A new ruse

Brenna breathed a little easier once they were back in their makeshift home. She unwrapped the scarf from around her head. With a sigh, she turned to face Edmar. He was wearing a peculiar expression, but she didn't have the patience to parse it out right now.

"We need to make some decisions." She announced.

"Yes, we do," He nodded eagerly with a smile. That was odd.

"I think the town must have been hit by some kind of disease. They said that most of the people are dead, but there are no signs of war that I could find, and that wouldn't wipe out entire families anyway."

"That seems reasonable," Edmar agreed.

"They're leaving, saying it's too much of a risk to stay longer." She added, thinking out loud. "We don't know whether that means danger if we stay behind. It must be significant for the entire town to be going with them."

"I agree," The man said easily.

"So then, the question becomes whether we strike out on our own, or try to follow them from a distance, or try to disguise ourselves and blend in with the townspeople." Brenna tapped a finger to her chin. "Since we appear to be back in our own world, I can confidently say that I've survived alone in the wilderness before, making that an appealing option."

"You're not alone," Edmar frowned. "You'll never have to be alone again."

Brenna paused. "I know, Edmar." She said quietly.

If she had expected going through another portal to make one bit of difference in the man's devotion to her, she was disappointed. He appeared as eager and besotted as ever. He took her hand in his.

"I'll stay with you, no matter what," He assured her. "We can live new lives under new names, if that is your wish, and go wherever we want. Back to the sea, or into the mountains, or across the plains. We can eat anything you desire! I'll hunt for you to have real meat for dinner tonight!"

Her eyes softened. The life he described had its appeal, and not just because they were no longer in a monotone world of endless stone and moss.

"What new name would you choose?" She asked gently, letting her curiosity get the better of her.

"Benjamin," He said without hesitation. "And I would call you Angela."

Her lips twitched at his quick answer, and she was tempted to ask him why those names, but there were more important things to think through now.

"We don't know what has changed in this world in the past years. It might be wise to gain more awareness of the situation before we think of striking out on our own. There might be new dangers prowling, or political situations to be aware of. For Cetoans to be here, at the base of the mountains, I think there must have been some changes." She concluded.

"We could pose as a married couple–no!" Edmar's eyes lit up. "I saw the town hall while we followed Caspian. We could go there and ask them to wed us. Tell them we're from an outlying village affected by the same disaster that happened here, and claim to be the only survivors. We can give them our new names for the marriage certificate, cementing our new identities."

Brenna stared into his hopeful face. It was actually a clever way to have some manner of proof for their identities; a legitimate government document that would be easy to talk themselves into getting because of whatever strange things had been happening here.

Still, Edmar was trying very hard to hide his excitement that she might go along with his idea. It was a step in the wrong direction if she wanted to keep him at bay. Still, she'd resisted him well enough for so long, and this was simply a way to keep themselves incognito, wasn't it?

Slowly, she nodded. The utter joy on his face when she did made her instantly regret the decision. What she'd intended to be a small step might turn out to be a tumble down a slippery slope.

"Let's go right now," Edmar beamed, "I'll make sure the coast is clear."

He rushed to the door and cracked it open, looking up and down the street. "Let's go," He offered his hand to her.

With a sigh she felt to her toes, she looked into his eyes. They radiated such a convincing facsimile of love that for a second she was almost convinced that it might be real, that the enchantment had faded years ago and the feelings he held now were sincere.

But she knew that wasn't the case.

"Before we do," She said, "we need to decide something."

His eyes tightened, and he waited for her to continue.

"If the Void, if Tamas, still exists, do we still serve it?" She asked. "Or are we independent of its influence? I tried to get away from it before and learned it can torture its former followers in dreams. I think we should commit, one way or the other, on how to move forward if it's still in this world."

She pursed her lips, half expecting to be struck down for saying out loud that she wasn't absolutely certain about trusting the Void anymore. But in this world, she hadn't had any dreams. If the Void were still present, wouldn't it have come to them? Wouldn't it be allowed in this world once again?

But if it had no true followers here… was that different? Could she and Edmar truly live a normal life without being ruled by evil? Perhaps the fog had shielded them and the nightmares were yet to come...

"How would you like me to answer?" He tilted his head.

"Honestly." She responded. "Don't guess what I want you to say, just tell me your thoughts and opinions."

He did that sometimes. Wanted to please her. Sometimes it was charming, but most of the time, frustrating.

"I would like to be free, with you," He said thoughtfully. "I once dreamed of ruling the world, but I was happier alone with you in another world than I ever was at home with all the honor and power due the Commodore's son."

Something uncoiled in Brenna's heart, but she didn't trust it.

"All right. Let's go." She said, putting her hand in his.

They made their way quickly down the street and knocked at the door of the town hall. It took some time before anyone came to answer them.

"Good Morning, Sir," Edmar greeted him brightly.

"Is it good?" The man snapped, "with more than half the town dead from plague, what's good about it?"

The Cetoan man swallowed and glanced at Brenna before tempering his excitement. "You're right, it's only, my love has agreed to wed me and I have something to be happy about for the first time since the plague began. I got carried away."

The man's stern expression eased as he looked at their joined hands. "You're here to marry?"

"Yes," Edmar smiled sincerely at Brenna. "As soon as possible, please."

"Come in, then, by all means," The old man opened the door wider, "I don't recognize the two of you."

"We're from an outlying village," Brenna cut in. "The only survivors, but we still have each other."

She lowered her eyes in what she hoped was the correct balance of mournfulness and demure excitement.

"Ah, my condolences and congratulations," The man nodded sagely, getting out a large book. "Names?"

"Benjamin and Angela," Edmar responded automatically.

"Then let's commence. There is much to be done before the evacuation and we don't have all day for these sorts of things, you know?" The man wrote the names in his book and pulled out a certificate of marriage.

"Do you take this woman to be your wife?" He asked.

"Yes," Replied Edmar happily.

"And do you take this man to be your husband?" The man asked of Brenna.

She hesitated. He hadn't even used the fake names in the vows like she thought he would, so on the surface it seemed like they were really, truly getting married and not hiding their identities. Edmar looked like he might burst from pride and happiness.

But to refuse now would make the man far more likely to tell the story, spread word of this strange couple from a village who came in and almost-married. Gossip brought attention, and they needed as little of that as they could manage.

"Yes." She said evenly.

"Then I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride," The now-smiling man advised Edmar as he looked down to finish filling out the necessary paperwork. "How nice it is to be writing this than another record of death."

Brenna's eyes went as wide as saucers. Edmar looked afraid that she might bolt, but she took a deep breath and lifted her face. She could fake this much for the benefit of their new identities.

Edmar's lips parted in a smile so wide it looked as though his face might crack before collecting himself and lowering his lips to hers in a brief, chaste kiss.

The slippery slope was far steeper than Brenna had thought.