flailing its arms, staggering blind, then fell apart, tumbling into crashing mounds, crumbling into rubble, slipping back into the hole it had risen from, even as Teoth spasmed on the floor and was still. The four figures watched as Teoth’s body collapsed into dust no different from that drifting in the air. Then they kicked what was left into the hole after the rest of the dirt.
Outside, figures emerged into the moonlight, patting their clothes and spitting grit and sand. “Is it done?” asked Altair.
“Who would have thought the old bastard still had the power to raise an elemental?” asked Deefnir.
“It didn’t help him,” said Altair.
“Shame about the hall,” said Raffmir, looking back. “I rather liked what they’d done with it.” The roof sagged where it had been weakened and tiles slipped from the roof to clatter noisily into the yard below.
“Don’t get too attached to anything,” said Altair. “By the time we’re finished they’ll be burning anything they can find just to hold back the dark.”
“Ah,” said Raffmir, with a sigh. “Just like old times.”
There was a stillness in the room. For a moment I thought no one would step forward. Then Andy moved forward out of the crowd. “It is my wish to be first,” he said. “Though I do not know what is expected.”
“Come forward,” said Blackbird, “and bare your wrist.”
A space cleared in front of Blackbird as people drew back. I stepped forward into that space and drew my sword. Andy looked worried then, but slipped out of his jacket and passed it to the woman in the orange dress to hold. As he stepped forward he unbuttoned his cuff and pulled back the cuff.
“Hold out your wrist,” said Blackbird.
“You’ll be able to sew it back on afterwards, right?” said Andy to me, joking. A murmur of nervous laughter rippled through the room.
“You can close your eyes if it helps,” I told him. His eyes met mine and held them.
It was with a moment of trepidation that I readied myself. A mistake at this point would be a bad moment, and no one else would volunteer after Andy. In a single fluid movement, I lift the sword and cut swiftly downwards, stopping the blade over Andy’s bare wrist. He looked momentarily relieved and then paled as a line of red welled across his wrist. It was the moment when I acknowledged that all those hours of sword practice had been worth it.
“Taste it,” said Blackbird, “and stand before me.”
Andy turned and lifted his wrist and pressed it to his lips, sucking the blood from the long cut.
“By your blood do you swear to serve the Gifted Court until released of your bond?” asked Blackbird.
“I do,” said Andy. I could feel the power building in the room.
“By your heart, will you abide by the rulings of the Gifted Court, for better or worse, even until life or death?” she asked.
“I will.” My own mouth watered at the memory of the taste of blood.
“By your mind, will you become an embodiment of the honour of the Gifted Court, always remembering your place in it, and its place in you?”
“I will,” he said.”
“By your power, will you seek to protect the Gifted Court, its Lady, and all its members, even unto the cost of your own life?” said Blackbird.
“I will,” said Andy.
Blackbird offered her hand and Andy gave the hand with the cut on the wrist to her. She pressed her other hand over the wound and when she removed it there was no trace of the cut, or the blood.
“Be welcome into the Gifted Court, The Eighth Court of the Feyre,” she said.
Applause broke out around the room, and Andy turned around and beamed at everyone, relieved that I hadn’t accidentally chopped his hand off at the wrist. After that they came forward, initially in ones and twos, but then a line formed. Each of them was sworn into the court, one after another. Each tasted their own blood, and with each taste, the sense of power in the room built.
At one point I briefly looked for Alex in the line, but she was not there. I found myself angry and disappointed after what she had said, but then had to push all those thoughts to one side when the next cut was a little strong and that much deeper. A gasp went down the line, and there was a degree of hesitancy in the next in line. After that I centred myself completely in the moment, focusing,