Sienna Du’for's Arc

Chapter 23 of 30

The ivory gates of Lorimar rose ahead by mid-afternoon. Sienna knew every stone. She had ridden out under them a year ago in a plain cloak with coins sewn into her hem. Now she rode back in blue and red, with two hundred people behind her and a scribe writing every step. The drawbridge was already down. Banners hung along the towers. The iron gate stood open. Cecilia waited in the courtyard past the arch. Her gold hair was braided high under the crown circlet. Her purple gown caught the sun. She was smiling. Behind her, two men in dark gray armor stood with halberds grounded. The twins. Sienna had known them since they were boys her father took in. Cecilia opened her arms. "Sister," she called. Her voice carried, warm, meant for the crowd. "You came home. Come. Father has asked for you every day." Sienna started forward. Clementine's hand caught her sleeve, then let go. Sienna took three steps under the arch alone. A hand closed on her elbow and stopped her. Aldric. He had come up on her right without a sound. His grip was firm through the cloth. "No," he said, low. "Look again." "She is my sister." "I have seen that smile." His eyes stayed on Cecilia. "My uncle wore it the day he took my father's crown. Look at the twins. Halberds grounded. Both hands high on the shaft. That is not rest. That is a ready hold." Sienna looked. The nearest twin's knuckles were white on the wood. The second twin's helm was angled at her, not at the crowd. Cecilia's arms were still open. She had not lowered them. Her smile had not changed. "She means to take you in the embrace," Aldric said. "In front of them. A grieving daughter, mad from the road. A blade in the ribs while she holds you. The twins finish anyone who steps in." Sienna's breath went thin. She saw it now the way she had once seen it across a supper table when they were girls and Cecilia had smiled just before she lied. She did not step back. She stopped walking. "Cecilia," she called across the courtyard. Her court voice. It reached every stone. "Come to me here. On the bridge. In front of these people. Embrace me where they can see." Cecilia's smile did not move. Her arms did not lower. She did not step forward. One heartbeat. Two. "Come, sister," Cecilia said, softer now. "Do not shame me at my own gate." "Then come to the bridge." Cecilia's hands closed slowly at her sides. The nearest twin shifted his grip on the halberd. The courtyard held its breath. Sienna turned her horse without stepping under the arch. Behind her the crowd began to turn with her. She had not entered Lorimar. She was still alive. And every person on the road had seen her sister refuse to cross ten feet of stone to hold her.