Anton straightened the front of his robes and folded his hands before him on the desk. “You romanticize danger and risking your life. But the world beyond these walls is not what you think it is. You’re safe here in the citadel—”
“A safety that is suffocating me. Must my body weaken and my spirit wither while I am still young?”
A shadow darkened Anton’s pale blue eyes. “Fate brought you to the Order. You’re a gifted scholar. And soon you’ll be a gifted priest.”
“I will soon be a man. One with ties to no family. I would choose my own future.”
Anton pushed his chair back with a loud scrape. He stood up and leaned across his desk. “The Order of Idonnai has invested in you. We’ve fed you, sheltered you, and trained you. You owe us your allegiance.” He paced.
“Your demand I pay with my life’s blood for not drowning me like an unwanted kitten is unfair! I’m nothing more than a slave here.”
Ryder didn’t see Anton’s hand, but he felt the crest of the ring cut his lip as his head jolted to the side. He relished the sting as he licked blood from his lip.
Anton stepped back. “You will take your vow!”
Any gratitude or indebtedness Ryder had ever felt toward Anton or the priesthood leached from him. He controlled his impulse to pummel the priest, but his entire body shook with the effort. He would not take the Oath of Non-Interference, because he would never commit his mind, or his body, or his heart to a life of inaction. — The Idonnai Guard, Isolt's Enchantment
If our life does not belong to us, who does it belong to?
The melodic movement of Michael Hedges' instrumental piece Aerial Boundaries captures the dance of Ryder's determination to move beyond the limits Anton and the priesthood have set for him.
Isolt of the Waters is an ancient water elemental whose betrayal and enchantment has forever changed the Whole. When a young scholar in Idonne discovers her story, along with tales of dwarf magic and the birth of Umbra—a malevolent entity dwelling in the Void—he dreams of a life filled with adventure and heroism.
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