Shadow

Idonia Torbet

The meeting was filled with so much tension. I’ve never seen Rae verbally fight so hard against a person. Even when we were in Caesting, he used his power more than verbal assault. But fighting with Khannun Kol, he didn’t use his position or his beast’s power. Watching him was so interesting, it made me realize how much I still don’t know about my mate.

After the meeting was dismissed, Khanea Rika took me by the arm and whisked me away. She took me down to the main hall and out the back doors into the gardens. The bushes and trees all reach higher than me, giving the pathways complete solitude. Besides all the greenery, flowers patches are scattered and incorporated into the bushes. Though, many are losing their petals from the late season.

“The gardens have always been my favorite place,” Khanea Rika speaks dreamily as her hands graze the leaves. “A place away from males and their politics.”

“I’ve never minded male politics,” I add.

“So it was easy to see your mate fight with his father?”

“Easy? No, but it wasn’t horrible to witness. Rae told me that he and Khannun Kol weren’t close,” I explain to her. “Not as close as him and his Uncle.”

She tenses before quickly relaxing, “He told you about Ragnvald?”

“He seems to really treasure his Uncle.”

“How much did he tell you?” Khanea Rika’s voice is low. When I take a second to answer she stops us. “I’m sorry Idonia, but how much did he tell you?”

“Enough.”

“Whatever you know,” she takes a ragged, raspy breath. “You can’t tell anyone else.”

“I know,” I assure her. “I would never do anything to hurt Rae’s succession to the throne.”

“Good.” We continue through the gardens after that. There is a clearing, a small gazebo with a table and four chairs. Two servants wait with Sive as we approach. Sive stands from her chair and gives me a large smile.

“Hello Idonia,” Sive greets me. “Mother.” Her smile widens more as the three of us sit.

“Is Hertha joining us?”

“Sometimes she does and sometimes she doesn’t,” Sive explains to me. “Hertha can be very moody.”

The servants pour tea and serve us a variety of fruits, meats, and cheeses. “I have something for you,” Khanea Rika grabs a box that sat on the table. She passes it to me, staring at me expectantly. I open the box to find a headpiece. It is golden band of holly, but instead of red berries, there are pearls. There are two parts that connect in the back.

“It is lovely,” I gasp. Khanea Rika stands and move behind me. She takes the headpiece from me and places it on my head.

“Even though Kol has not said it, you are a Khanelea. It is time you look the part. This way everyone in the castle and the city will know who you are.”

“Thank you so much.” My fingers delicately trace the gold.

“You look beautiful,” Sive gushes.

I see that Khanea Rika still wears a headband as well, hers a simple gold piece. Khannun Kol wore one as well and it made me wonder if Rae would start to wear one. “Does Rae often wear one?”

“Rae wears his when he goes out to the city, or addressing soldiers. He doesn’t like it, says it brings too much attention to his hair.”

“I like Rae’s hair, I wish mine was like his,” Sive caresses some of her dark brown locks. “Hertha and Hella have the same hair as him, mine is just brown.”

“Mine is just as dark,” I tell her. “Northern males like dark haired females.”

“Really?” Sive’s eyes brighten, the brown only a few shades lighter than her hair. In the southern sun though, they shine like winter’s snow.

“Really, maybe you’re destined for a northern male.”

“Like Olen? He’s very handsome,” Sive winks at me, making both me and her mother laugh.

“Maybe, the mate bond works in mysterious ways.”

Just then, Hertha appears from one of the pathways. Her eyes glance at the new adornment on my head, then she nods approvingly. “May I join?”

“You’re always welcome, my daughter,” Khanea Rika gestures to the empty chair where Hertha takes her place.

“Hella sent word. She is settled nicely and the envoy that escorted her is leaving tomorrow. How long do you think Uncle Ragnvald will stay this time?”

“You Uncle took Hella to her new home?”

“He lead the envoy north. Uncle Ragnvald has always been protective of us,” Hertha explains to me. “He wanted to teach me the bow, but Father wouldn’t let him.”

“I learned the bow,” I tell her. “I can shoot, swing a sword, throw a spear, in many ways I am a Viker in all but name.”

“You can do all that but your father never made you a Viker?”

“He didn’t need another Viker, he also didn’t know if my mate would appreciate me being a Viker. But I’ve hunted dear and shadowbeast.”

“Can you teach me?” Hertha asks.

“Your Father said no, Hertha.”

“But how can he say no again when Idonia has all of those skills. I’m not asking to fight, just to shoot a bow.”

“I don’t want to disrespect your father’s rule,” I tell her regretfully. Rae had told me why Khannun Kol said no to this. Not because of his mind but the opinion of his most trusted Viker.

My father didn’t want me fighting either. Finally he gave into my will-power and let me into the training yard. He said I could quit when I wanted, but he wouldn’t stop what they would do to me. I understood what it would take and I took it. Father never intervened. Even when he watched my first training sessions. He watched with my brothers as large males threw me into the dirt.

I kept getting up though, that’s what proved it to him. My persistence. My determination. My mental strength. I see all of that in Hertha as well. She wants to learn to fight, to protect. I can see parts of me in her. We share a same burning passion on the inside. The main difference is when my father saw this in me, he fed the flames.

Khannun Kol extinguished hers. Or, at least he tried.

“How did you learn?” she asks me next.

“My old room had a view of the courtyard. I used to watch the men train. Then one day, I went to the courtyard and I asked my father to let me train. It took time, but he eventually let me shot a bow. Then he let the Vikers throw me around a bit, and when he saw I wouldn’t give up, he let me train. I was still tested differently than my brother. Delicately, that’s how I’d discribe it. Until I proved myself.”

“What did you do?” Sive jumps into the conversation.

“I snuck off to a tournament and won. After that I begged to go hunting for shadowbeasts. Finally my father agreed, but I had to take five strong, male Vikers who had killed a shadowbeast before.”

“And you killed one,” Hertha smiles. “You proved them all wrong.”

“Yes, but it cost those Viker their lives. My first hunt, I was the only one to return,” I say next. Both turn their heads down to look at the table. “Fighting isn’t always about winning. It’s about how many lives it costs to win. Being a Viker or a trained fighter isn’t just about being good, it’s about being smart.”

“I’m smart,” Hertha insists, and no part of me disagrees with the statement. She is smart, she could make an amazing Viker. I won’t go against Khannun Kol’s rules though, and his daughters don’t learn to fight. “And smart females watch before they learn.”

Her eyes gleam at me. “Is there a rule about you watching training?”

“Not explicitly.”

“Hertha,” Khanea Rika scolds.

“When do you and Olen train?” she ignores her mother’s words.

“After breakfast.”