Page 20 of Oaths & Vengeance
That was…illuminating. The nameless god had been watching me then, too?
I swallowed and finally made myself commit to the less distasteful choice. “Fine. I’ll marry my enemy.”
“Good girl.” He stood. “I’ll enjoy seeing how it turns out and if the two of you ever do the tango.”
“Thetango…what?” I asked, having no idea what that word meant.
In a blink, he was gone.
I remained kneeling momentarily, trying to wrap my mind around the idea he’d shown up to make sure I chose the way he wished. Did he care? I’d always thought the nameless ones only concerned themselves with crucial matters. My marriage couldn’t mean that much, yet something told me whatever was coming next in my life was much bigger than I could possibly imagine.
Chapter 9
Aella
Istepped out of the portal into the late afternoon sun at Tradain. It was equal parts a large village and a military training camp. Everyone who lived here was either in the Therressian Army, a family member of a soldier, or working to support them. The entire place was designed to be clean and uniform, without embellishments aside from our hippogriff crest, painted in golden yellow, on the walls of several buildings. As the story went, my family had used the half-eagle, half-horse for transportation thousands of years ago on the fae homeworld, but they weren’t allowed to take them when they fled to Paxia.
The housing—all similar forest green two and three-bedroom homes—and the rows of barracks formed a circle around the training grounds. We had areas designated for archery, magic practice, sword and knife exercises, duels, and mounted combat drills.
One could find the stables, armory, and blacksmiths on the north end. On the opposite, one could visit uniform and clothing shops, tailors, and food and spice stalls. It only took five minutes to figure out the layout on one’s first stay, despite the population being over ten thousand. That didn’t include those only here for six-week reserve training most male and female fae received at eighteen years old. My uncle enacted that requirement when he became Lord of Therress as part of his mission to ensure the safety of his people. Of course, the active troops still did most of the defending since they trained full-time.
I found my friend, Sariyah, in the uniform shop. Her back faced me as she stood before an officer’s uniform, sparks of magic flying from her handsas she coated the tunic and pants with protection enchantments. That was her specialty.
Those with enough coin could hire her to ensure arrows found it more difficult to penetrate the cloth or render their uniforms more impervious to offensive spells. Technically, she could make the clothing entirely invulnerable to damage, but that took a week, and she massively drained herself to do it, so she charged enough that it discouraged everyone except the richest high fae. It also didn’t necessarily protect the wearer’s exposed skin. Nothing was foolproof aside from avoiding battles altogether.
“Be with you in a minute,” she said, not looking back.
Her rich brown hair was in a loose braid down her back, reaching her waist. One could make out her generous curves through her simple blue muslin dress. She exercised and trained frequently since her father was an officer and insisted on it, but she also enjoyed cooking and food. Sariyah was the most in-shape woman I knew while maintaining an enviable figure. She could take the obstacle course in the nearby woods like a champion.
While she received considerable male attention, she rarely returned it, preferring to be picky about where to spend her time. I’d known her for as long as I could remember since my father had also been stationed here until he died in battle. When I moved away, we began taking turns visiting each other.
I stood quietly waiting. There wasn’t much to see since the front of the shop was small, with only a counter, and the space behind that had a rack for hanging uniforms. The back of the shop was considerably larger. Usually, several workers were sewing new uniforms and repairing old ones in that room. Sariyah didn’t need much space for enchantments and enjoyed working with customers, so she often stayed up front.
Finally, she finished and turned around. “Oh, Aella! I wasn’t expecting you.”
“It was a last-minute decision,” I said, spreading my arms as she raced around the counter to hug me. “But I was overdue for a visit anyway.”
Sariyah pulled away and studied me. “Your uncle did something to upset you again, didn’t he?”
She could always read me well.
“He’s trying to marry me off soon,” I admitted. While I wanted to tell my friend about Darrow, I wasn’t ready to talk about it, even if he hadn’t told me to keep it a secret. It was safest to stick with speaking about my other marriage prospect.
Her brows knitted. “Who?”
“Baron Elgord.”
Sariyah bent over and pretended to wretch. “Lord Morgunn can’t be serious. That elf gives me the hives every time he visits here, and I swear I’ve never seen anyone with worse breath. I thought about making him a mouthwash enchantment free of charge since it would be a public service.”
“You should absolutely do that,” I said, already relaxing in my friend’s company. She had a way of lightening the mood no matter how dire the topic was, and I needed that more than ever.
She rubbed my arm. “Is he really set on the betrothal?”
I nodded. “He plans to petition King Worden when he returns from his village inspections in five days.”
“Right, but surely His Majesty will have sense and refuse to approve it.”
If I went along with Darrow, that was exactly what would happen. “I already prayed to the nameless ones about it and feel my prayers will be answered. The trouble is if the king does deny the petition, my uncle will blame me for it.”
