Page 90 of Of Empires and Dust

Savrin shrugged like a man tired of making excuses. “I spent nearly a decade at the bottom of a bottle. Not proud of it.”

“And now?”

“Marlin pulled me from a puddle of my own piss not too long ago. Told me you were alive, told me Arkin’s son had returned and he needed me, but that I had no place by your side until I pulled myself together.”

“Have you?”

Savrin pursed his lips. “I’m trying. I’ve not touched a drop in weeks.”

Dayne stared back at Savrin. He had spent countless hours as a child watching in awe whenever Savrin sparred, watching in reverence. The man moved like someone who could see the future. He’d been a legend, a living, breathing bard’s tale.

He looked a shadow of that legend now.

“Speak plainly. Why are you here?”

“To the point.” A smile graced Savrin’s face, then yielded to a deep sadness. “Just like your father.”

The man dropped to a knee before Dayne, placing a closed fist against his chest. He kept his head bowed, his eyes down. “Your father was the closest thing I had to a brother, and I failed him. He died, and I wasn’t there to die with him. Your sister is the closest thing I had to a niece, and I failed her too. I stoodby as her child was ripped from her breast. Your brother? I saw what he was becoming, and I did nothing. I wallowed and looked inwards. This House is the only home I’ve ever known, and I let it burn. I ask only that you grant me the honour of wearing the Andurii crest once more. An honour I don’t deserve. I ask that you let me stand at the front of every charge, that you let me fight where the battle is bloodiest, and that you give me the chance to do right by your father’s name. Let me protect his son in this war.”

Dayne looked down at the man who knelt before him. “You’re old.”

“Put a spear in my hand. I’ll show you how old I am.”

“You’re tired.”

“I’ll rest when I’m dead.”

Dayne reached down his hand, palm open.

Savrin looked up at Dayne, then grabbed Dayne’s forearm and lifted himself to his feet.

“By the next moon, we march on Achyron’s Keep. We will climb tooth and nail over that wall if we have to.”

“I’ll be the first over.”

“Loren’s forces number over fifty thousand, ours barely thirty.”

“The odds are in our favour then.” The words were in jest, but the tone in Savrin’s voice quickly sobered. “We all live, and we all die. It is how we do both that matters. I’m ashamed of the last thirteen years. I’d like a death to be proud of.”

“I can’t let you wear the Andurii crest, Savrin.” In that moment, Dayne thought he saw Savrin’s heart break. “Your time as an Andurii is over. I have my captains now and?—”

“I do not ask to be a captain, my lord?—”

“I have my captains now,” Dayne continued, cutting Savrin short, “but Alina’s Royal Guard could use one more spear. I would ask not that you protect my father’s son, but his daughter.Would you pledge your life to Alina’s? Give every drop of blood in your veins to protect your queen? Would you keep my sister safe, Savrin? Give your blood for hers? Your life?”

Savrin once again dropped to a knee, pressing his hand to his chest and bowing his head. “It would be the greatest honour of my life. To protect this House, to protect Valtara, that is all I ask. I, Savrin Vander, pledge all that I am to Queen Alina Ateres. My life, my blood, my honour. Death before failure, I swear it.”

“Rise.”

Savrin stood slowly, his eyes wet, his breaths trembling.

Above all else, Dayne needed people he could trust at Alina’s back. And there had been none who bore the wyvern of House Ateres with as much pride as Savrin Vander. Whatever his failings, the man was as loyal as they came. He had taken a spear three times over for Dayne’s father. He had dedicated his life to the Andurii. And above all else, Dayne considered himself a good judge of a man’s character and he could see by the look in Savrin’s eyes that the man would give anything and everything to protect Alina, give anything to right his wrongs. Dayne knew that pain, that ravaging guilt. “Savrin Vander, I hereby name you to the Royal Guard to Queen Alina Ateres.”

Savrin let out a gasp of relief. “By The Warrior and The Sailor.”

“By blade and by blood.”

Chapter 21

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