Berne took a deep breath and began his speech. He used his most official-sounding voice and made sure to enunciate clearly. “It is lawful for any Shade of Sanctuary, should they not find a mate within the Shades, to seek a mate elsewhere. The citizen must study any candidate to ensure their credibility, bind to them before returning, and vouch for their mate among the Shades. Outside mates shall not leave the grounds of Sanctuary alone for any purpose for a year and shall take all vows expected of any adult Shade.” He took another gulp of air and continued, “During the week I followed Sirin, I reasonably established her credibility. I am fully prepared to vouch for her—“
“And you’re leading me to believe you've bound her to yeh already?” Gunna asked, eyebrow raised.
“I have.” Berne gulped, and looked over at Sirin with a pained expression and mouthed, “Sorry.”
Sirin frowned at him, obviously confused. He reached down to her wrapped arm, the one with his bite. He poured all of the compassion and pleading into his eyes as he could. “Please understand,” he whispered, “I’m just trying to help. Just try to trust me.”
Sirin looked up trustingly at him with those deep brown eyes. Dear Lady, this might be the last time she looked at him like that. He’d asked her to have faith in him at a moment when he was about to prove to her he’d already betrayed that trust. He raised his voice so the entire council could hear. “Sirin, could yeh please unwrap your arm and show the council your mating bite?”
1.It should be noted that while Berne and Gunna share the same base accent, they still speak differently. Berne is much more informal, whereas Gunna’s words come off more “posh.”
2.I am so grateful that all he said was written down, because I was too overwhelmed to properly catalogue his words in my mental library. I’ve made a copy that I keep with me to read anytime I miss him when we are separated because of work.
3.Over the years, I’ve learned how to approximate many of these sounds even though its unlikely I will ever be able to shift.
Chapter nine
Sirin
IN WHICH THE SOURCE OF MAGIC IS REVEALED, SIRIN IS REPEATEDLY DUMBFOUNDED AND SUBSEQUENTLY EMBARKS ON A NEW, MORE PRESSING RESEARCH EXPEDITION
Mating.Bite.1
What in the fresh hells is a mating bite?
She was also fairly certain, considering everything she could sense from her body, her wound was completely healed. Sirin was not going to have any sort of mark to show at all. She shot him a panicked look. This was his grand plan? This was his plot to save her? Couldn’t he see there was no way this would work? Holding his gaze, she slowly unwrapped her healed arm. When she got down to the last wrap, she looked up at him to confirm that this was what she wasreallymeant to be doing. She didn’t relish seeing what would happen when hisgeniusplan came crashing around their feet.
He placed his hand over the supposed bite mark and squeezed. Sirin’s heart beat faster. Her pulse hummed through her veins. In that moment, she was completely aware of where he was touching her body, where his heat seemed to warm her arm and the air between them. Goosebumps covered her body and she felt her breasts tighten to almost painful attention. For the second time, she swayed toward him, overcome with reactions she didn’t understand. She yearned for him to envelope her in his arms andgrowlat her.
What in the Lady’s name was happening to her? Berne removed the bandage, and for a moment, she felt bereft of his touch. When she looked down, her arm was healed, but instead of smooth skin, there was a silvered pattern in the shape of a bite, though the pattern seemed too elongated and wrong for a human bite.
Gunna had crossed the room in the time it had taken Sirin to unwrap her arm and leaned in to inspect the bite. She pursed her lips and silently turned to return to her seat.
“And as my mate, Sirin has the right and the duty to guard our Lady’s Secret. She is a citizen of Sanctuary by virtue of this bond, and needs only to be inducted as a Shade,” he said with finality. As if that somehow settled the matter. “Now, it is late, and she’s tired. I’d like to get her home to rest and privately discuss our duty and what she can expect in the coming days,” he continued, sounding more like himself. He twined his fingers with hers and placed his other gently on her bite. Again, thatfeelingrose within her. She looked between Berne and her arm, feeling the blood rise to her face. Berne started when he followed her eyes, releasing her arm with the bite and blushing. He refused to meet her eyes and cleared his throat. This had to be the strangest sequence of events Sirin had ever experienced.
Amazingly, the councilorsbegan to pack up. Across the expansive chambers, people stretched and shuffled papers into bags. As she watched, one man across the room seemed to darken, and wisps of blackness crept out of his sleeves. Another woman cracked her neck ashornssprouted from her head, parting her hair around them. Sirin gasped as people all over the roomtransformedin front of her eyes. She’d seen lunologists make some impressive modifications, but this was beyond anything she’d thought possible. She needed to talk to them, and ask how it was done.
What is going on here?
She was about to leave Berne to go investigate when Gunna stepped in her way.
“Berne Brodersen, yeh always were one to over-plan, weren’t you?” Gunna admonished. “I suppose that solves that problem. By the way, I regret to inform you—“ she paused, smiling wickedly, ”—that yourmate isconfined to the village for the next few weeks while she undergoes lessons on our duty to our Lady. Following that, she isn’t to leave the valley for three years. We weren’t certain how to enforce keeping her here beyond that, nor if yeh would be willing to take responsibility for her long term, but I suppose that answers all that.“ Gunna nodded and patted his cheek before turning and walking away, muttering, “I’ve never seen a bear so hasty.”
Sirin felt lost and bewildered as the council stood and filed out, nodding to her as they passed; a few even clapped Berne on the back and teased him. When they were alone, Berne looked down at her and smiled sadly.
“Guess the plan worked. I’ll fill yeh in when we get home. For now, let’s just try to be discreet.” His face shuttered, and he led her from the council building by the hand.
On her walk to the council chambers, Sirin had been charmed by the thatched-roof houses, the canals and bridges connecting it all, and the tidy coziness of the settlement. She’d marveled at the warmth she felt, though she could see no source of it. In the distance, she’d noted a clear line where the snow began before the ring of mountains circling the valley. She’d been struck by how picturesque it all was, the main square surrounding a village green capped by the marble municipal building where they’d held her trial.
When they stepped outside, Sirin gasped, overwhelmed by the view of the village at night. The lunula flowing through the canals gave the entire village a transcendent glow. In the sky, streaks of the aurora borealis echoed the colors of the lunula, deepened with purples and blues, elevating it beyond charming to something otherworldly. She clasped Berne’s hand tighter, struck silent for the first few minutes of their walk by the sheer magic of the sight.2She’d read of the lights and had seen them briefly at the Citadel, but never so clear, so vibrant or close.
As they walked, Sirin had the distinct feeling they were being watched. She turned her head to see Arndis peeking out from around the side of a building, her face split by a huge grin.3She bounced up and down on her feet, waving wildly and clapping. Sirin couldn’t help but wave back with an equally excited expression. Ardnis ducked behind with a wave as council members left the building, but the feeling of being watched only intensified as they walked back to Berne’s cabin.
When she looked closely, she could see people peeking around window dressings to look at her. One person evenhappenedto be putting their laundry out after dark so they could watch her out of the side of their eye. She stepped closer to Berne, hoping he could help hide her, she didn’t particularly like the prickly feeling of being stared at. Luckily, he took the hint and placed his arm around her shoulders. Which, seeing she was still unsure how she felt about being essentially married to the man, didn’t bother her nearly as much as she would have assumed. Her arm with the bite brushed his side, and she shivered, feeling flushed and exposed walking around other people. The night was cooling off quickly, and she tucked herself into his side, loving the warm waves of heat that came off of him and seemed to penetrate her center.
If people were going to stare at her, she mused she might as well stare back. As she did so, she began noticing things that were…—odd. It wasn’t only the council members; it seemed people all over Sanctuary were different beyond anything she had ever seen. Sirin was sure she saw someone whose skin appeared purple, then she saw a man who seemed to havescalesnear his hairline that shimmered in the low light. Sirin looked up at Berne to ask about their extreme body modifications, but he only quirked an eyebrow and whispered, “Don’t look so surprised. Yeh might’ve found more than yeh were looking for.”
“Berne, that woman had atail,and there was a man with scales on his face two bridges ago! One of those council members was emitting shadows or smoke or something! Yes, I would say that’s more than I expected to find! This is lunology taken to a level I had never thought possible!”4
