AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Esmerelda had informed me that the scrolls had said it was the female Drakán’s choice as to who performed the mating ceremony and read the sacred words. It was usually someone close to her—a father or brother. Emptiness and despair filled me when she’d told me this. I had no one who would be proud to stand in for me at a moment like this. Alasdair was gone, and from the looks Erik had given me he wouldn’t have agreed if I’d asked. I’d been alone my entire life, and after this was over I’d be that way again.
I hadn’t known what to tell Esmerelda when she asked me who I’d chosen to read the scrolls. I thought of Julian and who he would have chosen if he’d been in my position. Esmerelda had been delighted when I’d asked her to take on the role.
Esmerelda pulled an ancient piece of parchment from a cylindrical tube made of ivory. It had been protected by magic over the centuries and was still in beautiful condition, the edges gilded with gold leaf and the penmanship in itself a work of art.
“My brothers, my Drakán,” she began. Her voice echoed through the silence of the ballroom. “This is a night of great triumph for our people. It is a night that unites us all with the spirits of our ancestors, for the mating fire hasn’t been witnessed since the time of the old lands. The gods have deemed Julian of the Belgae and Rena Drake, daughter of Alasdair of the Americas, worthy of each other—in spirit, mind, and body.
“And in keeping with the traditions of our homeland, astipiswill be offered to the Archos Julian, lifemate to Rena. What most valued gift shall be given to your mate this night?” Esmerelda asked me formally.
Esmerelda had told me that astipiswas a gift to your lifemate of the most precious possession you owned. The choice hadn’t been difficult for me. It was something I carried with me always, and I found it odd that my dragon didn’t seem to mind parting with such a valuable treasure.
My gift lay on the altar and was hidden under a piece of black velvet. I pulled the cloth aside and precious metal gleamed in the light. It was a torq, and two kinds of gold were melded together and shaped like the sun. A yellow diamond the size of a quail egg was perched in the center. The sun was attached to a chain woven of gold and linked with rubies.
“It is the only thing I have of my mother,” I said clearly, so the entire room could hear. I turned the torq over. Latin was inscribed across the back. “Amori, Ferocia, Venerato,” I said aloud.“Love, Courage, and Respect. I give this to you freely, lifemate.”
I picked it up, the gold cool between my fingers, and I placed it around Julian’s neck. I made sure the chain lay over his collar so it didn’t touch bare skin. He turned the sun over in his hands and studied it for a moment. His eyes met mine and the shock on his face was apparent.
Who was your mother, Rena?Julian asked. He sounded angry, and the rims around his eyes were beginning to turn red.
I looked at the torq again, trying to see what Julian did, but there was nothing there but precious metal and gems.I don’t know who she was. Alasdair has never spoken her name. I know she was royalty and killed shortly after my birth when the Ottoman Turks invaded Egypt. This torq was in my blankets when Calista came to take me away to live with the Drakán. Why? What’s wrong?
He studied me closely, weighing my words for truth.
Nothing, he finally said. And then aloud he said, “I accept this gift of my lifemate with deepest gratitude.”
“Now it is your turn for thestipis,” Esmerelda said to Julian.
He nodded and pulled the cloth from his gift. Ancient parchment scrolls, much like the one Esmerelda read from, sat on the altar. I knew what they were without opening them. Tears came to my eyes.
I heard the gasps of some of the Ancients in my own clan. Julian had given me back our archives that had been stolen from my grandfather Niklos. These scrolls were the reason so many of my clan were dead. And Julian’s message couldn’t have been any clearer to those watching. The feud between all of the clans was over. For now.
“These belong to you,” Julian said, and bowed low before me with great respect.
Thankyou. I didn’t have the voice to speak it aloud.
Julian took my hand and we stepped toward each other. I wanted to be alone with him, to show my appreciation for what he’d given me. To touch him the way my body had craved for the last few days. The conflict of emotions inside me was overwhelming. I was at war with myself. And though I could love Julian at this particular moment in time, I could also hate him for doing this to me.
He leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips. He absorbed all my anger—my hate—my sorrow. It was suddenly all gone, and there was only him. The blue mating fire started small and danced between our mouths. The crowd gasped and surged forward to see the fire they’d only heard of in legends. Until that moment many had thought this was a scheme Julian and I had come up with to take power over all the clans. This was the proof they needed to see that we truly were lifemates. And that we could lead them to victory.
I pulled back before things got out of control and my clothes burned away. But Julian’s eyes still held the passion of the flame, and I knew mine did as well.
“May your union be blessed and fruitful,” Esmerelda said over the swell of voices. Everyone in the room repeated the sentiment. Esmerelda leaned down and picked up a squirming goat. She placed it on the altar, and held it by the scruff of the neck. “You shared flesh and blood with each other, and now you are bonded for life. One of you cannot live without the other. Bonding is a great sacrifice, and we will make another one here today in honor of it.”
Her hand transformed into razor-sharp talons, and she sliced the goat’s neck with a quick slash of her wrist. Blood poured across her hand and spilled onto the altar in a fiery wash of color. The coppery scent brought my hunger swiftly, and I could tell by the surge of bodies in the room they felt the same desire. Esmerelda dipped her finger in the blood and drew a line across my forehead. Then onto Julian’s.
Two large chairs were brought out—both of them dark and heavy with ornate scrollwork across the back. A plush red cushion sat in each chair. Julian and I each took a seat.
Growls rose up from around us, and the tension in the room was high. The hunger was difficult to resist, especially among the youngest of our kind. I’d always relied on my abilities as Enforcer to control my beast. Others weren’t so lucky. There would be a fight for the carcass as soon as the way was clear.
Five Drakán—their different colors signifying they’d been chosen from each clan—came and surrounded us. I grasped the arms of the chair as two of them bent down and lifted it high above them. The three others did the same with Julian. The crowd roared with a resounding cheer.
What the hell is going on?I asked mind to mind. There was no way he could have heard me over the noise otherwise. The crowd surged behind us up the stairs. The sound of gnashing teeth and snapping bones echoed over the celebration as the newlings attacked what was left of the goat.
The scrolls say it is tradition for there to be witnesses to the consummation to ensure the mating fire flames true.
Like hell, I growled.I don’t need witnesses. Besides, they already got to see the mating fire. They’ll have to be happy with that.
And I was so looking forward to putting on a show.
