My mind tumbles back to last night. To the way Orlaith’s body opened for me like a blooming flower when I latched onto the side of her neck and drank her silky warmth. To the deep, guttural moan she released that almost had me ripping into her in other ways.
I twirl my cupla around my wrist. “Anything but,” I rumble, eating up Orlaith’s curves with my ravenous stare.
Anything but.
“She is not going to steal you from me, is she?”
Heira’s strained voice knocks me off guard, snatching my stare. I lift her hand and brush my lips across her knuckles. “Never,” I growl, a promise and a plea. An answer I thought she surely knew.
Relief floods her eyes, and she gives me that soft, nourishing smile I love so much, then turns her attention forward again. Together, we watch other Shulák splash Orlaith with sacred water scooped from the bowl of Mount Ether, preparing her for the trial while they chant to the rhythm of the thudding drums.
Orlaith doesn’t blink, doesn’t flinch, and for the first time, I notice the dark circles beneath her eyes. Her pasty complexion.
I frown.
Her body is obviously struggling to keep up with my …rabiddemands. I must try to stop sooner next time, but it’s just so fucking hard to control myself with her when she gives herself to me so beautifully.
Sowillingly.
“Arrangements have been made,” Heira says, interrupting my inner musings.
“For?”
“Should Orlaith fail the trial today, there will be no burning, but a whipping instead. In the city square. Thirty lashes. Enough that she will look as though she’s beyond repair, though I’m certain you will still find use for her.”
Relief floods my veins as I squeeze Heira’s hand. “I appreciate your discretion.”
“Butshouldshe fail, I have contingents of Gray Guards camped out near the western border between Bahari and Ocruth, and I’ve ordered the bulk of our militia farther inland—closer to the Norse. We’re more than prepared to help you take the Ocruth seat of power byforce.”
Jaw hardening, I give her a tense nod, watching one of the Elders draw the gray silt from the shores of Mount Ether down Orlaith’s forehead, nose, lips, and chin. The drums quicken their thudding, pounding like the beat of a panicked heart. “I’m certain that won’t be necessary. I have full faith that Orlaith will climb out of The Bowl and this transition will be smooth.”
“Let us see. As always, I put my trust in the Gods.”
There’s a pitch to Heira’s tone that makes me frown, and then she’s standing, reaching for the amplifier on the table beside her. She brings it to her lips, and her stern voice rips across the quieting crowd like an avalanche.
“Men, women, children of thismagnanimousterritory, we have gathered here this morning before the full moon’s rise to witness our first Ether Trial in over a hundred years!”
Heira raises both arms skyward.
Everybody cheers—the energy infectious.
“Today, the Gods will judge this woman standing before you all in the color of Ether. They will deem her worthiness to sit beside thisgreatman,” she looks down at me with that wholesome smile, sparking a fire in my swelling chest that burns like a thousand embers, “to cradle his offspring in her womb, and to support him in his selfless endeavors to protect our territory against that which could strike us down!”
There’s another eruption of applause, like fists bashing my ribs, and a lopsided smile breaks across my face.
“The tempest is silent …” Her words—softer now—carry like a verbal shiver I can feel all the way to my bones. “The Gods arelistening, weighing this woman’s thoughts and fears. Herfaults.Today, before every person in this amphitheater, they will pass their judgment.”
The crowd chants in unison, stomping their feet at a ferocious pace, filling the space with the sound of thunder.
“Judgment!”
“Judgment!”
“Judgment!”
“During our preparations,” Heira says, sedating the crowd, “Orlaith was asked which creature she was drawn to. As is tradition, that very creature will now be released into The Bowl.”
Finally.
