She did her best to soothe her younger sister's sobbing, holding the other woman close in the decadent office. "Was it truly necessary to terrify her?"
"They were only told to obtain her, Senna. I refused to jeopardize her by broadcasting her existence," Rashan argued, voice low but intense. "Any mages who saw the both of you brought in here are already suspicious. I didn't want them getting to her before you."
"What's happening?" Ruka begged sharply, wiping at her face as her wide dark eyes darted between the two of them. "What in the Hells are you wearing?"
"I'll explain, Ruka. Just breathe." she assured her sister, the both of them similar in color and complexion.
Rashan had given her fresh clothing upon arriving, though, linens and leathers in a familiar black and burgundy. She was dressed as a female mage, uniformed and fresh faced in comparison to the younger Lydall sister. She had been given time to clean up and plait her hair back loosely while waiting for the Guard to track Ruka down. They couldn't look more different for being sisters, the younger still in a stained and tired shift that did little for her figure.
"I'll leave the two of you," Rashan offered, his hand cupping along her lower back and singing warmth up her spine.
He hadn't been kidding about them being connected after consummation. His proximity, his touch, it immediately stirred the arcanum inside her.
She blushed as she remembered that it had been his to begin with. "Fresh clothing, maybe? If possible?"
"I'll see it done," he nodded, his hand rising to catch onto her shoulder, stroking up the side of her neck. She felt his thumb and fingers wrap her throat as he pulled her forward, his mouth catching hers. Any embarrassment she would have otherwise felt with him kissing her in front of Ruka disappeared as soon as the heat of his arcanum recognized his touch. She melted under the assault of his tongue touching hers, feeling her own moan in her throat as he chuckled, pulling away from her. He gave her a cocky wink, "I'll be back."
Senna turned to her sister's wide eyed stare, motioning toward the high backed chair, "Right, so... maybe you should sit down..."
*
The chamber was aglow with gilded mages and red-rimmed guards, most of them men but some women scattered throughout. Senna was doing her best to ignore how all the mages kept furtively studying both her and her sister as Rashan spoke from the center of the room. The archmage elders sat silently behind him, an ominous trio of old men, all of them occasionally looking to both her and Ruka intently.
Rashan had in front of him a vaulted box, elegantly made of smooth and shining metal, one circular mouth at the very top of it. A hundred stones had been dropped into it earlier. Five were a glassy red, for Ruka. Four glittered blue, for her, Rashan already having connected himself to her. They had decided five would be the absolute limit, but there were enough extra stones that maybe they would only connect with two or three mages. It was entirely up to fate and the Gods.
She wished she knew how to pray.
"Any mages wishing to pull a stone may do so now," he nodded, meeting her eyes briefly before roving his glance over the rest of the mages around him. "Let's keep it calm and civil, brethren. If your stone is dark you are dismissed. Colored stones stay until all have chosen."
"This doesn't make you uncomfortable?" Ruka whispered into her ear. "It's a lottery and we're the prize. It's sick."
"You chose to stay," she answered sharply, head half turned. She noted that her sister clung closer after being admonished. "This is fair for them and for us."
"You would say that, considering one of the most attractive of them all has already unloaded between your legs."
She flooded with pride and a little bit of vindication. Ruka had always been their father's golden child, their breadwinner. And she had always been just Senna, the one with the limp, second choice. Now things had massively changed. She felt a pang of guilt for being a little petulant about it, though, and grabbed her sister's hand in hers, lacing their fingers as the first stone was pulled by one of the elders himself.
Obsidian black, the stone of the Sentry.
Ten bloody Hells, this was utterly nerve racking.
***
The first flash of blue that she saw peek from someone's palm made her stomach clench, breath held still. She looked up from the dark skinned hand to the face of the man holding it and saw wide-eyed surprise. His lips were parted but he said something silently to himself before showing the stone to Rashan. She watched the nodding reaction of tacit agreement between the two of them before the larger and darker man stepped off to the side.
His glance turned her way and she unconsciously fidgeted Ruka's hand tighter in her own. He tentatively smiled, dipping his head her way, nodding in a friendly fashion. He wasn't unattractive. Strong features, very dark skin, soft brown eyes and a mass of braids knotted up and back. He was obviously younger than Rashan but not by much. Senna smiled back, lowering her eyes after a blush touched her cheeks.
"I accept," Ruka suddenly murmured dreamily, her voice quiet but lush. Senna looked up and followed her glance as one of the few females to draw a stone held a red one, the women's eyes meeting across the room. She couldn't help but laugh softly at how embarrassed her younger sister suddenly seemed, her cheeks brushed pink by a blush as the blonde woman grinned at her.
"Well, this is enlightening."
"I've always enjoyed women. You know that."
"Fate knows what she's doing, is all."
*
By the time the drawing was done Fate had been fair, giving them only three each. Ruka's stones had chosen the blonde woman and two men, both pale, both tall. In fact all three of them seemed similar in coloring and stature.
Meanwhile, Senna's three mages were all distinctly different from one another, from their coloring to their bearing. Her third was a light skinned man, equal to her in height. Freckles littered over his nose and his long ruddy red hair was tied back in a low ponytail. His green eyes were bright and alert, his hands folded before himself as he spoke with Rashan.
She could hear the clean cut of his accent, Common obviously a language that was more difficult for him than for others. She continued moving toward them, feeling the darkest of the three fall in step beside her.
"Your light is truly beautiful."
"Thank you," she murmured back, enjoying how lush and deep his voice had been. "My name is Senna."
"Gildus," he answered quietly, his hand rising with confidence, brushing up her back so that his palm could press beneath her shoulder blades. The touch was warm and she felt heat rise up in her, creating an ache and a burning. "Rashan and I train together."
"You're friends?"
"As much as any mages can be," he smirked, as though sharing a secret. His opposite hand rose in the third Mage's direction. "And that is Cainim. He is from - "
