Chapter 2
Chapter
Two
Senara
When I woke again it was to a pulling sensation, one that I thought might be related to my dream, but as my consciousness took hold more firmly, I realized that it was a hand wrapped firmly around my own. My eyes snapped open and I tried to yank my hand back from whoever was pulling at it only to find that it was one of the healer fae.
“Contact is probably the best way for the two of you to start healing,” he said matter-of-factly. There was no preamble or reassurance. Not exactly the best bedside manner. I definitely had the feeling that this healer wasn’t my biggest fan.
It took my brain a second to catch up. “Contact?” I murmured as my gaze drifted over where my arm had been removed from under the blankets and was now stretched out to a second bed that had been put next to my own.
The bulky form that filled it made my heart stutter in my chest.
Thorn?
Why was he here? Why was he unconscious? And why was the healer holding my hand on Thorn’s bare shoulder?
The questions started to pile up in my brain. “What’s going on?” I tried to pull my hand away, but the healer held it firmly in place, his strength no match for me in my weakened state.
“Do you not remember?” the healer asked, exasperation lacing his tone. When I just blinked at him he continued, “You told us that you and Thorn had been intimate. We suspect that created a soul bond between the two of you, and since you were separated it took its toll. Having the two of you close together, and probably in physical contact with one another, will help you both get better, if it is, in fact, a soul bond.” He seemed unsure of his own words at the end.
I stared up at him for a moment, his pale hair and purply-blue eyes made it easy to identify him as moon marked, but other than that he was completely nondescript. His beige robes were unlike any I’d seen fae wearing outside of those that were healers. It was like they wanted to make it obvious that they weren’t aligned with either court and wore a muddy brown to signify that.
“Is a soul bond bad?” My voice was croaky as though it hadn’t been used in ages, and as I thought of it, I wasn’t sure how long I’d been unconscious.
“Relations between Moon Marked and Sun Kissed are forbidden for fear of what they may create. An eclipse child is said to be the portent of great change for our kind. Some even say that it will spell doom for fae kind as we know it.” To say his tone was ominous would be an understatement.
“I see.” I had to bite back the words that wanted to spill forth about everything I had just experienced in my dream. After all, what if it really had been my imagination coming up with all kinds of random stories? Stranger things had happened, right?
“If we are correct and you and Thorn are soul bonded, then you will have to be careful not to procreate or risk the wrath of the King and Queen. And to be honest, it would be better that they didn’t know you had been intimate at all, not that my fellow healers agree with me.” The last was muttered under his breath with frustration lacing every syllable.
Great. Just great.
“Wasn’t planning on procreating anyway,” I grumbled, though more to myself than anything else. Apparently, we were both frustrated in our own way.
It was the truth, at least until I’d arrived in the fae lands. I hadn’t planned on having kids because I was terrified of passing my mark down. It was the same with being in a relationship. I’d always been too scared that I’d be reported, that they would turn on me, or, worse, that they would be executed for harboring and aiding me. The thing I hated most was people getting hurt because of me.
A groan sounded from next to me and Thorn’s eyelids fluttered open. The glow of his marked eye seemed to intensify as he woke up fully.
I glanced at the healer only to find him looking grim. If Thorn hadn’t been able to wake before, but he did now that he was close to, and touching, me, then that wasn’t a good sign in terms of us being soul bonded.
He groaned before eventually getting some words out. “Where am I?”
“Back at the capital, in the healing ward. You were found unconscious on the road toward the veil of death.” The healer was still holding my hand to Thorn’s shoulder and when Thorn tried to sit up, he finally noticed.
The look of annoyance he gave my poor hand had me snatching it away from his skin faster than the healer could stop me.
The other man just sighed and gave in to the fact that we were both stubborn and not wanting to touch right now.
Thorn looked over at me, his eyes going wide as though he hadn’t really registered my presence until we made eye contact. “Why are you here?”
Before I could answer, the healer responded for me. “She’s here because of the same reason as you. The two of you are soul bonded.”
Thorn took a breath to argue and the healer held up a hand, stopping him in his tracks. “Before you try and deny it, Senara already admitted it when she was delusional with pain and fatigue.”
“Who knows?” Thorn snapped. The seriousness in his stare made my chest tighten with anxiety and a worm of regret wriggle in my stomach.
A flash of a memory filled my mind before I could slam the mental door on it again. A boy sneering and spitting vulgarities at me, promising he’d make me pay for seducing him when I was cursed. Now was most definitely not the time to think about that.
The healer himself seemed to sense the threat that Thorn could pose, even in his current state and quietly responded, “Just me and another healer.”
Thorn exhaled heavily before adjusting how he was sitting in the bed, raising one leg so he was resting his elbow on his knee. It was like he was trying to look super casual even though he was strung tighter than a bow. “I don’t want to be the bad guy here, but I’m asking if you two could please keep this to yourself for now?”
Why would he be the bad guy? His words didn’t make any sense to me, and now that we weren’t touching again I was starting to feel sleepy, exhaustion washing over me once more.
I pushed myself into a sitting position as well and caught Thorn’s gaze as it raked over my form, which was only obscured by the thin healing gown I’d been forced to wear since arriving in the healing ward. It was like fire and ice running over my skin at the same time and goosebumps broke out over my arms.
“We will keep this private for now. But at some point, the King and Queen will need to be informed. Before they are, we would prefer for you both to be hearty and hale though, which can take a while, or so I’ve been led to believe in the small amount of documentation there is on soul bonded fae.”
I wondered if this healer had a death wish. Based on the glare Thorn was giving him it seemed like he was about to get his wish answered, whether he wanted it or not.
“Are you threatening me?” Thorn asked, a dangerous growl lacing his words.
The healer sighed heavily. “No, just being honest. There’s only so much we can keep quiet. It will come out eventually that you two are soul bonded and in that case we will face the wrath of the King and Queen which is something I’m not prepared to do.”
After a tense moment, Thorn nodded his head. The relief that coursed through me made my eyelids feel even heavier, sleep was calling my name. Screaming it, in fact.
I didn’t want to give in, though, not when I had only just woken up. Plus, I wanted the healer to leave so I could talk to Thorn, figure out how he felt about all this.
“How long till we’re back to normal?” Thorn asked, glancing at me as he did so.
I leaned back, propping myself up on my elbows, unable to stay sitting any longer. It was a futile attempt to hold sleep at bay, I knew that, but I had to try, at least while they were still talking.
The healer glanced between us, looking slightly guilty. “We don’t know. There's honestly very little documentation about soul bonds. Once we have you both stabilized I would love to interview you both about it so we can note this for the future.”
Thorn grunted and it was neither an agreement or a denial, more just an acknowledgement.
“As far as I understand each bond is different, unique to that couple, which means that no one can predict how it will take its toll on the couple. You two stretched the bond, and since we don’t know how old it is, we don’t know how much it’s going to punish you for that.”
“Punish us?” I asked, so sleepy that I sounded tipsy.
“The fresher the bond the more it has to be obeyed. It’s only time and the repeated, uh, confirmation of the bond that allows people to eventually live however they choose.” The slightest blush stained the healer’s cheeks as though he wasn’t used to talking about that kind of thing, and maybe he wasn’t. Were there special healers for battles and others that worked with more mundane things or ones that were specific to pregnancy like in the human lands?
His words were confusing, but the way he’d said confirmation, combined with the blush, made me think of only one thing. Sex.
A rush of desire flooded my body, to the point that I could feel my core ache with need, which was only for one thing: Thorn. I knew that instinctively. It was a desire that would only be satisfied by the broody fae next to me.
One which I was determined to ignore.
“If we don’t confirm the bond repeatedly will it weaken?” Thorn asked, his tone carefully neutral.
I couldn’t deny that his words stung. Seemed like rejection was the theme of my life sometimes.
The thought made me realize I was falling into pitying myself, which was something I thought I’d grown out of long ago. I vaguely heard the healer’s answer, but as I lay down all I could think was that it sounded complicated.
I rolled onto my side, facing away from them, and listened as it felt like they talked about things I wouldn’t understand. Their voices became nothing more than wind whispering through the trees to me, and finally I allowed sleep to pull me under. This time I could only hope I didn’t dream.