Alain shook his head. “No. I do not think so. Your Mechanic skills, your knowledge, have been very important to our survival. It is as you said in Dorcastle. It matters that we have these different abilities. I do not know that they have ever been used to the same purpose.”
“You remember that? You actually do remember everything I say, don’t you?”
He took a moment to frame his words properly before saying them. “For many years, after I was taken from my parents to the be trained by the Mage Guild, I was told that only a few voices should be listened to. For many years, I listened only to the elders. When I met you, when you spoke to me, I realized that other voices should also be heard. Your words, your actions, showed me that what I been told for twelve years as a Mage acolyte was not all that was worth knowing.”
Mari gave him a look that was hard to interpret. “So are you just accepting everything I say?”
“No,” Alain said. “Simply accepting what I am told by anyone would just repeat the error. I pay close attention to what you say, and know what you say is always worth careful consideration, but each time I must decide whether it reflects a wisdom I should accept.”
She grinned at him. “Good.”
The sun had not risen much farther before they reached the cleft in the wall of the pass which marked the entrance to the hidden path. Mari squeezed through first, followed by Alain. This way was narrow and often difficult as it climbed and wove through the mountains, making for a long and tiring day of travel. “I suppose it was too much to expect this route to be a little easier,” Mari complained after one rough stretch.
“But you always prefer the harder way,” Alain pointed out.
“Why did I ever tell you that? And I never meant literally the harder way.” They found a slightly wider area walled in by heights on three sides as the sun was setting and chose to camp there, sharing some of the rations that the soldiers had given them. “We are close to enemy territory,” Alain said as darkness fell, “and my Guild may still have assassins on my trail. We should maintain a watch. I shall take the first one.”
Mari nodded wearily. “All right. Wake me in a few hours.”
“Hours?”
She managed to look even more tired. “I forgot. How do Mages tell time?”
“We watch the sun and the stars.”
“Great. When the stars tell you that the night is about a quarter over, wake me.”
“A quarter?” Alain asked.
“Oh, blazes,” Mari said. “Couldn’t your Mage elders have taught their acolytes any math at all? Wake me when you feel like sleeping.”
They were higher up and the night grew colder than before, but they could not risk a fire. Mari watched the sun come up with a hopeful expression. “We should be heading downward today and tomorrow, and the path is supposed to get easier until the final stretch that will dump us onto the Imperial plains.”
They had been walking for most of the morning, and Alain sought for something to speak with Mari about. Since parting from Mari at Dorcastle, Alain had paid discreet attention to commons and Mechanics, and seen that they often spoke with each other, instead of following the practice of Mages, who only spoke when something had to be said. Alain wanted to speak about the prophecy, but Mari had made it plain that she did not want to talk about that.
But thinking of the prophecy and Mari’s role in it reminded him of another vision, the one in Dorcastle, and something in that vision he had not understood. “Mari, could you tell me something?”
The path had narrowed, forcing Mari to walk ahead of him so Alain could not see her face, but Mari answered in a cheerful voice. “You want to talk? That’s good. What is it?”
“What does it mean when a man and a woman wear rings?”
Mari suddenly stumbled, even though Alain could not see what might have tripped her. “Why do you ask?” she replied, in still-cheerful tones which nonetheless now held more tension.
“I have seen them, and I do not know what they mean.”
“What kind of rings?”
“Plain gold. On both the man and the woman.”
Mari stumbled again, and this time her voice was much more tense. “They mean that the man and the woman have pledged their promises to each other. That’s why they’re called promise rings.”
“Promises?”
“They’re married to each other.”
“Oh.” Alain must have let emotion sound, because Mari stopped walking, spinning about to face him.
“Oh? What does that mean?” she demanded.
“Perhaps it is something we should discuss at a later time,” Alain suggested.
“I think we should discuss it now, Alain.” Mari searched his face. “Why did you ask me about those rings? Did you really not know what they meant?”
“No, I did not,” Alain said. “Mages do not marry. It was not discussed among us, and I did not recall anything about rings from my time before being forced to join the Mage Guild.”
The tension seemed to drain out of Mari very quickly, leaving some other emotions that Alain was unsure of. She turned away and started walking again, seeming oddly deflated. “I see. Well, now you know.”
Encouraged but also anxious over Mari’s puzzling behavior, Alain kept speaking. “It was one of the things in my vision at Dorcastle of our possible future which I did not understand, so—”
“Your vision?” Mari twisted in mid-step to face Alain. “The one at Dorcastle? The one with you and me in it?”
“Yes,” Alain agreed, feeling suddenly much more anxious. “Perhaps—”
“We had rings on? You and me? Identical rings?”
“Yes.”
“We were married in that vision and YOU DIDN’T EVEN MENTION IT UNTIL NOW?”
Alain took two steps backwards, wishing at this moment that he had remained silent. “It appears so.”
Mari was just staring at him, so many emotions showing that Alain could not sort them out. Her voice this time was very low and very intense and made Alain very nervous. “Didn’t you think that was important?”
“I did not know what it meant.”
“HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW WHAT IT MEANT!?”
Alain tried to stand tall in the face of Mari’s fury. “I am a Mage and—”
“I know you’re a Mage! And I’m a Mechanic who should have had her head examined a long time ago!” Mari stared off into the distance, appearing stricken now. “We’re going to be married?”
Obviously, this was the source of Mari’s upset. Alain tried to reassure her. “The vision only showed what might be. One possible outcome. There is no need for us to do anything we do not want—”
“What?” She was staring at him again, her expression even harder to read. “What are you saying?”
“Just because the vision showed us married to each other does not mean that we have to ever—”
“You don’t want to marry me?” Mari asked in a soft voice that nonetheless sounded extremely dangerous.
“I…”
“I’m waiting for an answer, Mage Alain.”
There was only one possible way out of this that Alain could see. “If you wish to marry—”
“If I wish to? What about you? And maybe I don’t wish to, Mage Alain.” Mari had somehow gotten directly in front of him again, leaning in so that Alain leaned backwards. “Maybe I wouldn’t marry you for all the jewels in the Imperial vaults!”