Read Souls of Aredyrah 1 - The Fire and the Light for Free Online Page A

blend in like that. He
forced a smile in their direction and motioned them to rise.
    A place was reserved at his immediate left
for his father who could be seen consulting with two temple priests
in the back of the crowded room. Ruairi watched their moving
mouths, trying to decipher their words. But then his attention was
diverted to his mother who was making her usual grand entrance.
Isola lifted her beautiful chin, demanding the attention of all in
attendance, and strolled to the ornately carved chair to the left
of the King’s. Whyn and Brina, who had waited for the Queen to be
seated, entered to take their places on the other side of her.
Further on, a place was reserved for Mahon, Brina’s husband, no
doubt delayed by his duties as Commander of the Guard. Ruairi
leaned around and looked down the table at Whyn who winked in his
direction, and Brina who offered an encouraging smile. But his
mother did not look at him at all.
    He felt a movement to his right and glanced
up to see Cinnia taking her place in the chair next to him. He took
her hand in his, squeezing it tight.
    “You are so tense,” she whispered.
    He smiled and nodded, feeling the source of
his uneasiness pleasantly redirected. His eyes scanned Cinnia’s
flawless face, then trailed down her neck to the golden ringlets
that spilled across her shoulders. Her silky, mint-green gown was
cinched at the waist and barely concealed her fully developed
figure. Gazing at her, he felt his heart soften, even while the
rest of him could not.
    His thoughts turned back to the room. The
rest of the families had taken their places at the table and the
crowd was now staring at him, silent and ready. The tedious
business of ceremony was about to begin.
    Ruairi and Cinnia rose and made their way to
the priests who now stood before the room. Cinnia’s hand was draped
across Ruairi’s outstretched one, and she walked with all the grace
and splendor of a future queen. Ruairi’s heart could not help but
swell. He stole a glimpse at the audience and was proud to note
they were equally mesmerized by her beauty. It was one of the few
times attentions were focused on something other than the color of
his hair.
    The ceremony was a long one, fraught with
chanting, proclamations, and incantations to the gods. Ruairi
thought it all terribly outdated. As soon as he was King, he
determined, rituals far less painful would replace the antiquities.
For now, though, he would just have to endure.
    The priests droned on and on, and Ruairi
found it difficult to stay focused on what they were saying. The
righteousness of their tones sounded monotonous, and their words
seemed all but meaningless. Ruairi’s mind wandered, but he managed
to respond as expected, though oftentimes after a long, somewhat
awkward pause. Finally he and Cinnia were allowed to return to
their seats, and Sedric took his place before the guests. The
King’s speech was particularly long-winded as he took the
opportunity to interject politics, business, and various affairs of
the state.
    While the guests listened to Sedric with rapt
attention, Ruairi stifled yawn after yawn. He counted the torches
on the walls, squinted at the details of the frescoes across the
room, and analyzed the intricate mosaics beneath the hundreds of
sandaled feet. Then he felt hopeful. It was now Labhras’s turn to
address the hall, and Cinnia’s father, he knew, would be the last
to speak. To his utter disappointment, the man’s speech made all
the others seem short in comparison.
    Ruairi squirmed in his chair. It was hot and
he had been sitting there for what seemed like hours. When was the
agony going to end? He looked down the sprawling table toward Whyn
who was being his usual self: watching Labhras with great interest,
laughing at the boring jokes, applauding in all the right places.
It was most annoying. Ruairi intensified his gaze, hoping to
capture his brother’s attention. Whyn glanced his way and mouthed a
silent “what?” Ruairi