Free Spirit's Oath by Rachel Aaron

you were willing to die. You felt you had nothing left. I say it doesn’t have to be that way.” She held out her hand, palm up, directly in front of the hound’s nose. “I offer a pledge,” she said. “Power for service, strength for obedience, and my own soul to replace the pack you lost. I swear mutual protection, my honor for yours. Come with me, and together we will do things that will make Hapter nothing but an insignificant memory.”
    The ghosthound stared at her, his orange eyes unreadable, but Miranda could feel his hot breaths quicken on her palm. “You would offer yourself as my pack?” he said. “What would I do, Spiritualist? Your oath has no power over me. I have a body; I can’t leave it and live through your soul like the rock or the wind or the moss you’ve already tied to you. You cannot bind me.”
    “I can’t,” Miranda admitted. “But that’s not what matters. My oath is more than magic, ghosthound. It is a promise between you and me.” She reached up, pulling off the tiny ring Hapter had slid on her finger. “This will be your ring, and though it holds no spirit, it will be dear to me as any other I take. I need no bond to make me honor my promises or give you my strength. From this moment forward, I will guard you as I guard myself. I swear by my Court and my soul that I will honor, defend, and support you. I will never abandon you, never betray you, and all I ask in return is that you swear in kind and agree to abide by my judgment.”
    Miranda smiled then, reaching up to touch the ghosthound’s nose. It was warm and dry under her fingers, quivering as he took in her scent. “Let me be your Spiritualist,” she whispered. “Come with me, help me make a better world where things like what happened to you and me can’t happen anymore. A world where no abuse is tolerated, where no soul is forced against its will. Let that good work be your honor, ghosthound, and I promise I will take the life you were so willing to throw away and cherish it as I do my own.”
    The hound stared at her a long time, and then he snorted against her hand. “And our loss will hurt Hapter, do you think?”
    Miranda grinned. “It will kill him.”
    The hound’s muzzle lifted in a toothy grin. “What’s your name, Spiritualist?”
    “Miranda Lyonette,” Miranda said.
    The ghosthound grinned wider still. “I’m Gin, and I accept your offer.”
    “Good,” Miranda said. “Because we have a wedding to crash.”
    The dog laughed at that, showing all his sharp, sharp teeth, and then he lay down so swiftly Miranda jumped.
    “Get on, then,” he said. “Unless you’re scared?”
    “What’s there for me to be scared of?” Miranda said, struggling up onto the spot between his shoulders. “We’re a team now, remember?”
    Gin’s answer was to nudge her roughly into place with his nose, and then he jumped up so fast Miranda nearly snapped her neck. She couldn’t help a squeal as they flew through the hole Durn had left in the roof. She’d never expected a ghosthound to be able to jump like that, but Gin cleared the leap effortlessly, running along the roof before jumping into the garden. The wedding was spread across the front lawn, a great sea of colored tents and banquet tables. Hapter was standing at the front, talking hurriedly to a group of guards. He stopped the second Miranda and Gin came into view, his face going scarlet as he opened his mouth to shout.
    He never got the chance. Gin moved faster than the wind. He jumped up on the longest banquet table, cracking it beneath his weight before leaping again to land right in the middle of Hapter’s guards. They scattered like thrown sticks, leaving Gin nose-to-nose with Hapter himself, who was now white as the tablecloths. From her perch on his back, Miranda leaned down between the ghosthound’s ears, resting her elbows on the dog’s head as she met Hapter’s terrified face with a wide smile.
    “I told you,” she said. “I’m not the