The Heirs of Death

15. Oath of Life

OATH OF LIFE

It was noon by the time we reached the White Realm, my head throbbing with each step I took ever since we were halfway through the woods. It was the pain and unanswered questions and dread that were weighing on my skull, tightening their grip until each movement-each tilt of the head-was agonizing.

And for the last ten minutes, we were completely silent, dispersed in the engulfing white and staring at Nuaira and Hydn who, once they had seen the Dragon of the Gods and the Phoenix of Life, had groveled at the foot of the dais. For them my beasts were legends, creatures too divine to be seen or spoken to. For the common blood, those beings were worshiped after the Five, always mentioned in prayers.

For me, they were friends and familiars and a great way to play on the nerves of anyone that irked me. I didn't even need to ask to know they enjoyed the last part as much as I did, if not more.

I had taken a seat at the other side of the dais, hidden behind Siltheres's massive form, face between my hands. I needed to be alone, wanted to go back to my rooms and sleep until the hour we would leave tomorrow, but that wasn't possible. Not now when we had yet to finalize some lines with the beasts, the most pressing of them all being Nuaira.

I didn't shift or budge as I felt the Cardelyon Lord sitting next to me, his musk that smelled like the sea and warm days under the sun filling my lungs, making me crave a day at the beach and walking in warm sand. Not even the massacre in Taloan was enough to stir that whim he always seemed to make me desire.

His hand gently fell on my nape, rubbing it lightly in a way that seemed to loosen my tensed nerves. My shoulders sagged as I breathed him in harder, head tilting enough that I was staring at him through the corner of my eyes.

He trailed the hand from my neck to the middle of my back, fingers making comforting, circular movements before I leaned into the arm around me, hands dropping around his waist. He tucked my head under his chin, breathing me in as hard as I made sure to memorize how his scent was, how his chest was warm and safe as my head rested over his heart, how those powerful arms felt around me.

Each day, war stepped closer to us, and I feared each second with them might be the very last one. It was now that the impact of what we were leaving for tomorrow crashed fully on me, realizing that I might not even make it out of Eziara if we failed. That this would be the last time I would see all my friends, the last time I would be with my family.

"We are both so wretched at the moment I wonder who is going to go mad the first."

I let out a laugh, the action as forced as the words he just whispered to my hair. His other arm enclosed me tighter, fingers running through my raven strands.

When he spoke again, his voice was low, so low none of my friends were able to hear it even with years of training, "I know you aren't heading north the continent to study. We all didn't buy the lie, but if the King says it, we don't question."