CHAPTER 15
“It is time, Small One,” her voice sounded in my mind.
I looked to Patriol, whose eyes were locked on me. I nodded.
With a sigh, he returned the gesture. “Tell your god to keep you safe and return you to us.”
—Recounting from the private diary of Jerris, Dragonbound
SERAE
Late Summer, Maymon 1036
“Return to me.”
“I cannot.”
“You must. You are bound to me. We must tighten and complete the binding.”
“I don’t know where you are.”
“You know, my child. Return at once, or the fires will consume you.”
“They will never let me free.”
“They will. I have commanded it.”
I opened my eyes. The dream flitted away from my consciousness, but a brilliant light still pulsed within my mind. No sooner had I noticed it than it dimmed. My head cleared. I threw off the covers, happy for the first time to be surrounded by the blissful chill in the air.
To say I slept poorly was the least of it. My dreams were twisted with fear and madness, leaving me thrashing in my sheets. Still, unrested as I was, a burning purpose hammered at me with every breath. There was somewhere important I had to be.
A knock sounded at my door. “My lady, wake up.”
“Just a minute,” I grumbled, shoving my face into the pillow. My tongue was dry and heavy in my mouth. I needed water, but I wasn’t much inclined to move.
“No, my lady. We have to see Dane.”
Dane? I shot up as pieces of my memory rushed back, moments I hadn’t realized I’d forgotten.
Power filling me. Collapsing in his arms. Dane carrying me to my new rooms. Wep, gripping my hips—I pushed that one aside.
Then, the fire. I looked up to the black spot on my ceiling, a haunting halo above the place where I had burned.
“My lady, please,” Callagh hissed.
Clothes practically leapt from the armoire onto me.
I inhaled a scant quarter of my vegetables and jumped to my feet—my feet!
I hastily tugged on boots, then Callagh hauled me bodily through the corridors back to the Receiving Hall with many a “Sorry, my lady” between hurried steps.
I was pushed before Dane with a speed and surety that I would never have done on my own.
The benches around the dais held a dozen people I’d come to recognize as Dane’s advisors.
He rose to his feet. “Daughter.”
The door behind us creaked open, then shut with a dull thud. I whipped around to the familiar copper knot and closely trimmed beard that stood out amongst the Riht. His eyes scanned the room, then rested on me. There was something more in them than the usual harsh glare.
I held his gaze, breathing steadily until my shoulders dropped.
“Approach,” Dane called.
A new fear overtook me as Wep walked slowly toward the dais, eyes flicking back to me with every other step. His brow furrowed. Did Dane know?
“Speak,” Dane said simply.
It was Wep, of all people, who stepped forward. “My dane, I believe Inra means to betray the Riht.”
“No!” I gasped, and all eyes turned to me.
“Why would we?” My eyes flicked between Wep and Dane, then I clapped a hand over my mouth.
If only I could shrink into the stone walls.
I had no right to speak out of turn here.
Even Wep, whom Dane held in high regard, did not interrupt in the Receiving Hall.
Dane’s eyes snapped to me, blue, bright, and cunning. He held my gaze for a long, hard moment, then frowned. “Aye, the lady asks the right question.” He stroked his braided beard. “The margrave sent his daughter to wed my son. The king issued a promise of peace. I hope you bring proof.”
“I have—”
“Because we have gone to great lengths to make peace with the Inraens. A peace, I’ll remind you, that you above all demanded.”
My head snapped back to Wep so fast I nearly toppled over. He was the picture of control.
“We apprehended an officer traveling with a band of soldiers along the Inraen coast. Upon seeing us, they attacked without prompting or question. This was a violation of our peace pledge and defied our good faith agreement.”
“What have you learned from the prisoner?”
“Nothing yet, but—”
“NOTHING?” Dane bellowed.
I recoiled, stepping back and turning away before catching myself. At home, a tone like that meant bruises. But I was not at home, Father was not speaking, and no blow would come.
“No one touches you now, Small One.”
My shoulders relaxed. She—the voice—was right. I was in Dane’s hall. Ironic that I was safer trapped in a room of Rihtish warriors than standing before my own father.
Dane’s head cocked to one side.
“I ask you again, Son. What can you prove?”
I shook my head, reeling at that word. Son.
Wep continued to speak, but the words lost their meaning. I began to sweat. My eyes went to Wep, then to the floor. I took another deliberate breath, but my heart rate skyrocketed. Chaos reigned within me, though I remained still.
“What do you say to this, Daughter?”
Dane’s question caught me off guard. My mind raced through what had been said, scrambling for a response. “You were on Inraen soil unannounced?”
Behind me, the door creaked and thudded, admitting another newcomer.
I did a double-take. The man was a near replica of the weaponmaster but with obvious mistakes in the copy.
Mistakes that suited him perfectly. He was slimmer with a longer braid worn over one shoulder.
His eyes were brighter, and his face held none of the severity and storm that I’d come to know.
As he stepped into the light, I saw his hair was dark blond, not copper like Wep’s.
“Father,” he called. “What an austere welcome this is.” He grinned and spread his arms wide as he walked toward the dais.
“Ell.” Dane’s greeting was flat. “You were expected to return a month ago.”
My jaw went slack. Eldreth.
“I beseech your forgiveness, of course. I was delayed.”
Wep snorted.
Ell turned an unwavering grin toward him, then moved forward and clapped Wep on the back. “Brother, you cannot begrudge a man one last hurrah.”
My knees went weak, and Callagh stepped closer to me. My stomach threatened to upturn the small amount of vegetables I’d managed to eat. My voice had most certainly abandoned me, but I couldn’t look away from the two men before me. Side by side, the resemblance was uncanny.
“Three days together at sea, and now you won’t embrace me?” Ell asked.
Wep frowned severely but clasped forearms with his brother all the same. He glowered with clear reproach.
Over Ell’s shoulder, Wep’s eyes met mine. Ell turned, following his brother’s gaze.
“Well, hello.” Ell smiled at me. His face lit up, making his features even more handsome. “Aren’t you a lovely thing?” He turned and approached with a casual confidence that was part of his natural gait. “I hear we’re to be family.”
I gawked. I didn’t want to be a landed fish gasping for air, but here I was.
He bent and kissed my hand—when had he taken it?
—all the while keeping his eyes locked on mine.
The warmth of his lips pressed to the back of my hand, followed by his thumb smoothing over my skin, sealing the kiss in place.
I let out a breath, and my skin erupted in a body-wide blush.
How could such an innocent gesture feel like anything but?
Behind his brother, Wep growled. He actually growled.
I wanted to turn, to see what had the weaponmaster’s blood aflame this time, but I could not for the life of me pull my eyes away from the man before me.
Up close, I saw that he was muscular, despite his slim build, and slightly taller than Wep.
His eyes were ice blue and playful. His lips quirked into a smile that I doubted ever left his face.
This jaunty man was, at long last, my betrothed—returned from Creator-knows-where and looking at me like we were already fast friends.
I began to dip into a curtsey before catching myself. Slipping my hand from his grasp, I placed a fist to my chest and bowed my head. “Well met. I am Serae of Cavendaffe. I trust your journey was safe and productive.”
“Very. Tell me, Serae of Cavendaffe, how have you been treated since you arrived? I imagine everyone’s been downright brutish.” He shifted, and I caught a glimpse of Wep with balled fists and a clenched jaw. Was that an insult meant for him?
My eyes darted between them. “Wep is your brother?” I blurted.
Ell chuckled. “Yes, indeed. You catch on quickly.” He glanced back to Wep, then said, “What have they been telling you?” He grinned widely.
“Ell,” Dane snapped, patience gone. “You owe me a report.”
“Yes, all right.” He let out a world-weary sigh.
Dane waved at me and Callagh. “We’ll handle this other matter later. Dismissed.”
I had no intention of moving, but Callagh grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back.
I had a hundred things to say and a hundred questions to ask.
But all I could think about was Wep and the storm in his eyes when they landed on his brother.
Was that a good sign, or a bad one? Considering how little I knew of Wep, I honestly couldn’t tell.
Callagh guided us back to my new rooms. Were it not for her steady hand, who knows where I would’ve ended up in the maze of corridors? I sank into a chair and stared at the wall. Beside me, Callagh watched in silence.
“My lady,” she asked at length, “are you quite well?”
I did not look at her. “Was that him, Callagh? Was that really him?”
I felt more than heard her sigh. “Did you not know?”
“No.”
“I thought Dane had told you after your First Sun.”
“No.” It was all I could think to say.
“I suppose it helps that he’s terribly handsome, for all his other faults.” Callagh chuckled, but the joke was lost on me.
I buried my head in my hands, whether from shame or this unexpected wave of sadness. Less than a day ago, I stood in almost this very spot kissing my betrothed’s brother. Martyrs, I had wanted to do so much more, had he not stopped us. No fucking wonder he did.
“What do I do?” I whispered.