Touch of Destiny
Table of Contents
Prologue The Boy What Makes a Friend? Into the Calm The Tribunal Favor Worthy and Willing The Perfect Shape A Day at the River Finding Humor One Year Later Heart of Gumber Gentle Warning Answers Secret Errand Sacrificial Promise Winter Feast Blood and Snow Metal and Magic Solstice Moon Invitation Pieces of the Past The Raven's Perch Growing Spark Rude Awakening House Arrest Confrontation High Tide Caged Justified The Elder Tree The Raven's Den King's Call No Barrier Can Hold EpilogueSacrificial Promise
1 June
Tenila went into the library where the children were hard at work. Lila, Naelen, and Damien sat side-by-side at their own desks, reading from books lady Lanara had assigned to them. It was early in the afternoon, just past the midday meal.
"This letter came for you, Lilathanor," Tenila said while handing a sealed note to the girl sitting between her two brothers.
Lila looked up from her reading and took the letter saying, "Thank you, Tenila."
When the good housekeeper made her exit, Lila flipped the envelope and saw that it was addressed to her from a Headmaster Luvian of the Fighters Academy in Careth. Lila gasped, then held her breath while opening it. Already, Naelen and Damien were leaning inward to see.
"What is it?" Naelen asked.
"Go away." Lila pushed her brother's head aside and paused a moment as she read. "By the Fates. I—I got it."
"What!?" Naelen snatched the letter from her so he could read. "Holy shards! You did it, Lil! You got into the Fighters Academy!"
"Shhh! Could you be more loud?"
"Sorry." Naelen hushed his voice. "I'm so glad for you."
"Eh, but I'm not officially in yet," she said. "The Headmaster is looking forward to my entrance exam, meaning I still have to be accepted."
"Still, that's impressive. I've heard they don't typically notice teenage applicants, let alone invite them. You must be doing something right."
"That is impressive," Damien agreed. "Congratulations, Lil, I'm sure you'll get accepted. So, does this mean you'll be leaving us?"
"Not right away," Lila said. "I believe their cycles begin later in August?"
"But Careth is so far away," Naelen said, "you'll probably need a month just to travel."
"Not a month," she laughed. "Three weeks at best. Besides, I can't see Dad wanting to let me go so soon."
"Why not?"
"Because he keeps saying I'm not grown-up enough to leave on my own, which is nonsense. I'm seventeen."
"Then why not run away?" Damien smirked.
"And leave you two to keep my cover?" Lila rolled her eyes. "Please."
"Hey, I can keep a secret. Naelen can't."
The three of them jolted at the sound of Lanara's voice bouncing off the bookshelves.
"Why aren't you all quietly reading?" she asked while stepping into the library.
"Uh, no reason." Lila panicked and tried to tuck the letter inside her text without her mother noticing, but it fumbled in her hands and fluttered to the floor. Darn her nerves!
"What is that?" Lanara pointed to the envelope on the floor and paced over to pick it up. "Ooh, Headmaster Luvian. It's addressed to you, Lila?"
"Yes." Lila looked down, concealing her reddened cheeks. Time drifted slowly as her mother read the note.
"So proud of you, dear!" Lanara exclaimed. "I know you've been working toward this for a long while."
"You mean...you're not angry?"
"Why would I be angry? This is your dream, is it not?"
"Well, yes, but I thought you and Dad hated the idea of me going."
"Hm." Lanara placed a hand on her hip. "I sense a talk with your father is in order. I shall speak with him."
Just like that, Lanara kissed her daughter on the forehead and made her exit from the library. Damien and Naelen returned to their readings, but Lila was too nervous to read or even focus on the task. She assumed a huge argument was bound to take place with her father, and she was not looking forward to it.
***
Later in the afternoon, Kallus summoned his family into the common room and had them all sit on the leather-skinned sofa that dominated the space. Kallus sat opposite them in his own chair with his back turned toward the hearth. On a colder day, the fireplace would have been lit, but today it sat dry and empty.
Damien stared at the uneventful hearth as the lord of the manor spoke. He wasn't sure why he and Naelen had been summoned as well. As far as he knew, this was solely Lila's issue.
Kallus folded his hands as he so often did. "I understand there is a matter to discuss? A matter of school?"
Lila dropped her gaze to the floor. "I got an invitation from the Fighters Academy," she said. "I would like to join their next cycle of students in August."
Kallus adjusted in his chair saying, "Lila, do not be so quick to leave home. You are still quite young."
"No, I'm not! It's not fair how we let our males become men at the age of sixteen. I'm seventeen!"
"Lila..." he brushed the side of his face. "You know how these things work. You will be considered an adult once you become fertile, and your mother tells me you are not yet fertile. There is still time for you to grow up, my daughter."
"But that is so stupid! I need to start my training now."
"Have you not been training?"
"You know what I mean. I'm serious about becoming a fighter."
"And that's what concerns me, Lila. You care much more about your endeavors with violence and swordplay than you do about finding a mate. I suggest waiting one more year, so that we may have time to find a suitor for you."
"Bah!" Lila scoffed. "I don't want a suitor, Dad. The only things I want in this world are an education, a steady career, and plenty of friends to support me along the way. I'm tired of being here, in this House. I'm tired of all these expectations. Please don't make me wait any longer."
"The only way I would let you go now is if you promise to start searching for a suitor once you reach Careth. I will check in on you and ensure you are actively looking."
"Urg." Lila looked to the side, meeting Damien's gaze. "So unfair. Making me promise that."
"You will wed, Lilathanor. It is not up for negotiation."
"Dad! You might as well cast me out from your family right now! I don't want to pursue marriage, not for a long time."
"Then do not be so quick to leave me." Kallus paused for another rebuttal, but when none came he said, "Your character could also use much improvement. You enjoy going against everything I say, it must stop."
After a gut-wrenching groan, Lila fell silent and hung her head as angry tears marked her blue eyes.
In the silence, Damien turned to Kallus and muttered, "Why does she have to marry?"
Kallus let out a sigh, rubbed his temple. "Without our customs of marrying and multiplying, our race would be on the brink of extinction. I wouldn't expect a human to understand the importance of such things. You humans are quite fertile, it is easy for you to thrive and multiply. As sons of Lor, we struggle to carry on. A burden we all share."
It did make sense to Damien in that way, but he didn't fully agree with it. How could someone ever be forced into spending the rest of their life with another?
"You're not going to force her," Damien said after a moment. "If Lila wants to focus on her fighting, then she will. And she'll do it without the pressure of finding a suitor."
Kallus met the boy's challenging gaze. "You think you have a voice in this matter?"
"I'm a member of this House, am I not? I understand the need to maintain existence, but you will lose Lila as a daughter by forcing her into something she doesn't want. I have every confidence she won't disappoint you. Let her marry when she's ready to."
"Hmm." Kallus' hard eyes narrowed. "You understand what you're demanding of me, boy? If my eldest goes, then I would require you to stay. She will have freedom to traverse Lorianthil, freedom to choose a mate, and you will not. You will remain here to receive my burdens and to carry on my legacy. Such is the consequence of this demand."
Damien scoffed, shaking his head. "Alright, fine. If you're going to have me pay for Lila's freedom, then so be it. It's not like I have any other life to lead anyway."
"Then we agree? You would stay?"
"Yes."
"That is a promise you intend to keep?" Kallus asked. "I take promises very seriously, boy. If you make this oath to me, I will ensure it is kept."
Damien stared back at those solid aquamarine eyes and concealed the lump in his throat. A dreadful feeling sat like a stone in his gut, but he pushed it down. This was perhaps the best life he would ever have, so what was the point in leaving? Exhaling a breath, he nodded in consent.
"I promise you, Kallus. You'll have everything you want out of me."
He sensed Lila's aghast expression beside him, how her voice became a small whisper.
"Damien... You—you don't have to do that."
"I know I don't," Damien said while turning to her. "But I'm happy to if it means you can live your dream. Besides, your father desires a willing heir not a forced one."
"A willing heir?" She looked to her father as if it was the first she had heard of it. "For what?"
"For my bloodright," Kallus answered. "Be grateful that he is ready to take it on, Lila. You too, Níhilan. I would not pass it to my own children in good conscience."
To his other side, Damien noticed Naelen's eyebrows folding in on themselves.
"What the hell is a bloodright?" Naelen asked, confused.
"It is what I currently suffer from," Kallus said. "As a lord of Gumber, nothing is my own to keep, not even my precious time. I do not wish the same fate for you children."
"That doesn't sound so bad," Naelen shrugged. "Hell, I wouldn't mind being a lord."
Kallus rose to his feet and towered over the three of them. "I have already decided: Damien is to inherit my bloodright."
"Him?" Naelen pointed. "But that makes no sense! He's not even an elf."
"There is no law that requires my heir to be a son of Lor," Kallus said. "You would be wise to respect my will, Níhilan. I do this to free you."
"And yet you would make us marry." Naelen crossed his arms. "Where's the freedom in that?"
"I cannot free you from your burden to marry," Kallus said, "but I can ensure that you and Lila have the liberty to choose your mates when it suits you. So long as Damien keeps his promise."
"What if I promised to be your heir? Would that change anything?"
"No. I confess, I adopted Damien with this outcome in mind, it's what I intended for him from the beginning."
Naelen glanced over at Damien, scowling even more. "Well, look at that. A rival I didn't know existed." Then he rose and stormed up to his room, saying nothing. Lila, on the other hand, remained calm. Perhaps even a bit too calm. She kept gaping at her father, more struck than upset.
"You...did this for us?"
"Yes," Kallus nodded. "It seems Damien is ready to accept his next task in my House. I'll allow the agreement to stand."
Lila came up and wrapped her arms around her father. "If it means I get to join the Fighters Academy, I won't argue against it."
Kallus squeezed her in turn. "He gives up much for you, daughter. Don't take it lightly."
"I won't."
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