knocked on the door, repeating the words in his head just to be sure. This was most definitely the most stressful thing he had ever done, if he didn"t take the near death experiences of course.

"It"s him! He"s here!" He heard Zora and Fleur yell from inside, followed by a shush from their mother.

Not long after, Ogden opened the door for him. He shot a severe look down to him and spoke in a grave tone.

"I swear if you took all this time just to make a kitchen knife I"m throwing you out."

"I think I did way better than that. Will you please let me present it?"

Ogden nodded with a faint smile and let him in. His biggest worry had been that Emp would just change his mind or abandon his daughter but he had been willing to fight the mage to the death for her and was right here right now to present his confirmation. At this point, the chances of him disappearing were rather minimal so Ogden didn"t seem as skeptical anymore.

Inside the main room, all the Champom had come to a.s.sist to this confirmation. Ogden and Fiona sat on chairs placed on either side of Calla. On the chairs following Fiona, Calla"s four sisters sat in order of age, there were the twins Jonquil and Iris with their swelling bellies, Azalea who Emp rarely ever saw, Fleur and finally Zora on the furthest chair from the center. On Ogden"s side the same arrangement was made for the boys, with Karp sat right beside him followed by Freddy, Gilbert and the small Jerold.

Aside from Gilbert who was his friend, the other Champom boys would have rather been elsewhere at that point but they had to stay by the request of their father and also, by the will of the tradition.

The most nervous of them all was of course Calla since the boy she chose now had to gain the approval of all twelve Champoms. Her mother seemed inclined to approve of him whatever he presented to them today but the elder sisters and brothers would be harder to convince.

Emp had never witnessed a trial before but he felt it would probably feel a bit like that.

First of all, he had the other him appear at his side. The two him spoke in synchronization.

"Both versions of me are here today for this, I had the other me come back from Bêtéclair."

That way, he was able to show her father once and for all that he wasn"t just an illusion, the real him was here. He recalled the other him again, stepped in front of the nervous girl and knelt at her feet. n.o.body said anything, they were all holding their breaths waiting to see what he brought Calla for his confirmation.

The girl herself was almost shaking from her nervous antic.i.p.ation and played with her fingers to control how tense she was. If she had not been sat there, Emp would have been afraid she might fall. Maybe this was the reason why everyone of them had been sitting on chairs instead of standing.

He offered her a warm soothing smile, seeing her in front of him like that, most of his fears had disappeared, he was convinced he would be accepted. That smile managed to calm her down a bit as well and she took a big breath to prepare herself.

Now that they were both ready, Emp fetched his ornamented cuff from the bag and presented it to her. Those a bit further down the line of chair leaned forward and stretched their necks to see what he had brought. Those closer were very impressed by how s.h.i.+ning and precious looking it seemed.

At that point, Emp"s brain was spinning because he had forgot if he was supposed to say the vows now or explain what it was first. There was a short moment where everyone held their breaths and finally, Emp opted to say the vows first. He fixed her in the eyes and said the words he knew by heart.

"I swear on all that I know, and all that I don"t, to keep you safe until my last breath.

If you accept me as husband, my love for you will last until I feed the trees with my bones.

May this gift be proof of my commitment for it is my best and I am offering it to you."

With an awed look, Calla picked it up and turned it around in her hands to examine it"s details.

"What is it?!" Cried Fleur from her far off chair.

"It"s a wrist cuff I made with the crystal from the creature I fought with the huntresses, plenty of rose gold and some pink gems I don"t know the name of. I tried to make it look like a single leafed apple tree, the roots and the leaf are there to hold on to her arm. I even put magic in it."

"Woa... So complicated." Azalea said, rather impressed.

Calla traced the letters he had engraved into it with her fingers and Fiona read the words aloud. Emp had no idea she knew how to read. Maybe she had learned after that story with the letter from Red-water.

"May... luck be with you each day. May they hear... my flower say. That"s rather cute."

Emp felt a bit embarra.s.sed. When he engraved those into the cuff, he didn"t think about anyone reading them. Calla felt way more embarra.s.sed than him and reddened heavily.

Ogden and Karp were both more practical and each asked something of their own at the same time.

"What is the magic on it?" "What"s up with those holes in it?"

Emp answered with a smile.

"I engraved the runes on the inside." Calla turned the cuff over so that everyone could see the magic symbols traced in rose gold at the back. "The holes are there so that the magic will work properly. Here, try it, you"ll see."

Emp took hold of Calla"s hands and brought the long flute-like root close to her mouth. Calla didn"t try to escape his gentle grip and let him guide her hands.

"Say something."

"Like what?" She said in a very tiny voice that Emp would have had a hard time to hear but, thanks to the work of his magic, the sounds were heightened and everyone heard her from all across the room. Calla made a small jump of surprise hearing her own voice.

"Wow! Sis spoke way louder than usual!" Zora said excitedly.

"So that"s what you meant with those words. May they hear my flower say. That"s very interesting." The twins approved.

"That"s just a perfect gift! That magic"s way too good!" Gilbert called from the side.

Since he had revealed that cuff, the smiles around him kept getting broader and broader, Emp felt it was obvious that he had done well.

"The only thing I"m not sure about is if it fits your wrist or not."

That was the last thing he had to say about that gift. Everything else could be seen in the time it took him to make it and the details of his hard work. Calla brought her arm into it and after a bit of wrist wiggling and arm twisting, the gift came to rest snugly around her arm. Emp was very relieved to see it fit her so well.

Calla was simply radiant. This was far better than what she had hoped and she knew that there was no way anyone here would object such a confirmation. Her heart was just flying right now, this was the best gift she had ever received and it came from the boy she loved, the boy she would soon marry. She snuggled the gift against her chest and made her joy obvious for all to see.

Emp felt his own chest flutter seeing her so happy from his gift.

"Now then, it"s time for everyone to give their opinion. Those who want to approve the gift and the marriage say yes, the others say no. Obviously I say yes." Fiona said with a bright smile, she was very happy for her daughter.

The others all said yes one by one, following the orders of the seats. The two youngest girls were especially loud in their approval and Ogden tried to keep his serious air despite his smile as he gave his own yes.

The one who had the final say was Calla since it would be her own marriage after all. Her mother urged her to give a clear answer and using the cuff, her tiny yes echoed in the room to make everyone cheer.

With this done, everyone got up from their seats. Emp felt elated and got back up just in time to catch Calla who hugged him lovingly as thanks for the gift. She really appreciated his present.

"Alright then, we"ll wait for those n.o.bles to leave and after that, we"ll sort that marriage out." Ogden said in high spirit.

The other Champom all seemed to agree to this easily while the kids rushed closer to take a better look at the gift. Calla"s father wasn"t that into having a bunch of stranger watching his daughter marry and anyway, he felt Calla would be way to intimidated by them to move in their presence. However, he didn"t know yet what Emp had to tell them.

"Sorry but we can"t wait for after they"ve left." He told them, still keeping Calla in his arms.

"Why?" Ogden and Fiona asked with raised brows.

"Because they came here just to see it, I"d rather not upset the duke by having him leave before the marriage happened."

Everyone seemed unable to fully understand what he meant, which was absolutely normal. Why would a duke, no less, come in a village outside of his territory to witness a lowborn marriage?

"There"s something important I need to tell you all. Calla, could you please."

He was a bit disappointed to end that hug but he really needed to say this. She stepped back to leave him the s.p.a.ce he needed and he brought up his hunting card to show them his name.

"My family name is Muracier. I"m first in line to be the next great general."

"What!" Ogden screamed of fright.

Remembering the things he told Emp before, his face was drained of all blood. If he had known that Emp was a n.o.ble, he would have never said anything about nailing him to his bed with arrows, his rank just made it much worse. Emp rea.s.sured him right away.

"Do not worry, I understand why you said those things, It was all for Calla, I do not mind them."

Meanwhile, the others had not recovered from the shock of this revelation. Calla was the most affected in the group, she had simply frozen in place and Emp had no clue about what was happening in her head. She was looking towards him without seeing him, just staring into the distance as she was lost in her mind. Her previously radiant smile frozen in time like a sculpture.

The others all cried out in surprise and the two smallest kids pestered their older siblings to know what this meant.

"My girl is marrying a high n.o.ble? Royalty even!" Fiona had her mouth agape, unable to close it.

She wasn"t exactly right but she wasn"t wrong either. The Muracier almost had an equal standing with the imperial family which made them stand above royalty even though they did not posses large amounts of land of their own. Only the emperor was above the great general in authority and power which meant that, as the next in line for the t.i.tle, even kings from the kingdoms making up the empire would have to listen to his words with respect. This might not have been what Chinui intended when he lent his name to Emp but this was what was going to happen anyway. At this point, with the efforts of the duke and his own objectives, there was no way to turn back.

"Wha!? I didn"t know that big bro Emp was this cool! Big sis Calla is so lucky!" Called Fleur excitedly.

As the revelation sank in, the expressions of surprise where turned into joy. Marcy had been right, they felt as if they where the luckiest, they would have hit a gold vein in the orchard and they would have been less excited than this. This might not make them all rich or turn them into n.o.bles but their Calla would from now on be someone that countless people would look up to. As long as the ever benevolent Calla remembered from where she came, the family would never have any hards.h.i.+ps again.

This might just be the greatest news they heard in their entire life.

"So that"s how you managed to have Bor change his mind!" Gilbert realized.

"I should have known you weren"t just a mere traveler. For Marcy to take you in like that, you had to be something more." Karp said aloud. "Great job sis, once the marriage is a done deal, you"ll be one of the most powerful woman in the whole empire."

Karp was only partially right. Marcy didn"t know he was a Muracier when she asked to adopt him, she just thought he had some potential. As for Calla being one of the most powerful woman in the empire...

"That"s true but for now, my existence is a secret known by very few. It will take some time before the n.o.bles everywhere hear about me. I"m still just a student in the n.o.ble school after all and I have no troops under me. In the mean time, I was planning to live here in Dark-glint for longer."

"It"s all good, as long as my Calla is happy." Ogden said, a lot more reserved than earlier.

"I"ll have n.o.ble grand-children!"

Fiona couldn"t get over it, she was the second most surprised after Calla. Speaking of Calla, Emp was starting to worry about her, she had not moved a hair since he gave them his family name.
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He grabbed her hand and spoke her name to get her attention. He managed to have her eyes focus back on him and he told her what he felt as well as something similar to what Marcy had told him the other day.

"I had been worried you might be scared about my name so I never told you. If I had, I feel you would have never given me that s.h.i.+rt, but I love it and I love the girl who gave it to me even more. You don"t have to be scared of anything because I"ll be there with you, I just swore to keep you safe after all."

Emp saw the colors come back to her face and he knew his words were helping her. The others kept silent because they didn"t want to interrupt something they felt was very important for Calla.

"You know, when you gave me that s.h.i.+rt, I became really stressed and asked mom what I should do. I felt I really had to tell you my name but she told me that my name didn"t matter at all. You didn"t know this was my name but still loved me, I haven"t changed now, I"m the exact same I always was. For you, I will always be simply Emp."

She showed him a tearful smile and jumped into a hug again. This family might represent a huge wall of steel for everyone else but he wanted to let Calla know he wasn"t some unreachable person, he was right there in front of her and if he could help it, he would always be. He could feel her take a deep breath against him and by the way she held onto him, he knew she would be fine. This time, he kept her there as he talked some more to her family.

He had to answer questions about the Muraciers and the exact reasons why a duke was here for quite a while but after everything was said, only the excitation about the Marriage remained.

"Let"s do it tomorrow then since the duke won"t leave until it"s done." Ogden proposed.

Everyone else agreed with his proposal, it wasn"t unusual to hold the main ceremony the day right after the confirmation. Young couples were often eager to start their wedded life as soon as possible after all.

"Then you girls will help me prepare your sister." Fiona told her daughters.

"And while the girls are taking care of Calla, you boys will help me prepare a place in the village center for tomorrow. We"ll take over the marketplace for this, we"ll ask Bor to tell everyone and have the neighbors get a piece of the deer they keep in their cold room."

"What about me? What do I do?" Asked Emp.

He had never seen a marriage before so he had no idea what he was supposed to do at this point.

"You"ll help us prepare the place of course! And then, Marcy will probably want to fill you in on how to behave tomorrow. First though, we have to tell all the curious outside."

Emp almost asked what curious he was talking about but when Ogden opened the door, he saw a few dozen people in a half circle waiting for the results. All of them were people he knew well. It seemed the villagers really liked that sort of news and the feast that would come with it.

"My daughter Calla and Emp will be wed by tomorrow night!" Ogden shouted at the crowd holding its collective breath.

There were cheers and everyone ran off in all sorts of directions. In less than an hour, everyone in the village would know and helpful friends would show up from all over to help the Champoms prepare the place for the big event.

Gilbert was sent to tell Bor about what would happen the next day and everyone started moving in a very busy manner. In the very middle of the storm, Emp still stood motionless with Calla in his arms. The house around them was like a chaotic tempest of excitement and activity but for now, Emp felt his time was better used to keep Calla calm. Once he let her go, he knew she"d start worrying about the next day. Here in his arms, she was relaxed and peaceful.

Knowing he had to go help, he made the other him appear and thanks to him, he was able to both help and stay with her. While he was there with her, he stated thinking again about what would happen next.

For example, he wanted to stay in the village for a long time still but from what he gathered, staying in Marcy"s house along with Calla wasn"t the right thing to do. First of all, there wasn"t enough s.p.a.ce for that and second of all, he was told by Blackbull that it was the rule, at least for n.o.bles, to get their own place when they were married. It might be fine for a poor shoemaker to stay in the house of his parent with his wife and newborn kids for a few years but the same could not be said for a n.o.ble.

This meant that he needed to get a house somehow. If he asked Manley to help, would he be able to make them one by the time it took him to travel to Bêtéclair and back? He"d possibly have his own hands full soon if Willow went along with his wish. He might very well make her a house as a confirmation gift. If that was the case, Emp would have to wait.

He should go ask him as soon as possible. The thing that worried him the least was the cost of it, just the profit of his crystal deal with Josseline would be enough to pay for that and possibly everything else he might need to fill a house. He had no idea what that everything else was... He was sure he"d end up forgetting something.

All of this would be a problem for later however, for now, he had to convince Calla to make a trip to Bêtéclair with him.

"Calla, I have something to ask you."

"What is it?" She said close to his ear for him to hear properly.

"I have a lot of important friends in Bêtéclair, since tomorrow you will become my wife, I would like you to meet them."

"Friends?"

"Yes, most of them are n.o.bles to be honest but I care for them a lot. I promised a few to present you to them so... I"d like to bring you back with me to Bêtéclair for a few days."

Emp felt her heartbeat quicken through the hug.

"You don"t have to worry, all of them are nice people and a few are just as gentle as you. There will be all those knights to protect you on the way there and I will be with you the whole time."

"But... they"re all n.o.bles. Will it really be fine for me to go there?"

"Yes, absolutely. Those that aren"t n.o.bles are doing just fine there and those that look down on them aren"t my friends. Also, remember, tomorrow, you"ll become Calla Muracier. Who could possibly make things difficult for you?"

Emp saw her ears redden and he laughed a bit.

"I"m sure they"ll all get along well with you and be respectful enough. Plus, it will only be for a few days and then we"ll come back here. You know, there"s a girl that"s just as shy as you there, she"s always hiding behind her fiance, you can just do the same if you want and hide behind me."

Thinking about it, Frits and Rica had been fiance for at least two years now, why weren"t they wed already? Wasn"t the tradition saying they should be wed the same year he received the offering? He was suddenly very curious about what was happening.

"I... I don"t want to... I"m bad with people, I don"t like meeting new faces."

"I know but this is very important. To be honest, there is a girl I know in the school that was very upset you gave me an offering first."

Calla made a small gasp but Emp quickly tried to rea.s.sure her again.

"She"s not upset at you, she"s upset that she doesn"t know you and she"s scared you"re using me somehow since... You know... There"s a huge gap between my name and yours. She just want to make sure you aren"t a bad person. And I hope that one day, you two will be sisters. Don"t you think it would be best for you two to meet? You"re worried that my friends won"t like you or scare you but I believe it"s impossible for you two to not like each other."

"Sisters? What"s her name?"

"Mable. She acts a bit like Fleur even though she"s much older than her."

This made Calla giggle.

"She really liked the food you made for the new year too, she could only find good things to say about it. I"ve been upsetting her a lot lately. I feel bad about it and hopefully, meeting you will help her understand."

"You think we could be sisters? Why did you never talk about her before?" Calla didn"t sound upset at all, she was more curious than anything.

"I felt that if I said anything about this n.o.ble girl that likes me, you"d get scarred and keep your distance from me. I"m still pretty sure that if I had, you wouldn"t have given me that s.h.i.+rt and I would be really sad if it never happened."

"Sorry..."

"You don"t have to apologize at all."

"It would have been too scary to propose to you if I had known about her, or about your name. I"d never have found enough courage to do it, now that it"s already done, I feel much better."

"So you aren"t angry that I had not told you anything about the school or my name before?"

"No, I"m a bit glad you didn"t and also, I"m curious to know now. Will you tell me?"

"Yes of course. I"ll tell you everything you want to know and everything else too. But, will you come to the school with me please? Please Calla."

"I... Will, yes, but it"s still scary."

Emp giggled.

"It"s fine, you can just hide in my arms if you"re scared."

She buried her face into his chest and mumbled something he didn"t catch.

"Mhn?"

She removed one of her arms from his back and brought it between the two of them, soon after, he heard her voice clearly.

"I said I like it in here, It"s soothing."

Her mother pa.s.sed by just at this moment and couldn"t help but comment with a mischievous face.

"Oh, is it now?"

Emp saw her ears turn red again and she brought her other arm in there too to better hide herself in his embrace, making him and her mother laugh some more.

Outside, everyone worked hard to prepare for tomorrow and by sunset, a stage as well as an array of tables and decorations had been prepared. Fresh apples were hung everywhere around the central place to chase evil spirits away from the marriage location. Flowers were brought in by anyone that found some in the woods and tied to ropes hanging in between the nearby houses.

Finally, a temporary shrine to the G.o.ddess Love was established on the center of the temporary elevated stage. It did not have a statue or wood sculpture representing her, only a large wooden heart carved from a single piece of a douglas fir tree. The whole sculpture was so large they had to be six men to lift it and drag it up onto the stage. At the base of the heart, over the included pedestal, a tablet with a prayer engraved onto it served as the foundation of the heart. It"s content would be read soon.

On the altar, close to the tablet, a large wooden bowl which would be used for the ceremony rested patiently. Emp was made to take one of every kind of fruits found in the vicinity of the village and cut them in bite-sized pieces to place in the bowl. Apparently, it was an offering for Love herself. Emp wondered if she would really take it.

Now, all Emp had to do was wait impatiently for the next day and try to keep in mind what Marcy would tell him about that ceremony.