"Be strong and know that you are now the blood of My blood. Power is given to you freely, but with it comes responsibility for these others." Viratas did not ask if Veldrys formally accepted this responsibility, as he has already agreed to help the Denvali and the power had been given already. Nature abhorred a vacuum, an imbalance, and things sought equilibrium. Thus Veldrys would serve to balance the scales in some small way. The god looked over his people, recovered from the ineffable Words, even smiled at Astrid like He knew her personally, and certainly He did. Haimon had take all their blood into himself, and shed his own blood for Viratas. He raised His hands again and the music began anew, or perhaps it had already begun again but only now was audible over the buzz of Presence. The blood seemed to run out of His face as soon as the benediction was acknowledged by the Denvali faithful, and His form diminished somehow. There was some trickery of the eye or mind, or He had always been Haimon and their collective minds had told them that something, Someone, else was present. The look of ecstasy on Haimon's face might have been obscene in any other context, but today it was sacred in every sense of the word: set apart, holy. But his eyes fell upon Veldrys and there was such a weight of love and connection that it boggled the mind, pricked tears from dry eyes. Haimon too experienced that interconnection with those around him and with the god. Looking down into his hands, he blinked at the glass bowl that had not been there before. "A gift from the god, I think," he said, voice hoarse with emotion. He held the traditional bloodletting bowl out to Veldrys, and it glimmered in the various lights. Astrid bowed to Haimon, paying obeisance to the Presence that was retreating, everything lightening about them. She then took the bronze bowl back to its place, and once Veldrys had taken his gift, Haimon covered his arm. The robes he wore gave evidence of Denval's military history, the surcoat-like garment leaving his arms bare. When he removed his hand, others could see what he looked at in awe: a completed chain of Silakrov. |