Page 34 of Oath of Betrayal
Orm held her as sweat poured from Ani’s body, the low keening from her lips tearing at our hearts. Tears of blood slowly tracked across her pale face as she fought the geas, but the marks that tethered her lovers faded from her skin. I could see the strain my friend was under as he held the suffering mage; Iwas close to breaking myself, but with the disappearance of the marks, Ani finally relaxed, her quiet sobs the only sound in the room.
‘Do what you have to do, Ari. It can’t be any worse than my crime,’ he said, wiping the tears from Ani’s cheeks. I was left speechless at the guilt in his gaze, the pained expression of a man who had descended into a nightmare of his own making. The stern commander I knew was not a man of sweet words and gentle caresses. Yet, here he was, comforting Annika after shattering her world with the words of her geas.
‘Somnara te sarashi jare va’et.’2
I dropped the shielding spell and directed my remaining strength into the words of the spell, letting the glyph sink into her skin.
‘Why did you do that? I can barely remember their faces. How can I let them go? I can’t let them fade away. My memories are all I have left.Whydid you do this to me? You promised to free me, but … My life was already hollow. Without their memory, it isn’t worth living …’
Annika’s words drifted into silence as my spell softened the rawness of her grief, leaving behind only the mild ache of a love mourned long ago. Orm swallowed hard and placed his cheek against her forehead.
‘You will never be lonely. You have my word, Nivale. Let the dragon in, my beautiful, thorny flower, and you will never be lonely again,’ he whispered, stroking her hair gently, rocking them both.
Ani’s body jerked suddenly, shocking the guilt-ridden commander into looking down. Thankfully, though, she was no longer in danger from Vahin’s fire. The unblemished skin on her chest began to glow as the bond with the dragon manifested, fire erupting over her heart, the ghostly image of a dragon rising from the flames.
Orm looked at me in panic, but before he could utter a word the mirage retreated, leaving behind the symbol of a dragon, wings aloft, surrounded by a ring of fire. Annika sighed with relief as the torrent of magic subsided. Strands of aether danced briefly around us before settling peacefully into their regular pattern. Finally, I could release the breath I didn’t realise I’d been holding.
‘Did she forget them?’ Orm asked quietly, and I shook my head. ‘No, I only blocked the memory of what happened in this room. She will remember her lovers, but without a tether to their spirits, it will be more like a memory from the distant past, lacking the rawness of grief. That’s all I could do.’
Orm shook his head as if he still couldn’t believe what had happened, and his next words cut close to the heart. ‘We’ve taken a lot from her and have given nothing back. All for the sliver of hope she might help fix the Barrier,’ he said, a pained catch in his breath.
He pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment from his pocket and held it over a burning candle. I watched speechless as the geas turned to ash, leaving the commander the only man who could ever tame Annika’s roaring inferno. The challenge in his eyes was enough for me to nod my agreement.
‘I will take the blame for it. Your duty is to protect the kingdom and its people, whatever it takes. This had to be done. She had to come here; and now she must never know what we did to save her. You need her as an ally, not as an enemy at your back.’
‘Yes, but she is not just a tool to be used and discarded, Ari. Not for me, at least. Not anymore. Ari … I’ve never known anyone of such courage,’ he said, stopping when Ani’s breath stuttered and her eyelids opened.
I saw the flicker of some unreadable emotion in Annika’s eyes. As it passed, she stared at Orm with a suspicious expression, andmy friend gave her a tense smile. ‘It’s all done. You are safe and in the castle. You kept your promise.’
Ani cleared her throat, raw and dry after her ordeal. Orm, suddenly hesitant, moved away and, after a quick look around, grabbed a goblet. He filled it with water and held it to her lips so that she could sip at its contents. ‘Did anyone die?’ she asked weakly, and I saw tears pooling in the rim of her eyes. ‘Why does everything hurt so much?’
‘You saved us all by Anchoring Vahin, but something disrupted the connection.’ Orm stopped, then shook his head. ‘I can’t lie to you. You were dying, and I couldn’t let that happen. We had to protect you. My beautiful soul, I’m so—’
‘Onire!’3
I shouted it before he could finish the sentence, and Ani’s head dropped to his shoulder.
‘No! I told you. She must never know, and telling her just to clear your conscience will only cause her pain.’ I knew that if Ani learned of our manipulation it could prove disastrous. Orm was the only person she knew and trusted here, and I refused to let him destroy that.
After looking into Annika’s mind, I understood what the wrath of a conduit mage could unleash, and one small avalanche ten years ago was nothing compared to what brewed inside her.
1.Increase the shield.
2.Forget what was done to you and release your grief.
3.Sleep!
Why does everything hurt?
I lay still, holding my breath, trying to collect my thoughts as if that would help ease the pain. It felt like I had the worst hangover ever, but I didn’t remember drinking. I was lying on something hard and hairy, and the tickling sensation on my nose forced me to change position. The sun was obnoxiously shining in my eyes even after I moved, so I squeezed my eyes tighter in annoyance and pushed my face into the hard pillow, wincing at the feeling of knives stabbing my brain.
It wouldn’t be the first time I’d woken up in the stables, cuddling whatever animal was confined there. Though, I’d thought I was past that dark period in my life. Clearly, that wasn’t the case and I’d lapsed into old habits. I hated sleeping alone, but as with everything in life, I had gotten used to it. However, the heartbeat beneath my cheek reminded me of just how good it felt to not have to.
I remembered little from the past few hours, only fever dreamsof fire and pain. I knew Orm had stayed with me because his voice seemed to be the one constant throughout the ordeal … There had also been another man who touched my mind and soothed the flames—and a dragon.
Vahin! Oh crap! Did I Anchor Orm’s dragon yesterday?The breath I dragged into my lungs didn’t slow my racing heart, and when my pillow groaned and shifted, I leapt out of my skin so quickly my heart had surely stopped.
I’m lying on a man!
