His eyes remained upon the shield even after he spoke, though he found Finn’s reflected visage and appraised his response. It was as if he felt, through the filter of that argent ægis, he might offset the stony stare of a basilisk as ancient myths suggested. But Finn was no basilisk and it was only the human’s stoic response that seemed stony. Arkænyn frowned at the breadth of silence that pursued his request. Surely, this unconventional consort ought to have leapt at the chance to collaborate with one of Arkænyn’s stature. He might yet rise to rule the Luxium, where Finn’s power owed to the infatuation of his legitimate royal better. He turned sharply to face the up-jumped spoon-ear, only to be faced with the counterargument to his internal objection. It was not Arvælyn alone who’d broken with tradition to uplift Finn. That Radiant Crown of divine energy forced him to reckon with the fact that Aværys ratified it.
As Finn began to speak, Arkænyn’s eyes went wide and his breath caught in his throat. He was struck dumb and compelled to listen to Finn’s choir of voices compelling, commanding him. Seeing and hearing him, the notion of Finn’s majesty did not seem the aberration it had moments earlier. It felt right and righteous. The angle of his perspective shifted, but he didn’t realise he was kneeling until he was all the way to the ground.
“I do swear, before Divine Aværys and Holy Varvara, that I am true to my word and to this alignment toward a common cause. I swear Vengeance against Thalya Derelicta before the Oathbinder and the Spiritus Vindictæ.” He bowed his head, and clenched his teeth. The Dread Lord of Oaths heard his words and knew his heart— And that the truthfulness offered was not tantamount to Fealty. Finn would sense the acknowledgment of Aværys, but the result was not so euphoric a thing as when he’d taken Thralls in the past. He had the sense that Arkænyn was deferential, albeit not entirely his creature. In the music of Varvara’s lute, he would hear the gentle tinkle of a thread-thin chain. One that might be fortified with time, but broken if pulled too taut. Under the eye of Akrivar, Arkænyn Princeps had fulfilled the terms of Finn’s command to the letter, but in the ambiguity of that oath, he was no Thrall, though he was deferential to the human… Part of him even acknowledging that Finn was his superior in the eyes of the Founders.
