Page 31 of Vows of Sacrifice

“Yes,” I said, laconic.

The Osacanian’s celebration had ended. Now, there was only a heavy, oppressive silence that fell over each of our steps as we made our way towards the immense edifice. The eagles which circled constantly above the tallest tower seemed to form a link, a sort of agile bridge between heaven and earth. For my part, I found that it added a sinister note to the light-coloured stones of the walls and turrets, whose hue was close to that of sand.

The pathway that carved into the cliff up to the drawbridge seemed endless to me.

Apart from the upcoming Nadrisse-Ashana meeting, there was another thing that made me nervous. Elendur was like night and day. Sometimes radiant, affable, full of affection and goodwill, he could also turn dark, silent, tortured, and downright devious, even cruel. I had already suffered from both sides of his ambivalent personality.

Which one would we get today? I feared the worst, that is, that he would act badly towards the daughter of his late adversary, dreading above all my own reaction in return. Ashana made me feel strangely possessive and protective. Elendur held my stone. I’d given it to him willingly. But why? Because it was only half of what I needed to regain my true form. Our Father had foreseen for me some trials to face before I could return to my former self. A job to do. I had long been aware of that. Paivrin claimed I had to find what he called ‘my flame.’ He’d had visions about it. I’d had my doubts . . . until I met Ashana.

What was a flame? According to Paivrin, it was half of our own soul incarnated in a female body. A bond much stronger than that of soulmates united them, for the Source, in its infinite wisdom, had decided to split our soul in two when our Father chose to break our solitude and allow us to learn to love.

What if Ashana was my flame? I’d thought it was Nadrisse because of a familiar feeling I had towards her, and indeed, it was one of the reasons I’d entrusted my ruby to her brother, Elendur, as a sign of allegiance. Only, now I doubted. Right here, in this precise moment, as my eyes rested on the graceful neck of the woman who was now my wife.

Once over the drawbridge, I was hardly surprised to find the royal guard, except for the few men entrusted to me by the King of Osacan, lined up in formation. Farther on, at the end of these human rectangles in gleaming armour, we watched Elendur, from atop his imposing throne, dressed in his finest attire. Beside him, two flags bearing the nation’s colours flapped in the wind, reminding me of the relentless lashes of a whip. What a welcome, I thought wryly.

I strode forward on Vulcan with Ashana in front of me, whose seat was a little stiff from the emotion she was probably feeling. The silence in the courtyard was so palpable that we could have cut it with a sword.

I leaned forward slightly to whisper in Ashana’s ear:

“Don’t worry, my lady. I’ll protect you in all circumstances.”

She gave a shaky, insecure little laugh which broke my heart.

“Even from the king?” she asked, her voice barely perceptible.

I didn’t answer right away.

“Especially the king,” I finally declared.

It was true. In my eyes, he was certainly the most dangerous individual in the castle. Because of the power he wielded, his talent for deception, and his unpredictable nature.

5

ASHANA

“Especially from the king,” said the man behind me in a flat voice, holding the reins of the horse on which we had travelled.

If that was supposed to reassure me, Dovah would certainly achieve the opposite effect with such words! Besides, what kind of logic was that? Why would the hand of justice need to protect his wife from his king? Wasn’t Elendur supposed to be the man behind our nuptials?

Dovah was the first to dismount from Vulcan. I watched him advance with a confident gait, that of a conqueror emanating undeniable raw strength. Was this mysterious man attractive? Of course he was. With a fierce beauty that made my heart ache every time my eyes fell on him. I didn’t want to find him handsome. I didn’t want to find him funny, much less endearing. Part of me still saw him as the enemy, but I could feel that part weakening as the days slipped by on the scale of time. Which made me panic.

And scared me, too. I felt different in his presence. It was difficult to define or put a word to it, but still, it was pleasant, even making me slightly euphoric at times. I closed my eyes for a moment. One God, help me to be normal again. The further I get from Muvaria, the more I feel I’m losing myself, I prayed silently.

I then watched as Dovah knelt before his king, the notorious Elendur of Osacan, the one who got me into this mess in the first place. The one who had ordered the attack on my pacifist country. He seemed rather tall. It was hard to estimate his height as he sat on his throne, though. Speaking of which, his throne was dark in style. Carved entirely from stone, above the Osacan king’s head was the head of a dragon, whose open mouth seemed intent on devouring you alive. On the beast’s forehead, with its terrible grimace, I could make out some sort of slightly glowing red stone . . . The armrests were shaped like sharp claws and reminded me of Dovah’s armour.

At either side, before the steps leading to the courtyard, were two gigantic basins, or braziers, in which huge fires blazed. Nearby, two large statues of helmeted eagles seemed to flap their wings.

Elendur’s outfit was quite similar to Dovah’s, albeit in a more sumptuous material and with a dazzling whiteness enlivened by the presence of precious stones. I noticed that the woman standing behind him next to the throne had a slender figure, with a rare elegance despite her somewhat extravagant outfit. Well, extravagant in the sense that her dress looked more like an accumulation of sheers than fabric per se. A very different cut from mine, indeed, and surely more suited to the local temperature. This infernal humidity was going to be the death of me, in every sense of the word. How could anyone live peacefully in such heat? How I longed for the fresh air of Muvaria. Its enchanting greenery. Its lakes . . . Everything in Osacan was sand, sun, and stone.

I was too far away to hear what the king and his hand of justice were discussing, yet Dovah remained in exactly the same position, full of deference. I smiled inwardly at the thought that only a lord of Elendur’s stature could make a man like the Black Demon bend the knee. Come to think of it, that said a lot about his character.

Suddenly, Dovah stood up and turned around. When I realized he was coming back in my direction, my heart started pounding in my chest. He was going to introduce me to His Majesty!

I couldn’t avoid it, I was perfectly aware of it, but in my current state? I was representing Muvaria! True, my country had suffered because of this illustrious man, and he deserved a sword in the heart more than a reverence, but all I had left was my honour as a Muvarian . . . and I must have looked like a dishevelled, wild woman. I’d been travelling for several days without being able to take a real bath, apart from the one at the inn, as we’d taken the mountain route to reach the border quickly. Then, once we’d reached Osacan, everything had been a vast desert dotted with a few watering holes. I smoothed my dust-covered dress mechanically, and when my fingers felt my hair, I noticed in horror that it was no longer held in place by my pins.

I glared at Dovah. He was to blame! The pin thief! Throughout the journey, he’d been taking them from me, one by one, slyly, in addition to my bonnets. Now I was reduced to playing the rebellious adolescent with my thick, curly red mane falling freely over my shoulders!

“My lady,” he invited, holding out a hand.

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