CHAPTER 27
Life and death are both gifts. There cannot be one without the other. They are always in balance. Do not think that one is greater. The goodness in life is only made poignant because of its approaching end.
—Entry from the private diary of Jerris, Dragonbound
SERAE
“It’s time to wake, my lady.” A gentle rocking shifted me about. “We have to get you on the dais for the rite.”
I opened my bleary eyes and tried to sit up. Pain shot through my arm like being stabbed all over again. I gasped and fell back to my pillow.
“Dragon’s fucking balls, that hurts!”
It was a fucking ordeal, all right, to get me changed and dressed. My arm wound looked horrific, and as soon as the dressing was changed, blood started seeping out. There was no bathing for me, and with no use of my right arm or left hand, Callagh had to help sponge bathe and dress me.
“I’ve brought you something special from Lanh Migram.
” It was a forest green overdress trimmed with pure white wool.
It had been adjusted with a slit up the back of the right sleeve and ties to accommodate my injury.
She had also sent along a matching cloak that was entirely lined with a soft layer of wool and an extra length of cloth so we could tie my arm up into a matching sling.
“She did all this for me?”
Callagh nodded and attached the same golden belt I wore for my First Sun around my waist.
“I’ll braid your hair today. I spent half the night practicing this one.” The braid had tons of strands in it; so many, I lost count. When she was done, she looked at me and cackled.
“What are you up to?” I asked. “I know that look.”
Her grin was wide and devilish. “It’s a woven message.
Up here,”—she pointed to a section by my ear—“it says, righteous. Down here,”—a portion of the tail—“it says, truthful. And across this side,”—trailing from my other ear—“it says, chosen.” She squeezed my uninjured shoulder.
“There can be no doubt. The right will be granted.”
Though the walk down to the pavilion usually took fifteen minutes, we left nearly an hour early.
I needed it. Each step jostled either my arm or breast, crippling my pace.
With Braethair and Braedur again flanking us, we made it to the dais just before the arena began to fill.
A chair had been placed for me, separate from the thrones. It was a kindness I hadn’t expected.
Dane arrived with Ell in tow. Wep was not with them. My heart sank.
“Do you think he’s avoiding today?”
“He will fight for you. He is worthy.”
“You think he’ll challenge his brother?” I gasped. With so much focus on my injuries, I hadn’t considered the possibility.
Vaya’la did not answer.
Ell came straight to me when he climbed the dais and patted my cheek. “How’s that arm?” There was a light behind his eyes and a smile playing at his mouth. The crowd began to file in, talking and laughing.
“Do you really care to know?”
That got his smile to dim.
“Serae! Serae!”
I turned away from him and spotted Teke at once.
Seated three rows behind the dais was my entire ranng, all side by side.
I smiled up at them and waved with my bandaged hand.
“You’re a fucking badass!” Lispen shouted.
Lex immediately took up the chant, “Badass! Badass! Badass!” I wished I were seated with them.
Ell slipped away to the other side of the dais.
Just like the previous day, Dane held up his hands in welcome, calling out to the Riht who had traveled to witness the rite.
As he spoke, two men walked out to the center of the arena.
A flash of copper hair caught my eye. I stood, staring hard at the unmistakable figures of Wep and Bracht.
My heart skipped a beat. Was he already challenging his brother before the rite even started?
Dane’s voice boomed as he continued. “Today, we stand before Eldreth, son of Auldren, Marr Wep of the Riht, to hear his plea for his right for betrothal. On his own behalf, he will speak.”
I gripped the railing on the dais with one hand, ignoring the pain that shot through it.
The breath rushed from my lungs as all sense and logic fled my mind.
My whole body seized. Eldreth? Eldreth? Using all my effort, I forced my head to turn to Ell, who was standing beside his father’s throne looking bored. He caught my eye and winked.
What kind of game was this?
I didn’t have time to consider as Wep began to speak.
The crowd, like me, was whisper-silent, all waiting to hear his words.
“I entered into this arrangement guided by Dane, but of my own free will. At first, I did question its merit. I wondered how a woman of Inra would challenge me, stand at my side, and be my match.” He ran a hand through his loose hair.
“You can imagine my shock at first sight of her.” The crowd chuckled.
“More than being uniquely beautiful, she is my complement in every way.” This time, murmurs rose and fell in waves.
Blood began to pound in my ears, almost drowning out his words.
“She has already claimed me, body, mind, and soul.” His eyes sought mine as he waited for the gasps and chatter to die down.
When he spoke again, his words were simple and clear.
“There is no other for me, in this realm or the next. I demand the right for betrothal.”
The edges of my vision fuzzed as shouts exploded from the arena stands. I could only make out those nearest me.
“How could she be your match?”
“She has not proven herself worthy!”
“Red hair is not enough, Wep!”
“Have you lost your senses?”
I forced myself to draw breath. My whole body shook with anticipation. My mind was fucked in ten different ways. Dane held up a hand for peace, but for once, I agreed with the jeering crowd. I wanted answers.
I didn’t know what was going on, but none of this made sense.
Wep couldn’t be Eldreth. I played back a thousand different memories, and I came to the same conclusion every time.
It was impossible. I had only ever heard him referred to as Wep.
That was his name. On that first day, he had introduced himself as Wep, hadn’t he?
Yet, I was staring at more evidence than I could have asked for.
An entire crowd of people, his father and brother among them, looked at him like he was exactly where he belonged.
Wep was Eldreth.
A part of my heart swelled. It had been slowly breaking for weeks, and now the pieces threatened to smash back together.
I wasn’t sure I could survive it. Something in me dimmed as a niggling doubt took root in my head.
No one had confirmed the results of my rite.
This morning, I was in so much pain that I hadn’t even thought to ask.
I’d lost two out of three trials by weapon, but Callagh had said I didn’t have to win them all.
Was winning one enough? Was surviving Meralda’s onslaught proof of my dedication?
Dane’s voice boomed at my side, making me jump. “Let any who challenge this match come forward!”
“I challenge it, Dane.”
My head snapped to the side. Ell hopped off the dais and sauntered out onto the field.
Next to Wep, he looked like a peacock in his bright blue tunic and green pants.
Wep—Eldreth—wore his leathers over a black tunic.
His adornments were purely functional, the opposite of Ell, who donned a pendant, flashy belt, and rings glinting in the sun.
Wep was armed to the teeth with a longsword, short swords, daggers, and who knows what weapons I couldn’t see.
Ell had only two short swords hanging from his belt.
Dane, at my side, growled. When he spoke, his words were laced with ire. “Ellán, son of Auldren, holder of no title, has stepped forward. What claim could you possibly make?”
Ellán?
He smiled that cat-like grin that set me on edge. “Why, a claim of both title and heart, of course.”
“Nonsense.”
Ell’s smile fell away. “Who else here in the Riht could stand against this and win?” He turned to the crowd, and like Dane’s, his voice carried loud and strong.
“My claim of the title is sound. Dane seeks an alliance with Inra. I, too, can fulfill that alliance without putting an Inraen in the seat of high dana. As for my claim of the heart, I cannot make professions of love after knowing a person for so few weeks,” he cast a sidelong glance at Wep, “but I can tell you that Serae has sought me out as both companion and confidant. Her heart is not so steadfast. I don’t know what magic she brings to have turned my brother’s head so quickly, but it was not so long ago that another stood in her place.
I come forward for the good of my brother and the Riht. ”
“Your challenge is denied.”
An uproar echoed through the crowd at Dane’s words. They booed and shouted claims of unfairness and bias. Dane held his hands up for peace, but the cries did not die down.
I collapsed into my chair as Dane bellowed at the people, and they shouted back. My heart, this fragile thing, was bleeding out in my chest.
“Calm, Small One.”
But I could not. I looked to Wep, the true Eldreth, my betrothed all this time, the only one I wanted, and I saw him slipping away.
It was different when I thought I had never had him—when I thought he wasn’t mine.
My mind refused to believe that anything could be so simple.
It was too much, teetering on the edge, not knowing for sure whether I had secured my right.
“Find your center. Do you not have faith in your weaponmaster?”
“I do.”
Eldreth’s eyes were on Ellán, and they were dark storms. “I accept your challenge,” he called out. At that, silence finally fell. “Name your feat.”
With a little shrug, Ellán suggested, “Short swords.”
Eldreth nodded. “I invoke the right of first blood.”
Gasps sounded from every corner of the stands.
Ellán laughed. “Done!”