Remember,Arawn told himself.You must not forget!
“You will first shed your own blood into this Veil as an offering, and it will open only for a moment in time. The Five will drink of your essence and decide whether you are gods-fearing enough. They will ensure you have no loyalty to the darkness of the Acolyte.”
Never,Arawn thought.I will never serve anyone but my gods.
“You will then recite every Sacred law aloud to the Veil, and you must take care when speaking them – a single mistake, Crown Prince, any error in your utterance, and it will be proven that you arenotfit to rule.”
Arawn swallowed. “And... if I am not fit?”
The King’s gaze hardened. “I told you before,” he snapped. Arawn flinched. “The Veil will kill you where you stand, and Lordach will have no king. The Acolyte will win. Andyouwill be responsible for the death of thousands. Hundreds of thousands.”
A spike of fear ran through him anew.
I must be perfect,Arawn thought.I must not fail, I must?—
“You must then offer up a sacrifice,” his father said next.
Arawn’s blue eyes flicked up.Sacrificewasn’t a good word. That much, he knew. His skin was too hot again. His blood felt like it might rise to a boil. “What sort of sacrifice, Father?”
“The kind that breaks you,” Draybor said. “The kind that proves your heart belongs tononebut the Five.”
“And what if I have nothing I love more than them?” Arawn asked.
His mother’s brow quirked. The Masters shifted, watching him with smiles on their wrinkled faces. One of them chuckled, as if he were a silly boy, with silly thoughts...
But it seemed so simple, to him.
“Such loyalty to the Five is a goal weallstrive to meet,” his father said. “But I can assure you, Crown Prince. You are a mortal, and mortality means weakness, particularly in matters of the heart. A time will come, someday, when you will be tested.Tempted.Your heart will go to war with your mind. It willbegyou to love. And whether that love be for power, for pleasure, for your future Match or for your magic... it is very important that you do not give in. You do not lose. You give your heartonlyto the Five, until the Ehver calls you home.”
Don’t lose the war,he told himself.Don’t ever lose.
“When I die,” his father continued, “you will be expected to lay down that temptation in front of this very Veil. You will use your magic, whatever pillar you settle upon, todestroy it, and send it through to the other side as a final sacrifice for the Five.”
His crown flickered, the flames dimming as he looked, only once, to his Queen.
She did not meet his gaze.
She stared, instead, at Arawn. He swore he saw thatsadnessin her eyes again.
“That sacrifice is to be a symbol, a promise that your heart belongswhollyto the Five. Only then will they accept you as King. Only then will the Veil close... and you will be crowned ruler of Lordach, emissary of the gods, in my honored place.”
It was silent, as everyone watched him.
As Arawn knelt there, trembling before the Veil.
“Nowrecite it,”his father growled. “All the steps I told you. Until the sun rises.”
So, he did.
He told them all back to the king, piece by piece, and when he messed up, he swore the Veil flickered.
He imagined he could see ancient hands reaching through it, hands that went for those mighty, stained-glass swords as if they would rip them down from their place on the wall.
As if they would cut through him... and sever his soul from his body.
“Again,” his father growled, when he was finished.
So Arawn spoke the steps until his small voice ran thin.
