Earthbound, p.13
Earthbound, page 13
“I am oath-bound to Knox.”
“No, you were. You were released from your oaths when Knox died.”
The thought snagged. She felt anything but released from her bond to Knox. “How am I supposed to petition for Knox to join the Hall of the Fallen without an audience?”
Tehran’s jaw went slack. “The Hall of the Fallen.” He pressed his lips together into a firm line and considered her for a moment. When he spoke again his voice was low. “That is an honour reserved for Overseers who fall in battle.”
“I know what it is,” she spat. “And you know as much as I do Knox deserves it and more. They need to acknowledge that he never stopped serving the Sky.” A quaver rocked her voice. “That even though they stripped Knox of his strength that he lived—and died—with honour.”
Tehran swallowed hard and spoke barely above a whisper. “They didn’t take his strength, Em. He gave it up willingly. In the Order’s eyes laying down one’s oaths is laying down one’s honour.”
Her voice hardened. “That’s where we need to convince them they are wrong.”
Tehran shifted uncomfortably on his seat and avoided meeting her gaze. “The Elders will not see it the same way.”
The words cut into her as sure as if she were walking across glass. “It’s their fault he’s dead, Tehran. They blackmailed him into giving up his power. I don’t care how they frame it, you have to see the truth. They owe him this.”
His expression darkened, heavy brows dropping low and eyes narrowing. He lifted dark amber eyes to hers, the firelight turning them to liquid gold, mouth pressed tight.
She didn’t care if the truth offended his precious vows. She needed him to see. Needed him to acknowledge the truth of Knox’s demise. “They humiliated him in every way possible because he got in the way of their politics, but I won’t let them dishonour his memory.”
Tehran’s warm complexion turned grey. “Won’t let them?” He rubbed his palms over his knees, making a decision. “You can’t come to the Capital. You can stay here in Arris and catch a ride home when they bring Alexxe back.”
Emilia stood, heat filling her. “You are not leaving me behind, Tehran. Do you hear me?”
He shook his head. “If I bring you and you say even one of those things, you will never make it out.”
The blunt words struck her. “What do you mean?”
Anger flashed and he stood, voice rising. “You are not of the Order, nor oath-bound. If you come into the Capital spouting any of this, you would be silenced with prison or worse. You have no covering.”
Emilia fought to keep the words from cowing her, pulling back her shoulders defiantly. All of Knox’s vague warnings and his hesitancy to bring her to the Capital suddenly made sense. Grief and fear warred against the burning anger. I am not being bowed like every other soul. She claimed the rage and staked herself to it. “Oath-bound or not, I will speak to the Elders. I will claw my way into the temple itself if I have to. Nothing, not you, or anyone else is going to stop me, Tehran.”
He stared at her, dumbstruck, his own anger of moments earlier drained by shock.
“Oh, Skies,” he whispered, dropping back into his seat next to her. He rubbed his face in his hands before turning a pleading gaze in her direction. “Let me go to the Order on my own, Emilia. I promise I will petition for Knox and ensure the whole conclave knows the truth. But please—you can’t—”
The brokenness in his voice softened the edges of her own resolve. NO! Shame washed over her in a hot wave. And once again, I’ll wait on the sidelines for someone else to do what I should. She reached for his hand, gripping it in her own, willing him to understand. There was something bigger than either of their grief driving her. “I have to do this. You owe me nothing, Tehran. I don’t expect you to stand against them—just let me travel with you.”
“Damnable earth,” he cursed, and to her surprise, let out a huffed chuckle. “‘Forces that make us their own.’ Knox wasn’t lying, was he?”
“What are you talking about?”
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
He slid from his seat and dropped down to his knees in front of her. He reached forward and gently pulled her hands from her lap and clasped them both between his larger ones.
When he spoke next his voice was subdued. “I can’t lose you, Em. Not now, not ever.”
“I’m not staying, Tehran. I—”
“I’m not asking you to.”
She stopped and stared at him as he cleared his throat, a determined expression steeling his features.
“I won’t lose you. Not when I can prevent it,” he whispered. The sharp shadows made the fire’s reflection blaze all the brighter in his eyes. His jaw flexed and brow furrowed in concern. “If there was a way to help you, I would.”
And like that, the solution presented itself to her with stunning clarity. She straightened. “Do you trust me?”
He raised an eyebrow at the sudden shift, but dipped his head in a single nod. “You know I do.”
Can I do this? She only needed the courage. For Knox.
“Be my bond. Exchange oaths with me.” The words echoed in her ears as if someone else had spoken them. “I will be oathbound to satisfy the Elders and as soon as we are clear of the Capital we can renounce the oath.”
Tehran stared at her, horrified. “It’s only been days—”
She rushed on. “I would hold no obligation over you whatsoever. You will owe me no allegiance beyond the words themselves. It’s not as if we will be truly bound.”
Emilia could trace each thought and counter-argument as it passed over his features, looking for all the world like someone caught in a winding gear and slowly being torn apart. Her own heart lurched and darted away from the prospect like a trapped wild animal, a sickening dread pulling at her. This is the only way.
“Please, Tehran. I cannot do this without you.”
Her words roused him, and she could see he too was warring within himself. “Emilia, vows work in unpredictable ways. They are tethered by intent and cannot be taken only to be tossed aside at the next turn. They are power.”
She cut him off. “I have taken the vows before. I understand how they work.”
He swallowed hard. “But when you took them last, you meant them. The bond they reinforced was sincere.”
“I’m sincere now,” she argued. “I will go to the Capital, and if this is the only way to speak with the Elders, then I am completely committed.” The rush of adrenaline accompanying the words made her feel almost manic.
He rubbed at his forehead, clearly distressed. “Do you hear yourself? You’re asking me to be bonded to you. You’re Knox’s wife—” Tight lines pressed around his mouth and his voice cracked. “We can’t do this.”
A sob broke through the wall of resolve and Tehran’s eyes widened and his expression dropped, turning worried.
“This is for Knox. I know it’s a risk, but it’s a cost I am willing to pay for him.”
He dropped his chin and met her gaze, holding it with an intensity she’d never experienced from him. “I need to know this is not a suicide mission. Promise me you are not going to purposefully antagonize the Order.”
She suppressed a grimace. Am I? She was willing to go that far, but to condemn Tehran with her? Never. They’d both been robbed of their wayfinder, and if the only way forward was together, she’d guard him as her own.
She let the tension drop from her shoulders and nodded. “I promise.”
Tehran let out a shaky breath. “Okay, we will do this, but carefully. Follow my wording as much as you can.” A forced smile wobbled uncertainly.
Emilia dropped from the stool to her knees, matching his posture so they knelt across from one another.
His deep voice turned rough as he spoke the words. “I, Tehran, do vow to you Emilia, before the Sky to honour this holy oath. I vow to protect you with my body and honour you with my soul for as long as you will have me.”
She forced herself to hold his gaze as he continued, “I promise to give you all I have to give and accept from you all that you have to offer. Do you accept my vow?”
Ignoring the wailing shriek tearing at her soul, Emilia nodded. “I do.”
She echoed the vow back to him. The intensity shocked her. They were life long friends, not lovers, yet she felt her words ring true to her own ears.
“I do,” he said, accepting the vow. She moved to stand, her only thought to escape, but his hands held hers tight a moment longer, continuing, “And I promise to cover you no matter what force comes against you, whether Sky above or Earth below. “
The words stole her breath, and she sat back stunned. Did he promise to protect me from the Order? She looked at him wide-eyed.
He gave her a sad, half-formed grin, as if he hadn’t laid something precious at her feet. “Knox would have given his life for you. I will not offer any less.” Tehran kept his eyes on their hands, looking as numb as she felt. She reached a hand to his stubbled jaw and he lifted his eyes to hers, glassy with emotion.
She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, his new beard prickly against her lips. “Thank you,” she said, before she pulled back.
“We’ll find our way, Em.”
She nodded and stood.
It wasn’t until she was in the back of the transport and tucked into her makeshift bed that the full scope of what they’d just done struck her. Wracking sobs shook her until exhaustion released her into sleep.
Or Earth Below
Tehran
Tehran sat alone before the small cook fire. What have I done?
It’d happened so quickly. Emilia’s talk of confronting the Elders had terrified him. She knew exactly enough to get herself killed, and it was clear that was no longer a deterrent.
So, you bonded yourself to her as her husband? The thought sickened him.
He rubbed at his temple, searching for an alternate course he could have taken. Once set upon a path, Emilia was rarely diverted. In Knox, she’d found her counterbalance. The wild need to challenge every obstacle had found focus and direction. In their love for one another she and Knox had made each other brighter, truer versions of themselves.
Tehran had always admired and envied their bond. Now, watching Emilia ripped loose from her mooring, like a lost moon robbed of its planet, he wasn’t so sure.
Leave without her. He snorted into the silence of the empty night. Obstacles as feeble as expansive distances, raging earthbound, and unreachable Elders would not stop her. He recognized the desperation ripping through her soul. It was not unlike what tore at him.
Skies above, but to exchange Bonding Oaths with her? The thought struck him afresh. To protect her? What sort of fool was he? Obviously, neither of them was functioning with much logic. Even now, the oath between them burned in his chest. His mind fought against it, but most disturbingly, he found his heart embraced it. Here, in a world tipped fully on its head, was something concrete.
Yet, Emilia hated the Order. Her frustration from the past months had shifted to disdain. And I’m bound to both. Particularly by extending the oath as he had. He groaned and dropped his head into his hands, feeling the tension of the two vows like a knife-edge at his throat. I can make this work.
Any meeting with the Elders would hold risk, but hopefully they would see her as she was, a grieving widow distraught and seeking comfort. Still, if she crossed that line and made the same accusations she had tonight, the blurred middle would disappear and even bonded as they were, she’d be in danger.
His hands tingled at the thought, spurring him to action. A choking sensation tightened around his throat, and he stretched his neck side to side. Stones. Protecting someone who openly defied the Order would pull him apart.
Patrem Solace had spoken of the dangers of being bound by conflicting oaths—oathtorn, as it was called. It rarely ended well. Banking the fire, he slowly pushed himself to his feet. He had as long as it took to reach the Capital to try to reconcile the two.
After making a quick round of the camp, he climbed atop the hovercraft, released his hold on his strength, and let exhaustion take him.
◆◆◆
Tehran awoke to the full light of day and the sounds of someone moving below. He sat bolt upright, his heart pounding. Emilia glanced his way with a smirk. “Look who decided to wake up.”
He blinked the sleep from his eyes and willed his heart to slow. “What time is it?”
“Mid-morning.”
Tehran groaned. “We should have been gone hours ago.” He extricated himself from the blankets and gathered everything in his arms before hopping lightly to the ground. He stashed the gear in one of the compartments and joined her before a small but cheery fire.
Emilia handed him a plate of food and picked up her own. “I figured since we exchanged oaths, this would be okay?” Her voice sounded light, but he could read hesitation in her expression.
He gave a too-wide smile, trying to recapture some of their previous ease with one another. “Of course. Thank you. I could eat an ox. I’m famished.”
She rolled her eyes. “You Overseers and your appetites.”
The plural caught them both and they ate silently for a moment.
“Knox would kill me,” he said. So much for glazing over things. The truth between them demanded to be verbalized.
She looked thoughtful for a moment, pressing her full lips and looking to the horizon. “If he were alive, he would.”
Tehran huffed a half-choked laugh.
“But under the circumstances, I think he’d be grateful,” she finally said. “He knows why you did it.” Her voice dropped. “It’s me he’d be furious with.”
Tehran wanted to protest, but every argument sounded hollow. They were both fools. “He’d hate that you are putting yourself in danger.” He tried to read her, but she kept her head down, curls obscuring her face.
Her mouth pursed and jaw set. “I have to do this and, in the end, hope he forgives me.” She stood and shook out her hair, tossing it behind her back as she gathered the plates, the emotion suddenly forgotten. “Time to go?”
◆◆◆
The next leg of the trip was uneventful but long. They kept to the main roads, which meant days of nothing but fields and trees broken by the occasional rural cluster. There was no evidence of large earthbound beyond Arris, but it didn’t stop Emilia from watching out the window for any signs whenever they reached open ground.
Tension marked their time, a palpable difference. Things between him and Emilia had always been easy, a friendship built with no blurred lines of intention or interest. She and Knox had preoccupied each other’s gaze, and he’d never been tempted to vie for her attention.
Now, his gaze was suddenly drawn to the soft curve of her jaw, the line of her nose, and the way her mouth pursed when she was deep in thought. It disturbed him. This oath between them carried a single purpose, and he didn’t appreciate the way it toyed with his emotion.
He doubted the vow would act on Emilia in the same way. Her heart still loved and grieved for all she’d lost. For Tehran, who had no one who held his attention or loyalty in such a way, the power of the bond was undeniable. He hesitated to speak, or banter too lightly, for fear that the oath would claim more of his heart.
The thought of betraying Knox by looking at Emilia the wrong way made him ill. As did betraying the trust he and Emilia shared. He could not let a friendship forged over a lifetime be swayed by heady emotions.
It was late evening of the second day before the valley bottom gave way to rolling foothills and eventually to the winding switchbacks that climbed into the Skybound Range.
The cluster of Rook marked the boundary into the Central Mercurial. Perched in the mountain pass, it straddled the relatively empty lands of the Reaches and the bustling interior of the Mercurial proper. The road twisted through the rocky landscape before opening to a narrow valley where three peaks met and revealed a bustling centre.
“Will Jai be here?” Emilia asked. The messenger sent from Rikken right after the earthbound attack had several days’ lead on them.
Tehran cleared his throat. “I was wondering the same thing. There’s a chance he’s here if he was able to get a message through to the Order. I’ll ask around.”
“With the way you drive, he can’t be that far ahead.”
He glanced sideways and saw a teasing smile accompanying her flat delivery. “Perk of being an Overseer, I suppose.”
She rolled her eyes and smiled. It was good to see something other than numb detachment. In moments like this, he had a glimpse of her as she was before the crushing grief and anger wrapped her in their shroud. For however brief, she was herself, free of its weight.
“The buildings here are odd,” she said, eyes glued to the approaching city.
Earthbound never entered the mountains, negating the need for stilted structures. Tehran always thought the buildings looked like they had been squashed flat by some invisible hand. The first time he had seen a cellar, his stomach had turned. Storing goods inside the earth seemed foolhardy no matter how far away the earthbound lived.
The low buildings made up for their lack of height with steeply-peaked roofs. There were no boardwalks connecting one building to the next, nothing but flat rocky ground worn smooth over time.
Tehran pulled their craft over into a covered garage where a dozen other vehicles sat. “How would you feel about sleeping in a bed tonight?”
Emilia’s eyes lit up. “That sounds amazing.”
“It’s settled then.” He tipped his head toward a building across the street. Its multi-level face held evenly spaced windows looking over the road. “Let’s grab some rooms and a bite for you to eat.”
Stepping from the cramped cab of the small vehicle, he stretched. They never left enough leg room in these craft for someone of his size. He gathered some food from their stores into his travel bag before regrouping with Emilia to make their way into the busy building.
