27. Mazituz

TWENTY-SEVEN

"We've never turned here before," Camille remarks.

By now, she's become intimately familiar with the nearby passages. She knows how to find my lair, where to find the settlement, and how to avoid any elven territories.

"There's a very clear reason for that," I remark.

We turn the corner, and beams of light peer through the cracked rock, small streams pouring downward. I've always liked how the flowing water emulates a waterfall, even in the smallest trickles babbling toward us. A very deliberate-looking platform stands in the middle of an otherwise dim room, the faintest slivers of light illuminating the sides of a walkway.

"Is that… moonlight?" Camille asks.

I nod.

"And during the day, it's sunlight, which is why you don't catch me stepping through here often."

She chuckles. "I suppose that's fair."

As is custom, she takes my hand, walking along the straight stone path, which overlooks aisles of slightly flowing water on either side of us.

"I still feel underdressed," she says.

Over the past three days, she has told me how marriages, something very different from a mating ceremony, have ceremonial dress. The way she describes them, they seem like very ornate, presumptuous occasions where the focus is more on artifice than on forming bonds.

"I think you look beautiful."

We do not have ceremonial garb for our mating ceremonies, and even if we did, a marriage between a human and a Narovu is unheard of so there are no clear standards.

So I told her to wear whatever she was comfortable in.

We take our time, making every step count.

"Is it me, or does it seem like it's getting farther away?" Camille asks.

I nod. With every step, the platform seems to grow more distant from us, the path before us stretching out almost infinitely.

"As a boy, I was told that this place was enchanted," I tell her as I grip her hand tightly, making sure that she doesn't fall behind. "Nobody knows when or how, but for as long as we've known this room, it has been like this."

"And you decided to hold mating ceremonies in here?"

"Yes," Mazituz says. "By the logic of the elders, when you become mates, you enter into a permanent agreement that can only be broken in death. So they want to make sure that when you reach the altar and you make your vow, you're serious about it."

It seems that the farther along the path we get, the more the trickle speeds up, growing more insistent. The moonlight also seems to be brighter and more intense.

I see Camille starting to tire, though she doesn't say anything. She often looks back, bewildered at how distant the rocky entrance now seems from us.

"I had thought that some of the Narovu would be meeting us here," she asks.

"They're probably already on the other side and we can't see them yet," I reply. "There's a back way in for those who aren't taking the trial."

"That's weird. I'm looking right at the platform, and they're already there?"

I nod in response.

Finally, we reach a point where the details on the altar are more descriptive. I see the silhouettes of Narovu waiting with ancient tomes in hand.

I'd sooner forgo the ceremony entirely… sooner spend my life completely away from the other Narovu and their ancient customs and settlements. As I start to make out the details on their faces and their smug expressions, I look sideways at Camille, offering her reassurance.

At the very least, I'm cementing my bond with her, forcing them to recognize her. I suppose in that way, I might be protecting her further against my own kind.

I meet their stoic gaze confidently, letting them know that their traditions will not stifle me.

We arrive at the platform, stepping up under a small rock awning decorated with berries and flowers. I see from the small audience how few of my kind were willing to sanctify our pairing, but it doesn't faze me in the slightest.

"Congratulations on your arrival," one of the Narovu says.

Around us, the water picks up, the moonlight dimming. I wonder if perhaps it's raining in the above world. The distant crashing and rocking of the ocean above me would seem to support that theory.

What few trickles of light still remain are beautiful, dancing over the quietly replenishing pools. That light shines perfectly on Camille's porcelain face, both capturing and freeing her stormy gray eyes.

"As you two have passed our trial, in accordance with our customs, I will now unite you both," Scrion begins.

I can't contain my smile as I stare awestruck at Camille. To my great relief, she is smiling back.

"Now, take each other's hands and look deep into each other's eyes."

Camille extends her hand toward me, breaching the threshold. I grip it tightly, letting myself fall into her gaze.

Around me, the world moves onward, water seeping from the rocky cracks in the earth down the slopes beside us, emptying into gentle currents on either side of us. I now see what she sees – that in spite of the illusion, the walk was only about forty feet.

But even though I feel the world around me moving, I am completely still, never wanting to leave this moment in time. I could stand here for an eternity, feeling the warmth of her touch on my claws while reveling in her shy gaze.

"Camille," Scrion says. "You come to us, a human from the surface, to bind yourself to our friend Mazituz."

"I do," she replies.

"Then please speak your testimony. Tell us of your life and deeds. Let us capture the realm through your eyes."

He pauses, the tentacles on his face coming to a stop.

"What is the history of your union with Mazituz, and why would you like to canonize it?"

Her grip on my hands tightens.

"Before I met you, Mazituz, I was completely lost," she says. "I feel like I'd spent my life trading one master for another, never finding any peace. I was a captive of the dark elves, no matter how many times I escaped. I felt like that would be my reality forever.

"Then you came into my life. You pulled me from my shackles, freeing me from rock and iron. You showed me so much beauty and kindness that I was almost overwhelmed by you."

The two Narovu beside us look on in fascination. I know they judge a union between a human and one of our kind, but perhaps something they hear now can make them understand, at least a little.

I wonder if curiosity was a greater motivation for them to attend the ceremony than anything else. Perhaps they came here to learn. The way they hang on Camille's every word, absorbing every detail, they partly seem fascinated that she's speaking at all, marveling at her very existence.

"It was challenging at first. We had come from completely separate worlds, and my trust had been shattered by confinement and so much betrayal. But you waited for me, even when I rebuked you for it, and not just out of protectiveness or a need to possess me. I got the impression that for the first time in my life, somebody actually cared whether I survived or perished."

She purses her lips, looking down in contemplation for a moment before staring back up at me.

"For everything you've done, I can't imagine my life without you. There's so much good in your soul. So I guess all I can do is thank you. Thank you for believing in me when I didn't believe in myself."

Even Scrion, who performs our ceremony, looks shaken, his cold exterior melting into warmth.

"Those were some touching sentiments, Camille," he says.

I see in my peripheral vision how his attention shifts to me, his tentacles now swirling into life.

"Mazituz, please speak your testimony. What does the human Camille mean to you? Why would you like to sanctify this union through the purity and logic of our customs?"

My attention on Camille never falters. I feel both small and immense in her gaze. I can see my reflection in her eyes.

"I felt like I was always seeking something, but I never knew what it was," I confess. "I used to listen to the tides, imagining the world above me, and the people who occupied it. Though I lingered in my lair, collecting unimaginable beauties from this subterranean realm, I knew that I was missing something, even if I didn't know what."

Her smile never fades. In my grip, she runs her finger over every individual claw, taking me in.

"Then I met you, Camille, and I saw the pieces slowly forming a complete picture. I don't know what drew me to you beyond your immense beauty, but it felt predestined to take you in, as if the fates themselves commanded it. I realize now that I saw the same loneliness in you that I was feeling.

"And the more I watched you try to fight me, returning to the only world you truly knew that could offer you freedom, the more I started to see your inner beauty. Sometimes, I think you're stronger than even I am to endure as much as you have and still continue fighting. You're fragile and delicate, but you act as though you're made of stone or metal. Your tenacity is unfathomable to me."

Silence overtakes us, and I immerse myself in the moment, feeling the cool cavern breeze run over my flesh and the rush of water around us centers me. By now, I'm almost certain that it's raining outside. I think I hear the faint echoes of thunder, broken and muffled by an uncaring ocean.

"With that, I see no reason not to unite you," the Narovu says.

Awareness enters Camille's eyes, her eyes widening with realization, her smile becoming even brighter.

And it stills my heart.

"Through the power of our customs, the Narovu acknowledge your union. Please embrace each other so you may truly become one being, bonded in goals and in form."

She moves toward me, and I hold her tightly, never daring to let go.