"Aghet? Are you getting ready?"

"Yes, almost done."

Aghet replied, drawing the pouch she held in her hands tightly shut. With the faint blue glow within now hidden in folds of black cotton, she could breathe easy. Hopefully, it would be safe there for the time being. It should, seeing how no one dared to touch her things. Aghet liked to think of herself as a friend to the people, but found recently that most tended to avoid her. Ever since she had chosen Qrev as her bondmate.

Chosen being a loose term. Like Aghet hadn't known what her mother had been doing all these years. Pushing the two of them together every moment of every day until Aghet reached her nineteenth cycle. Aghet had considered Rin, who had four marks, but she was a bit too lazy for leadership. As she had informed Aghet at least a hundred times. Plus, she had some elf blood in her, and elves tended to be looked down on by her kind.

Rin, in question, was standing right outside her hut. Late to the party, once again.

"Maybe you can help me? Like you were supposed to?"

Aghet called to her.

"Was I?" Came her reply, and Aghet quickly covered herself before Rin entered, seeing how she tended to make sweeping entrances that opened the entire doorway to the world.

As predicted, Rin entered with flair, throwing the curtain to the side and letting those within behold her before taking even one step forward.

"Morning." She greeted, turning on her heel and snapping the curtain shut once more.

Aghet gave a dishearted grunt in reply, making sure her little pouch was hidden beneath her skirt before holding out the two ends of cloth around her chest for Rin to take.

"Do you want this around your neck?"

"Yeah."

As she tied it together, Aghet kept a tight hold on her pouch underneath her skirt, feeling the object inside and wondering still what it could be.

She had woken up in the same place she had fallen, with the strange Turbak woman nowhere in sight. All that remained was a sort of vase as big as her hand, with an almost pincer-like shape and a stopper that would not come off. It pulsed blue light, and was made of a strange metal she had never seen before. Perhaps some sort of glass, but she couldn't see through into it.

Thankfully, she had woken before darkness fell, and Qrev hadn't gone to look for her. Aghet had reached the village early, and had promptly retreated to her hut, where she had stayed all night, trying to figure the thing out.

It did set her on edge, seeing how the woman had looked important, and if she had stolen something from a higher-up, or had gotten separated from her group, they would come looking for her and her strange vase.

Aghet vowed to get rid of it as soon as possible, but only after she had studied it fully.

"That's tight enough, geez." She stammered as Rin wrenched at the back of her top, nearly cutting off her air supply.

"Do you want this other red thing to tie it?" Rin asked, but before Aghet could reply, she murmured something about that being an undergarment and threw it to the side.

"That's for my head, Rin." Aghet told her, and there was a slow scuffle backward as Rin pulled Aghet along to grab what she had thrown.

"It looked like one of mine, sorry." She said, and tied Aghet's hair back with it, tying it a bit too tightly as usual. Aghet didn't even try to correct her this time.

"Anything out of place?"

Aghet asked, looking down at herself and smoothing out her clothing. She had chosen the traditional bond ceremony garb. Red cloth, with elbow high gloves that had very, very tiny etchings of every mark known to their race. It was also a warrior's uniform, a leader's. This wasn't just a wedding of sorts. Aghet was rising to the throne, she would be leading her tribe's armies. She wanted to look the part, as the outcome of the day depended heavily on how she presented herself to the people.

"No, I think you're good."

Rin replied, putting away the jewelry Aghet had taken out and decided against. She seemed a bit off, mostly because she was cleaning. Rin never really cleaned, she just shifted things.

Aghet took a deep breath to prepare herself. She would ask Rin about it later, but now-

"Aghet."

She paused, turning her head as Rin stepped forward, focused on what she was about to say. Her dark hair, not cut into the traditional tie on top of the head but flowing freely, reached almost to her waist, and she pulled it back behind her as she hesitated.

"Nothing, it's nothing. Let's go." She finally said, and a palm in her back had Aghet stumbling out of the hut, and she straightened herself, giving a sigh. Not a great entrance.

Thankfully, most had been turned toward the fire. Aghet could see Qrev's outline facing it, looking like a giant bird of prey with the ceremonial robe around his shoulders. He was so much taller than everyone in the crowd, as well, making him a truly menacing sight. It was probably why his witness were standing a little further away from him than was normal.

Heads turned as Aghet headed toward him, arms at her side and Rin walking just behind her, looking a bit flushed from whatever had happened before. Aghet had a feeling she knew what Rin was going to say, but couldn't address it now. It was far too late.

The grass was covered in fresh frost from the morning chill, and it crunched slightly beneath her feet in the silence as Aghet continued on her way. She made sure to keep her back straight, and her eyes focused on Qrev. She saw Helgit approaching from the right, leaning heavily on her staff. She had a lame left leg from birth, and though young, had to use the cane everywhere like one of the elders. Qrev didn't move until Aghet was standing right next to him, and even then didn't turn his head to look at her.

She felt his hand slip into hers, and Aghet sensed her mother approaching. Strong footsteps accompanied by a truly powerful voice that carried over the crowd like a war drum.

"I, Gerik of the Verili Tribe, give my permission for this couple to attempt their bond. With their success, I will step down from my position as your Queen, and hand my title to my daughter, Aghet."

"Your hand, Gerik." Came the soft voice of Helgit, and Aghet kept her head turned toward the fire, not daring to look back. Looking back would stain the ceremony, and was believed to be bad luck. Helgit would be removing the leader's mark on her mother's hand at the moment, in preparation of transferring it to Aghet.

Any murmurs that had been spreading quieted at once as Helgit circled around to stand in front of Aghet and Qrev, the glowing mark's light seeping through her clenched hands.

"Qrev, Aghet. I now give you my permission to go through with your marks' ceremony."

They both turned toward each other, and Aghet saw nothing in Qrev's eye, as was the usual. Just a plain, blank look that was as interesting as a dead fish.

Qrev lifted her hand that he held, turning it over and laying two fingers on the middle of her palm.

"I offer you the strength of my marks, to better serve our tribe and each other."

He told her, tracing each one into her palm. All twenty of them.

When he was finished, Aghet took his and spread it flat on her left hand, on top of her fire mark.

"And I you. May they serve as reminders of who we are, and our connection to this world."

She didn't see a reaction to her guidance mark, and when she was done tracing the last mark into his palm, Helgit began her chant.

Qrev circled his arms around Aghet's waist, bringing her closer and laying his forehead to hers.

As the chant went on, Aghet's body tensed, and her eyes squeezed shut as her marks began to blaze, the skin around her navel flaring in pain as a new mark began to form. She forced herself to open her eyes, breath ragged in her throat. It wasn't going to work, the pain was too great. As if the spirits themselves were against their union.

Qrev didn't seem to be feeling anything like Aghet was, and Aghet found that his arms were really the only thing holding her up at the moment. Her fingers curled into his robe, turning white as she desperately tried to make it look like she wasn't about to collapse.

Her head spun sickeningly, and she lost her footing for a second. Thankfully, something must have happened, because the crowd gasped in awe and didn't seem to be paying attention to her. Qrev's hands grabbed her waist, hoisting her up and setting her straight again. Aghet wheezed, finding that he had hidden her face from view with the flap of his robe.

Quickly rubbing the blood trickling from her nose on his shirt underneath, Aghet resurfaced, blinking quickly to get rid of her dizziness. The first thing she saw was her mother's face. Fiercely proud.

They had succeeded, but at what cost? Aghet could barely feel her legs.

The relief that rushed through her seconds after helped, and she rested her head against Qrev's, breathing a quiet sigh as their village celebrated around them, welcoming their new reign.