Page 76 of The Silver Spider
Her arm lowered to her side and she sighed. “It’s not nearly so simple.” Glancing at Serephone, she said, “But there are many ways to repay a debt.”
“If you owe a debt to the dragon, the dragon’s daughter owes a debt to you for taking the blow meant for her.”
Dawnthorne stepped into the room, dressed in long robes, face cold. His dark hair draped artfully over one shoulder, and when he looked at Serephone, there was no warmth in his eyes.
“Didn’t you already warn Amnan about holding grudges over what occurs in the circle?” Anissa asked pointedly. Serephone blinked. She’d never heard her sister use that particular tone with Dawnthorne before. Though, if she thought about it…she had. Serephone looked between the two of them, wondering exactly how close their relationship was, and why they kept it a secret. Had they grown up together?
“You satisfied the Queen’s Eye, and my household, with your prowess yesterday,” Dawnthorne said. “They all thought me hasty to ask you for the oath without proving yourself first. It was a favor to Etienne that I did not simply kill you outright.”
Like she was a bug, and squashing her was insignificant. Dawnthorne lifted his hand, palm out, and the Line glyph shimmered into existence. “Take the oath. There is no choice.”
“There is always,” Maddugh said, “a choice. My kin, for instance, are awaiting my word to attack. If Anissa owes me a debt—youare her Lord. I will take payment from you.”
Dawnthorne’s smile was thin. “I do not fear Nahasha and her ilk.”
“No? But your Queen doesn’t want a war, and you fear her.”
Talk of fearing anyone obviously irritated Dawnthorne; it wiped the smile from his face. “The Queen would have me bind her. The law is the law.”
“I don’t give a flying pig about your laws,” Kailigh snapped. “Serephone isn’t yours.”
Dawnthorne looked at Kailigh. “Thereisthe matter of your other daughters as well. I have not forgotten.”
“Is that a threat?”
“What will it be, Dawnthorne?” Maddugh demanded. “War, or let Serephone go?”
But even if they won the battle, Dawnthorne had already warned Serephone what would happen next. She stepped forward, and the bickering halted.
Meeting the fae Lord’s eyes, “If I swear the oath, will you forget about my sisters?”
“Serephone!” her mother exclaimed.
“If they never come here. But it is inevitable, Serephone. Blood calls. They have a few years, at most.”
“If I swear the oath, will you forget about my sisters? You, and no one under your command or employ will approach them. You will not speak of their existence to anyone, or in any way cause another person to seek them out for any reason. I’ll take your oath, and accept your training.” She paused, grim. “I’m an animage. I’m valuable.”
“I agree. Take the oath.”
“Absolutely not,” Kailigh said as Serephone walked forward. “Maddugh, you can’t agree with this. She’ll be a prisoner here!”
“She will not be a prisoner,” Dawnthorne said calmly. “But her life will change. All life changes, Lady Kailigh.”
“She has family here,” Anissa said from her bed, voice soft. “Father, sister, niece. Cousins. Is it so bad a fate?”
Serephone paused then, and turned around, looking at Amnan, who was standing silent, arms crossed. He hadn’t said anything. But then everyone else had been doing all the talking, and she’d observed weeks ago that Amnan tended to shut up if he didn’t think there was any point in speaking up.
He met her eyes and she shrugged. “Sorry. Told you we were a long shot.” She lowered her eyes, and turned away because she couldn’t let him see how much it hurt. How unexpectedly it hurt. But the first goal was always to protect her sisters.
“Did you fund the flesh trafficker?” she asked Dawnthorne. “Adjrius.”
“No,” he replied coolly. “We are looking into the matter.”
“She’s made a decision, Kai,” Maddugh was saying. “It’s not the worst decision to make. And she does need to be trained.”
Serephone took Dawnthorne’s hand. A shock reverberated up her arm, magic flowing greedily into her body like little hooks. A whispering in her mind in a language she felt she should know, that almost seemed family. It drowned out all other sound and the glyph flashed, momentarily blinding her. Words fell from her lips, a liquid chant she spoke without direct volition. And then it was over and she felt…
…for a moment she felt every living being on the estate. Dozens of minds, the pulsing of hearts. Their sharp attention on her as she joined them, and then her mind was her own again.
