"Redgurn," Corman spun on his heel and walked back to his brother. He could smell sweat mingled with the smoke from the torches as he neared his brother. "You worry about my allegiance. You should not. We have had bad blood between us, this I can admit. And I, the younger brother, have been the one who could not accept who you are. I was wrong."

Corman turned Redgurn's hand over, showing his palm. He pulled the dagger from the armrest of the throne. Redgurn's eyes' were wild, the only things not showing signs of being frozen in place by Dagmar's hand.

Corman first drew the dagger across his palm, producing a good amount of blood in the process. The erupting pain was tempered with a feeling of redemption. Then he traced the dagger across his brother's palm leaving only a subtle trace of blood.

"With this, I offer myself to you as your servant. My only request is to allow me to continue my current path as the God's have shown me. As father once said to both of us to show absolute devotion to the Vorseman traditions first, and devotion to the family and clan as a second."

With those words, he clasped the bleeding hand of his brother. "This is my blood oath to you, that I will serve the family and the clan with my life. You should no longer fear my motivations. I forgive you for every moment of anger and every stray word. I hold no ill will towards you, my brother. My conscience is clear."

"Dagmar! Let our wounds be healed, both physically and spiritually." As Corman removed his hand from Redgurn's, the blood remained, but the wounds had gone.

Corman stepped down from the throne and knelt on the floor in front of the Throne, eyes welling with tears as he bowed his head to accept whatever was to come. His path was set. His fate was sealed. "As is tradition, I am here to do your bidding."

"In the name of Dagmar I release you from your bonds."

There was a gasp and the sound of settling as Redgurn regained control of himself. The silence was deafening between each man's drawing of breath. Corman's tears faintly spattered on the rough stone floor. Corman could not see Redgurn, nor did he want to. If he was to end his life out of spite, he wanted it to be quick. He heard the throne creak as Redgurn shifted. There was a sigh followed by a low shaking moan. Corman chanced to look up, and saw Redgurn's head in his hands, his brilliant red hair spilling over his hands and through his fingers. His shoulder's shook with deep sobs as he shakily pulled in each breath.

Corman tears streaming down his cheeks, stood. His heart was pounding and his heartache was excruciating. He saw his brother as a completely different person. They were playing around the standing Druid stones. They lounged on horses while Redgurn talked about girls in the village. It was everything that he had shut from memory that he fondly remember doing with Redgurn. This was his brother, and he would do anything for him regardless of his title. It took everything to refrain from embracing his brother. Corman knew, though, that this wasn't the time and place. He would have to gain the respect he had lost when they parted their ways.

Corman spoke with a hoarse whisper, "I will await my appointment, my brother."

He turned and made his way from the hall. He saw that the door to the guard's room was shut. It was hard to believe that he had done that. Of course, it was with the help of Dagmar, but no one in hundreds of years managed to call on Dagmar's strength. Until now.

The weight of the encounter with his brother shook Corman. He had accepted his station with only a simple request. It fulfilled his father's wishes and it completed the path that he had taken. He had now come full circle. The way he was walking was now more clear than ever... it was his duty to spread tradition, first and foremost and--as a close second--strengthen his family and the clan.

He could only faintly see now where his orlog, his fate, was leading him. He would just follow the road his feet had found. He would trust the Gods as they slowly revealed the present just as they had trusted him with their limitless strength. With this newfound strength, he neither feared nor felt hurried to face whatever challenges may come.