#embassy grove

[luxury-residences]

What is Embassy Grove in Kodihalli, Bangalore?

Embassy Grove is a prestigious and exclusive residential project situated in the prime location of Kodihalli, Bangalore. This luxurious development stands as a testament to refined living, offering an unparalleled blend of elegance, comfort, and sophistication. With its expansive residences and top-notch amenities, Embassy Grove caters to discerning buyers who seek nothing but the best in life. In this blog, we will explore what makes Embassy Grove such a sought-after address, providing a comprehensive overview of its offerings, location, and unique features.

Overview of Embassy Grove

Embassy Grove is an ultra-luxurious residential enclave designed for those who appreciate the finer things in life. Developed by Embassy Group, a name synonymous with luxury and quality, this project is set in the heart of Bangalore, offering a serene living environment amidst the bustling city. Spanning across 8 acres of lush greenery, Embassy Grove is a low-density development with just 106 exclusive units, ensuring privacy and tranquility for its residents.

Embassy Grove Configurations and Sizes

Embassy Grove offers spacious and meticulously designed residences that come in two distinct configurations:

4 BHK Duplex: Ranging from 4,339 to 5,475 square feet, these duplexes are designed to offer a seamless blend of luxury and comfort, catering to families who value space and privacy.

5 BHK Triplex: With sizes ranging from 4,851 to 5,659 square feet, the triplex residences are perfect for larger families or those who simply wish to indulge in an opulent lifestyle. These triplexes are a masterpiece of design, offering expansive living areas spread across multiple levels.

The starting price for these magnificent homes is ₹12 crores, making Embassy Grove a true symbol of luxury living.

Exclusive Features and Amenities

Embassy Grove is designed to cater to the elite, offering a range of world-class amenities that enhance the living experience. While the project does not feature conventional high-rise towers, it is divided into 29 distinct blocks, each housing a limited number of units. This design ensures that residents enjoy a sense of exclusivity and privacy.

Some of the key features of Embassy Grove include:

Private Gardens and Terraces: Each residence comes with its own private garden or terrace, providing a green sanctuary in the midst of urban life. These spaces are perfect for relaxation, entertaining guests, or simply enjoying the tranquility of nature.

Clubhouse and Recreational Facilities: The project features a state-of-the-art clubhouse equipped with a swimming pool, gymnasium, spa, and other recreational facilities. These amenities are designed to promote a healthy and active lifestyle for residents.

Advanced Security: Embassy Grove is equipped with 24/7 security systems, including CCTV surveillance and manned security personnel, ensuring a safe and secure living environment.

Sustainability Initiatives: The project incorporates several eco-friendly practices, such as rainwater harvesting, waste management systems, and energy-efficient designs, making it a sustainable choice for environmentally-conscious buyers.

Embassy Grove Location and Connectivity

Embassy Grove location is in Kodihalli, one of Bangalore's most sought-after residential neighborhoods. Kodihalli is strategically located close to key areas such as Indiranagar, MG Road, and the Central Business District (CBD), making it an ideal choice for professionals and families alike. The neighborhood is well-connected to major IT hubs, educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and shopping centers, ensuring that residents have easy access to everything they need.

The proximity to the Kempegowda International Airport and the presence of well-developed infrastructure further enhance the appeal of Embassy Grove. Despite being located in the heart of the city, the project offers a peaceful living environment, thanks to its expansive green spaces and thoughtfully designed layout.

More related details :- 

Embassy Grove Price List

Embassy Grove Brochure PDF

embassy grove floor plan

embassy grove for sale

embassy grove villaments

embassy grove photos

Embassy Grove Possession Date and Status

Embassy Grove is ready to move in (RTMI), making it an attractive option for those looking to invest in a luxury home without the wait. The project has been meticulously constructed, with attention to detail evident in every aspect of its design and execution. With limited units available, potential buyers are encouraged to act quickly to secure their place in this prestigious community.

Conclusion

Embassy Grove in Kodihalli, Bangalore, is more than just a residential project; it is a lifestyle statement. With its luxurious 4 BHK duplexes and 5 BHK triplexes, the project offers a unique blend of space, privacy, and exclusivity. The prime location, coupled with world-class amenities and sustainable practices, makes Embassy Grove a desirable address for the city’s elite.

If you are in search of a home that embodies luxury and sophistication, Embassy Grove is the perfect choice. For those interested in exploring this exquisite property, I highly recommend scheduling a visit to experience the grandeur and elegance firsthand.

For more information on luxury real estate options in Bangalore and beyond, feel free to reach out to us at Luxury Real Estate Company. We specialize in curating the finest properties that cater to your unique tastes and preferences.

To Know More Bangalore Projects Visit Our Webpages: - 

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Century Ethos

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GODREJ ATHENA

L&T RAINTREE BOULEVARD OLIVIA

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[embassyprojectsblog]

Embassy Grove Bangalore – Ultra-Luxury Villaments in the Heart of the City

Experience an unmatched lifestyle at Embassy Grove Bangalore, offering exclusive villaments designed for privacy and luxury. Nestled in a prime location near Old Airport Road, this premium gated community features spacious residences, private gardens, and world-class amenities. With seamless connectivity and top-tier facilities, Embassy Grove is the perfect blend of villa-style living with modern comforts.

[luxuryroof]

Luxury Living at Embassy Grove, Bangalore

Embassy Grove in Bangalore redefines luxury with ultra-premium villaments, offering the privacy of a villa and the convenience of an apartment. Located in Old Airport Road, it boasts world-class amenities, lush green spaces, and an exclusive clubhouse. Experience a seamless blend of elegance and modern living in the heart of the city.

[housingrealtybykaal]

Embassy Grove | Duplex Villas For Sale In Bangalore

Embassy Grove is a luxurious villa project located in Kodihalli, Bangalore. It offers spacious 4 BHK duplex villas with private gardens, terraces, and even private swimming pools in some units. Embassy Grove is located on Old Airport Road, Kodihalli, Bangalore. It is close to the KGA Golf Course, international airport, schools, hospitals, and shopping malls. The property boasts a lavish clubhouse with top-notch amenities like a concierge service, indoor lounge, kid's play area, games room, and an outdoor cafe. Embassy Grove is a gated community with modern security systems. The villas are IGBC Platinum certified, indicating a commitment to sustainable living. Embassy Grove Bangalore is designed for a luxurious lifestyle with all the modern conveniences. It's a great option if you're looking for a spacious and exclusive home in a central location of Bangalore.

[embassy12]

Embassy Grove Villaments: Where Luxury Meets Tranquility in Bangalore

Embassy Properties in Bangalore are renowned for their dedication to luxury and exclusivity, crafting living spaces that redefine sophistication and comfort. Among these prestigious offerings, Embassy Grove Villaments in Kodihalli stand out as prime examples of opulent residences designed for the most discerning individuals.

Embassy Grove Villaments: Redefining Luxury Living

Nestled in the esteemed locality of Kodihalli, Embassy Grove Villaments epitomize the pinnacle of luxury living. These exclusive residences seamlessly blend contemporary architecture with timeless elegance, providing residents with a sanctuary of peace amidst Bangalore's vibrant cityscape. Offering spacious interiors and breathtaking panoramic views, Embassy Grove Villaments redefine the essence of modern living.

Discovering Embassy Grove Kodihalli

Situated in the heart of Bangalore, Embassy Grove Kodihalli offers residents a lifestyle characterized by convenience and luxury. Every aspect of Embassy Grove Kodihalli is meticulously designed to elevate the living experience, from meticulously landscaped gardens to cutting-edge amenities. Whether indulging in a refreshing swim or unwinding in the well-appointed clubhouse, residents of Embassy Grove Kodihalli enjoy a retreat from the urban hustle and bustle.

Why Opt for Embassy Properties?

Embassy Properties has garnered acclaim for its commitment to excellence in real estate development, prioritizing quality and customer satisfaction. With a portfolio boasting some of Bangalore's most prestigious properties, Embassy Properties continues to set the benchmark for luxury living. Whether it's Embassy Grove Villaments or other residential offerings, Embassy Properties ensures that every detail is crafted to surpass expectations.

Experience Elevated Living with Embassy Grove

Embassy Grove transcends mere accommodation, offering a lifestyle experience unparalleled in Bangalore. From its lavish amenities to its coveted location, Embassy Grove encapsulates the essence of modern living. Whether seeking serenity or a vibrant community ambiance, Embassy Grove caters to diverse preferences, ensuring an exceptional living experience for all.

In Summary

Embassy Properties in Bangalore, including Embassy Grove Villaments in Kodihalli, present an unparalleled opportunity to embrace luxury living at its zenith. With unmatched amenities, flawless design, and an unwavering commitment to excellence, Embassy Properties redefines the standard for upscale living in Bangalore. If you aspire to reside in a home that epitomizes luxury and sophistication, Embassy Properties beckons as the ultimate choice.

[propzilla123]

Embassy Grove in Rustumbagh, Kodihalli, layout, Bangalore East, is a fancy place to live in one of the most popular areas of Bangalore. It's right in the middle of East Bangalore, giving you a luxurious and convenient lifestyle. In this special community, you can enjoy big and beautiful 4 & 5 BHK Duplex & Triplex Villaments in the Embassy Grove area. Explore Embassy Grove Price, Photos, floor plan, reviews and brochure.

[embassyprojectsinbangalore]

A Guide to Finding the Perfect Home in Embassy Grove

Introduction

Nestled in the heart of Bangalore, Embassy Grove is a luxurious residential enclave that beckons those seeking the perfect blend of sophistication, comfort, and serenity. Developed by Embassy Group, a renowned real estate developer with a penchant for excellence, Embassy Grove offers a collection of opulent homes set amidst lush green landscapes. In this comprehensive guide, we will take you on a journey through Embassy Grove, unraveling the key aspects that make it an ideal destination for your dream home. From its strategic location and architectural brilliance to the world-class amenities and lifestyle offerings, discover why Embassy Grove stands as an embodiment of luxurious living.

1. Location - The Heart of Serenity

Embassy Grove's strategic location in Bangalore ensures convenient access to major business hubs, educational institutions, healthcare centers, and entertainment avenues. Situated in the upscale neighborhood of Old Airport Road, this residential enclave offers residents a tranquil oasis amidst the bustling city.

2. Architectural Brilliance - Crafted to Perfection

Embassy Grove's architectural brilliance is evident in its meticulously designed homes that exude elegance and contemporary charm. Crafted to perfection by renowned architects, these homes embrace a perfect fusion of form and function, creating a haven of refined living.

3. Luxurious Amenities - Elevating Everyday Living

Embassy Grove boasts a plethora of world-class amenities designed to elevate everyday living. From a fully equipped fitness center and swimming pools to serene landscaped gardens and recreational spaces, residents can indulge in a life of luxury and leisure.

4. Sustainability - A Commitment to the Environment

Embassy Group's commitment to sustainability is reflected in Embassy Grove's eco-friendly practices and green initiatives. The enclave incorporates energy-efficient technologies, rainwater harvesting, and waste management systems, minimizing its ecological impact.

5. Living Spaces - Bespoke and Luxurious

Embassy Grove offers a range of living spaces to suit diverse preferences. From spacious apartments to opulent villas, each abode is thoughtfully designed to cater to the discerning tastes of residents, providing a blend of opulence and comfort.

6. Lifestyle Offerings - A World of Convenience

Embassy Grove presents a lifestyle that goes beyond the ordinary, with a host of lifestyle offerings and personalized services. From concierge facilities and valet parking to exclusive events and cultural programs, residents are treated to a world of convenience and indulgence.

7. Safety and Security - Peace of Mind Guaranteed

Embassy Grove ensures the safety and security of its residents with state-of-the-art security systems and round-the-clock surveillance. Residents can enjoy peace of mind, knowing that their homes are protected in a secure gated community.

8. Prestigious Neighbors - A Coveted Address

Embassy Grove's prestigious address places residents in the company of prominent neighbors, creating a close-knit community of like-minded individuals who appreciate the finer aspects of life.

Conclusion

Embassy Grove stands as an embodiment of luxury, elegance, and tranquility in the heart of Bangalore. With its strategic location, architectural brilliance, luxurious amenities, and commitment to sustainability, Embassy Grove offers residents an unparalleled living experience. From spacious living spaces to personalized services, this residential enclave ensures that every aspect of daily life is enriched with opulence and comfort. Embassy Grove beckons those seeking the perfect home that reflects their taste and aspirations, providing an address that resonates with the elite and discerning. Discover the perfect blend of sophistication and serenity at Embassy Grove - an exquisite destination to call home.

Content Source: Embassy Projects

[embassyprojectsindia]

Embassy Grove: The Ultimate Guide to Living in Luxury

Introduction

Embassy Grove is a prestigious residential community that offers an unparalleled luxury living experience. Nestled in the heart of a prime location, this residential enclave is designed to provide residents with a lavish and comfortable lifestyle. In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the features, amenities, and benefits of living in Embassy Grove. Whether you are considering investing in a property or seeking a luxury rental, this guide will provide you with a detailed understanding of what this exquisite community has to offer. Let's explore the world of Embassy Grove.

Prime Location and Connectivity

Embassy Grove is strategically located in a coveted area, ensuring easy accessibility to major business districts, shopping centers, schools, and healthcare facilities. Its proximity to essential amenities and transportation hubs makes it an ideal choice for individuals and families seeking convenience and connectivity.

Architectural Excellence

The residences in Embassy Grove Bangalore are a testament to architectural brilliance and attention to detail. The exquisite design, use of premium materials, and spacious layouts create an ambiance of luxury and elegance. From opulent villas to sophisticated apartments, each home is crafted to provide a superior living experience.

Luxurious Amenities

Embassy Projects in Bangalore offers a wide array of luxurious amenities designed to enhance the residents' lifestyle. From expansive swimming pools, well-equipped fitness centers, and landscaped gardens to rejuvenating spa facilities and sports courts, every aspect of leisure and well-being is catered to within the community.

Security and Privacy

Safety and privacy are of utmost importance at Embassy Grove. The community is equipped with advanced security systems, CCTV surveillance, and trained personnel to ensure a secure living environment. Residents can enjoy peace of mind and a sense of exclusivity within this gated community.

Green Spaces and Nature

Embassy Grove is set amidst lush greenery and landscaped gardens, offering residents a serene and tranquil atmosphere. The meticulously designed open spaces provide a perfect retreat from the bustling city life, creating an oasis of calm and relaxation.

World-Class Infrastructure

Embassy Grove boasts state-of-the-art infrastructure and modern facilities that cater to the needs and desires of its discerning residents. From high-speed internet connectivity and 24/7 power backup to ample parking spaces and well-maintained common areas, every aspect is designed to provide a seamless living experience.

Dedicated Concierge Services

The community offers dedicated concierge services to cater to the residents' needs and ensure a hassle-free living experience. From arranging transportation and handling maintenance requests to organizing events and reservations, the concierge team is committed to providing personalized assistance and convenience.

Cultural and Social Engagements

Embassy Grove hosts a range of cultural and social engagements for its residents, fostering a sense of community and camaraderie. From festive celebrations to art exhibitions and networking events, residents can engage in a vibrant social calendar within the community.

Investment Potential

Investing in a property at Embassy Grove offers not only a luxurious living experience but also a promising investment opportunity. The prime location, prestigious reputation, and high-end amenities make Embassy Grove an attractive choice for buyers and investors, ensuring potential value appreciation in the long run.

Conclusion

Embassy Grove is a luxury residential community that epitomizes grandeur, elegance, and sophistication. With its prime location, architectural excellence, lavish amenities, and focus on privacy and security, this enclave offers a truly exceptional living experience. Whether you seek a peaceful retreat or a thriving social community, Embassy Grove caters to your every need. Embrace the epitome of luxury living and immerse yourself in the world of Embassy Grove.

Content Source - embassyprojectsbangalore

[scealaiscoite]

‧₊˚ 🏞️ ✩ 200 setting prompts

¹⁾ an er waiting room 

²⁾ a funeral home car park 

³⁾ a dimly lit alleyway 

⁴⁾ a cramped holding cell

⁵⁾ an empty museum exhibit

⁶⁾ a dusty wine cellar 

⁷⁾ an ex’s spare room 

⁸⁾ a disused garden shed 

⁹⁾ a seedy, cheap motel room

¹⁰⁾ a 24/7 diner

¹¹⁾ a strip club dressing room

¹²⁾ a half-flooded basement 

¹³⁾ a dark classroom

¹⁴⁾ a sparsely-stocked walk-in fridge 

¹⁵⁾ a crumbling mausoleum 

¹⁶⁾ an aquarium’s shark habitat 

¹⁷⁾ a draughty bus stop 

¹⁸⁾ a posh hotel lobby 

¹⁹⁾ a quiet bakery 

²⁰⁾ a department store dressing room 

²¹⁾ a sold-out stadium 

²²⁾ a lofty airplane hangar 

²³⁾ a murky riverbank

²⁴⁾ a mostly-empty cinema 

²⁵⁾ a clearing amidst a dense forest 

²⁶⁾ a bar’s service well 

²⁷⁾ a mechanic’s office 

²⁸⁾ a 31st birthday party

²⁹⁾ a ship’s brig 

³⁰⁾ a sacristy 

³¹⁾ an amusement park 

³²⁾ a garish costume shop 

³³⁾ a mens’ bathroom 

³⁴⁾ a restaurant kitchen right before service 

³⁵⁾ an f1 marshal’s outpost 

³⁶⁾ a yacht’s bow 

³⁷⁾ a drive-thru chapel 

³⁸⁾ a stranger’s hotel room 

³⁹⁾ a dark evidence archibe 

⁴⁰⁾ a loud hair salon 

⁴¹⁾ a failing coffee shop 

⁴²⁾ a retirement home’s staff lounge 

⁴³⁾ an office building’s 12th floor 

⁴⁴⁾ a dying retail chain’s last store 

⁴⁵⁾ an upscale casino 

⁴⁶⁾ a ranch’s bunkhouse 

⁴⁷⁾ the deck of a dilapidated fishing trawler 

⁴⁸⁾ an away team’s dressing room 

⁴⁹⁾ a mortuary waiting room 

⁵⁰⁾ a long-disused storage locker 

⁵¹⁾ a phlebotomy lab 

⁵²⁾ a run-down stash house 

⁵³⁾ a tense conference room 

⁵⁴⁾ a humid greenhouse 

⁵⁵⁾ a jazz club 

⁵⁶⁾ a well-stocked storm cellar 

⁵⁷⁾ a decommissioned sanitorium 

⁵⁸⁾ an embassy under attack

⁵⁹⁾ a marathon aid station 

⁶⁰⁾ a luxury car dealership 

⁶¹⁾ a coastal holiday home 

⁶²⁾ the underside of a bridge 

⁶³⁾ a two-person tent

⁶⁴⁾ a draughty coal shed 

⁶⁵⁾ a labyrinthine warehouse 

⁶⁶⁾ a half-rotted apricot grove 

⁶⁷⁾ an off-the-books laboratory

⁶⁸⁾ a disturbing shrine 

⁶⁹⁾ a circus tent 

⁷⁰⁾ a freezing cold lake 

⁷¹⁾ an actor’s dressing room 

⁷²⁾ a news studio 

⁷³⁾ a broken-down elevator 

⁷⁴⁾ an office’s copier room 

⁷⁵⁾ a library archive 

⁷⁶⁾ a bustling betting shop 

⁷⁷⁾ a peruvian food truck 

⁷⁸⁾ a city bus depot 

⁷⁹⁾ a preschool play room 

⁸⁰⁾ a marina’s creaking dock 

⁸¹⁾ an army recruiter’s office

⁸²⁾ a butcher’s cold storage 

⁸³⁾ an abandoned storage mill 

⁸⁴⁾ a perfumer’s store 

⁸⁵⁾ a high-security prison perimeter tower 

⁸⁶⁾ a cordoned-off crime scene

⁸⁷⁾ a fire station simmering with tension  

⁸⁸⁾ a creepy furniture outlet 

⁸⁹⁾ a boudoir photographer’s set 

⁹⁰⁾ a maternity ward 

⁹¹⁾ a muddy farmyard at dawn 

⁹²⁾ a ballet company’s rehearsal space

⁹³⁾ a dusty record shop

⁹⁴⁾ an isolated, rural cabin

⁹⁵⁾ a detectives’ breakroom

⁹⁶⁾ a bridal boutique dressing room 

⁹⁷⁾ the back row of seats in a cinema

⁹⁸⁾ a bustling dockyard

⁹⁹⁾ a cheap massage parlour

¹⁰⁰⁾ an empty dormitory

¹⁰¹⁾ a stiflingly tense courtroom

¹⁰²⁾ a conspiracy theorist’s doomsday bunker

¹⁰³⁾ a cobweb-littered attic

¹⁰⁴⁾ a crumbling remote farmhouse

¹⁰⁵⁾ an arcade at close

¹⁰⁶⁾ a snowy chalet 

¹⁰⁷⁾ an out-of-use abbatoir

¹⁰⁸⁾ a bougie art exhibition

¹⁰⁹⁾ a neighbourhood paletería

¹¹⁰⁾ a headmaster’s office

¹¹¹⁾ a liquor store at midday

¹¹²⁾ a gold-for-cash outlet 

¹¹³⁾ a train station restroom

¹¹⁴⁾ a country club tennis court

¹¹⁵⁾ an acupuncturist’s office

¹¹⁶⁾ a mansion’s guest bathroom

¹¹⁷⁾ an overwhelmed military outpost

¹¹⁸⁾ a disused santa’s grotto

¹¹⁹⁾ an ambulance bay

¹²⁰⁾ a whiskey distillery

¹²¹⁾ a submarine command center 

¹²²⁾ a lesbian bar 

¹²³⁾ the boot of a parked car 

¹²⁴⁾ a bachelorette party 

¹²⁵⁾ an oncologist’s office 

¹²⁶⁾ a penthouse apartment 

¹²⁷⁾ a coastal cave at low tide 

¹²⁸⁾ the passenger seat of a humvee

¹²⁹⁾ a private plane at 40,000 feet

¹³⁰⁾ a murder-mystery party 

¹³¹⁾ an outdoor beach shower 

¹³²⁾ a sushi restaurant 

¹³³⁾ a trashed pawn shop

¹³⁴⁾ a divorce lawyer’s office 

¹³⁵⁾ an opium den 

¹³⁶⁾ a kids’ ball pit 

¹³⁷⁾ a silversmith’s workshop

¹³⁸⁾ an unassuming safehouse  

¹³⁹⁾ a turkish embassy 

¹⁴⁰⁾ a grimy sewer

¹⁴¹⁾ a federal evidence storehouse 

¹⁴²⁾ a loud public park 

¹⁴³⁾ a busy cocktail bar 

¹⁴⁴⁾ an army mess hall 

¹⁴⁵⁾ an empty stable 

¹⁴⁶⁾ a private investigator’s office 

¹⁴⁷⁾ a dog pound 

¹⁴⁸⁾ a hayfield 

¹⁴⁹⁾ a drive-in movie screening 

¹⁵⁰⁾ an apartment’s fire escape 

¹⁵¹⁾ a shipping container 

¹⁵²⁾ a yoga retreat

¹⁵³⁾ a duplex in a state of disarray 

¹⁵⁴⁾ an ice hockey rink 

¹⁵⁵⁾ a shooting range 

¹⁵⁶⁾ a blood drive 

¹⁵⁷⁾ a timber quarry 

¹⁵⁸⁾ a niche publishing house 

¹⁵⁹⁾ a private arts college 

¹⁶⁰⁾ a fairground in the dead of night 

¹⁶¹⁾ a last-chance rehab clinic 

¹⁶²⁾ an advertising agency

¹⁶³⁾ a theater on opening night 

¹⁶⁴⁾ a hectic rave 

¹⁶⁵⁾ a suburban pharmacy 

¹⁶⁶⁾ a green, sprawling valley 

¹⁶⁷⁾ a veterinary clinic 

¹⁶⁸⁾ a retirement community compex  

¹⁶⁹⁾ a hastily-emptied apartment 

¹⁷⁰⁾ a nightclub bathroom 

¹⁷¹⁾ a lush rose garden

¹⁷²⁾ a childhood bedroom

¹⁷³⁾ a military blacksite 

¹⁷⁴⁾ an airport lounge 

¹⁷⁵⁾ a television show set 

¹⁷⁶⁾ the 46th floor of a skyscraper 

¹⁷⁷⁾ a backpackers’ hostel 

¹⁷⁸⁾ an italian deli 

¹⁷⁹⁾ a failing hair salon 

¹⁸⁰⁾ a sensationalised haunted house 

¹⁸¹⁾ an off-grid commune 

¹⁸²⁾ a makeshift soccer pitch 

¹⁸³⁾ a landscaper’s toolshed 

¹⁸⁴⁾ a cruiseship’s engine room 

¹⁸⁵⁾ a photographer’s set 

¹⁸⁶⁾ a brightly-coloured daycare 

¹⁸⁷⁾ a neglected playground

¹⁸⁸⁾ a hardware store 

¹⁸⁹⁾ a nurses’ station

¹⁹⁰⁾ a tobacconist’s 

¹⁹¹⁾ a biker clubhouse 

¹⁹²⁾ a hunting club

¹⁹³⁾ a newsstand 

¹⁹⁴⁾ a sinking speedboat 

¹⁹⁵⁾ a monastery 

¹⁹⁶⁾ a medical examiner’s mortuary 

¹⁹⁷⁾ a grafftied phone booth 

¹⁹⁸⁾ a soup kitchen

¹⁹⁹⁾ a speakeasy hidden beneath a florists

²⁰⁰⁾ a pumpkin patch in july

[stargazer-sims]

Journal Entry #26

previous // next // story index

__________

Victor

Today I did something I would never have pictured myself doing. I went to a spa, and I got a professional manicure and a facial. I’m now officially classy, and you may address me as Mr. Nelson.

All joking aside, when we got out of bed this morning and Yuri suggested we should freshen up before our afternoon photo shoot, I thought he meant that we should get our hair trimmed or something. I had no idea what he had in mind, and when he informed me that he wanted me to go with him to a day spa, I wasn’t really sure how to react. I mean, I've never thought of myself as a spa kind of guy, but ultimately I said yes because I couldn’t come up with a better reason to say no other than being worried I would seem out of place there.

Before I fill you in on the rest of the details of our spa visit, though, I have to tell you what else happened.

Last night, when we came back from shopping, we got online and researched what we needed to do to get married. I became an official permanent resident recently, but because I’m still what the government refers to as a foreign national, I knew we couldn't just show up at a courthouse with identification and ask a judge to marry us.

What we discovered is that we can't actually get married in Japan because there's no legal recognition for same-sex marriage here yet. What we can do is get something called a partnership certificate that will effectively make us spouses and entitle me to benefits that any other spouse of a Japanese citizen can receive. Before we do that, however, I need a special notarized document from the Canadian Embassy, stating that I’m not married to anybody else back in Canada and that I’m legally free to be Yuri's partner.

"I didn't know," Yuri said apologetically. "I've lived here all my life, and I didn't even know."

"It's okay," I told him. "We can still do this. They might not call it a marriage, but it still feels like one to me."

He smiled at that. "A rose by any other name?"

"Yeah."

"It feels like a marriage to me too," he said. "I still want to do it. And then perhaps..."

"What?" I prompted.

"We can legally marry in your country, can't we?"

"Yeah, we can. It's been legally recognized for a long time in Canada," I replied. "Are you saying you want to marry me in the Maple Grove courthouse after all?"

"I am."

"But you also want us to do the thing at the courthouse here."

"I do."

It was my turn to smile. "I love hearing you say that."

"Do you?"

"I do," I said.

"Well," he said, laughing. "The practice session is off to a brilliant start."

So, the first thing I did this morning after our extravagant room service breakfast was to phone the Canadian Consulate, explain what I wanted, and ask for the soonest appointment possible. The lady I spoke to offered me an appointment at four o'clock today.

I was practically weeping by the time I got off the phone with her. I hadn’t anticipated it happening so quickly. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I'd assumed it'd take a week if not longer, which would've rendered the whole thing moot. Like, it wouldn't have made sense to delay our trip by waiting around for this, when we could get married at the courthouse back home anyway, with or without it.

With an appointment at four, we’d have to go straight from our photo session to the Consulate, but I was sure we could pull it off. Yuri tackle-hugged me when I told him, sending us both sprawling onto the bed. We were laughing and crying at the same time.

“We really could get married tomorrow," Yuri said. “Just like we said the other day."

“I was kind of joking when I said that to Calder, but you’re right. We literally could get married tomorrow.”

“There’s no reason to wait, is there?” he asked.

“I can’t think of one," I said.

“Then, let’s do it,” he said. “Let’s get married tomorrow.”

“All our friends are going to lose it when they find out we eloped.”

"I’m picturing how our families will react.”

“You’ll get to see your mother’s reaction in person,” I reminded him. “She’s still coming here to see us, right?”

“Yes, I think so,” he said. “I kind of want to see your mother’s reaction in person, too. Would it be okay if we don’t tell her about this until we get there?”

I laughed, and pulled him in for a kiss. “Have I ever told you that you’re a troublemaker?”

“All the time,” he said. “But, that’s how you like me, isn’t it?”

“Oh, you know that’s exactly how I like you, future Mr. Okamoto-Nelson. Cheeky and adorable.”

He snuggled close to me and took my hand. “I like how that sounds.”

I smiled. “Me too.”

We agreed that it would’ve been nice to lie there and cuddle for a while longer, but our already busy itinerary for the day had suddenly gotten that much busier, and we didn’t have time to lay around. We promised each other that later we’d take a day just to relax and not have a schedule.

A little reluctantly, we got off the bed. We finished putting ourselves together and set out for the first destination on our list, Shizukesa Spa. It was only a block from the hotel, so we walked there. The weather was warm and it was beautiful and sunny, and I was hoping it'd stay like that so we’d have the perfect conditions for our photos later.

When we arrived at the spa, an attendant showed us to a locker room where we changed into these luxurious plush robes, just like the ones at the hotel. Then, the attendant escorted us to a little waiting room and brought us some sparkling water with fruit in it. Complementary sparkling water was one of the most posh things I could conceive of.

Yuri didn’t seem nearly as impressed as I was. He sipped his water and looked pleased. “This might be one of my favourite parts of the experience, how they make you feel welcome by inviting you in and offering you a drink. Very polite. It sets the tone for the visit. Mama says that’s important, and I agree.”

“Is that why you always offer our friends something to drink as soon as they come into our house?”

“Yes,” he said. “Mama taught me a lot of useful hosting skills."

"Like how to fold napkins into cool shapes?"

He rolled his eyes at me, but I could tell he wasn't particularly annoyed. "Some day that skill will come in handy," he said. "You know, this isn't my first time at this spa. Mama brought me here once."

"Oh?"

"I miss our self-care days. We could always talk more freely when my father and sisters weren’t there, and she could share things with me that she’d never be able to otherwise."

“You and your mom had self-care days?”

“While I still lived at home, yes,” Yuri said. “Usually, we'd go to the spa in town. You know, the place in Senbamachi where I get my nails done?”

“I still think it’s funny that you get your nails done," I said.

“Today, you’re going to get your nails done," he said. "Tell me if you think it’s funny after that.”

“They’re not going to paint them some weird colour or something, are they?”

“Not unless that’s what you want. How about teal, to match your vest?”

“No.”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “Unless you ask for something special, they’ll just do a regular manicure and a clear matte polish. That’s what I usually get. You think my nails look nice, don't you?”

“Don’t get mad, but I really haven’t paid all that much attention to your nails,” I confessed. “There are other parts of you that I’d much rather look at.”

Yuri laughed. “It’s okay. To be honest, I haven’t paid all that much attention to your nails either, but today I’m going to. I’m going to enjoy a nice, long look at you once you’ve had your manicure and your facial, and you’ve had your eyebrows and lashes combed, and—”

I stared at him. “Excuse me? They’re going to comb what?”

“Your eyebrows and eyelashes,” he repeated slowly as if he thought I hadn’t understood.

“Who actually combs their eyelashes?”

He gave me a look, like I was the most uncultured person ever. “A lot of people do,” he said. “I do.”

“Uh…” was all I could manage.

“You’ll enjoy it,” he said. “And you’ll look gorgeous afterward. Not that you don’t look gorgeous now, but you’ll be like a supermodel ready for the runway by the time these people are done with you.”

I had to concede that I kind of liked the idea of looking like a supermodel. I remembered how I’d caught Yuri checking Calder out yesterday, and I wondered if random strangers might find me eye-catching like that after my spa treatment. Probably not, I concluded. It’d take way more than clear matte nail polish and combed eyelashes to make people notice me for something besides my hair.

Once again, I considered dyeing it like my cousin Leo does. The only time anyone pays attention to Leo’s hair any more is when he’s not wearing one of his ubiquitous hats and his silver roots are showing. Maybe I’d go for auburn, like my dad’s hair was, or chestnut brown like Leo. Chestnut brown was my natural hair colour too, before the family curse kicked in and I started going grey at the tender age of nine. My hair was completely silver by the time I was thirteen.

Actually, it’s not a curse. It’s a rare genetic anomaly, and it’s hereditary. Nonna Isabella — my mom’s mother — has it and she passed it on to Mom and Uncle Stephen, who passed it on to me and my cousins Leo and Kiki. My other uncle, John-Paul, doesn’t have it and neither do Bella and Maddie, his two daughters. Leo and Kiki’s sister Alessia doesn’t have it either, which makes me wonder whether or not my sister Caroline would’ve escaped it. I like to think she would have.

In my mind, Caroline will always have the same wavy auburn hair as our father. Dad’s hair might’ve been getting grey like mine by now though, since he would’ve turned fifty-one this past summer if he were still alive.

I wish you were here, Dad, I thought. It wasn’t the first time I’d made that wish, even though I knew it could never come true.

There have been so many important moments in my life that my dad didn’t get to share with me. He didn’t get to attend my graduation from high school or college, and he wasn’t there to see me win any of my snowboarding medals. He wasn’t around when I learned to drive, got my first job, fell in love, or when I decided to travel halfway around the world to be with my soulmate.

And now I’m getting married, and you aren't here to share this experience with me either.

None of that is me blaming him, of course. It's not his fault that all I can do is wonder how he might've responded to all my accomplishments or helped me learn from my mistakes. It would've been fun to surprise him with the news of our elopement just like we're going to surprise Mom. Would he have laughed or cried? I want to believe he'd be the type to laugh out loud at a surprise announcement like that, but I can't remember him well enough to say for certain. Not being able to remember more about him hurts, and that makes his absence even more profound.

That morning when he’d gotten in his car to take my baby sister to a routine doctor’s appointment, none of us had any way of knowing that he wouldn’t be coming back. Nobody could have predicted that he would be struck by an impaired driver while innocently crossing the street in front of the doctor’s office with my sister in his arms.

Even though it happened almost twenty years ago, the memory still feels fresh sometimes. I’d been sitting in my classroom at school, trying to concentrate on my reading, when the vice-principal came to the door and called my name and said she needed me to go with her to the office. In the seat behind me, Leo was giggling and poking me in the back while my friend Davian, who was sitting next to me, taunted me about being in trouble. I didn’t know what to expect, so I’d simply followed the vice-principal out of the room and down the hall.

My mom was there when we got to the office, and I didn’t need to be told that something awful had happened. Mom looked haunted. She wasn’t crying or anything. She just had this terrible, empty look on her face, like someone had extinguished the very essence of her, and in a way, I suppose they had.

She was devoted to my dad, and I never understood until I was older and I’d met my Yuri, how much another person can become a part of you. Mom lost more than a partner when she lost my father. I think a piece of her soul died with him, and she’s never fully recovered from that.

I know with absolute certainty that if anything ever happened to Yuri, I’d respond the same way. There could never be room in my heart for anyone else because even without him, the space he occupies there would always be filled with my memories of him. I think that’s part of the reason I want to marry him.

Getting married isn’t going to change anything about our relationship itself. My heart and soul and body are his one hundred percent, for the rest of time, and no piece of paper from the court is going to make one bit of difference to that. Getting married just makes it seem more reinforced somehow, like putting a stamp on our unbreakable bond that says 'this is an unbreakable bond’, so everybody will recognize it for what it is. Certifying it like that will make it easier for people to understand our shared joy, and our pain if anything should ever separate us.

I must’ve been quiet for too long, because Yuri reached across the space between us and took my hand. “Victor? Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

“My dad,” I told him. “Just imagining what he’d think of all this.”

“You being at a spa, you mean?”

“Maybe, but I was thinking of how he'd feel about me being here with you and about us getting married, and I don’t know… Everything in my life, I guess.”

“I think your dad would be happy, and he’d be proud of you,” Yuri said. “I think he’d be glad to know the person you grew up to be.”

“Thanks. I like to think that too.”

We drifted into an easy silence after that, still holding hands, slowly finishing our fruit-flavoured drinks.

Soon, the attendant came to collect us and escort us to another room where an aesthetician was waiting. She was an American woman who introduced herself as Aretha, and said she’d be looking after both of us.

When Aretha asked me what I wanted done, I kind of froze and had to glance over at Yuri for some quick help. Looking slightly amused, he explained to her what we’d like and followed up with, “It’s Victor’s first time.”

Embarrassed, I blurted, “I’m only here because we’re getting married tomorrow.”

Aretha grinned. “Well, that’s an excellent reason to be here. I’ll make you extra handsome for your wedding, and you’ll feel so refreshed that you’ll want to come back.”

“My first time, but not my last?” I said.

“Exactly,” she affirmed. “Now, don’t be nervous. Have a seat, and we’ll get started.”

Aretha chatted to me about sports and cooking, and she put me completely at ease. I started out nervous, but by the time she was finished with the nails on my left hand, I was totally relaxed and ready for her to start on the right.

For the record, clear matte nail polish looks really nice and not feminine at all, and having all that goo on my face for the facial wasn’t too bad. I probably won’t ever let anyone comb my eyelashes again, but I can totally see me going with Yuri to the spa in Senbamachi to get our nails done together. You know, as long as my cousin Leo and my friends never find out.

After our beautifying spa treatment, which was ridiculously pricey, we went back to the hotel to get changed for our photos. We opted to drive to the park because we wanted to stay clean and neat, and we also didn’t want to lose time waiting for a bus and risk being late. Plus, we’d need to drive to the Consulate afterwards.

We ended up getting there before one o'clock, so we strolled around the pond while we waited for Calder.

“Do you think it’s a good idea to wear our rings for the pictures?” I asked. I hadn’t been entirely sure about it myself when I’d suggested it, back in our hotel room. “I mean, we’re not married yet.”

“These really are going to be our wedding photos now,“ Yuri said. "When we first arranged this, calling them our wedding photos was only a joke, remember? But now it’s real. We should have our wedding rings on.”

“I’m still letting that sink in. That it’s real.”

“So am I,” he admitted. “It probably won’t, for a while.”

“I think it will for me tomorrow, when I’m putting your ring on you instead of watching you put it on yourself,” I said. “If I cry a little bit, don’t be surprised, okay?”

“You cry over everything, Victor. I’ll be surprised if you don’t cry a little bit tomorrow.”

“When you have a courthouse wedding, do you think they do that thing at the end where they pronounce you spouses and say you can kiss? Because if they do, that’s probably when I’ll really be crying. It’ll be just like something from a movie.”

“I thought you said you didn’t like romances.”

“I never said that. I like romantic movies. Just not the historical ones with all the high society people and etiquette and stuff.”

“We’ll work on your appreciation of etiquette,” he said. “And to answer your question, I don't think the judge will say anything about kissing your spouse, since this isn't technically a marriage."

"Oh."

"That doesn’t mean you can’t kiss me on the steps of the courthouse on the way out," he continued. "I should reasonably expect a kiss from my husband on the occasion of our union.”

“Count on it,” I said.

Calder finally arrived, lugging a massive bag of equipment with them. When they saw us, they set their bag carefully at the base of a tree, and trotted over to greet us. They looked almost as excited as we were.

“Such a lovely day!” they exclaimed. “We couldn’t have asked for better weather. I’m going to make the two of you look absolutely fabulous in these photos.”

And they absolutely did.

We spent a couple of hours with them, and I’m not even sure how many pictures they took. They showed us some of the raw shots on their camera, and everything looked amazing. I’m not always keen to get my picture taken unless I’m taking a selfie, but I have to say, according to what I saw on Calder’s camera, I looked like I was enjoying this particular photo shoot.

I loved how the pictures all looked so natural. Calder let us wander around and play and cuddle, and they followed us and captured us being ourselves.

We’ll show you everything when Calder finishes the post-processing and sends us the finished product. I can hardly wait to share it with everyone, but as my Uncle Stephen likes to say, patience is a virtue. Unfortunately, it may be a virtue I lack.

We rushed off to the Consulate after saying goodbye to Calder. I’ve already been to the Canadian Consulate twice since I’ve lived here, so at least I knew how to find it without getting lost. I’m glad I remembered to bring my passport and my permanent residence document because I needed both, along with my driving license for identification.

The notary I met with helped me fill in a form declaring that I wasn’t currently married to anyone, and that I have no former spouses either living or deceased. Then, she asked me to swear an oath, just as if I was giving testimony in court, that what I’d written in my form was the truth. She watched me sign the form, and after I was done, she signed it and then sealed it with this big embossed seal. She signed and sealed photocopies of my passport and permanent residence document and attached those to the back of the paper we’d signed.

With that, she congratulated me on my upcoming union, and sent me on my way.

It was dinnertime by the time we found our way back to the hotel, so we made a quick trip up to our room to put my paperwork and our rings away safely, and then we went back downstairs to the restaurant. I’d won a gift certificate for a free meal in the dartboard contest on Monday night, so we were going to take advantage of it by ordering the most expensive and delicious looking things that appealed to us.

Yuri ordered salmon sashimi with ginger, and since they also had western-style food on the menu, I got a steak and garden salad. I decided to try the tropical fruit drink. Yuri had apparently learned his lesson on Monday, because he chose a de-alcoholized white wine that was labelled as Sparkling Grape.

For dessert, Yuri had some sort of almond pastry and I had plum cheesecake. It was quite possibly the best dessert I’ve eaten since I left my home country.

Halfway through dessert, I noticed Yuri gazing distractedly out the window. From my position, I couldn’t tell if he was looking at anything in particular or if he was lost in thought.

"Hey," I said softly. "Are you feeling okay?"

“Hmm…” he said, and it took him a second to turn his attention to me again. “Oh, sorry. Yes, I’m fine. Just daydreaming a bit.”

“About tomorrow?”

“Yes, and after tomorrow," he said.

“Anything you can share?” I inquired.

“You know, I thought I’d never get married,” he said. “Not for real. I fantasized about it a lot when I was a teenager, and in my head, my wedding was always this big, elaborate event with lots of flowers and a horse-drawn carriage and hundreds of guests.”

“Sounds like a fairy tale,” I said.

“It was,” he admitted. “I never believed in it, but it was always a way to pass time and escape from the real world. I was always marrying some handsome, famous person and it was headline news. It was fun to pretend, but in my heart I was sure no one at all would want me, let alone somebody like that.”

“But someone does want you,” I said. “I might not be handsome or famous, but I do want you. Always you. Only you.”

“I know.” He smiled softly. “And I’m thankful every day for you.”

“I’m sorry you’re not going to have the fancy wedding you dreamed about.”

“I’m not sorry,” he said. “I don’t want that any more, anyway. It was a nice dream, but that’s all. What I’ve got in real life is so much better than that, and I’ll be honoured to marry you at the courthouse tomorrow.”

[luxury-residences]

Embassy Grove in Rustumbagh, Kodihalli, Bangalore East, is a premium residential community located in one of Bangalore's most sought-after neighborhoods. It offers a luxurious and convenient lifestyle in the heart of East Bangalore. The community features spacious and elegant 4 & 5 BHK Duplex and Triplex Villaments. Discover Embassy Grove Villaments for sale, explore Embassy Grove prices, view Embassy Grove photos, explore the floor plans, read reviews, and check out the brochure for more details.

[luxuryroof]

[onlythegoodpretzels]

Blood Duty

Kotallo this time! With a fic and a WIP of art!

This is for Whumptober 2024's prompt surgery!

On AO3: Blood Duty (3447 words) by OnlytheGoodPretzels Chapters: 2/2 A marshal under a knife is always dangerous, no matter how much he understands. Dekka will take him through it.

(I could not finish this illustration for today, ohmygod Tenakth tattoos.)

Or, if you like, read it under the cut:

Dread climbed Dekka’s armor when she saw the mismash of paint colors shambling up the path. Lowland and Sky together, squadless, was never a good sign. Neither were any Tenakth moving so slow.

A runner split off, pelting to the Grove’s palisades. “Chaplain! Treason!”

His white-rimmed eyes were enough for her to vault down to him, catch his arm. He was young, Sky Clan. Curse Tekkoteh for sending dregs! “Steady, soldier. What ---?”

He lurched out of her grip, waving wildly backward. “Regalla, at the Embassy! M-Marshal Kotallo!”

Shit.

Dekka hadn’t registered the white between the two lowland warriors. Kotallo’s lines bent wrong and crooked. He couldn’t be walking. “Report inside.” She pushed the warrior up the stairs, already running. “Chief’s guard, with me!” Please, if they carried him this far, let him be alive.

Fury flew in Dekka’s hands. Regalla, always sure there hadn’t been enough blood!

Ten above, Kotallo was walking. Or he was hobbling, arm wrapped wrestle-tight around a warrior’s shoulders. The other Tenakth huddled close around him, but didn’t touch his left side. Dried blood smudges covered him from chin to leg, garish and dark in the lush lowland green.

Kotallo’s eyes were barely a clenched line in his face. Sweat canyons carved through his paint. Every muscle stood separate in his neck.

And he clutched his left arm tight to his side, and wrap sheds around it were blood-black.

Shit shit shit.

“He needs a medic!” the warrior holding Kotallo gasped as Dekka reached them. “We-we did what we could, Chaplain, but I’m not sure --”

“R-Regalla -- Aghhhh!” Kotallo fought his eyes open, his growl gutted and hoarse. Hate made his skin look like stone. “D-declared war. We --- the Carja -- dea -- aaagh…” Dull choked gasps cut him off and his legs trembled, forcing him to hold tighter. The third time he tried for breath a dull cracked cry shredded out instead.

But it was his arm that commanded Dekka’s attention. He dug it tighter to his ribs, crusted blood glistening against his marks. The angle of it…the rolling twitch it dragged along his jaw, mouth open in a silent retching quiver…his hand was gone.

And though he looked toward her, Kotallo’s eyes never focused.

Dekka blocked out the rest of the conversations. The chief guard commander could handle the rest, but not this. They might still lose a marshal yet. “Quiet, soldier.”

Kotallo squinted, weaving dangerously, trying to find her. She came to his side and reached in slow to press her thumb to his headdress. Just as she had years ago setting his first marshal mark. “Your chief will take his report when he’s ready.”

Even that little force tipped him.

But Kotallo winced, swallowing raggedly. “D-Dekka…”

“Yes.” Dekka grit her teeth, feeling his gasps rattle on her fingers. Were the others she’d marked gone? She couldn’t worry about them now. “You made it. Regalla didn’t strike here.”

Kotallo snarled, low and choked. The rawness of it twisted in Dekka’s feathers, anger clenching her arms until the fronds hissed. Regalla thought sending pain like this to their doorstep would frighten them. What it would do was sing vengeance, like the fury burning in Dekka’s hands now at the thought of Kotallo limping all this way.

“Ch-chief?” Kotallo twitched, grimace carving deeper. Trying to straighten up, the idiot. 

Dekka pressed knuckles to his breastplate. “Safe. Hold Still.” The force of his shaking ached in her wrist.

Orders still worked, thank the Ten. Kotallo stilled, eyes open but darting. “G-good…good.” He must know she was there, though, because he let the chief’s guard heave him onto the stretcher when it came. Kotallo howled but he didn’t attack anyone. That was the best they would get today.

Dekka waited just long enough to be sure he was down. She had to speak to Hekarro, now.

______________________________________________________________

The shadow of war hunched over the Grove as Dekka hurried to the sleep rooms. Teharra’s report was clear and curt. The broken remains of Kotallo’s arm had Bristleback hate leeched in. The hasty field job, cut and cauterized, saved his life this long. But blaze in the wound had done its work, too deep to pry out.

For him to survive, they had to cut the attack off at the source.

This, and then Regalla.

Hekarro’s grief held him impossibly still when she left him staring at the throne room flickers. “Call him back,” had been his orders. “We can’t lose him too.”

Dekka had no intention of losing anyone else. The tags laid at the base of the throne bit so sharp. She’d give Hekarro her full report later. He was with the survivors now, though it sounded like they’d been trapped at a distance while Kotallo fought in the thick of it. And Dekka had her own calls first. A marshal under a knife was always dangerous, no matter how much he understood.

She could hear the right hut twenty paces off. Rough, sharp groans clouded the air. Dekka ducked inside.

“The Chaplain will be here -- “ Teharra’s face lit up with relief. “It’s alright. She’s here.”

Dekka nodded, setting down her bow loudly and slowly. “Kotallo.”

Kotallo sagged against the dark. He curled, hand wrapped across his knees, holding himself up as if by the grip alone. Each time he gasped he twitched, bowed tighter around his wounded limb. Armor and ornaments scattered the rug around him, so he hadn’t stopped Teharra removing them. Or hadn’t managed to. But now he looked coiled, a burrower ready to strike.

He looked up, gaze drifting slow and dull.

Good. So he’d been aware enough to drink Teharra’s liquor. They wouldn’t be able to do this at all without something in him to blunt the pain or his strength.

Teharra nodded. “He’s had a flask, but he won’t take more.” He sighed. “Marshals.”

Dekka smiled despite the tight pang in her chest. “Always at the ready, as much as they can be.” Hopefully one was enough for Kotallo. He rarely drank more ale than brought his brash back out for spars, and Teharra’s brew was rust-bitingly strong. She was glad he’d been aware enough to accept that much.

Dekka stepped closer. “Marshal. Ready?”

“Read…Ready.” Kotallo scowled, fighting against the slurring words. He squinted at Dekka, fist clenched. “Ch…chief?”

She’d only heard bits and pieces from the survivors on her way out. An ambush. Machines tearing through the marshals, Regalla’s traitors on their backs. This close, Dekka could see the dark seep of bruises in Kotallo’s marks. Cuts glinted in the blue-black stain ringing his left arm and side. The same impact echo showed dark and edged in the gap of his sternum and all the way down at his knee between the white bands.

Something enormous crashed into him, or blows all swung from the same side.

It must have been terrible.

“Planning our retaliation.” Dekka made sure he met her eyes. She wondered if he didn’t remember or was so worried he had to ask again. “He’ll want to see you after this.”

Relief hazed across Kotallo’s face. He was young enough for Hekarro’s approval to fill a void Dekka could only just remember. Maybe it would help him through this. Still, Kotallo hissed, slumping. Violent quivers ran across his bruises. “H-he…nhh--it’s bad…”

Sky Clan and their understatements. Dekka nodded. “I know. We’ve had worse.” She hoped that was true, but truth wasn’t her goal here. She moved slow, watching for strikes, and touched Kotallo’s strained knuckles. “Teharra needs to work. Lie down.”

Kotallo’s brow and nose clenched pain-low before he fought them flat. He sighed raggedly, the sound catching each time his bruised side twitched. Were the ribs broken? A snarl-shape trembled into his lip as he glanced at his arm, then turned sharply back to her. “Watch…” Kotallo’s voice broke and he winced, the pain crumpling back into his face. “Watch for machines…she…”

He finally released his knee to catch Dekka’s thumb. He shivered, fighting not to fall without the brace, a fight he would clearly lose. “She had machines…c-controlled them…somehow.”

Chills ridged up Dekka’s back. She needed to know more about that, but not now. Now she needed to answer Kotallo’s fear. She returned the handclasp, keeping her voice firm and even. “I’ll keep watch. I promise.”

Kotallo searched her face. His expression changed sluggishly, from drawn to relieved to exhausted. He braced against her hand. And when he started to fall again, he stopped fighting it.

Dekka held on, pulling to slow his fall, but Kotallo still whimpered through grit teeth hitting down, left arm slipping. Teharra ducked into the gap, stabilizing it and guiding it down. That set Kotallo growling shrilly, glancing wildly in too many directions as he tried to find what was hurting him.

Dekka let him go. No sense making him feel more trapped. “The chief’s guard will take care of it. You just have to focus.”

Kotallo panted, blinking dazedly toward her. Then he arched, keening, clawing at the rug as Teharra peeled the wrap off his mangled arm. Dekka winced, bitter taste in the back of her mouth. How long had he been stifling that sound whenever someone jostled him?

Bared, the destruction was gut-twisting. The stitches at Kotallo’s bloody wrist couldn’t hold the wound closed fully, so bone glinted at the end. The skin was mottled purple and black, darker at the wrist. Ragged scabbed gouges bent the swollen flesh in awful spirals up his forearm. Like he’d been processed by a Scrounger. They rippled and wept as he flinched. The smell of bleed and tear hit like a punch.

Teharra caught her eye and nodded before he bent down. Dekka swallowed. She’d seen many machine wounds and every single one looked inhumanly awful. If the medic thought it was possible, her duty was simple and clear.

Kotallo hissed through setting the tourniquet. He searched the room sluggishly, breaths tight and ragged. The position on his back made it worse. That worked in their favor.

When Teharra brought down his knife, Kotallo howled, recoiling, but he was choked enough to fall back almost instantly, coughing. Each time Teharra shifted Kotallo gurgled, searching shakily for Dekka, a low unyielding sound deep in his chest.

He wouldn’t be able to do this without something to hold.

Dekka leaned over him. It was hardest when there was nothing to fight. Tenakth Kotallo’s age had rarely uexperienced that kind of pain. “Soldier, I need that report. What did this?”

Kotallo twitched, relief fighting into the sweat and bruises on his face. “R -- hhhghh --” His chest spasmed, stomach to neck. “Regah -- !“

Blood, bubbling fresh. Kotallo roared, teeth creaking they clenched so hard. Teharra pinned his shoulder, shushing softly as he dug his knife in again.

 “Regalla.” Dekka broke eye contact long enough to spit on the ground. “Yes. How were you hurt?”

“ B--bhhh. Khhh--aghhh!” Kotallo flattened into the rug, kicking frantically as the blade chewed into him. Dekka pinned him, hands flat to his chest, the shattering force of his spasms jarring up and through her to ground in the dirt. “Brist -- khh! Bristle-b-back…”

Kotallo suddenly snapped his head down, hand writhing against Dekka’s knee. “Javv--AAAH! I w-wouldn’t let…” The words rushed out like he couldn’t bear them in his mouth. “H-he didn’t --- N-no!”

By the Ten! The pain was setting him off, forcing him to see what he had in battle. Dekka realized with a start her hands were flat over the bruise on his chest, where something struck him so hard it painted him black. She cursed and pushed harder. “What happened to the Bristleback, Kotallo?”

“S-sp…!” Kotallo choked, fighting weakly against her, but not enough. Not enough to jostle Teharra, or knock the glow-blade off course as it came down again, sizzling. Kotallo’s scream felt like it split the arena walls.

Dekka focused on the jagged thrum of the sound from Kotallo’s bloodied ribs up her arms, deep into her bones, right into her heart. Let it lodge there. She’d take it. She’d listen to what Regalla did to their soldiers, swallow it down bitterness and all. And she’d send it straight back into that traitor’s chest when the time was right.

Let everyone hear it. Let Hekarro hear it and be ready this time.

Lulls in bloody work like this were short and sharp. Teharra switched tools. Kotallo sagged, streaming sweat. “S-spear,” he gasped, slow and toneless. “Sp-spear. Ja--h-he speared. It pinned me.” His knuckles knocked against Dekka as if to push, but he was too uncoordinated. His wild searching of the hut intensified, tears caught in his paint. “C-can’t get loose. C-crush.”

Dekka hadn’t though she could feel more ache, but there it was. These bruises were from a Bristelback burying Kotallo? Like he was already dead as the sand drank his blood? The image chilled all the way to her spine. No wonder the warriors who saved him looked so haunted.

“It’s not here.” Dekka risked letting go one hand to brush Kotallo’s face, drawing his head down to the rug looking at her. “I have you.”

Had Regalla missed him then, down beneath the machine?

Kotallo winced, blinking hard, heaving. Shudders ran all the way down his ribs. His eyes focused violently as Teharra shifted. “D-Dekka…?” A broken bark of sound, clawed out hoarse and frayed.

Damn, so brave. “Yes. That’s right.” Dekka shuddered. The bone-biter flashed its jagged teeth in the corner of her eye, lighting Teharra’s rigidly focused face. She held it separate, looking only at Kotallo. “Yes. The Bristelaback. How did you evade Regalla, marshal?”

She didn’t really want to know if her old sparring partner found other downed marshals, or what she did to them. Regalla could be cruel and now she was beyond all honor. But Dekka hadn’t been in that bloody dirt, so she wasn’t going to fall short of those who were.

Bone grating sounded like nothing else.

Kotallo fought, joints snapping with the kind of desperation that made lizards bite after their hearts stopped beating. Dekka caught his hips with her knee, pinning his torso with an arm bar dug in at the collarbone. Kotallo wailed and roared, pulse sputtering against her fist at the crook of his ear. But even though he bared his teeth animal-sharp at the pain, he couldn’t move her.

Thank the Ten she could hold him. And she hated it so much. Kotallo was stronger than her. Dekka hated that he wasn’t right now.

Kotallo writhed beneath her even though he couldn’t break through. Dekka didn’t think he could see her, and she could only hope he wasn’t seeing the Bristleback. His white smudged on her knuckles, bleeding off in the sweat. Like Regalla tried to wipe the marshals’ stories down into the sand she thought belonged to her.

“Out -- “ Kotallo suddenly clutched at her sash. “F-fire hair, n-neverseen---” When she looked his eyes were glazed, forced almost closed by the deep gouges the pain tore in his face. But he was focused. Holding on to what he saw. Words bubbled out like the blood spatters Teharra burnt closed. “Neverseenoutland--aaah---f-foughtch-challenge--Gr--AAAH!”

An outlander?

Dekka tried to shift enough for him to feel her tug in return. “A Carja challenge Regalla? Brave.” She leaned down, holding him through the spasms.

She didn’t think Kotallo could feel anything through the sawing teeth. But she had to try.

After interminable time and screams, Teharra shifted at her shoulder. Roasting flesh smell roiled much closer to Dekka’s face than before. She looked, letting the glow-blade sear its echo-ache on her vision to watch it press to the curve where Kotallo’s elbow had been and now was carved away. The blood was so red it seemed like it would never allow another color, even though Dekka knew that wasn’t true.

Teharra nodded, gratitude tight in his face as he set the glowblade aside and took up his needles. He set to closing the flesh around the new end of Kotallo’s arm, stitching the muscles back home.

Before Dekka could respond, Kotallo slumped under her, breaths watery and ragged, full-body trembling. She lurched up so she wasn’t crushing his chest. “Kotallo?”

He muttered, still trying to answer her, but no words formed in the sounds. Dekka pressed her palm to his cheek and sagged with relief when skin-warmth met it. So no blood-chill, thank everything. She tapped his cheek. “Kotallo!”

Teharra’s wounds weren’t like battle hits. They could shock even the strongest warriors into strange states. Maybe losing the bone was more than Kotallo could hold like this.

Kotallo flinched, bumping Dekka’s hand. He slid one eye open. Pain-drunk now, loose and shaky as new-walking cadet, he nudged closer. It took a long time for any recognition to bleed over his face. Kotallo wheezed, fingers twitching. “G--Grudda…”

The desert champion. Certainty stabbed into Dekka. The braggart joined Regalla. “He isn’t here.”

Kotallo bared his teeth in something like a smile, though it couldn’t reach the grooved pain lines in his face. “H-he’s dead.” He clutched his hand to his ribs, panting so fast it shook him. “Ahh--at least---I saw…that…”

Dekka let her full scowl out. She had no patience for Kotallo’s brand of dramatic, regardless of whether he was conscious or not! She clasped his thumb, hard, pulling him away from the bruises. “You’re not dying today. And if you did, I would make you sharpen every weapon in the Grove.”

Kotallo flinched, fumbling in her grip. Confused. The tangle of needles and cut and fingers was probably more than he could parse right now. But he returned the grip. So faint it felt like a brush of wind. “Y…yes…Ch…”

His strength was almost gone. He’d spent so much just getting here, and then making the Ten proud under Teharra’s teeth. Dekka felt him losing cohesion, fingers slackening. She forced herself not to panic. Kotallo was breathing. He showed no sign of stopping. If the pain took him under, it would be a reprieve for all of them.

Still, she hated him fighting to see her. Dekka pressed her thumb to the deep pain lines in Kotallo’s forehead, joining her sweat with his. “The chief still needs your report after this. He’ll want to know what happened to Grudda.”

The pressure nudged Kotallo’s eyes closed, as she’d hoped. He shuddered, each breath he took climbing into her wrist. “S-she…killed…him.” A faint smile dragged at the corner of his mouth. “S-strength…o-of the…Te…”

He went still, head sagged into her hand. Finally, finally out. He still protested faintly to each dip of Teharra’s thread, but the sound was so soft it was barely a hum in Dekka’s fingertips. She let herself breathe, and stay. And wait.

The thick blood smell leveled, pierced with balm-sour and char.

She checked Kotallo’s pulse, even though she could see him breathing perfectly well. “Teharra?”

Teharra wrapped his tools. “He’s survived this far. He should be clear if he wakes up tomorrow.” He paused, reaching to run his hands over his face, but caught it before he smeared himself bloody. Instead, he blinked at Dekka. “He will…”

Dekka took a moment to turn to Teharra, fully meet his eyes. She didn’t want Regalla’s fear to reach any farther than it already had. “Yes. He knows we need him.”

Teharra nodded, teeth grit. Seeing a marshal carved this deep shook him, even after all he’d seen. Dekka had her work cut out for her once she finished here. Teharra stood, lifting the bloody wrapped bundle of Kotallo’s arm. “I’ll report to Chief and see to this. If…he’ll ask for you.”

Dekka shook her head. “He won’t. There are no marshals to keep the Watch. No clanmates he’d recognize.” She traced the mountain lines on Kotallo’s forehead, trying to smooth some of the pain there. “Tell Chief I’m ready to report. And send anyone in need of guidance here to me.”

Teharra saluted. “Walk with the Ten, Chaplain.”

“And Hekarro can wait for you to wash!” Dekka called after him. She settled, half an eye on Kotallo’s short, wincing breaths. They all needed her. Everyone in the Grove, even Hekarro. And she'd do it. She’d see to them all. That was her duty as Chaplain. Tonight this was the tip of her spear.

Dekka gathered Kotallo’s breastplate off the floor. Sitting by his head, so he’d see her if he woke, she picked the dried blood out of the tines. By morning, maybe this would be something she could give back to him, for all the things no one ever could.

[housingrealtybykaal]

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