Amity Nervy Lucid's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

The first horn faded into the trees and no one moved. Amity stood at the foot of the steps with Lily one pace behind her. Five delegations waited at the edge of the property, each pulled up short of the front door. The wolves held the west road. The demons stood under the old tree at the south edge, roots glowing faint between their boots. The river clan, the mountain line, and the half-angel nobles held their own ground further out. No one would cross first. Crossing first meant bowing. Amity's hair went white, then gray, then white again. She had built the table. She had not built a door no one could lose at. She looked at the manor entrance and saw the problem clean. One door, one threshold, one order of entry. Whoever stepped through second would be counted under whoever stepped through first. "They won't move," Lily said. "They'll stand there till dawn and then leave." Amity turned from the steps and walked toward the small stone rotunda that sat between the road and the manor. It was round, domed, and old, with four doors set at even points around its wall. She had passed it a hundred times and never used it. Now she saw what it was for. Four doors, no front, no back. She called the wolves' Beta over by name. Dan Blackwood crossed the open ground without waiting for his pack's nod, hands in his pockets, easy. "You needed a volunteer," he said. "Figured I'd save you the speech." Behind him, Darius Shadowborne stepped out from the demon line on his own, jaw set. He stopped beside Dan and said, "If he's in, I'm in. Don't make me regret it." Amity raised her voice so the far delegations could hear. She told them the rotunda had four doors and the manor had one. Each delegation would enter the rotunda by a separate door at the same count. Inside, no one was first. From the rotunda they would walk to the table together. The fifth delegation, whichever wished, would enter the manor door directly, neither ahead nor behind. Lily would stand at the manor door and count. Dan and Darius would walk in side by side through the rotunda's east and south doors to prove the shape held. The river clan moved first toward the north door. The mountain line took the west. The half-angel nobles took the manor door itself, which suited their pride. Dan and Darius walked into the rotunda from opposite sides and came out the inner arch together, shoulders almost touching, Darius muttering something that made Dan snort. Lily counted them through the manor door without lifting her face. Five delegations crossed the threshold inside one breath of each other. No one had bowed. The gathering was inside.