Kings should never rest easy while their people face bonding trials,my father once said.
I raised my hand again, and the cheering swelled before fading as I took my seat. My advisors sat only after I did, as did the crowd, the wave of their movement rippling through the stands. A hush descended, thick with anticipation, before a chest-rattling gong rang out.
The enormous iron gate on the right side of the arena groaned open, metal scraping against stone.
One by one, unbonded beasts filed in. They came in every shape nature could devise and some she may have created on a dare. Scaled, feathered, horned, sleek, and bulky. All monstrous and majestic, the large side of our beastly companions. Each could shift into something smaller. In my case with Gavelle, a cinderhawk.
A gold-crested serpent slithered beside a flame-winged griffin. A direwolf padded near a creature with the body of a stag and the upper torso of a troll. All had petitioned their council to seek a bond today.
In the wild, creatures such as these would be sworn enemies, battling together for territory and supremacy, but these beasts were different. Long ago, some joined together in peace, forming the Beast Council, their descendants ruling to this day.
They clustered together on one side of the arena, arranging themselves in a half-circle, their movements and greetings to each other showing intelligence far beyond regular animal instinct.
I leaned back in my throne, drumming my fingers on the arm until Kira stilled my hand with her own. She quickly plucked hers away when I sucked in a breath.
Gasps rang out, and a hush fell over the crowd, all staring at the last beast who entered.
A massive female firecat strode into the arena, her silver-black fur gleaming like moonlight on a dark sea. Her eyes glowed burnished copper as she took in the crowd.
Gavelle, perched on the back of my throne, rustled his wings and let out a screech. I leaned forward, tightening my fingers on the armrests.
Whispers erupted from those watching.
“She’s come again.”
“Will she finally bond?”
All eyes turned to the left gate, still closed, where the recruits would soon enter and hopefully transition to warriors. Excitement pulsed through the air.
Kira stiffened beside me, her shoulders drawing back. “What’s she doing here? Probably just watching again.” Her knuckles whitened on the railing. She hadn’t forgiven the great cat for rejecting her at the last bonding trial.
She’d approached the beast, and the cat had considered her for a long, tense moment before turning away. A rejection, though not a fatal one. Kira had bonded with a python that could shift to the form of a death adder wrapped around her wrist.
“She should leave,” Kira snapped. “No one willeverbe worthy.”
“She decides that herself.”
The left gate began to creak open and the crowd fell silent, watching with anticipation.
The first group of recruits entered the arena and stopped. Only two of them, though that wasn’t unusual. Eight teams of recruits had entered the trials. What was left of each would face their final challenge today, one group at a time.
Both trembled despite obvious efforts to appear confident. Their eyes darted from beast to beast, hope and terror warring on their faces.
A few of the creatures approached and circled them, one with six tails sniffing the air near the taller recruit, a woman with white-blond hair.
She stepped toward the Cerberus tentatively, her hand outstretched.
The three-headed beast turned away, rejoining the others.
As the woman stepped back, a horned serpent slithered forward with horrifying speed. Its barbed tail whipped around, spearing through the recruit’s chest before she could scream. Blood sprayed across the stone as the serpent withdrew its tail with a wet, sucking sound.
The body crumpled to the ground, her eyes wide with shock.
The second recruit, a man with black hair cropped close to his scalp, stood frozen as a creature that resembled a massive owl with antlers approached him. The beast bowed its feathered head. After a moment of stunned stillness, the man returned the gesture, amazement blooming on his face. He reached out to touch the creature’s forehead.
The crowd collectively held their breath as the air shimmered around them, the bond taking hold. I’d always likened it to heat rising from sunbaked stone.
The magic of bonding filled the arena with the scent of lightning-struck soil and summer rain. A collective sigh rippled through the crowd as the connection solidified, that visible moment when two separate beings became linked.
