Effie blinked back tears, not about to try and stand in the way of anyone and their destiny. “Will you at least come visit?”
Nord’s grin softened, and he held his arms open for a hug. “Don’t worry, little sister. This is hardly the last you’ll see of me.”
She rushed forward, curling herself into his embrace. “Be safe?”
His chest vibrated beneath her cheek. “But where’s the fun in that? Who doesn’t love a little danger?”
Effie pushed back and glared up at him through watery eyes. “Nord Amadeus Raggnarson!”
Nord stared down at her with wide eyes before sputtering with laughter. “What did you just call me?”
She shrugged. “When I was in trouble, people always used my full name.”
“But that’s not my name,” he pointed out.
“Well I don’t know your full name, so I just gave you one. Deal with it.”
His expression softened, and he pulled her back in for another hug, giving her a brotherly kiss on the forehead. “I promise to keep myself safe. You don’t need to worry about me.”
Effie squeezed him hard. “That’s not how family works. I’ll always worry when we’re apart.”
She heard Nord draw a startled breath before he rested his cheek on the top of her head. “Ah, lillesøster, I do not deserve you.”
Effie stepped back, trying hard to keep her voice steady. “When do you leave?”
“Today.”
“So soon?”
He nodded.
“Well what about the Triumvirate? Can you really leave when there’s no one to replace you?”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” Lucian said, moving back into her line of sight. “How would you feel about officially joining us?”
A high-pitched ringing started in her ears and Effie shook her head, not certain she’d heard him. “Me?”
Lucian tilted his head. “Who else would I ask?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, I just assumed someone else from the Brotherhood would be sent to take Nord’s place.”
“Why send for someone else when you’re already here? Unless that’s what you want. I won’t force this upon you.”
Effie took less than a second to consider what a lifetime of secrecy and leadership at Lucian’s side would be like. “I’ll accept on one condition.”
Lucian raised his brows.
With a devilish grin, Effie projected her terms to Lucian and Nord through their link. She knew they weren’t going to like what she wanted to do, but the same impulse that had her request the condition in the first place was pushing her to ensure it was met.
There was one stunned moment of silence before Lucian laughed. “You can’t be serious.”
“I know it’s a lot to ask, but hear me out. By the time I’m done, I think you’ll agree with me.”
Lucian crossed his arms, exchanging a look with Nord before leveling his dark eyes back on her. “Go ahead, I’m listening.”
Effie was oddly nervous as she knelt on the floor, Kael, Nord, and Lucian, standing around her wearing the scarlet robes of their position.
Lucian hadn’t said much about what would be required of Effie once she took her formal vows. As with everything else that happened to her in the last year, she’d have to learn as she went. Thankfully, she at least had his memories to help provide a little bit of context for what was about to happen.
“Initiate, state your intention.”
“I come before you—clear of mind, pure of heart, and free from the ties of my past—requesting a place among you.”
As she spoke the words, Effie realized they were true. For quite possibly the first time in her entire life, she was not wholly defined by her past and the way other people saw her. Of course those old aches would always be a part of her, but they no longer had the power to cut. Darrin, her grandmother, her parents: they were the storms that tempered her, but she was the one who learned how to rise from the ashes. They had made her, but they no longer defined her.
“The Triumvirate are eternal.”
“They are the memory of the past.”
“The watchers of the present.”
“The guides of the future.”
The spectral voices rose around and within her, stirring her pulse and calling up her power with the majesty of their inflection.
“The Triumvirate are unified.”
“They have no names.”
“They have no faces.”
“They have no desires outside the protection of those they serve.”
Effie bit back a smile. That might be true of the Triumvirate, but she had it on good authority that the Guardians were not so limited. Thankfully, becoming one did not preclude her from being the other.
A voice of smoke and crackling embers filled her mind. “Focus, fledgling.”
“I thought I was an initiate now.”
Lucian’s amusement coursed through her, soothing her with its warmth and infusing her with its love.
“It is not a path for the weak of heart or mind.”
“It is not a path for the selfish or self-serving.”
“It is not a path for the prideful or those filled with doubt.”
“Do you believe you are worthy to walk it?”
Effie hesitated. Not because she was unsure of her answer, but because the sudden image of a mist-shrouded field and a woman with a crown of stars filled her mind. The woman smiled, and just as quickly as it came, the vision dispersed.
“I do.” The voice that left her mouth was not her own. It was both ancient and ageless, filled with the power of a thousand storms and yet as gentle as morning dew.
Cloth rustled around her as the men shifted in surprise.
“Then stand, Sister, and take your rightful place among us.”
Effie stood, her movements graceful and sure. As she did, her gown of simple blue cotton transformed into a robe of deepest scarlet. She lifted her arms and the sleeves fell back, revealing pale arms that were covered in navy runes. Grasping the edges of the hood that was settled around her shoulders, Effie looked at each man in turn.
“I vow upon the Guardian blood that lives in my veins, this hood shall be my crown. It is not merely a reminder of the duty that binds me, but it is a tribute to the people that I serve. A promise that I will spend the rest of my life fulfilling.”
When she was done speaking, the hood rested over her head, concealing her within its warm folds.
“Witnessed,” Lucian said, his voice steady and filled with pride.
“Witnessed!” Kael and Nord repeated.
Deviating from tradition, Lucian pushed back his hood and gave her a blinding grin. “Welcome to the Triumvirate. May your people be infused with your grace, kindness, and wisdom. May your reign be long and uneventful. But most importantly, may the Mother bless us with the strength to withstand the systematic unraveling of millennia worth of tradition you’re about to subject us to.”
“Uneventful?” Kael asked, nose wrinkling. “Have you met the girl?”
Lucian broke the circle to step forward and wrap her in his arms. “I have, which is why I know we’re in for the ride of a lifetime.”
“I feel like I should be offended, but you’re likely right. You know how I feel about stupid rules. You gave me a position of power; I’d be remiss not to use it to my benefit.”