Devotia Ch. 18: Preparation

Callie gestures towards her skirt. "It's just uncomfortable," she complains, trying to seem overly burdened. Sympathetic. "I wouldn't have even come here today if it didn't mean I'd get a break from it."

Dynasa purses her lips, piercing, inquisitive eyes measuring her. "You ought to have told Velena you weren't feeling well. Don't do that again." And then she's strolling back to her notebooks, picking up the key that would open the cage. "Let's begin."

A few embarrassing moments later and Callie rejoices in the freedom from its weight. She sits, feeling her thighs grateful for the expanded range of movement with its absence.

"Now," the Magewitch looms over her, a book in hand, "when we left off, we were testing the capacity of the magical reservoir within you. You mentioned the Yalani source was far deeper than the Solvavi source - that you've suddenly gone from a novice level of proficiency to having a basis of will greater than most graduating mages."

"Correct."

"I noted the sudden surge of power as consistent with a typical anointing, thus continuing to build evidence that Yala truly possesses the power to select Devotia for herself."

"As I've been saying."

"And we tested the resiliency of your wards, placing them under a variety of stressors to test their durability unde-,"

Knowing that Dynasa could continue uninterrupted in her study for some time, Callie simply waits patiently, tuning her out. The Magewitch rambles about the Standard Arcana's theory to explain this, hypothesizes about the possibility once more of proving the Mirage Arcana, and mutters about a variety of subjects far above Callie's knowledge.

And as she sits, Callie thinks about freedom.

And power.

Power, she muses to herself, was the capacity to assert freedom. Her own. She'd been a Devotia for months, and despite having a nominal power, she'd let others take it out of her hands before she'd even known what it was. Velena took the reins of her instruction and shaped her thinking because Callie knew nothing else. Dynasa took Callie's political ineptitude, filled her with visions of an optimistic past, and began plotting to use her for her own purposes.

Those purposes might align broadly with Callie's - the unshackling of the Devotia - but Yala gives her greater aspirations. A new age. A new future not only for the Devotia, but for all of the nation.

Which is why, at the end of Dynasa's experimentation today, where she holds the cage back up and tells her, "Regardless, I've made an adjustment to the cage. With luck it'll be less uncomfortable," Callie finds herself saying:

"Thank you. That won't be necessary."

And her heart pounds in her chest, thumping in her neck, booming in her ears. She shifts in her seat, crossing one leg over the other and trying to keep her back straight and her chin high - and to not show any of the weakness she feels.

The Magewitch scowls at her. She offers the cage forward once, apprehensively, as though it were a test, then sets it aside as Callie continues staring her down.

"What happened to 'a compliant Devotia?'"

Callie inhales sharply. "I am being compliant. To Yala." And myself.

"Callana."

Dynasa paces, a hand rubbing her cheek. It's clear she's fighting to maintain her composure. "We are in a delicate position. If we do not play out cards carefully, meticulously, we will lose any forward progress. I regret that it is inconvenient for you to wait, but we are talking about the whole of the city, and the nation. You cannot make hasty decisions."

"I am done waiting at my own expense for change," Callie insists. "It is coming. Now. Do I have your support?"

Dynasa's eyes narrow, stare daggers into her. Her voice leaves her in a tight breath. "What are you planning?"

And Callie replies with a curt dismissal, a shake of her head. "This time, I require you to trust me." A beat. "I will not be a Devotia used as a pawn. I serve the goddesses."

Dynasa's hand twitches. It nearly sparks with a spell. "I could make you." Her eyes flick to the cage. In her eyes there is a challenge. Do you think your new magic is stronger than me?

And Callie knows the answer. A quick hand dismisses the noise ward in the room Dynasa had set as they entered. A gentle call leaves her, directed out towards the door.

Mykah enters, glowing tendrils of light in his palms. Gloriana steps in front of him, sword and shield drawn.

And Callie looks up at Dynasa, smug and dignified. "Could you?"

Dynasa's back straightens. Her eyes widen. "This is a coup."

"This is liberation of the Devotia. Change is here, Dynasa." She stands, tucking her fear so far down inside of herself that it would never see the light of day. She's still not sure the three of them could really take down a Magewitch. "You told me you wanted to be a part of it. This is your opportunity."

Her mouth forms a tight line. "If you get this wrong..."

"I won't."

- - -

Callie basks in the moonlight, in the freshness of the night air. The heat of the day breaks away into a perfect evening, and she delights in the freedom of wearing a short dress and feeling the breeze upon her skin. The stars glitter above them, in the beautiful firmament of the sky, and Yala bestows a full moon for their purposes.

She marches down the main streets of Solva, loving the lantern lights and flickering candles of a city grateful for the cool temperature at last. People mill about, some laughing, some drinking, some sitting and eating meals out of large simmering pots or visiting street venders.

And they all turn to watch their Devotia stroll down the main avenue.

She smiles at them, waves at them. Loves them.

Callie knocks on the door, hearing Gloriana shuffle a few steps away behind her. The gathering crowd of onlookers keep their distance, mercifully, and Gloriana gives her privacy at the threshold, standing unthreateningly between her and the crowd.

Calvin opens the door, adorned in his ceremonial armor. She knows he hates it, but the occasion calls for its formality. It takes a great deal of restraint not to push him back inside the door and rip it off of him.

He smiles, laugh lines and dimples and bright eyes and all.

"Is it-?"

"It's time," she confirms.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"It's already in motion. I just have to see it through." She looks down, taking a long breath and knowing that the future could hold anything for her. "Calvin, if this doesn't work..." She allows her nerves to finally show, lets her voice be soft and wishful and full of all the feelings she's been so afraid of. "Will you come with me?"

A breath.

Two.

Three.

And then he takes her hand. He brings it to his lips. "Yes."

So Callie throws herself into his arms and ignites the tension between them, pulling his mouth to hers like it's the only place it could possibly belong. And she allows him to scoop her up, his arms across her back and lifting her off of her feet and into his body. Her hands are on his cheeks, grabbing hold of his face and letting herself be unmade by his touch.

The Magister's knights, which should be out tonight, are conveniently ordered away from this street. Gloriana's report to Velena leads them to believe Callie is tucked away in the villa - obedient, safe, and captured.

The crowd watches her, and she can feel their eyes latching onto this moment like history was coming alive in the flesh. A Devotia kissing her Knight-Commander, passionately, lovingly - full of romance and need and a clear history between them. A Devotia out in the night, far from the bounds of Suul's light, kissing someone without any duty, without any obedience to the laws of the city.

A scandal that could break the very foundations of the city.

And she feels that hot feeling inside of her, aching for Calvin to bring her inside and make her cry out, joined by the cool softness of Yala's magic. They mix together within her, swirling and twisting and baptizing her into a new era.

The beams of the full moon above them seem to melt into raindrops, sliding down from the air to find their place beside her. They shimmer with a silver fierceness, shining and glittering and bouncing off of all the other lights around, sending a cascade of luminance into their world.

And they wash over Calvin like a wave breaking on the shore, glowing against his skin and letting it shine like the mirrors of a pool. A blessing.

The first blessing of Yala.

She exits the kiss, beaming, and he looks as though he could never love a moment more than he loves this moment, like he could never love anyone more than he loves her. Her face hurts from smiling.

"That's-!" He's exclaiming.

"I was right," she exhales, arms around his neck. She closes her eyes and savors the knowledge. Her forehead against his. "This is going to work," she sighs, giddy. She turns back to the crowd, who look upon her with awe. Who look upon the miracle at work and seem to understand what it means.

"Gloriana?" She summons.

And with a kiss on the cheek, Gloriana bursts into light as well.

Mykah brings the priestesses to her, Mira and Civa and Willow and Salome, and they all hold one another in a space of silent divinity.

"Behold!" Mira calls out to the crowd, full of dignity and reverence. "Hal Devotia Yalani!"

And a cheer spreads through the world around Callie, rejoicing in her just as she gazes up to the moon above her and beams.

It was in the moonlight that Callie escaped Rookwell. It was in the moonlight that she felt her loneliness cry out for comfort. It was in moonlight that she met the goddess.

The full moon shines down upon her, and she bathes in its embrace.

The priestesses filter through the crowd, with the rest of her procession with her, and they call forth for the sick and the weary, for the ones most in need of Yala's blessing. A blessing which Callie gives out with nothing but love and adoration in her heart.

A kiss on the cheek.

A burst of radiant light.

A kiss on the cheek.

A healing.

A kiss on the cheek.

A comforted heart.

A kiss on the cheek-