The Warrior King

Three

The Freedom Feast was for the eligible soldiers of the kingdom's army to meet all the of age single females of our district and to choose a wife. The Iron District, where the king and army would return to, was very short on members of the female persuasion. With the majority of Iron District men away at war, the districts' population stagnated. In order to encourage growth and keep bloodlines strong, the king held a Freedom Feast in each district to allow each man to find a bond with a partner. Word had it that the feasts had been wildly successful, although the Warrior King himself remained unbonded. 

Bonding was said to be a magical practice in itself. Only the men knew when they had found the person they were to be bonded with for life. I'm not sure how they know, but once they have found their mate, they are to participate in a bonding ceremony or enlace. The enlace includes blood mingling and hand fastening to secure the bond. 

"You know," Brielle said as she handed me a large white towel, "any one of us could end up bonded by the end of the night." The us she referred to included our good friends from the village. I shrugged my shoulders as I dried off and put on my robe. From the bathing room, we ran up the stairs to our shared room, being careful to keep my robe tightly tied. Once in our room, Bri continued. 

"Can you imagine being bonded to a soldier? Or one of the Elite? Misty said that there were some still unattached," she said referring to a good friend. She turned her back to me so I could unzip her work dress. I sighed. 

"I think the idea of being bonded to a mercenary is terrifying," I said, unzipping her dress and then locating my comb on our vanity so I could untangle my hair. 

The Elite guards were just that: a highly trained group specializing in death that was the Warrior King's right-hand men. When the king said kill, they said how many. The thought of being in a marriage to someone who could kill without remorse sent a chill down my spine. While I understood that there was a need for their services, it didn't lessen the sadness I felt at the destruction our kingdom had endured for the past two centuries. 

"True, but if they're that savage on the battlefield, can you imagine what they're like in the bedroom?" Bri teased, wiggling her eyebrows up and down. 

"They're probably that good with the sword in their hand to make up for the fact they're not very good with the sword in their pants," I replied, making Bri laugh. 

"I'm sure you wouldn't complain if you were impaled with the sword in their pants," she chuckled as she pulled the pins from hair so she could rearrange her locks. I blushed and threw my comb at her, nearly hitting her in the face. Giggling, she ducked into our closet to pick out her dress. 

My choice of dress was very simple. While Brielle's family provided me with everything I needed, I was on my own for anything I wanted. Since Bri and I had such different body types, sharing clothes was out of the question. Any extra money my parents had usually gone into buying whatever item my father couldn't live without at that moment. The last dress I received from my parents was a simple pale grey slip dress suitable for weddings and funerals. It was extremely plain but I didn't exactly have high hopes for the night anyway. I stepped into the dress and managed to zip it up myself just as Bri emerged from the closet. I felt a twinge of jealousy as she turned to have me zip her up but quickly buried that feeling as I was so proud at how beautiful she looked. 

Her dress was bright red with a plunging neckline and trimmed with white feathers. The bodice was tight to her body and the skirt flared at her hips with several layers of gauze-like fabric. Her blonde hair was curled from being braided and she had swept it all to the side, pinning it in place.  Clear gemstone earrings her parents had given her for her last birthday were in her ears and a ribbon the color of her dress was tied around her neck. 

"Oh Bri they are going to kill each other to get to you," I said as she added a bit of color to her lips and cheeks. 

"That is the whole idea," she replied with a wicked grin. Then she looked at me and tapped a finger on her chin. "Come, sit," she ordered and patted the stool to the vanity. I sighed, knowing that resistance was futile and sank onto the stool. 

When Brielle was done, I still felt like me but I looked different. She had fluffed my hair, shaping each curl and then gently adding some beeswax to hold them. A flurry of pins, baby's breath, and lavender water later and I had a lovely twist with curls cascading from the top. She added some faint color to my lips and cheeks and then placed a beautiful silver pendant around my neck. While I was nowhere near as stunning as she was, I still felt beautiful. 

"Thank you, Bri, " I whispered as I looked at myself in the vanity mirror. She hugged me from behind and kissed my cheek. 

"Girls!" Marko's voice bellowed from downstairs. "It's time!"