A Time of Blood (Of Blood and Bone #2) - John Gwynne Page 0,55
and sister! Hard enough for Bleda to learn that Kol was her father. She still could not grasp it fully herself, and she felt a shame deep as her bones about it. There was a logical part of her that knew the shame she felt was ridiculous, that it was out of her control, that it was as deranged as feeling shame if you’d been born male or female, or in this town instead of that one but, nevertheless, that shame was there, like a worm in her veins. And, to be honest, the logical side of her never usually came out on top.
Bleda walked straight-backed, with a touch of the rolling gait that hinted at the master-horseman that Riv knew him to be. His face was set, his cold-face in place, eyes scanning the room, taking everything in. This was the Bleda she had seen over the last six or seven years, but now she knew what she saw was merely the tip of the iceberg above water. There were great depths to him hidden beneath the surface.
Ellac and a few of his honour guard were ranged about Bleda, all stony-faced, as Riv would expect of the Sirak, and with them came Jin, Princess of the Cheren Clan and Bleda’s betrothed. Riv felt her lips twist at the sight of the young woman. Not only had she entirely forgotten that Jin and Bleda had been betrothed as some kind of political union to bring the Clans of the Sirak and Cheren under the protective wing and control of the Ben-Elim, but she had also forgotten the depth of her dislike for Jin. She could not stand her arrogance, the way she spoke to Riv, or even looked at her. Or the way she looked at Bleda. Jin sat next to Bleda on the tiered steps, shuffled closer to him, leaned closer still and whispered something in his ear.
Riv felt an almost overwhelming desire to fly down there, grab Jin by her hair and hoist her into the air. With a shuddering breath she fought the urge and forced herself to look away.
A host of Ben-Elim were spread amongst the ever-growing crowd, thousands of them, more than Riv had ever seen before. Many Ben-Elim existed in the Banished Lands, three thousand, four thousand of them, maybe, scattered throughout the Land of the Faithful. There were over two thousand of them in the Great Hall right now.
White-Wings, the elite warriors of the Ben-Elim, numbered in the region of ten thousand swords, most of them garrisoned along the borders of the Land of the Faithful. Between one and two thousand usually remained within Drassil’s walls, guardians of the statues of Asroth and Meical, as well as a reserve force to deal with outbreaks of rebellion or the discovery of a Kadoshim nest. Far more than two thousand White-Wings were filing into the Great Hall. Ben-Elim and White-Wings—they had all returned from the four corners of the Land of the Faithful at Kol’s summons, at the news of Israfil’s death. At least two or three score more Ben-Elim flew in lazy circles around the enormous expanse that towered over the hall, Riv recognizing them as some of Kol’s most trusted men.
On the ground, Kol sat upon a carved chair; the other chairs either side of him that were usually filled by Ben-Elim or giants were all empty. Behind him, though, were ranks of loyal Ben-Elim, three, four hundred at least, their chainmail bright, and on either flank were units of White-Wings, leather and steel polished and gleaming. On Kol’s right stood Aphra with her hundred, Vald and Jost standing amongst their ranks, and on Kol’s left Lorina with her hundred.
Further still behind Kol, the iron-coated figures of Asroth and Meical stood upon a wide dais, frozen and locked in their perpetual conflict. Meical, once High Captain of the Ben-Elim, was upon his knees, grasping at Asroth, the Lord of the Fallen. Asroth’s leathery wings were spread, held in mid-flight, Meical pulling him back. One of Asroth’s hands gripped Meical’s throat; the other arm was pulled back as if to strike at him, except that now there was only a stump where Asroth’s fist had been.
Bleda was here when the Kadoshim and their acolytes attacked Drassil and carved Asroth’s right hand from his arm. He said he saw Asroth blink.
Something changed in the hall below her, the murmured hum of a crowd settling. Kol had stood from his seat.