He scrubbed a hand over his facial hair. “Don’t even think about skipping it. You know they don’t give us a choice, and the punishments to your family if you defy them aren’t worth it. A lofty fine would just be the start... And you’ll love seeing Nighthaven. All the food and fun, the excitement. You’ve never seen anything like it, and you never will again.”
“Love seeing all that they have that we don’t?”
“I know it’s not fair, but it’s the way it is. After it’s over, I promise to save you a dance at the celebration in the longhouse. And if you happen to stay until dark, I’ll even be generous and give you a spot next to me in bed.”
He always joked about me staying with him, but what if I did tonight? My father and mother wouldn’t like it without a formal commitment between us, and the girls my age would certainly have something to say about it behind my back if they found out. My overprotective older brother, who happened to be friends with Kace, would probably insist on sleeping in the room tomake sure nothing happened—he was embarrassing like that—even though he did whatever he wanted when it came to women.
I leaned on the table with the bone carvings my father and I had done: daggers, knives, silverware, combs, jewelry, we did it all.
“Ha, you wish, Kace,” I drawled.
Like everyone, he assumed I wouldn’t be selected for one of the prestigious guilds today. After all, only ducai were chosen—people born with inhuman abilities that rival our vampire enemies. They’re the ones who fight the vampires, we outside the wall run and hide from them.
“Oh, I do wish, Sira. I want you like I want my next breath.”
I tried to fight off the flush warming my cheeks and combed the stray hair behind my ears. I’d secretly wanted him for years, but he flirted with a lot of girls, even my own sister, and I’d hid my jealousy for as long. His words didn’t mean anything.
“Stop it. If my father hears you, he’ll?—”
“Demand we marry? After today that might even be a possibility. Marry me, Aesira. Be my beautiful bride. I’m tired of sleeping alone. I want you naked beside me.” He added a wink.
I scoffed, feigning being scandalized.
“I’m not one of your flocking admirers, Kace. If my father hears, he’ll throw you out, chieftain’s son or not.”
No one could marry before going through The Sorting Rite, to reveal if a person was ducai or not, at nineteen. It was the law. I’d turned nineteen on May 11th and every year The Sorting Rite happened on June 21st, right around the Summer Solstice. I and everyone else my age would be put through a series of tests, lift heavy objects—if I could, that was—and run a quick sprint. I wasn’t sure what the criteria was to be ducai. How fast and strong were they? I’d never met a ducai before.
My brother said they also tested each person for magic with a staff. I didn’t know how that worked either. There were a fewmystic shops in the nearby villages, but they were just old ladies who loved cats and herbs, and pretended to know the future, not real magic.
“Throw me out? Your papa loves me.”
Footsteps pattered on the floor above our heads. I grimaced, remembering the slap my grandmother had given me. She’d never done that before.
The kitchen door squealed open and my mother came through with a hand under her protruding belly. The dark circles under her eyes, puffy ankles, and the new gray hair at her temples told me this pregnancy was taking a toll on her. After Kayda she thought she couldn’t get pregnant again, but at fifty-one, fate had other ideas. I was worried about the birth and if her body could handle it.
“I thought I heard you, Kace. How are you?”
“I’m feeling quite well today. And you?”
She leaned on the table and put a hand on her lower spine. Kayda and my brother Ivarr had dark hair like her and my father. Maybe this baby would be light-haired like me.
“Miserable.” She turned to me with a bright smile. Any tension from the night before was gone. “Good morning. You look beautiful, Aesira. I’ll have your favorite strawberry cake waiting for you when you get home. I just got the sugar and flour this morning, and the strawberries from the garden are perfect.” She hurried forward and briefly kissed my cheek. “Your father is already waiting for you outside.”
I lifted the pair of white bone dragon earrings I’d carved and flicked the tag. We hadn’t had flour or sugar in weeks, so this must have paid for it. “Who bought the earrings and why haven’t they picked them up?” The small pouch of coins was left with no note.
My mother raised a sleek brow and nodded toward Kace. “Ask him.”
I turned to a smiling Kace. His rich brown eyes clung to mine in a way that made me forget to breathe for a moment. “I thought you deserved something special to wear today. You’ll only do this once.”
“You bought me my own earrings?” He did it for charity, and that bothered me more than it should when my family needed the money.
“Don’t you like them? You said you wished you didn’t have to sell them.”
I loved them, but I had expected someone else to wear them today. “Well, thank you, Kace.”
My mother shooed me toward the door. “You cannot be late. If you aren’t there when they call you for the test, we’ll have to pay a fine we simply cannot afford. Enjoy your day in the city.”
“I can take her, Seriah,” Kace offered.
