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“At the end of the season,” Sammenth said, nodding at her sister when the healer brought her a cup of steeped tea, “the riders who are of age are taken to the Tharken cliffs.”
“Of age?”
“Yes, eighteen years and above. You can be in rider instruction as young as twelve though, you just can’t participate in the illa’rosh.”
“At Tharken?”
Samment nodded. “It’s a mountain range, northwest of here, where unclaimed Elthika gather during the silver moon. You’re given the opportunity to bond with an Elthika of your choosing, but they must choose you too. That happens during the first flight. You have to claim an Elthika—without a harness, mind you—and if they accept you, they won’t throw you off their backs so that you plummet to your death. It’s called the illa’rosh.”
My chest squeezed. My first thought was that Sarkin—or Zaridan—wouldn’t let me be thrown off and fall…but I wasn’t so sure. In order to fully be accepted as queen of the Sarrothian, I had to bond with an Elthika. If I was rejected during the first flight…that would make me the queen of nothing. I would lose the respect of Sarkin’s people.
I would lose his if I had it at all.
“How many have been rejected?” I asked, not entirely sure I wanted to know the answer.
Sammenth shared a look with Ryena. The healer set a cup down in front of me, steam curling from the top. She’d told me the tea would help with muscle aches, to help with the pain that would undoubtedly come tomorrow.
“Plenty,” Ryena said. She shook her head, a shiver working its way up her spine. “When Sammenth wanted to be a rider…I swear, I couldn’t sleep for years until she bonded with Orelle.”
Orelle must’ve been Sammenth’s Elthika.
“The Karath’s best friend, when they were younger, was rejected during his first flight,” Sammenth said quietly. “Sarkin had to watch him fall. That, I imagine, is worse.”
“What?” I whispered, shock rooting me into place on the bench.
“That’s not our place to talk about,” Ryena said sharply to her younger sister.
Sammenth breathed in deeply, flashing me a small, apologetic smile. “No one in my kya’rassa was rejected.” I remembered that word. Sarkin had used it once. It meant rider horde, though he’d used it to refer to his best riders, the ones he’d chosen, the ones he trusted to keep the entire horde safe. “It happens less than you think. The Elthika are choosy about their riders, but only a few rejections end in a death fall. Most will return the rider to steady ground. The Vyrin…those are the ones you need to be careful of if you select one.”
“The Vyrin?”
“It’s a name for the ancients, though they aren’t truly old—not in years at least. They are high-ranking Elthika from strong bloodlines. Zaridan is a Vyrin, for example. Vyrins can afford to be very particular about their chosen rider. They’re the ones that are dangerous during a first flight.”
“And…Sarkin’s friend,” I began, “he tried to bond with a Vyrin?”
“Not only a Vyrin. With a direct descendent of Muron,” Sammenth answered.
A jolt went through me. “But Zaridan…”
“Yes,” she replied, inclining her head at me. “He tried to claim her brother.”
“Zaridan’s brother killed Sarkin’s friend?”
Sammenth’s quiet was answer enough, and my brow furrowed, lowering my gaze to the steaming tea.
I took a small sip, the taste bitter, though Ryena had tried to sweeten it with a thick syrup that reminded me of kinu berries.
“How tragic,” I said softly.
“The Karath understands that these things happen. You ca
“And it never should’ve happened in the first place,” Ryena cut in, giving Sammenth a long, lingering, stern look. “Enough now. Drink your tea. Both of you.”
“Yes, Mother,” Sammenth grumbled, but I caught the stray flash of her smile. It was obvious the sisters were close, though Ryena did take on a more parental figure between the two.
I thought of Da
Then I wondered about Sarkin, thinking over the new tiny bit of information I’d gleaned tonight. I couldn’t imagine how helpless I would feel watching someone I cared about falling to their death.
I remembered the look in his eyes that night when I’d fallen over the cliff at his keep in Sarroth. I remembered how he’d dived straight off, without hesitation, to save me.
Every night, he firmly tugged the strap that co
Now I couldn’t help but wonder if he was remembering his friend while he was trying to protect me. The only place I could fall off here was the waterfall, and I’d have to navigate the village carefully to find it. We couldn’t stay tethered in sleep forever.
Under Ryena’s watchful gaze, I took another dutiful sip of my tea.
And I realized that in addition to the Karag, to the Elthika, of which I knew very little about, I could add my husband to that growing list as well.