Guardian of Honor

There was a moment of silence.

“Any more discussion?”

No one answered.

“Then we are agreed?”

“Agreed,” everyone responded.

Thealia smiled in satisfaction. Meetings went so much more smoothly when their leader, Lord Knight Swordmarshall Reynardus, didn’t attend.

“Let’s talk about our new Marshall, Alyeka,” Thealia said.

“She can’t be allowed to keep that absurd name,” someone grumbled.

“Oh, who’s going to tell her that?” Faith smiled.

“Swordmarshall Johnsa, an image if you please,” Thealia requested.

With the care and competence that she brought to all her duties, Johnsa built a foot-high, three-dimensional model of their new Exotique, startling in its likeness.

Thealia caught her breath. She’d forgotten how odd Alexa looked. Or perhaps it was that sunlight accentuated her pale coloring, light hair and green eyes so much more than the shadowy Temple.

Partis grasped her hand under the table and squeezed.

The harp on the door strummed.

“Enter,” Thealia called. Of the Marshalls, only Reynardus’s place was empty. She hadn’t anticipated that he’d make the meeting, and he wouldn’t courteously use the doorharp either.

The door opened and Luthan, one of Reynardus’s sons—one of Thealia’s dear godsons—entered.

Concern fluttered in the pit of Thealia’s stomach. That he was here meant he didn’t agree with the Marshalls on some point. “Do you come as the Representative of the Chevaliers?” Thealia asked. It was his right, but she didn’t want an altercation with a man she respected, or a breach between the Marshalls of the Castle and Chevaliers of the Field. But she wouldn’t let him turn her from the path she knew was right. “I trust you are not the only Chevalier who arrived for ‘The Pairing.’ I’d like to give our new Marshall a good choice.”

His glance swept the table. He froze when he noted the model of Alexa. His expression of revulsion was brief but obvious.

Thealia’s chest tightened. A pity he could not like her. They both could do so much worse. Maybe in time…

Luthan smiled, showing teeth. “No, I don’t represent the Chevaliers to the Castle. I am here as the Representative of the Cloister of the Singer.”

“The Cloister!” They hadn’t sent a delegate to the Castle for as long as anyone could remember.

He slid into the proper seat, the one carved with a full moon sending rays down to a woman who Sang. “That’s right. The Cloister wanted a Representative at the Castle if the Summoning was a success. They approached me as a man of good moral fiber and one with experience of the Marshalls.”

No one could ever deny that. He’d battled his father all his life.

“The Cloister requested I turn over my representation of the Chevaliers to another whom I trusted, and attend for them.”

This complete change shook Thealia. “Who did you choose to replace you for the Chevaliers?”

He hesitated. “The post is open for the moment.”

Mace snorted. “The Chevaliers didn’t believe we’d succeed in the Summoning. Caught them and you unprepared. Not a good thing for knights.”

A flush crept to Luthan’s cheekbones. He sat straight. “There is dissension amongst the Chevaliers as to the arrogance and the secrecy of you Marshalls. Further, some of us Chevaliers consulted the Song a week ago. It foretold only a sixty-percent chance of success.”

Thealia flinched. “The last time the Marshalls consulted the Song, it was an eighty-percent chance of achievement.”

Luthan lifted a shoulder. “Circumstances change.”

“We were luckier than we thought,” Faith said, smoothing the page of one of her books.

This change, and the new information, disturbed Thealia. But she couldn’t afford to let it show. “And your replacement?”

“I thought to offer it to my brother.”

“Bastien?” Mace laughed so hard he nearly fell off his chair.

“That rogue…in a responsible position? Impossible,” Thealia said.

“What’s impossible is the thought of the three of them—Reynardus, Luthan and Bastien—here on the Council.” Johnsa shaded her eyes as if trying to banish the vision. “We’d never get anything done.”

“Bastien is a good man,” said his brother. “Undervalued and underestimated. Further, as delegates, we would follow the instructions of our patrons.”

That started Mace laughing again. “As if Bastien ever followed any instructions, ever!” he said between snorts. “I thank you for the laugh, my friend. But we should proceed with business.”

Thealia scrutinized Luthan. What were his instructions? He’d just made her job harder. She sought to keep him off balance. “Does your father know you’re the new Cloister Representative and that you’re here?”

His jaw tensed.

So. His father didn’t know. Not surprising since the last she’d heard, the whole family had fragmented, Reynardus’s sons moving to their own holdings or camping in the field with the Chevaliers.

She didn’t press the issue. Luthan would inherit from Reynardus one day, and there was that wide streak of silver at his left temple as well as a few strands at his right. His personal Power was strong, and he might become a Marshall in the future.

“Why are you here?” Thealia asked.

Luthan’s gaze went to the image of Alexa. “The Chevaliers heard the Summoning was a success. This changes the whole battle plan.”

“As we told you it would,” Thealia said dryly. “Though you doubted us. Do you stay to be part of the Choosing and Pairing?”

His eyes widened in horror. His cheeks reddened a bit. “Ah, no. I didn’t come for The Choosing and Pairing. Nor has any other Chevalier.”

Thealia just raised her eyebrows and stared at him. He shifted in his seat.

She continued. “That is the next step, you know. To Pair our Exotique—Alyeka—with a person of Lladrana so she will stay. The Chevaliers should be here.”

Luthan frowned and leaned forward. “Let’s call your ‘Choosing’ exactly what it is. It’s a forced, involuntary life and blood-bond—a bossechain. Her Choosing will not be a ritual to find and love a mate. Her bond will not be a coeurdechain.” His smooth and quiet tones had disappeared and his voice took on a harshness that echoed his father’s.

“Semantics,” she said, but her lips tightened. She met his eyes. “It isn’t quite ethical, but over the centuries we’ve found it necessary and effective.”