Lauki's Arc

Chapter 16 of 18

Lauki rode from Morrigan's tower with the manners drilled into him and the ring at his belt. Conrad's court waited. But a doubt gnawed at him. He had won the father's grudging patience with deeds and oaths and proof. He had not once seen Torra's own face since the hearing. All his work meant nothing if her heart had turned. He would not court her like a prize in front of the court, not without knowing. So he did not ride to the hall. He rode to the wall she had told him of long ago, the black obsidian wall marked with her house's letter, roses spilling over the top. He found the gate and slipped through the hedge. Inside, roses bloomed in red, black, blue, and white. He waited by a white bush until dusk. Then a hooded figure came down the path. Torra pushed back her red hood. Her copper braids caught the last light. Her yellow eyes found him and did not soften. That frightened him more than any guard. "You came the coward's way," she said. "Over the wall. Not the hall." "I had to see you," Lauki said. "Not the court. You." She crossed her arms. "My father tells me you slew a lord. Swore oaths. Fetched a ring." She stopped. "You did all that. You never asked me." "I'm asking now." He stepped closer. "Do you still want me? Say no and I ride out and never trouble your house again. I swore that on a stone. I'll keep it." For a long moment she said nothing. A cold wind moved the roses. Lauki felt his fire stir under his skin and held it still. "You think I fled my fortress for a stranger," Torra said. "I fled it for you. That has not changed." She said it flat, like a fact, and looked away. The knot in his chest broke loose. He drew the ring, black gold with a red heart-shaped stone. "Then wear this. Not for the court. For me." She took it. She slid it onto her finger. The ruby flared warm, then settled. She stared at it. "It's binding," she said quietly. "I can feel it. The fey do not give free gifts." "I know," Lauki said. "I took the price for both of us." Torra's jaw tightened. She did not pull the ring off. "Then we are bound now. Whatever it costs." She met his eyes. "But my father wants me given in the hall, before his witnesses. If I wear this and he learns you asked me first, in secret, he will call it defiance of his house." Lauki's relief turned cold. He had her heart. But he had won it behind Conrad's back, and Conrad would not forgive a suitor who stole the answer before the court could give it.