Kryst

After he finished his dinner, Kryst retired to his workroom and thought about what he could give up. It had to be both personal and precious. He had so few things that really meant anything to him, that were really his. Then, as he thought about it, there was one thing that he needed to do, but had not had the strength to do. He closed his eyes and whispered the prayer that placed his family in the hands of Ma’Kyr, the first god of his homelands. He prayed for the souls of his mother and father, and the safety of his sisters and brother, and the strength to do what was necessary to be a proper leader for his people and lead them back to the homelands. He felt a weight lift from his shoulders and he felt a flutter and a stirring across his back that had nothing to do with a cycle beginning. He had given up his family and taken on the role of King at last.

When he emerged from his workroom, he saw that Jodiah had washed the dishes, but he did not see him. He knocked on his workroom and got no response, so he checked the bedrooms, and found Jodiah, sitting on the edge of the bed in his underwear.

“I gave my offering and I have the feeling it was accepted. Have you given yours yet?”

“No, I need help.”

“It’s supposed to be personal, Jodiah, how can it be personal if you need help.”

“I think that when a person chooses to give their virginity to another is a very personal choice, and a very precious gift as it can only be given once.”

“Do you mean it Jodiah?”

“It’s all I have that is truly mine. Besides, I ‘want’ you.”

Kryst nodded. He understood how that felt. “Then is it truly a sacrifice?”

“He did not say sacrifice. He said give up. That can also mean letting go of it. Which is what I would be doing, Kryst, now do you want to be the one or do I need to go find Alod?”

“You would… sleep… with Alod?”

“Not willingly, but to get this matter settled, I would sleep with Nostina if necessary.”

Kryst shook his head. “I don’t think we should, Jodiah. I promised your father I would know my heart before bedding you. I would like it if you knew yours as well.”

“Do you know your heart?”

“I’ve known it for quite a while,” Kryst admitted.

“And you’ve not said anything?”

“The Provost would not allow me to chase after you. He said you must come to me.”

“And what does this look like I’m doing?”

“I’m not sure — an act of desperation? There is no love in your actions Jodiah. I want, no I need, love from you to take this step.”

“I do love you, Kryst,” Jodiah said with a sigh. “I just don’t know how to do this.”

“You say you love me, yet you would go to another to fuck?” Kryst shook his head, “I don’t understand.”

“To get you to the third phase of your Puberty Rites, I would do what ever it took, by any means necessary. Because then, Taryn could not torment you like he has been.”

“So, if I’m not willing you would attempt to protect me by bedding with someone you don’t love to see the act done.”

“Yes, Kryst.”

“I am so glad she chose you. I do not think I would have had the courage to talk to you of being bound to me, yet you understand it so well.”

“I only do what I must.” Jodiah stood up, then leaned over and placed his lips awkwardly on Kryst’s, taking his first kiss from his new lover.

Jodiah

Jodiah lay basking in the after glow of their lovemaking, lying belly to belly with Kryst, their arms draped around each other. He felt an odd stirring in his back, as he would at the beginning of one of Taryn’s forced cycles.

“Do you feel that?” he asked Kryst.

“Um hum, feels good.”

Jodiah concentrated on the feeling, and decided Kryst was right. This time the sensation did not cause pain; it was as if she was rolling under his skin instead of churning and burning. Jodiah kissed Kryst’s neck, and then moved so that Kryst was lying on his belly. Planting butterfly kisses all around Kryst’s avatar caused Kryst to giggle; then Jodiah kissed Kryst’s back on the avatar and it rose up off his back, engulfing both young men.

“Majesty, First Chancellor, your time has come. Your people will know you by your actions as they have known each before you. Now is the time for bestowing of gifts. Krystavyl, you have born me long and well, to you I give the ability to know the truth of a person’s words. It was a gift your father cherished; I hope you will come to cherish it in time. I also grant you the ability to sense the locations of your scattered peoples. This last will only be effective for those who are not on your home world, Kryst, so when you retake your home, you will not feel the pressure of humanity. Jodiah, your coming was a boon to your friend, as you already possessed most of the skills needed to be his champion. To you, I also grant two gifts. The first is the completion of what you have started — acquisition of knowledge. As of today you will know what any man raised as a Dastonian noble would know. The second gift is a little more complex. The First Chancellor is second only to the King, but he is also the King’s Champion. To you I grant body armor and healing so that you may not be killed in service to the King. However, if the King should die by the hand of another, you will only live long enough to avenge his death, which will become your only desire. Do you each accept these gifts?”

They each responded, “I do.”

“There is one other thing,” she whispered as she wrapped her wings around the pair. “All Warriors of the Clan can do this.” Then she faded back into Kryst, rippling the skin that was pulled taut across his shoulders as he settled back into her place.

Where Kryst had been laying a golden phoenix-man sat, bewildered at his new configuration and beside him, Jodiah sat flexing wings that arched out from his back.

“Will they go away?”

“I don’t know,” Kryst said, shaken. “I’ve never heard of this before.”

“I’m calling Kyvendel.”

Kryst nodded. Jodiah went into his office and contacted the Quartermaster at home. “Sir, Kryst and I have a slight emergency and we need your help.”

“It’s in the middle of the night Jodiah, can it wait until morning?”

“Well Sir, no, this has to do with our talk this afternoon.”

“So soon?”

“Yes Sir. We can be very expedient when necessary.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“I’ll be waiting in my office.” It was not a long wait before there was a knock on the door. Jodiah opened it and the Quartermaster entered. “Thank you for coming Sir.”

“Turn on the light, Jodiah, lets see the damage.”

“I would prefer if we waited to get into the living space and away from the passageway. Please lead, you know the way.”

They walked through Jodiah’s workroom into the living space where there was a single light on. The Quartermaster had turned to see Jodiah emerge from the doorway. “By the Ma’Kyr’s hand, Jodiah!”

“Kryst is worse.”

“Worse? This is wonderful! In the battles, most of our warriors were killed. There are only a few left, and the boys they would train to replace them are scattered over many worlds. This is a wonderful gift she has given you.”

“This wasn’t the gift, more like a bonus prize.” Jodiah smiled, “however, I’ve not been able to figure out how to make them go away. Am I to be stuck like this forever?”

“No, not forever,” the Quartermaster wrinkled his nose as they entered Kryst’s bedroom. “It reeks of sex in here. I thought you said your relationship with his Majesty was purely professional.”

“This afternoon it was.”

“What caused it to change?”

“I had to give up something personal and precious. Kryst was accommodating and she seemed to approve,” Jodiah said rather bluntly.

The Quartermaster looked at where Kryst lay huddled on the bed. “A warrior king, Ma’Kyr be praised. Kryst do not be afraid, your people will adore you for this.”

“She asks much of me.”

“She gives you much in return. None is more loyal than Jodiah.”

“I know, I just feel too young to be King.”

“You were King when you arrived here, we have just kept that fact a very well hidden secret. Now it is time to accept your responsibilities.”

“Yes, Sir, the first responsibility I have is to deal with Taryn.”

“The first responsibility you have is to make your Journeyman status so that you may leave here. That was the condition for you to be allowed to seek refugee status. Allow Jodiah to deal with Taryn, it is his place as First Chancellor.”

“So how do we get back to our normal selves?”

” To begin with, you must accept these are part of your normal selves as well.”

Jodiah flexed his wings and went over to Kryst. “I think you are beautiful like this.” He curved his wings around them and kissed Kryst.

“I look like a freak.”

“You look like a human version of the avatar on your back.” Jodiah nuzzled Kryst while the Quartermaster could not see them, “I think you the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes on,” He whispered in Kryst’s native tongue then kissed him gently.

“I think I should step out to your living space,” the Quartermaster said as he stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Kryst looked up at Jodiah. “You really think that.”

“Yes.”

“I think you are stunning as well,” Kryst said with a smile.

“Of course, you helped to make me this way.”

“No one can deny that you are Dastonese, at least not if you show them this for evidence.”

“I think that is what she wanted.”

Kryst sighed, “I can get used to this, I would just like to be able to control it.”

“I think control will come with time, but Kyvendel would know for certain. Would you care to go talk to him now?”

Kryst nodded, and the two of them slipped out of bed and into their uniform pants before heading into their living space. Kyvendel was sitting on the couch.

“That didn’t take very long,” he said.

“I just needed some reassurance,” Kryst admitted with some reluctance as he unfurled his wings fully in the open space. “I thought they would imbalance me, but they do not. I remember tales of the Warriors, but I do not recall ever seeing one except at a distance. My father, he did not want my brother or myself to be overly influenced by them, or so he said.”

“It was a skill he greatly coveted, and your father did not receive it as his skill. He received another more important skill for a King. However, his brother did receive the gift of flight, so a rift grew between the brothers. You were kept from knowing your uncle and his children because of it.”

“I had an uncle and cousins?” Kryst asked in disbelief.

“Yes, and you still have some cousins, as they were shipped off planet with the rest of the children.”

Kryst’s wingtips fluttered as his emotions raced from one end of the spectrum to the other.

“Tomorrow I’m going to special order the both of you some special uniforms. They will have rip away backs so that if you ever have a strong need to shift shape, the seams will give and allow your wings to emerge. The Warriors wear them.”

“Taryn will recognize them.” Kryst said almost afraid.

“Most likely,” Kyvendel agreed.

“If he is still alive,” Jodiah said with a hard edge to his voice.

Both other men looked at him.

“I was serious about calling him out.”

“The cycles will stop now, Jodiah.”

“But he will not stop looking for you.”

“There are laws,” Kyvendel said gently.

“This is not an academic affair but a Dastonese one. The King is the Law,” Jodiah informed him. “It was one of the things I checked with the Office of Protocol.”

“You actually asked what would happen if you killed Taryn?”

“No, I asked what would happen if the First Chancellor killed a man who was a threat to the King in the line of duty on this planet, even if the King happened to be in exile. I presented the question among a series of hypothetical questions for a paper I am supposed to be writing for my First Class proficiency in cultures.”

“And what did he say?”

“He said the Paradine would be called in, someone from his office, and they would consult with the King, who would have final say as it would be a matter of one of his subjects performing their duty against another of his subjects. I do not believe Kryst would have me put to death.”

Kryst heard the truth in his words. Jodiah truly did not believe it, and it shocked him that he was right. He would not. He would punish him privately if necessary, but not put him to death.

“Give me three days to get him off world,” Kyvendel said. “He is a young, healthy man. If I can convince him that he is not needed here any longer then perhaps he will go willingly away. In the meantime, that will give you both a chance to learn how to shift from one form to the other when you want to and not just be surprised by the sudden change.”

“How do you intend to let us have those three days alone?”

“Didn’t you know? There is a strange virus going around and the First and Second Class Halls are quarantined, and that includes their Seniors and Juniors.” He went over to the phone and made the phone call, and in minutes, the general shut down alarm was going off. All halls with Firsts and Seconds were being closed down and sealed off. “I better be going, before I get locked in. You can still call out, and I will let you know the status of things.”

“Thank you, Sir. You say we must just accept ourselves and we will change back?”

“That’s pretty much it. Accept yourself as you are, imagine yourself as you should be, and see them both as reflections of you. Then choose the one you want other people to see.”

Jodiah walked him out and stood in the darkness of his office as he heard voices outside the door.

“These two and those two.”

Then there was a noise that sounded like a scraping and a clink. They were locked in. He hoped they had food enough for three days.

With that on his mind, he went back in to see if Kryst had made any progress on the shape shifting. He was sitting nude on a kitchen chair with his wings folded neatly around him. Jodiah dropped his pants and took a chair opposite him.

“Do we have enough food for three days?”

“Yes. Even if we didn’t we would have the emergency rations they make us keep on hand.”

“I never knew about the emergency rations.”

“They’re awful. I try to keep a week’s worth of food in the pantry so we would never have to eat them. We are lucky I shopped day before yesterday.”

“So are we going to manage this?”

“Somehow.”

They spent the rest of the night focusing on what they had been told until they could no longer hold their eyes open. For the first time in months, they slept in separate beds, as they were afraid they would damage their wings if they did not.

They spent the entire three days making love, shifting from one form to the other, studying, and making telephone calls to the lower ranks for muster reports. On the evening of the third day, Kyvendel called to let them know that Taryn had left safely. With the explanation that he had been searching for the young man in question for long enough, he had been given the option to return at a later time if he had more evidence of his location. Kryst agreed it was all they could do with out giving away his position.

It was formally announced that no other incidents of the virus had broken out so the quarantine would be lifted over night and the First and Second Classes could attend their regular schedules on the marrow.

As they were eating breakfast, the visitor bell chimed. Jodiah went to answer it. One of the Quartermaster’s delivery boys had a large box with his name on it that he had to sign for.

“There’s one for Senior First coming too, do you want to go ahead and take it?”

“Yes, that will be fine.”

About that time, another boy turned the corner with an even larger box.

“Is that for Senior First?”

“Yes Sir.”

Jodiah signed and sighed as he closed the door. Kryst’s box seemed rather heavy but he was able to carry them both into the living space.

“What’s that?” Kryst asked.

“Something from the Quartermaster,” Jodiah answered, “the top one is mine, and the bottom one is yours.” He sat them down on one of the chairs, then took the top one and sat it in another chair.

“Probably those special uniforms.” Kryst said as he opened his box.

Inside the top was a handwritten note in his native language:

“Krystavyl, this is the only way these uniforms come. I spoke to the Provost about it and he has agreed that your safety is more important than proper attire. I have made the necessary adjustments for rank insignia, but otherwise wear the uniform as directed. You will also find the appropriate body armor for your condition. You will need to learn to wear it, please begin today.”

Kryst began pulling things out of his box, looking at them. They were very different from his other uniforms; the material shimmered under his gaze and he could not tell exactly what color it was. The design of the pants allowed them to laced up the outer leg from the knee down making the calves form fitting while the thighs remained somewhat loose. Then he pulled out a shirt made from the same eye teasing material. He could see the seams that would break away when he changed his shape allowing his wings to emerge and keep the rest of him decently covered. It had a short band collar with points that flipped down where he could affix his pins, and shoulder loops for epaulettes if he ever earned any. On the shoulders were his First Class bars. The next items he pulled out were slate gray underclothing, the shirt having a T-shaped back. Soft black leather boots that laced up to the knee and flexed easily, unlike the hard-bottomed boots he had been wearing followed. Then under all that there was some pretty odd-looking garments. He lifted one up for Jodiah to see.

“Body armor,” Jodiah said. “Extremely light weight it looks like, but it should work just fine.”

“This one?” Kryst held up a fitted hood made from the same colored material as the uniform but with a little thickness to it like the body armor.

“It’s a hood. To protect your head.” Jodiah said with a grin, “I don’t know why they bothered– your head is hard enough. I wouldn’t wear it all the time though.”

Kryst nodded in agreement then held up semi-rigid lengths of what appeared to be misshapen gloves from the same material as the body armor. “And these?”

“Bracers. They fit over your middle three fingers and go over your sleeves to protect your wrists and arms when you fight hand to hand.”

“Do I have to wear them all the time?”

“You should to get used to them. I guess you should start coming to the Range with me as well, Kryst. I mean, it’s for your own protection.”

“I can protect myself.”

“I would feel better seeing that in action,” Jodiah smiled. “When you can beat me I will stop nagging you.”

“Fine,” Kryst grumbled.

Jodiah had found similar garments in his box, excluding the body armor; however, he did have the bracers. His undergarments were saffron. He smiled at that. He wondered how much the Quartermaster knew of the gifts she gave him. It took them a few minutes to change their clothing and head out the door to muster. In the passageway, they bumped into Alod and Taban who were wearing the same uniforms.

“These came this morning. The note from the Quartermaster said they were trying out some new designs, and this was one of them. What do you think?” Alod asked.

Jodiah grinned. “I like it, at least I fit in better this way.”

“I’m not so sure about these things.” Taban indicated the bracers, “What is their purpose?”

“To reduce wrist strain, I suppose,” Jodiah responded. “We do spend a lot of time on com panels.”

“This is true,” Alod agreed.

They continued to catch up as they walked to muster, and when they arrived, they noticed that all the Seniors and Juniors were wearing the ‘trial’ uniforms. It was an interesting way to disguise their need for them at least for a while. After muster, everyone headed off to class, including Jodiah.

The end?