Rufus nodded, his velvet brown eyes scared. He knew how important it was that the Herald of Dawn did his task perfectly and was terrified of letting Yul down.
Yul stood behind the Altar Stone watching people arrive. He felt really awful, his mouth dry and his head throbbing. He closed his eyes and fought the dizziness and nausea. Cider didn’t usually affect him like this but he’d drunk so much last night, seemingly bent on self-annihilation. He remembered Swift constantly at his side, bringing him more cider every time the tankard was getting low. He liked the blond-haired boy, so quiet and attentive, who’d asked him all sorts of intelligent questions and was so respectful and deferential. Swift had shown such admiration and regard for him which was a pleasant change after all the rubbish others had been dishing out lately. But Yul knew he shouldn’t have drunk so much, especially not when he had this ceremony to lead.
There were great blanks in his memory. He knew he’d been sitting against a tree trunk for a long time with Swift by his side. He remembered the singing and the drumming, the deep reverberating beat entering his body and making him feel so good. He’d wanted to get up and dance to it, join in with the youngsters and the other men who’d put on the antlers and started a tribal dance around the fire and the remains of the feast. Swift had helped him up, staggering under the weight of such a tall man for the boy was lightly built. He’d flicked the straight, silvery hair from his eyes and grinned at Yul, helping him to stand steadily as everything swayed around him. For some reason they had both found this hilarious and Yul remembered roaring with laughter, feeling better than he’d done for a long time.
But later … he cringed now at the thought of it, not wanting to explore the memory but unable to stop it. Eventually they’d decided to return to the Hall for they must be up early for this ceremony. The youngsters were reeling about merrily, all except for Swift who’d probably been the only sober one there. Swift had helped Yul crawl into the cart which had been there all day, the horses tethered to the trees. Most of them had managed to walk back, the physical effort helping them to sober up. But Swift had insisted that Yul ride in the cart, along with the nearly empty cider barrel, drums and bows and arrows. Yul wasn’t in any fit state to argue and had spent the rolling journey home trying to hold on to the contents of his stomach. When they’d arrived back at the Hall Swift had helped him down and taken his arm to lead him inside.
‘Can’t remember the last time I came home like this,’ slurred Yul, leaning heavily on the boy.
‘Well, why not? You’re the magus after all. If you can’t have a few drinks when you want, who can? No harm in that,’ said Swift.
‘Sylvie won’t approve,’ muttered Yul.
‘I don’t see why not. Why should anyone not approve? It’s the man’s night after all, isn’t it? Nothing to do with the women – they’ve got their own party. I thought that was the whole point of the separate Rite celebrations. A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do and the women have to accept that.’
‘Yeah,’ giggled Yul, trying hard to climb the wide stairs and stumbling all over the place. ‘If she doesn’t like it, she can lump it.’
‘Show her who’s boss,’ laughed Swift.
‘That’s right. Who’s the lord and master.’
Sylvie had been waiting up, sitting in a chair by the dying fire. She frowned at the state of him, glancing at the smirking boy by his side who clearly found the sight of his incapacitated magus highly amusing.
‘Now don’t start having a go at me!’ Yul had mumbled when he saw the look on her face. ‘I’m not taking any of your nagging tonight – I don’t wanna know. And why aren’t you in bed waiting for me?’
‘Thank you, Swift,’ she said curtly to Martin’s son standing quietly by, watching the scene. ‘Good night.’
‘Thanks, Swift!’ called Yul, far too loudly. ‘I won’t forget what a good drinking companion you’ve been. See you in the morning!’
‘Sssh!’ hissed Sylvie. ‘You’ll wake the girls!’
‘Don’t shush me! I’ll make as much noise as I like. I’m the magus and it’s about time you remembered