Sworn To Defiance (19 page)

Sebastian’s lips curled into a snarl, but he refrained from shouting. “The bond will be a dual link. Everything that the
seeleverbindung
will implement can be instigated from both sides.”

Ciardis stiffened.
Is that right, Thanar?

What?

Don’t play with me,
she replied scathingly.
Can I block Sebastian completely as he does me?

Hmm, trouble in paradise?

Thanar!

Yes, you can.

And if I wanted could I control your thoughts and influence your actions as you did to me?

If you so choose.

Well,
said Ciardis. She felt Thanar smirking in her mind.

Re-thinking the implications of our bond, Golden Eyes?

Just re-thinking what I could do to you to make you so miserable that you’d do anything to free yourself of the
seeleverbindung
’s grip.

Careful, Weathervane, you may get what you’ve asked for and you won’t like how it comes about.

What’s that supposed to mean?

Ask your husband-to-be.

Thanar refused to say more so Ciardis turned to Sebastian and spoke. She was damned tired of being the silent party in the negotiations anyway.

“What else can the
seeleverbindung
do?”

Sebastian turned to her, “We can share our powers, strengthen the other’s physical body through healing, and some
seeleverbindung
bonds have been strong enough to forge direct links between the minds, so that individuals cannot only speak to each other internally but also use the body of the other. It also strengthens the emotions each individual already feels for the other—whether love or rage.”

Sebastian had just listed off a laundry list of everything she had experienced with Thanar and him.

“Permanently?” she asked, glancing over at Thanar and thinking of her hatred of him.

“No,” said the silver-haired man smoothly. “Just as feelings change, so do your emotions. They’re just enhanced for the time being.”

Ciardis nodded.

“Tell her about the death curse,” said Faris solemnly, “or I will.”

Darkness flashed in Sebastian’s eyes. He hesitated.

“What else?” Ciardis prompted.

“It is said that when one individual in the
seeleverbindung
dies, it’s powerful enough to kill the other bond mate.”

Ciardis’s eyes widened. Now that was serious.

Voice trembling although she fought to keep her emotional levels down because she didn’t want to alert the council that she already had not one but two
seeleverbindung
bonds.

“What if the bond was severed before the person died?” she asked quietly.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow but he answered. “It is almost impossible to sever the bond between two living candidates and have either one still live. The only time it was successfully attempted and accomplished was between Viviana Kurtis and Dirk SaKurtis.”

Ciardis waiting for him to continue. But he pressed his mouth into a thin line and didn’t speak, almost as he couldn’t force himself to.

“During the Initiate Wars,” Vana said from behind her, “there was a couple known as Viv and Dirk. They were married and had the
seeleverbindung
bond. They were also spies in the empress’s army. One day Viviana was captured. It was said that the torturers could not break her mind even though they broke her body. She had an even more legendary ability. She could close herself off into the recessions of her mind even while under duress. With the bond between them, Dirk was aware of every torturous action happening to her. Eventually the torturers realized after individually flaying, breaking, and removing her fingers that as long as she was bonded to Dirk she would receive his strength. So they wanted to break her not just physically but emotionally. They succeeded in breaking the bond. The moment they did, she died from her wounds.”

“Dirk, however, lived for one week afterwards. And he slew everyone involved in Viviana’s capture and torture before dying himself.”

“It’s said he died of a broken heart,” Melina said solemnly. “So you see, the
seeleverbindung
is quite the commitment.”

Ciardis looked at Sebastian. Sebastian looked back at Ciardis.

They already had the bond, but she had the feeling if they hadn’t she still would have said yes. With everything they had been through, if she hadn’t left him yet, she had no plans to.

Ciardis cleared a hoarse throat as she said, “‘Til death do us part, right?”

Sebastian smiled with relief. “‘Til death do us part.”

She had to wonder how long Sebastian had been aware their bond was a
seeleverbindung
but she guessed she’d have to ask him when they left. But she had a sneaking suspicious that a lot of his anger when they had resided in the imperial chamberlain’s house had less to do with jealousy now and more to do with heartbreak.

Melina cleared her throat. “If there’s nothing further to be added to the patronage contract, children stipulations, investment procedures, or other standard procedures, we can move on.”

“I have none,” Sebastian declared.

“I have none as well.”

The head pro tempore of the Companions’ Guild blinked. “Very well. The standard contract will be drawn up, signed by both parties, and Lady Vana Cloudbreaker with the stipulation that it can be amended in six months due to the stupidity of young love—”

Thanar broke out in laughter. When he stopped, he said, “I think I like you, Madame.”

“—and it will include the provision contract of a
seeleverbindung
bond, which the Companions’ Guild will fully acknowledge with rights due to the
seeleverbindung
couple upon provided proof that the bond has been instigated,” she continued dryly.

Sebastian and Ciardis looked over at her bemused.

“Agreed,” Vana Cloudbreaker said quietly.

“Very well,” the gray-haired man said with a wave of his hand. The scribe quickly shook some kind of magical dust over his parchment paper to dry the ink. She knew it wasn’t sand. That would only trap itself in the ink. Whatever it was the drying process was done quickly and the scribe handed the first copy of the patronage contract to a servant who brought it over to the table.

All three signed the contract with Melina Hibblebottom watching over the proceedings carefully.

Satisfied, she announced, “Now we may proceed to the grand finale. The marriage contract.”

Sebastian looked a little grim.

“Don’t worry, Prince Heir,” Faris cooed. “Compared to a
seeleverbindung
bond, you will have to give up very little. Just half of your father’s fortune. I hope you came prepared.”

Sebastian glared at the woman and stated tightly, “I’m starting to think you don’t like me, Madame Faris.”

The woman gave him a wicked smile. “Now what would make you think that?”

This time it was Ciardis fighting laughter.

T
hanar smirked. “Who’s going to preside over this lovely negotiation?”

The Companions’ Guild members looked at each other and back to Melina.

Melina Higginbottom smiled and said, “We were thinking the engaged couple would.”

Silence as every head turned to Sebastian and Ciardis.

Sebastian prepared to speak.

Ciardis quickly said,
No, let me.

Be my guest,
he whispered back.

Ciardis untwined her fingers from his and clasped her hands in front of her table.

“Lords and ladies, you know why Sebastian and I are here. You’ve taken into account my membership into your illustrious guild and not found me wanting. You have considered Sebastian’s petition to take on my patronage and found him acceptable. Now I ask that you pronounce your blessing for our formal union under imperial law.”

Melina hummed approvingly as she said, “Have you spoken to Emperor Bastien Athanos Algardis?”

“We have,” Ciardis answered clear and strong.

“Has the emperor offered his approval of your union?”

“He has,” Ciardis said.

“Were there any stipulations?” the head of the Companions’ Guild asked.

“There were not,” Ciardis answered.

“Do you go into this union of your own free will?” Melina questioned.

“We do.”

“Do you have any reservations, Companion Weathervane?”

“I do not.”

“Why do you wish to enter into this marriage?”

“Because I love him,” Ciardis answered simply. There was no other answer. This one popped immediately into her head. Above political maneuverings, financial gain, or magical power. She truly did find Sebastian in her heart as her true love.

Melina squinted and then sat back satisfied. She waved a hand at the silver-haired gentleman.

“As you might guess, Companion Weathervane,” he intoned, “we have no objections to your union with Prince Heir Sebastian Athanos Algardis. If we had, we would have not approved his patronage.”

Ciardis nodded, thankful.

“Seeing your adventures with the prince heir over the past year has only strengthened our belief that your union with him will be a strong one. Or, at the very least, a non-boring marriage,” he said dryly.

Ciardis flushed in mortification.

“Now we just have to agree upon remuneration,” he said quietly.

Ciardis felt her hackles go up. The word, the very
idea
, irritated her. “I’m not a cow to be bought and sold. I agreed to pay you for your membership services and training, but I will not allow Sebastian to pay you for my body.”

Sheer surprise flowed into the man’s eyes and then laughter erupted at the other end of the table.

A man leaned forward and smiled. “Neither would we. I believe you have misunderstood my dear Marcus’s intentions.”

“Oh, well then,” she said uncomfortably. “Please explain.”

The silver-haired man, Marcus, leaned forward. “By remuneration we merely meant which party would pay for the wedding and all of the assorted things associated with that. Any dowry we request is simply for the parent of the spouse that is not a member of the guild to pay for the greater portion of the festivities.”

Farvis sniffed. “We’re not barbarians; of course we wouldn’t barter you like a cow.”

Melina said with a slight
tsk
of disapproval. “My people have long been called barbarians, Companion Farvis. You know I dislike that word.”

Ciardis had the pleasure of seeing Farvis squirm. It was as delightful as watching Vana blush would have been—if she ever grew embarrassed about anything.

Ciardis’s eyes brightened and she smiled. “A good policy.”

“A convenient policy,” Marcus corrected gently.

Melina cracked a smile. “It certainly saves us a lot of paperwork.”

“Speaking of paperwork,” Marcus said. “We will have a small financial agreement today between the sponsoring parties but the actual marriage contract will be signed on the day of the wedding. Is that amenable to you, Lady Companion Weathervane?”

“It is,” said Ciardis. “Now what exactly will the financial dowries be covering? And from whom?”

“Very good questions,” said Melina. “The three financing parties will be the Imperial Treasury on behalf of the Emperor Bastien Athanos Algardis per his son Sebastian Athanos Algardis, the Weathervane family courtesy of Lady Lillian Weathervane, and the Companions’ Guild Treasury as a boon for our companion’s marriage rights as a full member of the guild.”

Ciardis leaned over as Vana whispered in her ear, “One of the many other rights you can take advantage of is the guild financing, via a tax-free gift, of thirty percent of your wedding expenses. Traditionally the spouse not of guild membership, in this case the emperor’s son, would take up sixty-five percent of the cost, and the rest would be borne by the companion’s family.”

Doubt furrowed Ciardis’s brow as she looked over.

Marcus, apparently realizing the trouble, said, “Of course, until the status of the Weathervane family fortune can be fully reconciled, as you just reached the age of majority and your mother has recently arisen from the dead, you will not be required to pay the traditional portion of the expenses.”

“Perhaps just the cost of the dress,” opinioned Melinda Hibblebottom.

“I should be able to pay more as soon as I talk to my financiers,” Ciardis promised.

Marcus smiled gently, “I’d take the offer of just the dress and run with it. We all know how fiercely independent you are, Weathervane, but the dress alone should cost a minimum of four thousand shillings.”

Ciardis eyes bulged and she felt a little faint. “Did I hear you correctly?”

Sebastian put a hand over a shoulder. “Relax, you look a little peaky.”

“You would too if someone told you that you have to wear a dress worth more than a manor. What if I damage it? ” she said, horrified.

This time the entire room erupted into laughter. One man at the very end was laughing so hard he was snorting as he slapped the table in amusement.

Ciardis stiffened. “Did I say something amusing?”

“Oh dear,” Melina said, “I must attend your session tonight with the nobles. I cannot imagine it would be anything less than amusing. I haven’t been this entertained on a capital visit for over a decade.”

Ciardis still didn’t see what was so funny.

Vana kindly explained. “The imperial wedding dresses of females are always made from the fabric of thousands of silk worms. It is beautiful, radiant, and is guaranteed to be indestructible for the fifty years after it’s spun out. No matter what destructive forces are put to the test. In fact, these types of dresses came into fashion when the empress presiding over the first civil war married. She was so reviled that her guards feared that she would be assassinated while walking down her matrimonial aisle. So they asked her to wear armor. She refused. But the silkworm fabric was brought in as a compromise.”

“So it’s arrow-proof?” Ciardis asked, incredulous.

“And fire-proof, venom-proof, and sword-proof as well as a host of other treatments that have been forgotten,” Melina said, amused. “Will that be enough to protect your dress from harm?”