Chapter 5
Seren
The outline of a watchtower loomed in the fading light, built high into the towering evergreen, signaling how close I was to home.
The Vangar had already seen me—there was no slipping past them. They wouldn’t stop me, but they would come for me. I’d brought something—someone—they wouldn’t ignore.
The path winding through the heart of the encampment stretched ahead. Shadows filtered through the trees as the sun dipped lower, the air growing heavy with the approaching night. I felt the weight of every step, certain I was being watched.
I couldn’t risk going to my family’s tent. Presenting myself to an officer or council member first would be a show of my good faith.
Speak firmly. Hold your ground. Don’t let Seth bait you into anger.
Voices murmured ahead, torchlight flaring against the dark. My pulse quickened, but I kept my expression neutral as the figures emerged.
Seth stood at their head, hand resting on his sword’s hilt. Others followed—council members and Vangar warriors—their faces unreadable, though their silence spoke volumes. They’d come to judge me before I’d even spoken.
My body ached from dragging the Lirien, my fingernails torn from gripping for so long. Slowing, I lowered the bedroll to the ground. The Lirien hadn’t stirred once during the day-long trek back.
“Seren.” Seth broke from the others, closing the distance between us. “Explain?”
“I know this—”
“Who is he? The Vangar reported you had brought a wounded man.”
I positioned myself between Seth and the Lirien. “I have.”
Olivia Galanis, the council member tasked with checking visitors from other encampments for the Viori rune mark, stepped forward. With a flick of her fingers, a bright green light flared and settled on the man’s recumbent form. She lifted her head sharply, eyes wide. “He’s not Viori.”
Seth’s dark eyes glittered. “Liriens have no place here.”
“Let me speak.”
“There’s nothing you can say. You’ve defied the law—that alone warrants punishment. But bringing him here?” He gestured to the Lirien with a sharp flick of his hand. “You’ve endangered all of us.”
“That’s not true.” The words felt hollow.
“This is arrogance, plain and simple. You think you’re above the laws that protect us.” His voice dripped with disdain. “Step aside, and I’ll end this now.”
Seth’s drew his sword.
“No.” I’d prepared for this. Pulling out a small crossbow I’d fastened to my back, my muscles trembled. I aimed at him, and he froze. “I won’t miss.”
Seth’s lip curled, but he didn’t move. The torches around us crackled, the only sound in the still night.
“What is the meaning of this?” My mother’s voice rang out. She ran toward us, Ciaran at her side.
Thank the gods.
Ciaran must have been on duty and warned her. My friend’s face was flushed.
“Seren brought a Lirien into the encampment.” Seth stared me down.
Stand firm, Seren.
“I have my reasons,” I gritted.
“There’s never a good reason. Or have you forgotten that Esme remains unaccounted for?” The barb struck deep, and he knew it.
Mother reached us, carrying herself with the grace of an Ibarran priestess. “Seth, please.” She knelt, prostrate at his feet.
My stomach turned. Aren’t we all supposed to be equals among the Viori?
Ciaran hovered behind my mother, clearly worried, his presence solid, but that made two people on my side.
“I was attacked by a vuk. This man interfered and risked his life to save mine, killing the vuk, and injuring himself gravely.”
Seth barked out a laugh. “A vuk? Even if we were foolish enough to believe one might attack a Viori, it’s well-known they’re impossible to kill.”
Asshole.
“And yet, he did.”
Torchlight cast jagged shadows across his face. “And why would a Lirien save a Viori? What reason would he have unless you gave him one?”
The insinuation curled between us, unspoken but unmistakable. My cheeks burned. Seth didn’t need to say the word lover—everyone already understood his meaning.
“Believe whatever you want, but it doesn’t change the truth. You’d rather punish him than acknowledge any honor on his part?”
Seth’s laugh was bitter, cutting. “Honor? From a Lirien? Or are you the one mistaking his intentions? The last time I saw you, you were sneaking out of the camp. Were you meeting him then? And if he’s not a lover, then what? An accomplice?”
The words hit like a physical blow. He wasn’t just accusing me of foolishness. He was accusing me of treason.
“Enough, Seth. You know she has Pendaran blood. If what she says is true, she cannot kill him.” Mother’s long, dark tresses cascaded over her shoulders as she pleaded.
“But I can. And she is a Viori first and foremost, Lucia. You Ragnalls may have forgotten that while hanging your Pendaran and Ibarran crests.”
The Lirien drew a ragged breath. I knelt beside him to take his pulse, still carefully holding the crossbow.
Slow. Faint.
“He needs healing, Seth. Please,” I said. “My mother can heal him and, afterward, he can be held captive. The Harvest Moon is close—he can claim refuge then. If he refuses, at least I’ve fulfilled my duty.”
Soroush, the oldest council member, peered at the Lirien before turning his gaze to my mother, then to Seth. His grey, thin lips parted, tongue moistening dry skin. “It’s forbidden. Let nature take its course.”
The simple answer. Maybe even the wise one.
But I didn’t drag him through the forest to die here at my feet.
“Then I’ll heal him. I just need some supplies.” My abilities paled compared to Mother’s, but I wasn’t completely without skill.
I scanned the gathered faces, searching for an ally. Olivia’s sharp features hardened with disapproval. Soroush, however, remained calculating, his gaze flickering between Seth and me. He weighed his options. Perhaps he could be swayed.
“Seth, you know I’d never endanger the Viori. No one in this condition is a threat.”
Soroush cleared his throat, his thin voice rasping. “Seren, this is reckless. Bringing a Lirien here—did you think we wouldn’t notice?”
“I thought you’d listen,” I shot back. “I thought you’d trust me enough to hear my reasons before drawing your swords.”
Olivia’s frown deepened. “Trust is earned, not assumed.”
Their words piled on top of each other, a suffocating wall closing in. Ciaran stood at the edge of the group, stoic but alert. Ready to help, if necessary. No one else moved. No one else would step in.
Seth gave me a long, measured look. “If you’re so honorable, let the council decide your punishment.”
I tilted my head, letting a faint, mocking smile tug at my lips. “Of course, Seth. Just as soon as you explain why you needed to draw a sword on someone carrying an injured man. What are you afraid of? That I might actually have a good reason?”
Behind Seth, the other council members exchanged uncertain glances. Good. If I couldn’t beat him outright, I could at least make him look like a bully.
“He killed a vuk.” I leveled my gaze at Seth. “You’re right, it’s nearly impossible. Which means this Lirien isn’t ordinary. He’s Sealed. Imagine what we might learn from him if he joins us.”
Seth scoffed. “And if he doesn’t? What then? He runs back to Lirien with our secrets?”
“Then we execute him,” I said bluntly. “But not until we’ve learned everything we can. Throwing away a potential advantage is shortsighted, even for you.”
A murmur rippled through the crowd, and Soroush nodded faintly. Perfect. Let them think this is about strategy, too.
My gaze swept over those gathered, meeting each pair of eyes in turn. “Is this what we’ve become? We execute those who save our lives without even asking why?”
“Don’t twist this,” Seth snarled. “You knew what would happen.”
“I know what happens to those who break their oaths. If we let honor die in the name of fear, what’s left to protect?”
“Admit that he’s your lover, Seren. It’s the only logical explanation for your behavior. Maybe then the council will have mercy.”
Yes, because breaking our laws to rendezvous with and save a Lirien lover made more sense to him than the truth. The bitter irony of it made me want to scream.
But he already believed me to be a liar. So be it. “If I admit this man is my lover, you’ll allow me to save him?”
Seth’s frown deepened. “No. I meant mercy for you. You can’t claim a lover.”
No, but I can claim a spouse.
The desperate plan I’d wrestled with on the journey here might be the only way out. Seth wouldn’t back down. Time was running out.
All Viori had the right to claim family or spouses if they fled from Lirien to join us. But born Viori couldn’t claim spouses—because it was impossible. A Lirien spouse meant you’d lived in Lirien.
But I knew a way around that.
My mother’s spell book held an ancient, nearly forgotten incantation.
The Oath of Bryndis. A sacred bond, rarely spoken of, but one Ibarrans would be familiar with.
The oath would not only tether this man to me—it would heal him.
Allow me to claim him as my husband, buying me time to decide what to do next.
And the bond meant the Lirien wouldn’t be able to betray me without hurting himself. It was a risk. A gamble. But the only one I had left.
But who knew what the consequences would be?
Bile rose in my throat and I forced it back down. My father’s voice echoed through my mind, the lesson ingrained in me since childhood: Never break your oath. To break it is to break yourself.
And then Esme’s face flickered in my mind as well—small, defiant, and so certain I’d keep her safe. I couldn’t fail again.
Not this time. Not this life.
“I claim him as a husband,” I declared.
The words sent a ripple through those gathered. My mother’s alarmed gaze snapped to me. Ciaran went rigid.
Seth scoffed. “That’s impossible.”
“No, it’s not.” I uttered a spell over the Lirien and me and a dome of crystal-clear ice formed around us. Someone with spellcraft might be able to break it, but it would buy me precious seconds.