CalledtoPower by Viola Grace Page A

sect?”
    “The Heart of Steel and Fire. I left the order when my other talents came to the fore, but I am still able to perform and register a bonding.”
    Syrella grinned, “Do you have something formal to wear?”
    Dorium looked worried.
    Ikatti sighed, “I can arrange formal wear for the priest and your bondmate. We will have the ceremony at dawn in the throne room if that is acceptable, Your Imperial Highness.”
    Syrella laughed helplessly, “Yes, I suppose it is, and I am getting bonded in the morning.”
    Dorium pulled her close, and she experienced the second kiss in her adult life.
    The second kiss?
    Um, yes.
    So, I will have to spend every available moment increasing your exposure to the pleasures of kissing.
    I hope so. I need the practice. She smiled against his lips, and he took her lower lip between his for a moment then released her and backed away.
    “Well, Empress, I believe that we should eat before the food gets cold. You have a full afternoon ahead of you.” Dorium had a smile in his eyes, and she just knew that he was going to keep it in place all afternoon.
    Two hours later, she was facing two more cousins. Gratefully, they took the stones that corresponded to their loved ones, and they bowed their way out of the throne room.
    The rest of her day was spent fidgeting as Dorium kept giving her psychic kisses when she least expected it.
    Her father’s soul stone over her heart began to beat counterpoint to her own, but there was something odd in the beat, a small aftereffect that was a peculiar psychic echo.
    She listened to a few petitions and made some practical decisions for those lords and ladies who simply wanted the empress to preside over their dispute.
    At the end of the session, Ikatti cleared his throat and inclined his head toward the crowd.
    Oh, right, she had to make an announcement. “Tomorrow morning, at dawn, I shall be bonded to the male of my choice. He has already accepted my offer, and we are eager to begin our lives together.”
    Gasps and whispering were running through the room, but she was in no mood to continue her explanation. They would learn his identity soon enough.
    She rose to her feet and walked out of the throne room, Ikatti and her guards surrounding her as she left the confused and frustrated nobles behind. They were not happy that she had not chosen a member of their families, and since there were over nine families who had taken a run at the first day of courtship, she could feel a lot of hostility coming from that crowd.
    Dinner was a quick discussion of the bonding ceremony with a very excited Perinio and a focus on the echoed heartbeat from her father’s soul stone.
    “Empress, are you all right? You seem very pale.” Dorium was searching her mind, but he wasn’t finding any stress.
    “I am feeling a little weak. It is probably too much stress too soon.” She smiled and touched his hand.
    Ikatti raised his eyebrows. “We can delay the bonding if you need it.”
    She smiled, “No. This is what I want, and Dorium is whom I have been thinking of for longer than I can remember. We will bond, I will work in setting up a more effective method for the nobles to bitch at each other and then, I will take some time off to enjoy the pleasures of Vexa.”
    She recalled vaguely that the emperor used to travel to the worlds in his empire, and she had a passing idea that it would be a good thing to resume that travel.
    Well, first things were first. She would see if her father would leave the soul stone, and if he did, she was going to ask him to attend her bonding ceremony in the morning. As she ate her dinner and listened to her companions speak, she smiled. There would be time for everything after tomorrow.
     

Chapter Ten
    “Sy. Treasure. Wake up.”
    Syrella came awake and stared at the two glowing images standing next to her bed. A look out her window told her it was false dawn. Three hours until the sun rose, and she had her ceremony.
    Squinting, she reached