OathBlade (Wattys2015)

1. The Wedding*

The streets of Lyewryn buzzed with activity. Elery could hear it from her room, where she sat in front of a large mirror. She folded her hands in her lap while two women stood working on her hair. "I didn't know I would be this nervous. Is it normal to feel this nervous?" She rubbed her hands together. "Surely not."

"Of course it is!" one of the women said as she fashioned the hair around one of Elery's delicate silver horns. "The Aldramel will soon bond you and Dallyn together. This is a great moment in any woman's life. Being a princess doesn't exempt you from that."

A sigh escaped the other woman as she worked on a set of braids. "You're so lucky, M'lady. I cannot wait to find my bondmate."

Elery took a deep breath and gazed out the window. A few strands of her dusky-blonde hair fell over her face. The handmaidens gathered them again, securing them with a shimmering jeweled clip.

Tiny winged reptiles flew by the window. One settled on the sill to rest its feathered wings.

Elery watched it and smiled. "I wonder if I might find an Asteratrix to form a pact with. Legend says people in a pact with them can fly without wings, and control the wind."

"One thing at a time, M'lady," one of her handmaidens said as she stepped away to retrieve a small, jeweled pot from the nearby vanity. "You'll form a Grand Spirit pact when you are queen."

"Princess!" A young woman ran in with a bundle of cloth in her arms. "Merchants of Andethayn have brought you a gift."

Elery stood and walked over. Half of her hair was still undone, and the silken strands that weren't bound together by glimmering ornaments fell over her left horn. She shifted the fabric in the young woman's arms and she turned it to briefly inspect the seam. After a moment's inspection, she gasped."Is this dragon hair?"

"The finest," the young woman said.

"M'lady, the king is coming." Yet another woman stopped in front of the door with a bundle of books in her arms.

"I'll have no rest today," Elery said. She took the dress and set it aside before stripping out of the one she was already wearing. She tried to avoid damaging what work had already been put into her hair as she changed. After some help from the others she stood in a flowing silver dress like none she had ever seen. "It's breathtaking..." she whispered as she looked at herself in the mirror. "Dragon hair is so rare. This must have cost the weavers a fortune."

"Elery," a man said from the doorway. "Oh my darling girl, you've grown..."

She turned toward the aged man who stood staring at her. "Not without your help," she said as she smiled and tucked her stray hair behind her horns.

He walked over and hugged her, patting her on the back with a firm hand possessing a strength untouched by age. "I used to worry you would not be ready for the world once this day came, but here you are." He pulled away and held her at arm's length, then reached up to fuss with her hair. "I dare say Leria is not ready for you."

She laughed. "Father, I'm performing a bonding ceremony. The world won't suffer for that."

"Tiny ripples my child, tiny ripples," he said as he let her go. "This event is the stone thrown into the boundless sea. Soon your life will be a wave crashing over the shores." He sighed, then cupped her cheeks. Signs of age and battle showed in every scar and wrinkle, telling the story of his life without a need for words. His crystalline amber eyes held years of struggle, joy, pain, and hope that formed scars as visible to her as the ones on his face. "I could admire the beautiful woman you've become for ages."

"Then the ceremony would never start and Mother will never let you hear the end of it," Elery said, touching his hands. "Let me get ready, Father. It will be bad form to keep the guests waiting."