Rise of the Seven (The Frey Saga, #3)(23)

“When Chevelle returns, please let him know I’d like to speak with him.”

She rolled her jaw, but kept her lips tight.

“What?”

“I...”

“Ruby,” I demanded.

Her face twisted into a grimace. “I don’t know,” she started, “but I think he’s looking for Stryder.”

“Alone?”

She lifted a shoulder. “It isn’t as if he can’t handle it.”

And he’d left me here with no fewer than three guards. I swung my legs off the bed to stand. “How long has he been gone?”

“Too long for you to stop him.”

“Then that’s how it will be,” I said. She was burning to ask, but I ignored her. “Let’s get dressed, shall we?”





Chapter Twelve


Second





The rest of the day was a blur. I’d chosen a form-fitting costume, black and leather. A short cape for freedom of movement, clasped at the shoulders with pewter adorned with the crest of my line. I wore a cuff on my left wrist, but my right was bare. Ruby had painted the hawk and intricate runes there, just above the base of my palm. I was outfitted for a special kind of battle, and my opponent awaited.

I stepped forward, leaving the two watchmen at my private entrance to the hall. The room was silent as I took my place before them, Anvil at my left in all his regalia. The walls had been covered with dark silks and standards, all bearing the crest. The room was smaller than the banquet hall, windowless, and I couldn’t help but feel closed in. The torches and candles flared brighter, and I wondered if Ruby could tell what I was feeling. Hard to say, she did have a flair for the dramatic after all. I scanned the room, it appeared they’d been able to locate representatives for most of the clans. My guard was in place, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at Chevelle. What I was about to do...

But no, it had to be done. There was no other I would name.

“I have called this congress…” I heard myself droning the words but I could only focus on the crowd. They had already formed opinions of Chevelle; they had heard the rumors. Some of them had even been here when I had publicly denied him as Asher sought to arrange a marriage. And now, what I was going to do would be like openly denying him again.

Permanently.

A second was backup, there to step in when the lord fell. They could never be in a union, because one who was bound would likely die themselves if they lost that connection. If I chose Chevelle, if I named him my second, it would be like announcing we would never be bound. Otherwise, it would only be for appearances, for he would not live long after my death.

“... and call you to order as I name my second.”

As I made it through the lengthy speech, my eyes finally fell on Chevelle, across the long table. It would be as we always stood at these ludicrous functions now, opposite ends, never side by side.

I felt wretched.

“Chevelle Vattier. Born of North Camber, Guard of the Seven, Second to the Lord.” I held his eyes, skipping over the part that listed his mother and father, though it was secret to none. I’d already all but slapped him in the face.

Aside from the intake of breath, which might have been Ruby, silence smothered the room. I gave it a heartbeat, two, three. It crossed my mind that I should have prepared my guard further, but I couldn’t be sure, even now, what the clans’ response would be. They could oppose it, but it would call for their death to question my order so blatantly. They could fight, but they would lose. They might have had a chance, if they had all agreed, prepared before coming, but they hadn’t known. And I had the support of at least a few here. I hoped the rest simply accepted it. Far too many had died only the night before, I didn’t want to go through it again.

After several more minutes of quiet, I glanced around the room. For the most part, everyone in attendance seemed confused, and eager to get out with their lives. No one wanted to be caught up in bloodshed here, in the castle.

Chevelle stood completely motionless. Expressionless. As if a statue in the costume of a guard.

“I call you forward to bear this token,” I announced.

He seemed hesitant to move and I drew in several long breaths through my nose. The token was nearly meaningless to all others. Mine had been the amulet. The same amulet Asher had previously given my mother. I hadn’t wanted it, had returned it to her, and she had worn it the day she burned. It was all that survived the fire, and they’d left it with me when they’d taken me to the village.

Chevelle finally made his way across the room, coming to stand at my right. I turned to him, nodding to his arm as I pulled the thin leather strip from my belt. I had retrieved it from the box of things he’d returned to me, and when he saw it, I knew he recognized it. The slightest twitch at the corner of his mouth was the only indication he might someday forgive me.

My hands were trembling, but there was nothing to be done for it. I tied the strip around his wrist, knotting it over his cuff to complete the ceremony.

I turned back to face the room. “As the High Guard bears witness, so bear the agents of the north. It is decreed this day, until the hour of our death, by no means disputed.”

“Hear, hear,” the Seven chorused.

“Hear, hear,” repeated the crowd.