Balancer (Advent Mage Cycle) (39 page)

I stepped back to admire our handiwork and take a breather.

“Garth, if you can set up the garden walls next, I can get started on the plants,” Cora suggested.

Well, that would be a better use of her time than have her just stand here watching me work. “Sure. Actually, Aral why don’t you and Cora put in the gardens? I’ll start on the main structure.”

“And me?” Jenna inquired.

“You’re going to have to wait on me,” I answered with an apologetic shrug. “But not for long. Do you remember the hall of windows? And the greenhouse on the top of the roof? You’re going to need very long strips of metal to frame those windows.”

She nodded understanding. “I’ll get started on those, then.”

“I suppose you want me to deal with the windows themselves?” Raile didn’t sound as if he were truly asking.

I blinked up at him. With Jenna’s ability, she could certainly handle the glass as well, but if he wanted to conjure them… “If you want.”

With a satisfied nod, he floated off to the shore, probably hunting for sand. Glass was easy to conjure from sand.

With a shake of the head, I started working on the outer walls.

Every inch of the stonework on the academy came from the land all around me. At one point, worried that I might be stealing too much stone from the slopes, I went back and built a road leading up the hill. The stone I cleared for it became my new building material and I hauled it all along back to the main site.

Parts of the academy I built just for aesthetics. The rectangular tower that extended out of the academy, resting along the water’s edge, had no real functional purpose. The walkway leading to it would no doubt become a favorite spot for sightseeing, but I didn’t have specific plans for it. The very top of the tower was just one of the many roosts made for meurittas. The same could be said for the tall tower with the round top on the other side. The walkway would probably become a favorite lookout point, but the only ones to get any real use of the place would be the meurittas.

The other two towers that flanked the main entrance did serve a purpose for us humans. Chatta had assured me as I was planning this thing that I did
not
want the potions labs connected to the main building. Barring explosions, she testified that there could be some very bizarre, and often smelly, accidents. We would want a way to shut the area off in those cases. Since she was clearly remembering several such accidents from her student days, I didn’t argue with her about it but just designed the towers so that they were not connected to the main building.

The light failed us at that point, as it had taken me the entire day just to come to that point. We went home for the night, got a good night’s sleep, and came back early the next morning to tackle the building again. I admit, seeing it in the morning light like that gave me a proud feeling. I had no idea I could build so much in just one day.

With renewed enthusiasm, I built the main hall. Everyone else scattered and went back to the tasks they had abandoned the night before. I lost track of them as I concentrated on building everything stone by stone. The section next to the twin towers was twenty feet tall with an angled roof, and held all of the professor’s offices. Then the next level was twice that, with a greenhouse on the very top for all of the odd plants that potion making seems to require. I was very thankful that Cora was in charge of starting that place. My only contribution was limited to the building. They didn’t want me planting anything anyway. I was notorious for planting seeds and forgetting to water them.

Since this section of the building was so much taller, I had to put in support buttresses on all sides. Once I felt it was solidly in place, I went to the tall, cylindrical part of the building that acted as the main entrance.

Aral walked in from the side, looking all around with a smile of approval. “You’ve done a fair share of work.”

“Are the gardens in?”

“Well, the part that I can do, yes. Cora’s still fussing with all of her seeds.”

“Seeds?” What seeds?

“Sure, didn’t you know that her bag was just full of seeds?”

“I hadn’t, actually.” But now at least I had an explanation. Still, considering the size of most seeds, just how many plants was she putting in? “I’m on the cylindrical section of the main hall, if you want to pitch in.”

“Love to.”

We finished that part and started on the base section of the glass hall when Raile came back, large panes of glass floating in his wake. Jenna wasn’t far behind him, hauling along very long, narrow strips of metal. Between the four of us, the hall snapped together in a fraction of the time I thought it would take.

The basic structure was up. We still had to go inside and build the individual classrooms and offices, but once again we were out of daylight. It amazed me, how time could just fly by when I was embroiled in a project. We once again went home for the night and returned at daybreak the next morning to do the last structural work.

We all had our specialties that we focused on. Aral and I played tag by putting up the walls for the classrooms, offices and hallways. Jenna and Raile went through and put windows wherever the designs called for them. Since the stone frames were already in place, all they had to do was fasten the glass in. This apparently wasn’t a difficult task—I heard them laughing and teasing each other as they worked. It seemed a good omen, to have echoing laughter be the first sound in the academy.

Cora, once the garden was planted, seemed intent on landscaping the rest of the academy as well. She disappeared into the greenhouse for a very long stretch at one point and we didn’t see her until noon.

With all of the magical assistance, the building just seemed to fly together. The sun was just starting to sink over the horizon when I stepped back, double checked the plans in my hands, and realized there was nothing else to be done.

We were finished. Oh, there was still the professor’s homes that needed to be built, but I wasn’t about to tackle that now. I’d wait until the teachers actually started arriving and then build according to their wishes. After the main structure was up, the rest I could leave to them.

We’d been so focused on the nitty little details that came with building that none of us had really paid attention to the overall structure. But now with it done, we all stepped back and really looked at it.

A feeling of immense satisfaction filled me. Yes.
This
was what it was supposed to be like.

“What will you name it?” Cora asked, her voice almost hushed.

“Strae Academy,” I answered promptly. For some reason, every person gave me a dumbfounded look. Why was I getting this response? “What?”

“Not Rheben Academy?” Jenna asked in disbelief.

Rheben?
I pointed my finger at it. “I’m not the founder, I’m just the builder and the dean. There’s a difference, Jenna.”

Raile snorted. “Nonsense. You should at least name it Advent Academy.”

“
Absolutely
not!” I protested vehemently.

“Balancer College,” Aral suggested, eyes dancing with impish delight.

“All of your opinions are automatically rejected,” I told them firmly. “Come on, let’s go home.”

Cora, caught up in the enthusiasm, snapped her fingers and said, “Garth’s College.”

This was going to be a long trip.

Chapter Twenty
-Seven: Wedding

The day of my wedding dawned clear and crisp, fall hinted in the air. The craziness and stress and waiting were over. Chatta and I would finally be starting our lives together. I put off getting dressed until the last minute, partially because I wasn’t wearing something that hot and stifling until I had to, and partially because I had no desire to run around like a crazy man in elaborate dress robes. Turned out it was sound judgment on my part. At least three people in the immediate wedding party were late, my mother had me run back for some forgotten but vitally important thing twice, and Night completely destroyed the staircase entering the building so I had to fix that before the guests arrived.

Yeesh.

By some miracle, everyone finally arrived. The amphitheater had two different side entrances with dressing rooms off in the wings. It was there that we all met and finished getting dressed. Well, okay,
I
finished getting dressed. Everyone else arrived in full finery.

I very carefully ignored the large audience of people that were gathering out front.

Finally, by some hidden signal, it was agreed that it was time to start the ceremony itself. We all gathered in our respective wings, Night acting as our coordinator as neither side could see the opposite end of the stage because of the thick dark blue curtains.

I stood off in the wings, everyone from my side gathered behind me. It felt more like some sort of theater performance than a wedding, but this was what everyone had agreed on. More importantly, this was how Chatta wanted it, so I wasn’t about to say one word against it. No, I just stood there in very formal, and hot, velvet robes, waiting for my cue.

It took a second for me to realize that Xiaolang was giving me a puzzled look, as if something wasn’t quite what he expected. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing or not doing to get this reaction. “What?”

“You’re not nervous,” he said bemused.

“All I have to do is walk forward, say two different sets of vows, and then go party,” I pointed out dryly. “Why should I be nervous?”

“I’m not talking about the actual ceremony,” Xiaolang denied with a slight roll of his eyes. “Most men are nervous when they think about living with one woman for the rest of their lives. The responsibility usually starts to kick in about now.”

“Xiaolang,” I said patiently, “I’m the Dean of a not-yet-completed Chahiran Academy, which will soon be filled with rambunctious teenagers who have little to no control over some pretty powerful magic. Living with Chatta will be a cake walk compared to that.”

He laughed outright, trying to smother it with one hand to avoid drawing attention to us. “I hadn’t thought of it that way,” he choked out, trying to get back in control again. “Alright, point taken.”

From my right side, my mother poked me in the ribs. “Garth, start walking.”

Whoops, I’d apparently missed my cue…good thing someone else was keeping tabs on me. I started walking forward, my eyes automatically searching for Chatta. Ah, there!

For the second time in five minutes, I lost focus on what I was supposed to be doing. Chatta looked simply stunning. When she told me that she’d decided we’d both wear formal robes for the ceremony, I had assumed that her robes would be just that…robes in a more elaborate material. Mine had been tailored to fit me better, but they hadn’t been all that much different.

Hers were different. Very different. It emphasized her very nice figure, and the black set off her hair and eyes in a particularly enticing way. I wanted to just stand there for a moment and appreciate the view. Fortunately, Xiaolang must have sensed it when my mind went blank and he put a hand on my back, pushing me forward. There were definitely pros to having an empath as your best man.

Chatta smiled at me, a smile I knew very well. Everything was going perfectly to plan and she was ecstatic. I relaxed when I realized everything was going well. If she wasn’t worried, I had no cause to be.

Finally, we reached each other. I took her hands in both of mine, and I’m sure my smile looked giddy. All I could think about was that in ten minutes or so, we’d be married, and I wouldn’t have to let go of her again after that.

People switched places as they were supposed to, moving very gracefully after all of that practicing that Drill Sergeant Mom had put them through, but I didn’t really notice it. I caught out of the corner of my eye when Asla came to stand next to Xiaolang, though. I probably wouldn’t have if I hadn’t heard Night’s voice say dryly, “
Focus, Xiaolang. You can ogle Asla later.”

I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing when Xiaolang shot Night a dirty look.

“What’s funny?” Chatta whispered, bewildered.

“I’ll explain later,” I whispered back. I didn’t have time to explain it now. Straightening, I gave her a nod. Chatta nodded back, saying she was ready. I touched the amulet hanging around my neck, activating it so that my voice would be broadcasted to every corner. “On my honor, and by the name of my family, I will take L-Chattamoinita Delheart under my name, and swear to cherish and love her for the rest of my life. L-Chattamoinita Delheart, will you accept this oath?”

“I will.” She dimpled at me before continuing. “Rhebengarthen, under the Ordinances of Hainian Law, will you be my consort and accept me as yours?”

“I will.”

“Witnesses, do you hear and bear witness?” Raile asked formally of the people surrounding us.

“We do so witness,” everyone chorused, more or less in sync.

“Under law and by their will, I declare Rhebenchattaan and Rhebengarthen to be lawfully married,” Raile continued. “Let no one separate them.”

Everyone in the audience burst into clapping and cheers. Some even stood and called out congratulations. It was all very nice and heartwarming; I just didn’t like being the center of so much attention. There was a part of me that really wanted to escape.

“And no, Garth, you can’t take your bride and disappear somewhere,” Xiaolang added wryly.

Those in the audience that knew me well laughed at this statement. Actually, practically everyone laughed. It was my turn to give a dirty look to Xiaolang. “Thanks for that.”

“Hey, I’m just breaking the ice,” he protested innocently. “Now, let’s go party, shall we?”

~*~

What followed, of course, was a whale of a party.

The ceremony itself had been a completely original creation by Chatta, but the reception afterwards was an interesting mix of Chahiran, Hainian and, somehow, Coven Ordan customs. We had food everywhere, it seemed, and the center of the main floor had been cleared for dancing.

I led my new wife and consort out onto the floor as the music started, falling into step with her with practiced ease. Chatta was right earlier, she was a good dancer, and I enjoyed twirling her around the floor.