Mari looked down at her left hand. “One thing I regretted is that we didn’t have time to get promise rings in Caer Lyn. We’ll have to do that in Altis, first thing.”
“Before trying to find the tower?” Alain asked, surprised.
“Yes.” She spread her fingers, imagining a ring there. “I’ve made a great many sacrifices for the sake of others and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to want this one little thing to take priority. It won’t take all that long. We can’t afford anything really fancy, but then I don’t want anything fancy. Just plain gold bands for both of us. Is that okay with you?”
“Yes.” He paused. “Gold bands on our hands.”
“That’s right.” Mari gave him a rueful smile. “Just like in that vision of yours back in Dorcastle. We did get married.”
“What would you have done in Dorcastle if I had told you then about the gold bands? If I had known what they meant?”
She gasped a brief laugh. “That’s hard to say. By the time you did mention them I had already made some decisions about committing to you, but back then… stars above, Alain. I might have run.”
“It is well that I did not mention it, then.”
“Sure is.” Mari met his eyes, her face serious. “I need you in so many ways. What am I going to do if I lose you?”
“Keep trying. You must.”
She exhaled heavily, then held him close and kissed Alain quickly. “I’ll try, but I doubt that will be enough. There’s no way I can do this alone. The daughter needs her Mage.” Mari raised her free hand and rubbed the place under her coat where her pistol rested in its shoulder holster. She hadn’t worn it for part of the time they had been at sea, but she might need the weapon again soon. “No more visions?”
“No.”
“Have you been totally honest with me about your Mage powers? Are they really still strong?”
Alain nodded. “Yes. I sometimes feel that if should someone threaten you I could muster enough power to blow a hole the size of that harbor in a city.”
Mari let him see how startled she was by that. “All right. Let’s not blow up any cities on my account, if you don’t mind.” The White Wing tacked, swinging around toward the entrance to the harbor, Mari bracing herself against the railing as the deck tilted. “Now we need our minds on business. Let’s get our packs and get ready for trouble, just in case.” She kissed him again, longer this time, knowing they were probably getting more amused looks from the commons on board who knew they were newly married. “Welcome to Altis, my beloved Mage.”
The White Wing had anchored out from the quay, her boats shuttling passengers ashore. While most of the passengers had jostled for places to get on the first boats, Mari and Alain had held back. He kept an eye on things around them as Mari, from a position where she could not be easily seen, was using her far-seer to study the docks of the lower port without being obvious about it. “I can’t see anything that looks too suspicious,” Mari told him. “There are a few Mechanics visible down at one end, but they’re obviously working on something. I don’t see any Mages. Everybody in common clothing seems to have a good reason for being where they are, and when the first boat came in nobody jumped out of the shadows to arrest them all.”
Alain let his own gaze roam over the dock area. “My foresight tells me nothing.”
Mari sat back, chewing her lower lip as she put away her far-seer. “There is an Imperial warship in port, but there is no sign of trouble from that quarter, either. Do you think we finally got ahead of the reports and rumors and arrest orders?”
“No.” Alain gestured toward the north and east, memories of the events there crowding into his mind. “The stories spread by General Flyn’s soldiers in the Northern Ramparts will have found fertile ground here, there is no doubt. But we may have outrun the rumors of Mara for a while.”
“That’s one blessing, then.”
“It could be useful some day,” Alain suggested, “if we are confronted by superstitious Imperials.”
Mari turned her glare on him. “You’re crazy if you think for even one moment that I will ever play at being Mara.” She stood up, adjusting her pack. “I’m not going to miss hauling these packs around, let me tell you. Shall we get in line to get ashore?” She looked at Alain again, her expression becoming concerned. “What’s the matter?”
He was looking north, and only when she asked did Alain realize that he must have shown some feeling. “I was thinking of home. The home I had and lost.”
“I’m sorry,” Mari said, her voice full of apology. “I should have expected that would bother you and not have been so self-centered. Just remember that you’ve got another home now.” She took his hand and placed it over her heart. “Right here, and you’re always there. Now let’s go change the world.”
He smiled at her, feeling better. “Yes, Lady Mari.”
The line to board the boats was still fairly long, but Alain did not mind spending a little more time on the ship. It held memories that would never fade. He saw some of the other passengers they had spoken with, the commons who were soldiers in the Western Alliance, and somewhat awkwardly returned their waves of farewell. He saw that the woman soldier Patila once again kept her eyes on Mari, and that the soldiers’ skeptical friend Jorge avoided looking their way.
Mari held his arm as the line moved forward, until they reached the ladder to the boat and had to go down it single-file. She led him to seats near the stern of the boat, then as the boat cast off and the crew members began rowing it to the quay, Mari met his eyes, tapped the place under her arm where her weapon was kept, and sat alertly. The honeymoon was officially over.
Alain kept his eyes on the area ahead for any sign of trouble, but saw nothing suspicious as the boat came alongside the quay and tied up. Once ashore they joined another line for customs, eventually facing an official who looked relaxed and a little rumpled, a big contrast to the polished menace of the Imperial officers with whom Alain and Mari had been forced to deal for some time.
The customs officer held out a hand for their papers, and Mari handed over the false ones. “Imperials out of Emdin? What brings you to Altis?”
“Distant relatives,” Mari explained. “They’ve been asking us to visit, and this is a quiet season on the farm.”
“Well, you’ll have to get back soon for the spring planting, won’t you?” The official took another glance at the identification papers, shrugged, then began to hand back the papers.
He halted in mid-reach as another official hastened up and whispered to him, glancing toward Mari and Alain.
Mari’s attention was centered on the officials. Alain let his gaze roam, seeing the man Jorge standing some distance away and watching nervously, then turning to walk off with a fast gait.
The seated customs official gave Mari and Alain an appraising look as his comrade gestured to some nearby local police. “I am afraid we will have to question you further and search your belongings,” the customs official said.
Chapter Thirteen
Mari had tensed, flicking a glance at Alain. He nodded to indicate that he was ready to follow her lead. “Is something wrong?” Mari asked, trying to sound plaintive and worried like the young rustic her identity papers claimed her to be.
“This way,” the second official ordered, the two local police at his back.
Alain took another look around. They were very exposed here on the quay. Anything they did would be seen by many people, including the Mechanics working down at the end of the quay. But allowing the local officials to search their packs would not only reveal Mari’s Mechanics jacket and equipment, but also Alain’s robes, and the two packs of texts which they had brought from Marandur.