บท 234: Chapter 12

I found Artemis at the highest point of the Wind sector, and by extension the entire Capital. It was a gleaming construct of glass, metal and reinforced Earth stone – a majestic tower that overlooked the city. A skyscraper in the true sense of the term.

Over five hundred metres tall and having a hundred and one floors, the tower: Regiis 101, housed the bulk of the financial and industrial offices of the nation. In the Capital, if your job involved desk work, you probably worked there.

When Ceres returned without Artemis and told me where she was, I thought it would be a simple matter of flying up to the roof. But the flight suppressant topology above the eightieth floor – the floor where the bridges connecting the tower to the adjacent buildings ceased because of the disparate altitude – put that idea of mine to rest.

The elevators were staff only and I ended up trudging up on foot. Climbing over forty flights of stairs is torture on the knees, let me tell you. No matter how strong you are.

I was stopped at the hundredth floor and my identity verified before I was allowed to pass. The final floor was little more than a room with the staircase passing through it and reaching the door at the end, I pushed past it.

A strong draft of wind buffeted me as I passed through the door, slamming it shut behind me. Squinting against the wind, I located Artemis' form.

The roof was tiny, merely four by four metres square with a metallic architectural spire taking up most of the space. Artemis was sitting in a niche in the middle reaches of the spire with her back resting against it and her metallic wings cradling her form.

Night had fallen and the only illumination was the silver light of the full moon and the red altitude beacon at the tip of the spire that ensured no low-flying aircraft would accidentally crash into it.

Falling into the Void and lightening myself, I leapt and let the wind carry me up. Touching down beside her, I took a seat and leaned back against the spire and looked out over the city from this elevated vantage. The Capital was a city that never slept. Even at night, the streets bustled with activity and the buildings glowed with light. people burnt the midnight oil.

Silence settled over the two of us like a blanket as I waited for her to talk.

"Tomorrow, huh?" she finally said.

"Tomorrow," I agreed.

"Yeah…" she sighed and leaned her head back against the steel, the wind blowing her hair across her face. "Things are moving fast aren't they?" Pulling the hair off her face and tucking it behind her ear, she turned to me. "I mean, we hardly know each other, and we are getting married tomorrow – forming a bond for life."

Sitting here on the spire, I could feel the sway of the building in the wind. For a building this tall, even a slight wind at this height could cause the entire construct to topple. To prevent this, a massive metallic pendulum had been placed as a counterweight between the eightieth and the ninety-seventh floors. If not for that marvel of engineering, the sway of the building would have been much worse making its very existence nigh impossible.

"Yes." I nodded. "But you have me at a disadvantage here, you know far more about me than I do about you."

She chuckled at that. "Your wives ensured that." She turned back to the front. "They had a lot to say about being married to you."

"Good things, I hope."

She snorted. "Hah. That's one way of putting things. I don't know how you managed it, but you have a right little cult forming around you. And Ceres seems to be vying for the spot of High Priestess."

I ran a hand through my crimson hair in embarrassment. There wasn't much I could say to refute that. Ceres was a bit too convinced of my infallibility.

She turned to me again and tilted her head to the side slightly. "So… Mars. What nefarious plans do you have for me? Am I to be your newest conquest... the newest acolyte of this cult?" she asked, her tone carrying a hint of a challenge. "How are you going to manage it?"

I smiled and shrugged helplessly.

"Princess, I'm not the suave smooth-talker you presume me to be. In fact," I indicated between us with my finger, "this chat of ours is the closest I've come to trying to woo a woman."

Drawing up my knees and resting my chin on them, I spoke glumly, "Phobos and Deimos were granted to me nearly as soon as it became legally possible. I knew nothing of my two new fiancés, least of all that I would suddenly be thrust into a relationship with them." I puffed up my cheeks and blew out. "It turned out fine in the end and now I don't know what I'd do without either of them. But that first night with them will always remain a regret."

I closed my eyes. "Then there was Ceres." I buried my face into my knees. "Now you."

My muffled voice drifted out. "Sometimes I feel like there is some higher power at work, just throwing girls my way and deriving sadistic pleasure from watching me fumble."

For a time, the only sound was the soughing of the wind as it split around the spire. Then Artemis laughed. A rich, melodious, full-throated laughter that sounded like wind chimes in a summer afternoon.

Turning my head sideways to look at her, I couldn't help but be infected by her mirth and a chuckle escaped me, followed by full blown laughter.

It took a while but we finally manged to settle down. Clutching her aching stomach and gasping for breath, she said, "That's the most unlikely thing I've ever heard someone – especially a boy – complain about."

Wiping a tear from the corner of my eye, I leaned back against the spire and looked up at the moon. "Yet, I just did."

Turning to face her, I was surprised to see her leaning towards me with her face mere inches from mine. Her grey eyes glittered silver in the moonlight as they studied my face. I saw hesitation in them – then resolve.

There, high above the rest of the world, my Valkyrie leaned forward and kissed me for the very first time.