Ortai Legacy: Arrival

6.4 - Oathbound (L)

Careful not to use too much force, I pricked Mar'kost with the needle. That prick apparently wasn't enough; both he and Weylan said as much. Luckily, I got it right on the third try. Unluckily, I had what looked like a hundred runes to tattoo and a hand shaking from nerves.

My shaky hand came back to bite me repeatedly. Mar'kost had to physically remove several messed up runes—while I turned away and covered my ears. Apparently, even just copying the runes was enough to spend arkegy, and I had to take yet another break to drink from the fountain. By the time I finished the last line, I'd covered Mar'kost's back and thoroughly exhausted myself. Not even liquid arka was enough to dull my headache.

I very much wanted to lie down, but I couldn't. Weylan had me chisel a linking charm on my wrist—which was luckily only four words long—before leading Mar'kost through reciting his oath. According to Weylan, spellcasters didn't have to understand all the words, unlike Enchanters. I was too tired to focus, so thank goodness all I had to read was the charm on my wrist.

"Ovirol Mar'kost Vek Tivom." As soon as his name left my lips, every rune glowed violet.

"Excellent." Mar'kost rolled his shoulders, and his tattoo shrunk to the size of a post-it. "May I go now?" He turned to face me.

"Go?" My chest panged at the thought of being alone again. I wanted to scream that I couldn't do this—I couldn't stay and fix a centuries-old ship full of monsters on my own—but that wouldn't be right. Mar'kost had come here to save me and nearly died; even if he'd only come because of our bond, he'd still gone through hell for me. I couldn't ask him to stay. I had Weylan and Butcher. I would survive. And there was no reason to believe I wouldn't still be able to speak with him telepathically once he left. "Okay. Goodbye."

"Goodbye..." Mar'kost hesitantly stood. "You don't need to cry. I'll be back as soon as I let my housemates know I'll be staying somewhere else for the time being."

"I'm not cr-" My damp cheeks begged to differ. I hurriedly wiped them dry. "You'll stay here?"

"If you'll have me."

"Of course." I hated how desperate I sounded, but I didn't have the energy to act like I was okay with becoming a hermit. "Uh, is there any way I could stay with you instead and just visit here?"

"No," Mar'kost and Weylan said at the same time. The former cleared his throat. "You lose arkegy at such a quick rate that staying away from the Source would be dangerous, and there's already a risk of you being arrested as a shifter."

"I can bring some extra arka with me in my inventory."

"You have-" He chuckled. "Of course you do. Well... I suppose if you wear a long cloak and cover your face, you could pretend to be a human with a skin condition, though humans are so rare in this area that you would stick out even then."

"You'll need to sleep," Weylan insisted.

"I can sleep at his place," I snapped.

"With the butcher mimic as a guard, this location is much safer than a house where anyone could walk in and see you."

Mar'kost shook his head. "My housemates know what I am; they're trustworthy."

Weylan scoffed. "Sister Liza won't stay at your home. That is final."

"I believe I'll defer to her on that point."

"If you attempt to remove her from this ship in her current condition, I'll shoot you."

"You will definitely not do that." I grabbed my polearm and shoved it into my graxi's inventory.

"Re su talkor evreon eh?" Mar'kost asked.