I doubted he saw her that way.
I sat on the only chair, which groaned under my weight. Shifting the blanket over my lap, I felt the weight of her analytical gaze, studying me. She’d been calm and confident up until now, but her demeanor shifted, her eyes darting away from mine.
Seren pinched the bridge of her nose. “You’re not my prisoner. But when I brought you back, the leader of our tribe wanted to execute you.” She extended her wrist, displaying her tattoo. “I took a blood oath in order to claim you as Viori.”
“So … blood magic?” Even the words made my gut clench. I’d been subject to it before, with the Seal. I arched a wry brow. “Are you a sorceress?”
She shook her head.
“Priestess?”
“I’m Unbound, born with spellcraft gifts. But my mother is an Ibarran priestess.”
“What kind of blood oath?” If it had changed my appearance, it had to be powerful. And why had that stopped the Viori from executing me?
“The Oath of Bryndis.”
I’d never heard of the oath. While some people, especially Ibarrans, still worshipped the old gods and goddesses, Liriens as a whole had lost devotion to the gods who’d died or distanced themselves from humanity at the end of the Fourth Age. Most Liriens only worshipped Solric, God of light, and Nyxva, the goddess of the underworld.
Even I, with the finest education Lirien offered, knew little about the old gods. But I knew enough to recognize the name she’d mentioned.
“Bryndis? As in the Eldra goddess of love?” I asked.
“Yes.” She clearly has some education.
“And … this oath changed my hair?”
“You seem very attached to your previous hair color.” A hint of a smile curled at her lips.
“Wouldn’t you be?”
“Not if keeping it meant my head being separated from my body.”
Her wit was oddly comforting. “Point taken.”
She shrugged. “If it makes you feel better, mine changed too. And so did my eyes, though I don’t think your eyes did.”
I rubbed my jaw, trying to process everything she’d said. “What do you mean by you claimed me?”
Seren clasped her hands. “In the strictest sense?—”
I got the feeling I wasn’t going to like her answer.
“—we’re spouses.”
Spouses?
She didn’t appear to be joking, though. “As in married?”
She looked away. “It’s more complicated than that, but for the purposes of saving you from being executed, yes. I claimed you as my husband. The bond is both physical and spiritual—it supersedes our laws.”
My head spun.
She’d been in a predicament, obviously. Pendaran customs were clear about life debts.
“What if I’m already married?”
Her eyes widened. “Are you? Most of the Sealed aren’t.”
