Page 55 of Vows of Sacrifice

“Tylbis?” I murmured in disbelief.

It had to be him! He eventually appeared, but an aqueous form, a kind of double made of water that resembled him sufficiently enough for me to recognize him.

“Paivrin told me you’d found your flame and married her according to our rites.”

I smile coldly.

“Hello to you too, brother.”

To which he didn’t reply. Tylbis never apologized, believing that his silence probably did it for him.

“You should have brought us together before making such a decision,” his liquid double reproached me, crossing his arms.

It was only formed up to the waist.

“Paivrin was in a much greater hurry than me, it’s him you should talk to,” I retorted dryly.

“He’s not the one who agreed to tie his blood to this human woman! Imagine if you were wrong!”

With an irritated gesture, I ran a hand over my face to help chase away the growing irritation I felt rising inside me.

“That’s my business. Is that all you have to say to me? If so, you can go back to your cave.”

My brother’s watery double stirred, sending splashes of water my way.

“You are impossible! Once again, your way of being and doing is selfish! This was a decision we should have made together!”

I glared back at him.

“I see that some things don’t change despite the passage of time. It’s easy as ever to lay all the blame on me.”

Suddenly, his magic vanished, and the water was calm again. I pinched the bridge of my nose. If even Tylbis, who lived deep in the forest of a wild country, knew of my marriage to Ashana, I could safely assume that another of my brothers would soon arrive with a bang: Kynnen.

* * *

I was in a foul mood as I entered our room, a fact that worsened when my gaze fell on two intruders who shouldn’t have been there. It took me some time to identify them; they were the laundresses I had rescued from Elendur’s clutches and hired into the service of my wife. I greeted them with a brief nod, to which they responded with an awkward curtsy.

Then I stood there, silent, wishing they would go away. The expression that I felt tugging at my features certainly spoke for me, for they eventually left, not without giving me a brief anxious look.

“Dovah?”

“I am here.”

Ashana smiles at me.

“For a moment, I had a doubt. Are you upset about something?”

I started undressing without thinking about anything else. I was supposed to take her to visit Tarnton, but I had neglected to take clean clothes with me when I went swimming.

“Dovah!”

“It’s nothing,” I muttered, taking off my shoes.

“Dovah!”

I then noticed the slightly high-pitched timbre of her voice and turned in her direction, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

“I assure you that everything is fine.”

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