Roxin smiled proudly as she motioned for the girls to bottle and chill the brandy in the cold storage rooms. “I’m the only one with the hex to ferment fruits, but the other all have amplifier hexes—it’s something most of us get on our eighteenth birthday when we become adult members of the Baersladen.”
“An amplifier spell?”
Roxin nodded. “When we work together, we can achieve feats far greater than as an individual.”
Bryn had previously had no idea that spells could be amplified if casters worked together. All her life, she’d been told that magic was backward and essentially useless, capable of only parlor tricks like sparking a flame without a match. Now, she truly understood what a lie that had been. Not only could a single caster do more than spark a flame, but united, they could achieve amazing things.
No wonder my parents discouraged magic, Bryn thought with a prickle of anger.If the Mir common folk knew howpowerful they could be working together, they could have overthrown my parents much sooner.
Bryn remained in the kitchen helping until Mage Marna came to find her, telling her it was time to familiarize herself with Baer marriage tradition. For the remainder of the evening, she sat in the library, flanked by protective guards, reading dusty old books to learn about the intricacies of the impending ceremony that would bind her to a good man, a kind prince . . . but not the man she loved.
Chapter
Four
WEDDING DAY . . . stormy skies . . . dark dreams . . . a waiting crowd . . . a difficult question
All that night, Bryn dreamed of Rangar.
They were together in Barendur Hold’s barn in an empty stall filled with fresh, soft straw, drinking a bottle of Roxin’s sweet fig brandy and laughing until growls outside silenced them. Wolves stalked the barn’s main section. Rangar laid her back in the straw and pressed a finger to her lips to keep her silent. He protected her body by lying on top of her, hiding them under his bearskin cloak until the wolves passed. But he hadn’t let her up once the danger was gone. Instead, his body remained pressed against the length of hers. He’d kissed her brandy-soaked lips and removed her clothing stitch by stitch until she had only the straw and his bearskin cloak as covering. Then, growling from desire, he’d worshipped her body with hands and lips and eyes until she’d felt herself crash apart with a thunderous sound.
Jolting awake, Bryn woke from the dream to find itwasthundering outside.
Clouds had rolled in overnight, and heavy rain now drowned Barendur Hold. Looking out the window, she saw that the courtyard had transformed into a mud pit. The wedding decorations in the village square that the townspeople had worked so hard on were soaked. The sky was gray and stormy, matching her heart’s mood.
Today I marry Trei Barendur.
Her body started shaking. She fished the necklace out of her blouse and squeezed Rangar’s ring in her fist as she wondered for the millionth time if there was any other way.
Rangar was probably out there now, dozens of miles away, caught in this same storm. She could picture him hunched in his bearskin cloak against the drenching rain, soaked through and through, miserable. Maybe he’d dreamed of her, too, and reassured himself it was only a matter of time before he was back in Barendur Hold with Bryn to warm him.
Tears flowed down her face as she buried her face in her pillow and sobbed. Eventually, once her body was thoroughly worn out, she sat up and wiped her eyes.
Enough now, she told herself.No more tears.
It wasn’t long before Calista, one of the mage apprentices, knocked on her door. “Lady Bryn? It’s time to get dressed.”
Bryn managed to clean herself up and emerge from her room with dry eyes, but Calista gave Bryn’s red-rimmed eyes one look and grimaced. “Lady Bryn, you can’t show up to your wedding preparations looking like you’ve just sobbed out a gallon of tears.”
Calista took her hand and led her into the mage storerooms where she dug around in the containers of herbs and potions and came back with a glass jar. She poured a small amount of oil onto a rag and then delicately dabbed the solution around Bryn’s eyes.
“This contains a natural balm to relieve red eyes. There, now blink a few times.” She stood back, nodding. “You look better already.”
“Thank you, Calista,” Bryn whispered, trying not to cry again.
Calista squeezed her shoulder. “Mage Marna sent guards to escort you to the bathhouse. I’ll be asking the gods to grant us clearer skies later today.”
Bryn nodded. The guards led her down to the bathhouse on Barendur Hold’s lower floor. The bathhouse was usually full of residents but was now empty except for a few female attendants who swooped in on Bryn as soon as she entered.
The attendants stripped Bryn of every stitch, lathered her up in foaming soap, and then scoured her with harsh cloths that left her skin bright red. They slathered her with scented oils to leave her skin and hair luxuriously soft. One woman trimmed her nails with a fine pair of scissors while another began weaving a complicated braid that took the better part of two hours to complete.
By the time her pampering was finished, Bryn’s scalp ached from having her hair pulled into such tight knots. An attendant gave her a hand mirror, and Bryn was taken aback: she hadn’t seen her own reflection in weeks other than blurry glimpses in pools of water.
“Oh—that braid is beautiful.”
They’d given her a traditionally Baer hairstyle, and though her hair was vividly blond, she almost looked more Baer than Mir. It struck her that shewasabout to become a Baer citizen, at least through marriage. Though she was the crown heir to the Mir throne, once she wed Trei, she would be his bride. She would joinhisfamily, not the other way around.
After the bathhouse, the guards led her upstairs to the seamstress’s room where Helna did the final fittings for her gown. It was a gorgeous garment, but nothing like what Brynwas used to. In the Mirien, brides wore white lace to their weddings. She’d never attended or seen a Baer wedding, and she hadn’t thought to ask about the details. This gown was made of velvet so dark grey it was nearly black and accented with small obsidian gems.
