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Chapter Twenty-Nine
How We Choose
I was still connected to him. I knew he wasn’t going to harm me, or Logan. He wanted something else entirely…
“Ales, are you sure? You don’t have to do this. Cri and Leo won’t understand…”
Ales seized the golden hilt of the dagger and sliced open his palm as he fell to his knees. Then he turned his face up to me. His eyes sparked with stunning pulses of silver.
“This is different than a love bite, Ales. This is a Valkyrie you are pledging to. There’s no reversal.”
Last night, when Ales had shown me the pledge, I had felt his hesitation. Partly because of Cri—to him it was giving up his freedom. I would never want Ales to think I owned him, or to disappoint Cri. They were brothers. Ales valued his opinion. I didn’t want to come between them. It could drive a wedge between them if he bound himself to me. Cri might feel… abandoned. They had started Eir together, as the unbound. Doing this would change all of that.
“That’s not how I feel anymore. I want this. I choose this. I choose you.”
Ales whispered in my mind and out loud while he took my hand. “I pledge myself to you, Valkyrie. My body, my sword, and my soul are yours to wield.”
I extended my arm to him. He squeezed a drop of blood onto my outstretched palm. It disappeared beneath my skin and blazed like fire as a single symbol of light spread up my wrist, stopping on my forearm. When the burning faded, the gleaming symbol melted into place on my forearm as its twin appeared on Ales’ palm.
It felt different than the power from the sword. It was just as intoxicating, but it held a different meaning. The energy radiating from the mark was lethal and impenetrable. It was his pledge written on my arm. I traced the mark with my finger and then reached for his palm.
Ales stood silently, watching me outline his palm. When I looked up at him, he withdrew his hand and clenched it into a fist at his side. Before Ales stepped back, he whispered, “I knew it would be you.”
He bound himself to me. The weight of his expectations terrified me. What if he regretted his decision, in a few years or centuries? That was a long time to commit to someone. I mean, it wasn’t like a marriage, or a twining–it was Valkyrie law he would be under my command, until I died.
I looked at the others who had circled around us. My eyes met Leo’s, and he fell to his knees.
I was astonished. I was certain he would stay unbound with Cri. They didn’t share the connection I had to Ales, and I hadn’t even had the chance to explain it all to them.
“Leo, wait—”
He slit his palm like Ales and repeated the same vow before rising.
“Leo, I cannot accept this if you are doing this to follow Ales or you feel obligated for some reason. It isn’t sealed. We don’t have to finish it.”
“Baby bird, no other Valkyrie would’ve done what you did. You protected Ales and Logan, despite the fact it made you weak. Will you have me?”
I extended my palm, and a single drop of blood melted into it. Leo’s mark coursed up my arm and seared into place with the same fire that Ales’ mark had.
He pulled me into a giant bear hug, and then released my palm.
I didn’t know what to say. I was mesmerized by the markings, by the power they held. It was each man’s word, their spirit, their bond. It was permanent in the eyes of the Valkyrie.
Before I could speak, Logan went to his knees. Then Danny and Talon. Each repeated the same oath and sealed it with their blood.
Cri stood before me while the others peered at their palms.
“It’s okay, Cri, I understand what it means to you. They are still your family. I won’t command them like the other Valkyries did. Their lives are their own. It is a partnership from here on out. They can still stay on Eir, only leaving when we have to fight.”
Cri grabbed my wrist. “I pledge myself to Charlie. If she ever dies, so does the bond. I choose to bind myself to you,” he dropped to his knees and finished the pledge, adding, “As long as the mortal lives.”
“A solid workaround, Cri,” I laughed after putting my palm on his, sealing his blood to me.
Every man had a different marking that represented himself. They tattooed their way up my palms and forearms. All were connected, but each looked different. The vine that laced through the symbols represented their bond to each other.
The beautiful glow of each symbol seemed to match each man’s personality. Cri’s had flowing lines and circles, very fluidly drawn. Ales’ was striking, with jagged streaks and hard lines. Logan’s was bold with intricate shapes and shades. Even Leo’s and Danny’s felt calmer, steadier somehow.
I loved them. All of them. They radiated life and protection.
