Reign the Earth (The Elementae #1)(6)

I nodded and hugged her tight. She let me go and gave me one last, sad look before going to stand by Rian.

By the time the clan was done, it was nearly time. My neck was heavy, and everyone stepped back from me.

The sun was coming up over the dune, and I faced the entrance to the city as it did. Standing before my clan, I was the first thing the light touched, and as it hit my face, the singing rose. The sunlight and the sound filled up the hollow space inside me, and I shut my eyes, trying to trap it there, trying to hold the power and peace of the desert within me always.

My father came forward with the cloth, laying it on my shoulders and wrapping it lightly around my head. “The next man who sees your face will be yours forever,” he told me.

And then we began to walk. The women behind me broke down the tents and packed them in our quick, efficient way, but from then on, I was not allowed to look back. I was not allowed to stop.

Instead I moved forward, feeling the sand filter through my sandals, rushing over my feet, urging me onward.

Peace wasn’t a thing that came swift and easy. Peace took courage and faith, and I had those. I would make my family proud, and through my wedding I would protect them for once. For always.





Charlatan

When we came to the break, my father went first, leading us into the city as Osmost took to the air. The long staircase was dark after the unending, unshadowed light in the desert, and it took a disorienting moment to adjust.

In the darkness, I thought of the night before, sneaking down to the lake that called to Kata.

I wondered if I would miss the sand as she did the water.

The sunlight broke on us at the end of the stairs, and we walked out into the wide avenue of Jitra’s stone-carved dwellings.

“Dragon!”

I turned to see my uncle embrace my father, then turn to my mother and haul her off the ground. She was small, like my sister, Catryn, and I wondered how it would be to feel so delicate within a family. To be a woman who bore eight children, a woman of iron and bone, and still look fragile.

“D’Falcos clan welcomes you to Jitra,” my uncle said.

“D’Dragyn clan is most welcomed,” my father said, bowing to him at such formality.

“And our little bride!” my uncle cried, turning to me. He was not like my father. He was tall—most desert men were—but he was soft where my father was battle scars and rock.

And it was silly to call me little. I was only half a hand shorter than he was.

“Uncle,” I said, sweeping my wedding robes back and giving him a bow before he laughed and hugged me.

“It is a miracle,” he said. “The Trifectate and the clans in one city without any of it on fire.”

My heart went tight and my mouth ran dry.

“Saying things may wish them so,” my mother said, patting her brother on the arm. “Don’t.”

He huffed out in protest, but she silenced him. “Is the procession ready?” she asked.

He smiled at her and nodded.

As we moved through Jitra, everyone came out of their houses, offering threads and blessings to me, and then followed us. It was a long labor, and Jitra sloped down sharply, so much that I felt like my body tilted back as we walked down, my feet moving forward but my head leaning away, torn between my future and past.

My clan was around me in a cloud, but they all suddenly stopped and whispered and giggled. They parted enough to let me see why.

There was a man there, standing across the river. He stood beside a girl, younger than I was. They both had pale skin and dark, shining hair. She wore some kind of fashion that was like a robe but bound tight to her body with ribbons, but he was magnificent. I knew it was the traditional garb of the foreign men, but his clothes were cut so close to his body they seemed indecent, and hidden behind my covering, I let my eyes wander. He had powerful legs and a narrow waist, shoulders that seemed wider than my hands outstretched. The kind of shoulders that could surround a girl and make a fortress with their strength.

And eyes. Such eyes. They were green, bright as fire, lashed thick in black and so powerful their heat leaped across the distance.

He was looking at me.

He nodded, slow and respectful. Though he couldn’t see my eyes, I swore his met mine.

My cousins and family closed around me then, pushing me along. Please, I prayed to the Skies, let that be my husband.

We kept walking, and I caught glimpses of the foreign man as he processed down as well, meeting with others dressed in similar uniforms.

Maybe it wasn’t my husband. Perhaps that woman was his wife, and I still had yet to know my fate.

We reached the edge of the city, and the clan stopped. Cael came forward, leading me to the very edge of the cliff. Beside us, the river that was the life-giving vein running down the center of Jitra came to an end, dropping over the cliff and pooling thirty feet below.

As I held my breath, Cael helped me down the old, slick ladder of rock to stand on the ledge beside the pool. I looked up, and my family was only shadows against the bright glare of light.

Cael touched my arm. I let out a breath and allowed him to lead me forward to the Teorainn, the small bridge of rock that the river had cut under. I could feel the thunder of the water and the falls vibrating beneath my feet.

The Teorainn was only feet wide and not much longer across, the very limit of Jitra and my world, and at the sight of it, my heart pounded.