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“It is our way.”
“The right way.” My mother’s voice is harsh, but then, unexpectedly, she takes my father’s hand. “The only way.”
This time, he nods.
I am not my father,I realize. I have spent my whole life believing my mother follows him against her will, but I’m not so sure anymore. I certainly didn’t go seeking Iara against my will.
For whatever reason, even if it makes no sense to me, what they have works for them. It challenges them both to try things they wouldn’t necessarily do without the other, but that doesn’t have to be seen as the extortion I’ve always taken it for.
It would be wrong for me to not be with Iara, even when it challenges my ways of thinking. Maybe especially then.
I really do want to be her mate, in life, in love, in spirit. It would be even more wrong for me to deny it. All the wrongs my father ever did to my mother added up wouldn’t even come close to the hurt I would put on Iara, and myself, if I didn’t honor our bond.
“Rylan made me this.” Iara holds up her hand. “It is a custom among humans when you ask someone to mate you.”
“Skystone?”
My mother seems pleased by my choice, but my father grabs Iara’s hand and spins the ring around, inspecting it thoroughly.
“I can’t see the weld.”
“You’re not supposed to.”
“I know. I’m saying the bond is strong. Now the piece is like one. No way to tell where one end stops and another begins.”
“Unbreakable.” My mother is nodding. “A human tradition, who knew?”
“It’s not unbreakable. It means if it breaks, it won’t necessarily split where it was joined. You cannot predict where it will fracture, what part will be damaged.”
“Thus, you cannot hurt one another without risking hurting yourself,” my mother points out.
I expect my father to continue the argument, but with a sharp jerk of his head, he acquiesces. I’m not sure what that was about, not exactly, but both of my parents seem to feel they have proven their point. That doesn’t happen very often.
The lights flicker on and off. My father frowns. I’m sure he has half a mind to go running off to the basement to check the wiring.
“I think that means the ceremony is about to begin.”
Iara is smiling, but I brace myself for my father’s sure-to-be sharp response.
“Shall we go in then?”
My mother is back in control. The doorway is jam-packed with people trying to get into the room. We wait our turn. When we finally get into the room, there are no empty tables left.
“There are spots over there.”
My father doesn’t ask, he just leads the way. There is only one person at the table, and it’s Renxel. Word has gotten around, and it seems no one wants to sit with him.
“Are these seats taken?”
He shakes his head. My father pulls out a chair for my mother and I copy him. My mother asks Renxel if his parents are coming. He shakes his head again.
Iara reaches under the table and squeezes my hand. I think I understand. I look at my parents with a whole new level of appreciation. They wouldn’t have missed this. They didn’t care if I won or not.
The ceremony begins. Taurek starts by reading the winners’ names. Then it takes a while to get through the list of competitors. My mother pats Renxel on the arm when he comes back to the table with his certificate of completion.
“Time to eat?”
My mother shushes my father.
