Barrett wouldn’t look at either of us; he just stared blankly out his south-facing window toward the city that wasn’t visible thanks to the dense canopy of swamp trees and thick fog. He kept his gaze fixed on that direction each time he pivoted, though, as if he could see the warriors lining the streets. Beg them to accept him, to trust him.
“I’m not surprised there are challenges,” Barrett huffed.
“Then explain, please,” Dax asked, leaning against the desk with his arms crossed.
“I knew there was a possibility we would either die before returning here or I would not be accepted back.” Barrett stopped, turning to face us with a hand dragging halfway through his hair. A torn expression flickered through the ire on his face. “I did not even consider the possibility that they would try to take you from me, to name you unfit or anything of the sort.” His eyes dropped to Dax’s gut, where Kakias had speared the general with a whip of dark magic that nearly killed him. “After all you’ve given for this, you deserve to be the one beside me.”
“I am your consort,” Dax said, his hand bracing his stomach. “That will never change, even if another takes a formal title.”
Based on his stiff shoulders, he was saying this to push Barrett toward the future he’d always wanted, the one their people needed. I was certain the last thing Dax wanted was for Barrett to be with someone else even if only in name.
“Explain it to me,” I cut in at the tick of Dax’s jaw. The general cast me a slight nod of appreciation. “What is it they want exactly?”
“They want me to complete the official Engrossian partner rituals with a warrior of a noble household,” Barrett explained, falling into a high-back leather chair and flinging his legs over one arm. “It involves two sets of vows. One is simply spoken before a priestess, followed by the scarring.”
“Scarring? Like your…” I nodded at Barrett’s chest. When their warriors came of age, Engrossians marked the accomplishment with scars and used a special ointment that did not allow the wounds to heal naturally. Barrett’s were a brutalXstretching from collarbones to waist. Dax’s, I had never seen.
“Similar,” Barrett explained. “The same anointing tonic is used, but each partner takes a blade to the other, normally a small slice to the hand, and the blood is mixed. A vow said. The ointment applied. And by the blessing of the Angels”—his hands twirled through the air, voice thick with sarcasm—“your souls and spirits are bonded forever.”
“And you two haven’t completed either of the vows?” I asked.
“Trust me, if we had, this conversation wouldn’t be happening.” Barrett’s expression darkened.
“We almost did once,” Dax explained. “Kakias locked me up.” And when Barrett freed him, they’d fled for Mystique Territory.
Perhaps it was obvious, but I asked, “Could you?”
Barrett looked ready to storm out of here and find a priestess, but Dax shifted off the desk, leaning against Barrett’s chair with a wince, and said, “It takes days to recover. They’d know, and it could ruin any support Barrett has earned.”
The prince huffed, sinking back into his chair. Absently, my hand went to my chest, where the Bind tattoo was now and forever inked.
“The last ritual is the consummation.” Dax’s throat worked over a swallow, his words hanging in the air.
“Is all of this about an heir?” I asked.
“No.” Barrett sighed. “But they will claim that’s part of it. I suppose the upside of that is they cannot select Nassik’s heinous son for me.”
Dax’s fingers drifted gently through the prince’s hair as he said, “We always assumed we had plenty of time to figure that part out, hoping Barrett would have centuries to rule.”
“But now it’s another fact they will use against us.” Barrett let his feet fall to the floor with two loud thuds that had Rebel perking up.
“What was your original plan for an heir?”
Barrett lifted his sharp eyes to me, defined cheekbones casting shadows across his face in the dim mystlight. But there was a soft excitement in his words. “We always wanted to adopt, but if none of those children seemed fit for or wanted the role, we would watch the royal houses.”
My brows shot up. “You would name another house successor to your throne?” It was unheard of in Engrossian history, as far as I’d studied.
But Barrett nodded. “Whoever had the best interest of our clan, the kindest but strongest heart, and the wisest mind. That was who I would train as my heir and nominate to transition power to when the time came, should the Spirits support them.”
I crossed my arms, leaning back against the wall as I considered everything they’d said. The prince and his consort continued down their spiraled conversation.
“They want you to select a partner,” I interrupted. “Do you have say in who?”
“I’m sure Nassik is already positioning his house as the wisest choice.”
He seemed the type, the bastard. “Who will he offer?”
“He has three children that could be considered of appropriate age,” Barrett said. Dax drifted to the side table, pouring each of us a measure of whiskey.
