“These runes on her shoulders and some on her hands are unusual. They look like runes that have been documented, but they’re just slightly altered. It’s a more evolved magic than we’ve seen in, well…I don’t know. I’d need to consult to be sure.”
“Well, can you tell us what youdoknow?” Mote asks, her tone taking a page from Port’s annoyed book.
“Yes. She’s quite the arsenal. She has several swords and some smaller blades, maces, a staff, bow and arrows, axes, whips, spears…”
“I have spears?” I ask the cleric in surprise.
He startles at my question and then gives me a nod. “Yes, here.” He points to a rune on my wrist. “And here is a shorter set,” he informs me, pointing to another rune close to the back of my heel. I study the rune on my arm and have to fight not to call on it so I can see for myself. Don’t want these people thinking I’m trying to attack them.
“She also has several runes for speed, strength, enhanced senses, shields for offensive and defensive purposes, and her lightcalledShields, which in its own right hasn’t happened since the time of the gates.”
He circles around me and points to my chest. “Her connection with her Chosen is intricate and reinforced in several different ways, which is very unusual. She has mental, emotional,andproximity connections.”
“So what does all of this mean?” Sabin questions, and I look to the cleric, eager for the cliff notes version too.
“She’s more marked than anyone has been since the crossing. It’s advanced and evolved in a way that I haven’t seen here in Tierit. She has seven Chosen, but I suspect she could call more if she wanted to. But the most intriguing thing to me at this point is that her Chosen runes”—he picks up my palm and points to the runes down my ring finger and hand, and I don’t even try to punch him for touching me, I’m so caught up in what he’s going to say—“her Chosen marks are also incorporated in some of her other marks. Portions of them have altered some of her other runes. I think that’s the source for the evolution in some of her markings and I suspect her abilities also.”
“I don’t understand,” Port snaps, and I start to feel bad for the cleric. Looks like I’m not the only one this group isn’t a fan of.
“We’ve operated under the understanding that born Light Marked pairings would result in the strongest magic and markings. But her markings would say otherwise. None of her Chosen are born Light Marked, and yet their abilities still enhanced hers when she marked them. She was strong before but became even more so with each pairing,” the cleric concludes, and the room once again goes silent.
Well, shit. Try to call my kickass magic enhancing mates filth now, motherfuckers!
I smile at Sabin and Torrez and snicker silently at the smug grin Torrez is wearing.
“I’d love to study your markings and abilities more, if you would be open to that?” the cleric asks me with excitement in his eyes and a kind smile on his face. “I would need to do a thorough analysis to confirm what I’ve stated today, but it would really help us to understand your light and abilities.”
Okay, maybe not all the robed Sentinels are orb firing assholes.
“I would say that’s cool with me, but really that depends on these guys,” I tell him, gesturing toward the tribunal.
The cleric looks at me, confused.
“They may vote that I need to die,” I explain, and the guy suddenly looks like I just slapped an ice cream cone out of his hand.
He whirls on the tribunal. “You cannot do that,” he orders them, looking a little surprised by his own vehemence.
“You will not presume to tell us what we can and cannot do,cleric,” Port snarls at him, and the cleric takes a step back and tucks his book into his side.
“You would be making a tremendous mistake,” the cleric states, and he flashes a glare at each one of the members of the tribunal in turn and storms out.
The room goes quiet for a minute.
“I agree with him,” I offer unsolicited, my thumb pointing toward the door the cleric just stormed out of.
Torrez barks out a laugh that morphs into a cover-up cough. No one says anything still, but Naree’s narrowed eyes tell me all I need to know about her thoughts on my opinion.Fuck.I think we need to come up with a plan for getting the fuck out of herebeforethe Tribunal comes to a decision.The way they are looking at me right now does not bode well for me and the guys at all.
I move to get dressed when a pounding on the door starts up. I jump in surprise as the insistent booming sound invades the quiet room. Ory rushes to see what it is, a sword suddenly in his hand and his feathers bristling at his back. He flings the door open, and a stout man comes stomping in.
“What is the meaning of this?” Wella demands.
The new guy unrolls a parchment and takes a deep breath. “Vinna of the First, you have been summoned by the First. You are to be immediately escorted to the First House, where you will be reunited with your people and claim your rightful place. Anyone causing a deviation from this order will be seen as committing an act of war against the First House and will be dealt with accordingly.”
The stout man stops, rolls the parchment back up, and then just waits like none of this is a big deal and he didn’t just come in here saying shit likeclaim my rightful placeorit’ll be an act of war. Dude just fucked with all theI’m not a threat, don’t kill mevibes I’ve been putting out this whole time.
Who is this guy, and what the hell is going on?
21
