Kiera's Moon

He watched her throughout the night's activities, seeking to judge whether Mansr's parting words were true. He wanted to believe the woman he-- and Anshan-- chose would in turn choose them, but he began to see what Ne'Rin and Mansr had warned him of: she was not one of theirs and would not accept the duties she knew nothing about. Mansr's parting warning, that she must voluntarily accept her role and Anshan as her home, had struck him as odd, for why would she not when he honored her with the greatest honor ever bestowed upon a non-ruling Anshan?

Only now was he beginning to understand that her staying depended less on duty and honor and more on him. Emotions of all kinds played across her face as the night progressed. She greeted the room full of people with apprehension, her interaction with his sisters with pleasure, her introduction to the clan leaders and her position of master battle planner with both excitement and awe. In between her interactions with people and the spotlight, she watched the world with worry and thoughtfulness. Her frown deepened when she looked at Ne'Rin, and her gaze grew intense and considering when she regarded him.

With a sense of deep dread, he felt for the first time that the role he expected of her may not be a role she chose to fulfill.

She doesn't know her place. She's too different, A'Ran, Ne'Rin had said.

She must choose Anshan of her own will¸ Mansr had reminded him.

That he might lose her was not a thought he had entertained before. It was not possible that any man could take her or that there was any place she could go that he could not find her. The only possibility-- that she might choose to leave-- hadn't crossed his mind. It'd never happened in the history of Anshan that a nishani turned down her position. And yet, this evening, the possibility was as obvious as it had not been that morning.

Another tension was in the air of the banquet. The Council members were restless, with messengers discreetly pacing in and out of the room throughout the evening. His own messengers brought him vague news of unrest from the battlefront and news of there being new opponents at the battle. He suspected the Council members knew more and that this night of relative peace was the last he would know for a very long time.

When the evening moved into night, nishani appeared too sleepy to stand and took a seat beside D'Ryn. A'Ran approached her then, knowing his journey in the morning would delay the conversation they needed to have.