A door above shut and he stepped away, hands clasping behind his back as Merle came down the steps, Bran followed closely behind. Startling when I noticed the redness of Bran’s eyes, my focus caught on the pommel that jutted over his shoulder. A sword.
His father’s sword.
The one weapon within the closet we had never dared to touch, for fear of Merle’s wrath if we had ever lost or harmed it.
Roan's head bowed slightly in a sign of respect as she approached him.
"Master Sommers—"
Merle waved a hand. "None of that palace bureaucracy please. Here it is just Merle, dear." His eyes widened slightly at her nonchalance, his back stiff and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was nerves. Did he even get nervous? He must have heard of Merle within the Palace, her talent well known throughout the city, but had he ever met her?
"Now, I hear that you're to take my children on aquest?"
My heart warmed at that,herchildren. Of course I had been included, so easily, so casually. That was just who Merle was.
Roan's eyes slid to me briefly, before focusing back upon the woman before him. She barely came to his shoulders, but if I didn't know better I’d have thought that Merle was towering over him.
"Yes ma'am," he said simply, his head dipping once in acknowledgment. Gone was his usual arrogance, instead replaced by the perfect gentleman. It was unsettling.
"I would like a sacred oath that you'll do everything in your power to ensure their safety."
"Mom!" "Merle!"
Our voices came out as one, our disbelief palpable. To ask for a sacred oath of Roan…
I stepped forward, my head shaking and a protest upon my lips, only to stop short when he offered his arm without hesitation.
Merle gripped it with her own and I could only watch in shock at the fire that flowed from her hand to his, burning neither of them, but floating and twirling in intricate patterns over their skin.
"I, Roan Delmar, faithful servant to our Goddess Soli of the Sun and Earth," he began, teeth gritting as the fire burned brighter at his words, "pledge to you, Merle Sommers, that I will do everything within my power to protect your children upon this quest. If I forsake this promise, let the Goddess of Sun and Earth turn me ash for my broken vow.”
Their hands dropped and Merle held his gaze curiously for a moment before a quiet, "Thank you," slipped from her lips.
To make a sacred oath was magic of the Goddesses. To break the magical bond would have dire consequences upon the oath breaker. I couldn't quite fathom that Roan Delmar, the Kinslayer himself,would be so willing to take one.
He stepped back as I approached Merle, pulling her into a tight hug, the smell of spices invading my senses.
"Take it easy, okay?" I pleaded. "The prince has promised to send you help in my absence, and I’ll be so angry if I come back to you having worked yourself to death."
She squeezed back, a teary huff escaping. "And I shall be very angry if you die on this quest. It shall bemewho hauntsyouone day, little Syra, understood?"
A few tears escaped that I swiped away furiously as I pulled back, allowing Bran his own goodbyes. I joined Roan by the doorway, my back leaning against the cool wood of the wall as I observed the teary farewells.
"You shouldn't have made that oath."
"Why is that?"
"I can take care of myself, Delmar." The bite in my voice was forced and I knew from the smirk that graced his handsome face that he knew it.
"I'm well aware that you can." His response was factual, said with a simple shrug of his shoulders that had my eyes narrowing upon him.
"Then why would you—"
"A mother’s worry is something that neither you nor I can fathom." Humor laced his words, dancing across my skin and soaring through my blood. “If I can ease that anxiety within her, why would I not?" His tongue ran across his bottom lip before a smirk curved the corners of his mouth. "Besides, as you said, you're perfectly capable of caring for yourself, little menace, so I'll hardly have to lift a finger to fulfill my oath, right?"
"Goddess, you're infuriating." Slumping against the wall, my focus shifted back to Bran and Merle, their hug tightened, yet I couldn't hear the words they spoke to one another.
My body stiffened as I felt him shift, blocking my view as his face leaned in closely, a hand brushing back the hair that was swept over my shoulder. His voice was deliciously dark, as his lips nearly brushed the shell of my ear, a sinful caress low and quiet. “You keep saying that,” he murmured, his warm hand cupping my cheek as his thumb brushed gently over a spot just below the corner of my eye. “Yet you blush every time you do, did you know that?”
