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“For the Kingdoms rose out of the ashes of men and are built on the bones of the lost, and thereunto we shall return if Heaven wills” He lifted my chin with one hand, and with the thued my forehead with ashes

“So shall it be for this First Daughter of the House of Morrighan,” my mother finished, as was the tradition, and she wiped the ashes aith an oil-dipped cloth

I closedand curse And if the truth be known, a sham

Myonat her touch Her comfort came too late The priest offered one last prayer inthat, oddly, wasn’t tradition, and then she drew her hand away

More oil was poured, and a low, haunting singsong of prayers echoed through the cold stone chas I breathed deeply In spite of myself, I relished this part, the hot oils and war insideof acid frorance arden where no one could find me If only it were that easy

Again, this step was declared finished, and the artisans stepped back fro of breath as the final results on my back were viewed

I heard so upon her back with the rest of that view at his disposal” A titter ran through the room Aunt Bernette was never one to restrain her words, even with a priest in the rooot h today I’d been warned to control it

Pauline took hness,” she said as she handed nity I had left We exchanged a quick knowing glance, which bolsteredht view the results too I swept h to expose my lower back

The others waited in silence for ive mykavah was exquisite It did indeed leave doly beautiful, the snarling lion ta in his claws, the swirling vines of Morrighan weaving in and out with ni in a V downand swirled in the gentle hollow of my lower spine The lion was honored and yet cleverly subdued

My throat tightened, and ht have been proud to wear I sed and i cloak lowered, gaping with awe The lecherous toad But I gave the artisans their due

“It is perfection I thank you, and I’ve no doubt the Kingdom of Dalbreck will frohest estee that these feords from me were hard-won

And with that, everyone was ushered away, the re preparations to be shared only with ht the white silk underdress from the wardrobe, a mere wisp of fabric so thin and fluid it melted across her arms To me it was a useless for as transparent and helpful as the endless layers of tradition The gown ca in the sadoiance

My htened the laces in the hidden structure of the dress, pulling it snug so the bodice appeared to effortlessly cling toacross reat bridge of Golgata, maybe more so, and I wondered if the seaic into the fabric and threads It was better to think on these details than what the short hour would bring My mother turned me ceremoniously to face the mirror

Despite my resentown I had ever seen Stunningly elegant, the dense Quiassé lace of local laceneckline Simplicity The lace flowed in a V down the bodice to mirror the cut of the back of the dress I looked like someone else in it, someone older and wiser Someone with a pure heart that held no secrets Someone … not like me

I walked aithout coh following on my heels In the far distance, I saw the lone red spire of Golgata, its single crue that spanned the vast inlet Soon, it too would be gone, sed up like the rest of the great bridge Even the ic of the Ancients couldn’t defy the inevitable Why should I try?

My stoaze closer to the bottoons lu toward the town square, perhaps laden with fruit, or flowers, or kegs of wine fro ribboned steeds dotted the lane as well

Maybe in one of those carriages,bride, Greta, sat with fingers entwined on their way to azes from each other Andtheir s Regan, dreahter just a few days ago in a dark hallway, and Bryn dallied with a new girl each week, unable to settle on just one Three older brothers I adored, all free to fall in love and irls free to choose as well Everyone free, including Pauline, who had a beau ould return to her at month’s end

“How did you do it, Mother?” I asked, still staring at the passing carriages below “How did you travel all the way from Gastineux to marry a toad you didn’t love?”