The Emperor and Imperial Priest Kado reach out to cup their hands around ours as blood drips from the seam, raising our joined hands high for all to see.
“By the trust bestowed by the Elder Dragons of the Ampara Deicra Empire, I now declare you, Varic Euclid, blood-bound to Imperial Grand Witch Tasch.”
An effervescent sensation fills my chest—and the piercing sting of panic descends as I worry this connection might overtake the place Hendry’s once lived. Yet now that it settles, and burrows within me, it’s merely an amplification of what Varic already possessed. Some part of my chest which has always been his. And I could swear it’s been tinged with his amber.
Raucous applause fills the space as Emperor Aldritch and the Imperial Priest Kado lower our hands to hang between our rigid frames.
“You may now separate your hands,” Imperial Priest Kado instructs.
I sigh in relief, loosening my grip, and we both pull away. The moment our hands separate, my chest constricts with the absence of him.
Emperor Aldritch takes two strips of white gauze from a gold tray held aloft by an Imperial Guard and turns to address Varic. “May you live a long and healthy life in service to the Dragons, to whom we owe everything, and for the good of the Ampara Deicra Empire in protecting our greatest asset.”
Two Imperial servants step forward carrying gold bowls filled with warm water—a strange aspect of the tradition since healers will seal the cuts shortly thereafter.
Varic reaches for my injured hand as the blood from our bond drips down to disappear within the black velvet carpet. His opposite hand guides mine into the warm water, swishing it lightly until the blood staining my palm dissipates. He takes the clean towel offered and delicately wipes the slow trickle of blood seeping from my wound, drawing the towel over my skin, ensuring it is dry enough to bandage in a display of care and compassion since my healing Guard could mend it in less than a second.
Taking the long strip of gauze from the Emperor, Varic braces my wrist between the thumb and pointer finger of his injured hand to steady me as he slowly winds the gauze around my wound with the other, tending to my injury so attentively, my heart squeezes.
His gaze blazes a trail up my arm and over my collarbone, then the curve of my neck, until heat blooms hotter in each of my cheeks as he catches me staring. I clear my throat and drop my attention, avoiding his eyes as he watches me work on his own injury.
Heart hammering, I cleanse his hand the way he did mine, feeling strangely intimate as I hold his wrist and draw it through the water with finesse so as not to slosh any droplets over the side nor handle him too harshly. He stares at me rather than where I cleanse him, and my chest expands. I neutralize my expression and accept the gauze His Majesty offers. My fingers tremble so much, it cannot escape his notice. Especially since I did not react the same during any of my other Guards’ vow ceremonies.
I swallow against the tension and wrap the gauze around Varic’s warm hand, noting the tiny scars he’s earned since I last studied them, leaving the question of what left these marks on him in my absence. I flush hotter as Varic continues to stare while I finish tying off the bandage, then turn to the Emperor as Imperial Priest Kado once again begins to speak.
“Imperial Grand Witch Tasch will now prove her acceptance of her new Imperial Lead Guard by placing the ceremonial mask on Imperial Lead Guard Varic.”
I could refuse him.
I could reject his appointment.
I could send him back to the border where he would not have to witness nor endure all I must. Where his overprotective nature toward me, and his impulses which verge on aggression when it comes to my safety, mean it would be best to refuse him.
But this is all just a formality. A pretty display of how they pretend to grant me agency. Rituals they created to make it seem I have any choice in this, when he’s already made the vow, and we are now blood-bonded.
“After placing the ceremonial mask, Imperial Grand Witch Tasch will paint a ring around each of the prospective new Imperial Lead Guard’s eyes—an homage to our Empire’s sigil, wherein a Dragon breathes a circle of flames around itself in a show of strength and power, one which will be necessary should Imperial Grand Witch Tasch accept his appointment,” Imperial Priest Kado says, before turning to Varic.
“Once every ritual is complete, we will announce your new title as your charge welcomes you to her detail, granting you the honor so few hold, requiring you to protect her life by both blood and vow.”
Imperial Servants present me with two obsidian boxes lined with crushed black velvet, upon which sits the Imperial black ceremonial mask and a gold-plated eye pencil, respectively.
With the pressure of every eye on my being, I lift the mask from its box, then carefully pull at the edge of the masterfully folded shape made to resemble a circle of flames before turning back to Varic—the sorcerer who is to be my new Lead Guard, if I complete these traditions.
Fear and concern war in my stomach, halting my progress.
Varic stares down on me with kindness while my heart kicks at my ribs in protest.
This isn’t how it should be.
Not between you and me.
Warm fingertips cast up the inside of my wrist, and I gasp as he continues to caress it, encouraging me while everything else screams for me to stop this.
“Go on, mei waella,” he says just under his breath, barely moving his lips, missing the notice of everyone but us.
My heart quirks with his use of this term, settling my nerves in a way only he is capable, though I must remain vigilant.
He doesn’t understand what he’s agreeing to. Though he must believe otherwise.
