Jace’s wedding to Verna was a lowkey affair as far as royal wedding can go. A simply ceremony held in the square now called “Sorcerer Square” where that huge and embarrassing statue of Jace himself had appeared. Jace had seen it once before and decided not to look into who commissioned it, as he suspected Verna was behind it and didn’t feel like asking her questions she clearly didn’t want him to ask. Verna thought herself subtle, but if there was one thing Jace had learned is the woman only ‘thought’ she was subtle.

Staring at that huge statue before the ceremony he actually had a wild thought that perhaps the reason Verna had the statue made was to advertise his looks for possible women to make a harem for him. He almost punched himself for having an ego big enough to make that type of assumption. Not everything in the world revolved around him, he had to remind himself. Perhaps it wasn’t Verna’s work and the citizens simply wanted to glorify their liberator. That thought sat a lot better with him, so he decided that was the way he’d assume the statue got made. Of course, removing the curse from all the humans in this city had been accidental, which of course only made him feel a bit guilty about this “Breaker of Chains” nonsense he had heard talked about him.

Either way, they married in the “human” way, which was conducted by the Seneschal of the Palace a man called Lord Argoth. It involved some vaguely religious and magical references, some calling on Fate to bless them, and since Jace had rather openly declared war on Elis, they used a priestess of Ssaras to provide the holy blessing of their union at the end. Per ancient palace traditions, Jace showered the crowd with gold, and then escaped back to the palace with Verna.

They actually did the newlywed thing for a week, locking themselves in their room. There was a desperate animalistic edge to their last week of lovemaking together. Almost as if they were trying to cram years of time together into a week. Because at the end of it all, they would be separating for an unknown period of time. Years, perhaps decades.

Jace spent a lot of time between the extended bouts of passion with Verna speaking about himself. Marriage to him was never something he aspired to. Yet like all young Americans it had some sort of magical aura to it. Even though he was a man, he had always expected he’d get married to the “girl of his dreams” settle down and live a healthy and happy life with her, making a family. In theory, had he been happy with his life here, he could see how marrying the stunning Kindred woman and being a liked king of a city state would be the end point of most fantasy stories about someone being transported to another world.

However, he never was happy with this life here. The state of life in this world, how the humans lived, was appalling. Even in this city of Lotsorn, even with the changes to the laws, he could see the lack of empathy, the base nature of these people might take centuries to correct from the damage done by the past 2000 years. Even now he knew there was a large number of young women prostituting themselves, mostly because they had spent most of their lives spreading their legs for any man who felt the need, now because of the laws, they could even charge for this same service. It’s how they always lived, all that had changed is they could say ‘no’ now. So of course, the women were happy about the changes, even the ones who prostituted themselves out. No matter how much he hated it, and wanted these people to stop it, they were going to continue to behave badly

Setting aside the monstrous task of making these people see some value in their lives and dignity, Earth was where he belonged. He missed his home. He missed his family. He missed his friends. He’d be willing to give up all his magical power, this beautiful kindred woman, the castle, the fame, if it meant he could live a normal life back home.

In his conversations to Verna he told her a lot about earth, it’s history, it’s people. A lot about technology and the food. About his home town. He told her about his impressions of this world. He wasn’t sure why he was telling her all about himself, and on reflection he thought it might be because he wanted her to know who she married, or who he was, in the event he never saw her again. In turn she told him about her life. About her prior marriage and husband, about her wishes and hopes. While he didn’t feel in love with the woman, he felt rather close to her. In all his time here, while he considered Sam a friend and a lover, there was a deep dependence in that relationship that even he had to admit at this point was probably something akin to Stockholm syndrome. With Verna, he felt like she was a good trusted friend.

While getting married to her was for practical reasons, very unromantic reasons, he didn’t hate it in the least. And deep down inside he hoped she didn’t resent him for it either. He was sticking her with a rather large responsibility after all. He just couldn’t help but feel like he was sticking her with the bill at a 4-star restaurant, and couldn’t figure out how to make it up to her. This was an elegant solution to HIS problems, but what about Verna?

In the end, he was too ashamed to ask his new wife if she would resent him if she never saw him again.

Verna watched Jace finish loading his boat from a nearby pier in the harbor. She was dressed in blood reds, a long glorious gown with a golden tiara on her brow. She was actually rather amused at Jace’s behavior this past week. He was a kindhearted man. Kindhearted to a fault. So, she intentionally let him stew, rather than set his heart at ease. He needed to toughen up if he is going to be a king. And King he would have to be. Verna felt no need to point out to Jace how certain she was she would see him again. She had two reasons for her certainty. One was Easol, some of the things the Seer had seen more than implied Verna would see Jace again. The other reason was she suspected some of the things Jaenin had stated during his visit implied return to Jace’s Earth was impossible.

She smiled a little bit, thinking about her second husband. She wondered a bit about his insistence of his mediocrity back on this Earth. She found that very hard to believe. For someone that well educated, that dedicated, and physically strong to be ‘mediocre’ implied he was living in an almost fantasy world of gods. Of course, his tales made it seem like he was. Flying machines which traveled faster than sound. Metal machines which could reach into the heavens. A device which connected every person in the world with each other. All the knowledge of the people accessible in a few seconds. Schools for every child, and medicines which could cure plagues.

She understood his desire to return to such a world. She also understood how he could have such a strong will to return that he could do some of the things he did. His loss of his leg never even caused him to pause. His loss of his love was just a hiccup. Though his heart broke for Sa’manatha’s death, he never let it distract him from his path home. His actions in this city. The rebuilding of the leg. When you considered all the pain and effort he put into creating that fake limb, you’d expect him to hesitate to remove it when he wasn’t sure if he could grow a real one, yet he didn’t hesitate.

They shared a long last look at each other. He was wearing some well-made brown undyed leathers. Skrike hide she thought. It was what most mariners liked wearing, as it apparently was waterproof, buoyant and mostly arrow proof. She knew his black and silver armor was left in the keep. He did take the sword though. They looked at each other a long time. His blunt and plain face and green eyes, brown hair trimmed back to his shoulders, in a short ponytail. She knew most women would find his face unremarkable, but she found it deeply attractive, the green eyes and brown hair, the brown short trimmed beard, it made him look older then he was, stable, someone you could trust with your life. Then he was back to the bow of his boat, pulling up the anchor. She remembered him using his magic to pull it up in the past, now it was done, hand over hand.

She remembered her last words with him. He had held her by her waist with his large hands. Standing in a small skiff which would take him from the pier to his boat. He was looking up at her and he smiled a half smile, she knew he was feeling guilty. He seemed to be searching for something to say so she spoke first. “If you expect me to cry or ask you to stay you misunderstand your wife badly. You seriously must be the most foolish king in history. Handing your kingdom over to your new wife to go wandering the world.”

His awkwardness vanished with her tone. “You’re right, I’ll return after a 10-year journey to find we made a child, who didn’t know me and resented me. And you surrounded by 108 beautiful male suitors all vying for your affection because the world is certain I am dead. Each one will want the beautiful Verna’s hand in marriage to become king of this city. But you instead will be stringing them along, as not one will measure up to me. Ultimately, you’ll be mad because I left you to deal with the headaches of ruling this place, and will force me to prove I am worthy of being your husband. So, I will have to kill all 108 men.”

She snorted, “Sounds like a rubbish tale. Who said I’d even give you a chance to prove your worth to me? And who would put up with the nattering of 108 men? If you do not come back to me a Grand Sorcerer then you are not allowed to come back, and if you find me in need of rescuing from 108 vapid men, then you married the wrong woman. If you feel like bringing someone or ten back to our bed you’re more than welcome to. Just keep in mind I don’t want a snorer, and she must be able to keep up with you. Don’t worry about your lady wife straying. I have a toy Fairy to help keep me warm at night. And I promise she’ll be much more interested in what you’ll bring to the bed when you return.”

Jace started to laugh long before she finished what she was saying. “That’s the first time I’ve heard the Odyssey dismissed as a rubbish tale. Goodbye Verna, just don’t burn the city down when I’m gone.”

She laughed at that and bent down to kiss him, then he let go of her waist and was rowed out to the boat.

Overall, she didn’t doubt in the least she’d see him again. So, she had to make sure this was a city which he could be proud of. Steeling herself for what she was going to do next, and schooling her face to hide her dislike, she turned to Easol, and smiled a lovely smile, and spoke softly.

“Now that the ball and chain is gone, how about we return to the palace and spend some time together?”