Free Betrayal's Price (In Deception's Shadow Book 1) by Lisa Blackwood Page B

the
delegates’ pavilion. Around the perimeter another mixed group of her father’s
and Crown Prince Sorntar’s guards eyed each other hostilely. Ashayna brushed
past both sets of guards without pause, entered the tent, and faltered at the
sight of Sorntar.
    He stood
surrounded by a small group of elementals. She had done all in her power to
forget his words about Larnkin and bondmates. Dread returned now she was again
in his presence. It had been bad enough when his sisters had told her she was a
mage and her Larnkin had tried to convince her of that. Oh, but this new
knowledge about bondmates was so much worse. To be tied to another to such an
extent bordered on the realm of nightmare. What if there was more to bonding
than just some spiritual Larnkin binding? Was she expected to share his bed?
Was it even possible with a phoenix? Well, if his thoughts headed in that
direction, she’d show him how good she was with a blade.
    Sorntar’s
sisters conversed with him, so did the lupwyn queen, and a phoenix with golden
feathers Ashayna had learned was Elder Cymael.
    Sorntar looked
between her and her father. Ashayna’s feelings of anxiety tripled. If Sorntar
mentioned anything about Larnkin or bondmates to her father, there would be no
peaceful resolution. Worse, her magic might be laid out for all to see. That
knowledge would prove deadly for her family should an acolyte learn of it.
    “Lady Ashayna,
welcome.”
    Prince Sorntar’s
greeting came as a shock. His voice sent a strange thrill through her blood.
Was she getting ill? Her magic awakening again?
    Sorntar
motioned for her to take a seat at the central table, which occupied most of
the pavilion’s space. She glanced at her father, and he nodded his head before
joining her. After Sorntar took a seat on a stool, Ashayna and the rest of the
delegation followed. She sat with shoulders square and elbows tucked against
her waist, spine rigid. Three copies of the treaty sat upon the table, each waiting
for two final signatures.
    Elder Cymael
and General Stonemantle had come to agree that the Elementals would reclaim one
quarter of human occupied lands, and the villagers within those territories
were free to stay or go as they chose, but no acolyte would ever venture upon
Elemental lands uninvited. There were so many details Ashayna had missed while
she’d slept for two days. She couldn’t even focus enough to read the tiny,
flowing script, not with Sorntar watching her through assessing eyes the whole
time.
    Sorntar
gathered the papers, gave them another quick look, and then signed his name.
After the ink was dry, he pushed them across the table to her. Under the
sinuous foreign script, which must represent his name or perhaps his title, she
contemplated the first blank line awaiting her signature. Without reading the
treaty, she signed each. It didn’t matter what it said. She knew, no matter the
pretty words they wrote or what they chose to call it, this was the beginning
of her enslavement—her life now belonged to the crown prince.
    How would these
magic wielders change her? In a turning of the seasons would she recognize
herself? Would she be like them? To become a mage—to use a gift she doubted and
feared. She glanced up at Sorntar. What of becoming his bondmate? If she was
truthful with herself, bonding worried her more than training to use magic. Did
she have a choice? Would she lose herself to the creature within?
    “Then it is
settled,” Cymael said, intruding upon Ashayna’s thoughts. Then the elder stood
and bowed to both General Stonemantle and Crown Prince Sorntar. “May both your
chosen paths in this life know many blessings.”
    Her father
ignored the others and faced her. “Ashayna, I’m sorry.” While his voice was
cold, a gruffness in his tone conveyed much more. She heard and understood what
no one else recognized. He wanted to throw duty to the wind and rescue her, but
he didn’t have that luxury.
    When the
silence took on a hard-edged