Marked by the Dragon

Chapter 5

2

It had been a grueling day for Caden.

He’d faced a series of challenges that tested both his mind and his body, and he’d pushed his limits further than he ever believed possible. Feats of strength, tactical challenges, and many other trials meant to determine whether he was worthy of being a Runesman had been his sole focus.

And he’d made the cut.

Caden stood in line, waiting for his turn to be marked. A few of his fellows had suffered minor injuries, and the man in front of him was bleeding from a cut on the back of his head. It didn’t seem to bother him, so Caden didn’t point it out.

Both exhausted and dirty, Caden was ready to rest. The challenges had been physically taxing, true, but his mind had been tested even harder. He’d tried to only think about his tasks, but that hadn’t helped. The entire time he’d been questioning himself, worried that he’d fail somehow. When given the news that he’d been accepted as a Runesman, it was as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

If there was one thing that Caden wanted in life, it was fame. And riches. So, two things. They usually came hand in hand, anyway. He didn’t want to be a Dominion Lord—and couldn’t be one—but he did want everything they had. And the easiest way to gain both was to become a Runesman.

didSince he lived in the Thophate Dominion, that meant that he’d been forced to enlist in Lord Ardit Klodian’s army. That wasn’t necessarily a problem in itself, but Lord Klodian didn’t wage war against the other Dominions enough for Caden to earn the renown he wanted. So, he’d devised a plan. A plan of simplicity that had little chance of failing in his mind.

He would enlist with Lord Klodian, then request a citizen’s transfer to another Dominion. Transferring to another Dominion wasn’t unheard of, and with the right coaxing, there would be no reason Lord Klodian should refuse him.

The only flaw Caden could find with his plan was that he didn’t know which Dominion was in good standing with Lord Klodian. They fell in and out of favor with one another as often as the wind changed direction, which meant that Caden would have to keep his ears open. If he requested a transfer to one of Klodain’s enemies, well … that would be bad.

“Step forward.”

A portly middle-aged man sat behind a wooden table, scrawling names onto a parchment with a feather-pen. He dipped the quill into an inkwell and gazed up at Caden. The man wore thin spectacles, and they hovered at the edge of his nose, threatening to slip free at any moment.

“Name?”

“Caden Davtyan,” Caden said.

The man repeated the name under his breath as he wrote Caden’s name down, misspelling his surname. Caden didn’t bother correcting him. No one had ever managed to spell his surname properly, and Caden’s father had taught him long ago that a man must pick his battles carefully.

“Do you own a blade?”

“Not yet,” Caden replied, giving the man a grin.

“Right then. Go to the red tent where those men are and wait for Captain Eduard. He’ll determine the best rune for you.”

“Thank you.”

Caden strolled over to the tent the steward had motioned to, joining the group of men waiting there, and glanced around the field. They were outside the castle, and various obstacles had been set up for the day’s festivities. Enlistment day only came around once every few months, and Caden had waited a long time for this moment. Now that the Runesmen had been chosen, servants were working on clearing the field.

Turning his attention to the other members of his group, Caden spotted a man with long braided hair. He thought it was odd until the man turned around and he realized it wasn’t a man at all, but a woman.

“What are you looking at?” she snapped.

“Nothing,” Caden answered calmly. He didn’t avert his eyes, though. He matched her stare.

“You don’t think I should be here, do you? Well, I’ve got just as much right to be here as you. And I guarantee I could kick your butt across this field without breaking a sweat.”

“Calm down, Thais,” one of the others said. “Save your energy.”

“Shut your mouth,” Thais growled back at him. “Or I’ll pummel you, too.”

She shot Caden another glare before turning away. Caden shook his head, finding it funny that a woman would want to join the Runesmen. He supposed she had her reasons, just as he did, and that he shouldn’t look down on her.

Captain Eduard, an imposing man decked out in chainmail and leather armor, strode over to the tent and began assigning people their runes. Some of them left to other tents, but Caden and a handful of others were instructed to stay where they were.

“Each of you showed proficiency in many areas, but those of you standing here excelled at one thing in particular. Strength.”

Captain Eduard looked at each of them, meeting their gaze for a moment before looking to the next person.

“Being a Runesman is something most envy, but not everyone is cut from the same cloth. Some of your fellows will be marked for sight, and others for speed. Though you may have different runes, you are all a brotherhood dedicated to the same cause. Defend the Thophate and protect Lord Klodian. Do you all swear allegiance to your new lord until the day you die?”

“I swear it,” Caden said, his voice joining the chorus of his fellows.

“Good. The Marking will hurt, but only for a short while. It burns more than anything, at least it did for me. Remove your shirts and take a seat. The scribes will perform their work, and then you will be escorted to the barracks.”

Caden removed his shirt and stuffed it into his belt. Everyone else removed theirs as well, except for Thais. She stood rooted in place, her face a mask of stoicism.

“Is there a problem?” Captain Eduard asked.

Thais cleared her throat. “Must I remove my shirt?”

“If you want to be a Runesman. Are you having second thoughts?”

“No, sir.”

Caden eyed her from his peripheral, wondering if she was actually going to go through with it. After a brief moment of hesitation, she removed her shirt. Thais’s jaw tightened and Caden knew if anyone said anything inappropriate, she wouldn’t hesitate to lay them out on their back.

No one said a word.

Everyone took a seat upon a wooden chair. The chairs were designed differently than anything Caden had seen before, with the back of the chair actually being in the front. The design allowed the person sitting to lean forward, and as Caden did so, he understood the idea behind the design.

A group of elderly men joined them under the tent, and each one carried a bucket filled with supplies. Caden’s scribe set his bucket down and removed clean strips of cloth, inkwells, and some sort of metal instrument. He laid them out on the table and used one of the cloth strips to cleanse a spot on Caden’s back, just below his neckline.

None of the scribes spoke as they worked. Caden gritted his teeth against the pain as sharp pinpricks stabbed the flesh along his spine. And it burned, just as Captain Eduard had said it would. From his side view, Caden watched another scribe work on Thais. Her eyes were closed, but she flinched here and there as the old man stabbed her with his metal instrument.

He dipped the tip of it into an inkwell, then jabbed it into Thais’s flesh. As far as Caden could tell, each scribe followed the same process. While he knew that being a Runesman granted his lord the ability to borrow an attribute, he knew nothing about how the magic of the runes actually operated.

As he watched the scribe work, he assumed the magic imbued within the rune had something to do with the ink being used. The scribes were tattooing a rune into their flesh, and since that rune connected them to their lord, it seemed logical to Caden that the ink was magical in some way.

Thais opened her eyes and glanced at him, scowling. Caden turned his gaze straight ahead and tried not to think about Thais beating him to a pulp. He also tried not to think about her n***d upper half, as that would cause other problems. She reminded him of a feral animal, wild and dangerous. And yet, he was attracted to her. She was pretty, there was no denying that, but her personality clashed with her looks enough that Caden knew he’d never pursue anything with her.

His conflicting thoughts were interrupted as a sharp pain lanced down his back, and he felt his feet go numb. The scribe tattooing him slathered something thick and greasy onto his flesh, rubbing it in thoroughly. The numbness faded, but his back still burned like fire.

“The rune is complete,” the old man said.

Caden sat up, stretching the stiffness from his muscles. He watched the old man place everything back into his bucket, and then he left. Captain Eduard came over to inspect the rune and nodded his approval.

“Well done, Runesman.”

Caden couldn’t help but grin like a fool.