Betrayal of Blood

Chapter 1 - An Alliance

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**this is sixteen years prior to Token of Loyalty. Sindri is nineteen and Hrafn is seventeen and none of the repercussions of strife that we see in Token of Loyalty have occurred yet. Hrafn is also referred to as Huang (his birth name) in the story until he changes it later on.**

Sindri—

The eve that which my sister, Ragna, had married Aelfgar had come and gone, leaving me in Eadburga for one last day before I would return to Taryn. It felt unimaginable that I was to leave her and return to Taryn alone since I'd been her keeper ever since she'd been born and then when our father had died years ago, he'd made me promise to protect her until I passed her hand off in marriage. I had now done so, and yet I still felt responsible for her, though, it was entirely the protective older brother in me, the side that threatened to dismantle Aelfgar if he even so much as made her cry.

However, I had confidence that he wouldn't do such a thing since I'd not once seen him treat her like she wasn't his equal. They'd seemed like a happy pair even during the wedding proceedings, and then come the morning after at breakfast, Ragna had almost an iridescent glow to her. I had hopes that her good mood had traveled to Aelfgar, for purposes of making treaties so that Taryn could extend its reach beyond our mountains in the North.

"Now that I am married, brother, perhaps we should find you a suitor," Ragna stated, drawing my focus to her where she sat across from me beside Aelfgar's chair at the head of the table.

"You and mother have been trying to find me a suitor for years, but if I recall correctly, I've scared every single one of them off," I said, remembering the last Princess they'd had visited. She had been King Esben of Dunmar's eldest daughter and while the woman, Kielo, had been undeniably beautiful, I wasn't attracted to her nor any of the other women that our mother introduced to me.

"You didn't scare them off, you sent for a carriage and had them return home one day after being in Taryn." She shook her head to herself then glanced to Aelfgar who was finishing his wine. "He speaks so often of wanting alliances and to grow Taryn and yet he does nothing to gain one through marriage."

"I'm not going to put a woman through a loveless marriage," I replied, even though she'd been speaking to Aelfgar. I sat forward in my chair, earning her attention, while Aelfgar placed his goblet down on the table. "There are others way that I can gain profits, people, and land without even having to consider marriage." I glanced to Aelfgar and motioned to him. "Take a treaty with Eadburga for example."

He laughed as if it were a joke while Ragna sighed quietly. The two of their reactions not what I wanted. I raised an eyebrow in question of his laughter before he settled and leaned towards me.

"You already have an alliance with us from this marriage and you had me promise you several acres of farmland in Hsai," he said near to sounding patronizing, which was new because before this marriage he'd been open to my ideas. "Much of that land is occupied by damn tribes, so unless you want to go and run them off yourself, I can't offer you anymore than what I have."

"There's land near to Solveig—"

"That's Eglantine's," he interrupted, making me clench my jaw in frustration and to retain a heated response. "How are your mountain ranges not enough?"

"It is enough, but even you know that expansion is important for a kingdom," I replied sounding almost as if I were growling. "You can't keep me out of the East just based upon the assumption we have land in the North."