Chapter 16
I couldn't get rid of the smell of death that had settled deep in my throat.
It clawed and burned as I tried to wash it away with expensive mead imported from Kreof.
A strange silence hung over the hall as no one seemed eager to celebrate anymore.
Most sat at the tables, staring wordlessly at distant points only they could see.
Scenes like this, this kind of brutality, were something most of us had never witnessed before.
Peace, the very thing we all longed for, sometimes made our stomachs soft and our minds far too innocent.
An unfamiliar sound behind me, one I would have to grow used to, pulled me from my thoughts.
I set my goblet down.
The thought of taking another sip made my stomach churn.
No matter how many times I turned it over in my head, I couldn't understand how Lys had been the one fighting.
How was he the one standing behind me now?
Why had he lied to me just as much as I had lied to him?
Ever since we had cut our palms, I hadn't found the strength to even look at him.
The boy I had thought about for countless nights, the one I saw in every small detail of my day, now stood behind me and had sworn to die for me if necessary.
I turned my injured hand toward myself.
"Bothering you that much?" Sando's voice came as a quiet murmur. I shrugged, unable to take my eyes off the bloodstained bandage. I felt him step closer. "It shall be alright, sister. Don't fret." At last, my eyes found his. He offered a faint smile, but his eyes remained unmoving. He was lying.
Still, I smiled back. After all, I was lying to myself too, hoping everything would somehow be alright.
He opened his mouth to say something else, but the sharp tap of a spoon against a goblet somewhere farther down the table cut him off.
The few people who had still been speaking fell silent and lifted their heads toward the king standing beside the high table. He looked across the room and struck the goblet once more.
"I know this did not end the way any of us imagined," he began, "but my daughter has gained her knight, and this is still a day for celebration."
It sounded more like an order than an attempt at comfort.
"My daughter, our Princess Isolde, has finally been given someone who will stand beside her and protect her for the rest of her life."
At those words, I lowered my gaze to my plate. My heart fluttered at the thought, while an ugly weight settled deep in my stomach. Yet he continued, unbeknownst to my inner discomfort.
"Yes, my friends, this is a day for celebration, and celebrate we shall. To Isolde and her knight, Ser Lysande.“ His voice echoed through the crowded hall. Goblets and fists struck the tables as voices rose around us, shouting our names.
Isolde and Lysande. Not Sol and Lys.
Princess and knight. Not two peasants.
They had already forgotten the blood, the death, the pain. They had forgotten my protests and my selfishness. They just ate and drank until their stomachs were full.
Hours later, as the hall slowly emptied and people began to collapse into drunken sleep, I rose from my seat and followed Sando, Meera, and Corian, who, as always, followed close behind.
With my head lowered, I left the hall.
Lys followed me. Just as he was supposed to. Without a word, he walked behind me. I wanted him to say something. Anything. I just wanted to hear his voice. But he didn't. Of course he didn't.
His duty was no longer to laugh or talk. His duty was simply to follow and protect. At the end of the day, Lys had become my shadow.
My Blood Knight.