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AYLETH
The silence while the Etan and his parents signed the Treaty was a weight on Ayleth’s shoulders. Like fingers of dread crawled up her spine, she shivered, expecting at every second that something would occur to stop them—that someone had snuck an archer into the amphitheater, inside the magic dome. Or that her own father might step forward and call for a delay. Or that a stand in the amphitheater would collapse and they would all be buried under a pile of commoners.
By they time she caught herself imagining a spy releasing one of the royal tigers into the arena, she realized how ridiculous her thoughts had become. With a tiny snort, she shook her head and focused on Etan’s shoulders, broad and tall as he stood behind his parents, awaiting his turn to sign.
When they both stepped back to allow him room at the table and he took the prepared quill from the servant, she held her breath.
"Like handing opening the barn door for a snake and inviting it in to meet the chickens," her father muttered.
Ayleth opened her mouth to suggest that perhaps, peace was not best served by focusing on such thoughts, when she caught the glare her mother shot over her shoulder and shut her mouth. Her mother was right, there was little value in baiting her father.
Besides, there would be plenty of time to have that discussion once her father learned of her marriage.
Her stomach fluttered with joy and sank with dread at the same time. She felt as if she were being torn apart from the inside out—everything she had ever wanted potentially leading to everything she most feared.
But in the end, the only thing she couldn’t fathom now was a life with Etan. The rest... the rest would be bearable if they were together.
Putting a hand to the firm stays that tugged and held her stomach in tightly, Ayleth forced herself to breathe.
Etan and his parents turned to return to their place at the end of the line and Ayleth’s eyes followed him, yearning for him to look for her, to shoot her one of those dark, heated promises with his eyes. To see his jaw set in determination now that they were almost there... so close!
He didn’t raise his eyes from the dirt of the amphitheater floor, though. And she understood why. If her mother intercepted the wrong look now—when her suspicions were up—it could be the end of them. And all the Kingdoms hadn’t signed yet.
Ayleth swallowed down her disappointment and reassured herself with the image of sharing Etan’s bed tonight—without fear, or need to hide.
And she would share his bed tonight, no matter what her parents thought. He was her husband. She was done being held from him.
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It wasn’t until the next two lowest kingdoms had taken their turns and Ayleth’s attention waned that she caught eyes with Trystan and realized that he stood alongside her, to her left.
Her mouth dropped open in shock. To have Andeluve placed in such a position of honor was... unheard of. While they were an influential nation, they lacked the power of the greater Kingdoms.
Understanding her shock, Trystan winked. But then he looked at something over her shoulder and straightened his face, looking to the front again, though still stifling a smile.
Ayleth turned to find her mother staring at her, her eyes twinkling.
As the royals at the table turned back to the line and the people roared their applause, her mother gave a dry smile. "Your father wanted to test the waters with the other Kingdoms, how they might feel about the raising of Andeluve," she said below the level of the thundering applause. Her eyes darted away to the royals beyond Trystan and his parents—the sour old matriarch of Ekthros who met her mother’s stare blankly, obviously unsettled by their apparent drop in favor. "There’s no harm in keeping some of our allies on their toes," her mother finished smugly.
Her father grunted, but didn’t take his eyes off the ceremonies, and the crowd began to quiet, so her mother turned back to the front. Ayleth looked at Trystan from the side and crossed her eyes. He grinned back, but they were too far away to speak without being noticed by the crowd.
She was pleased that his family was receiving honor, though she prayed it would only help them when she revealed her connection with Etan. Since her betrothal had not been announced, the other Kingdoms would assume his parents had done something to please hers. They would already be speculating, of course. She made a mental note to ask Falek how they might plant gossip that would cast him and his parents in a positive light, completely aside from her so that they might weather the coming scandal unscathed.
Minutes later, Ayleth sighed. Although each Kingdom’s turn to sign seemed to crawl by, in truth the sun had barely moved. What burned at her was the wait for the moment she could touch Etan.
When finally her parents were called forward and the stands took to their feet, applauding and stamping to show their approval and their joy over what was occurring on this historic day, Ayleth sighed with relief and practically pranced forward behind them, beaming and waving at the crowd, who chanted her name and threw more flowers.
Her father rolled his eyes, but her mother’s gaze became sharp as she examined the crowd, likely measuring them for hidden threat.
While her father had always been far more protective of her virtue, ever since she was kidnapped, her mother had never ceased to suspect a plot—looking in dark corners, or seeing them where they did not exist.
Of course she would see the celebration as a possible cover for an attack on Ayleth, though it would be of far greater political impact if her parents were the ones hurt or killed.
For all the dragging wait to get their chance at the table, Ayleth found the signing itself passed remarkably quickly and easily. Again, the skin on the back of her neck prickled, expecting attack or delay at any moment. But within minutes her parents had signed the long parchment and Ayleth had added her own flowing scrawl to it.
And then, amid the most uproarious applause—that Ayleth was beginning to think might have been amplified by the magic—instead of returning to their place in line, she dutifully followed her parents to the podium where her father would give a speech.
But as they turned to circle the long table, her eyes fell on Etan, standing behind his parents, hands clasped behind his back, and his head down so his hair fell forward, off his forehead.
He looked utterly defeated and she couldn’t understand it. This was the moment they’d been waiting for! The signing had occurred, and been witnessed by too many for anyone to deny it. All that remained now was to wait for that evening’s ball when finally, finally they would stand side by side in front of the entire continent and claim their love.
Ayleth could hardly wait.
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