Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Death arrives in the dunes when the darkness meets the light.
The Evecta rocked softly against the waves pouring into the sheltered bay from the Juniper Sea, yet I heard nothing beyond the thundering of blood in my ears.
Marriage. The queen had proposed to Bayne. A brilliant, wicked move on her part. And the words of the mystics that day at the Awakening ceremony, all to build off the fervor of the elves to see Bayne as their savior.
The queen was only related to him through marriage to his uncle. It wasn’t unheard of. And their union, the union of a powerful mystic queen and a Bellator, “Aelius’s son” himself… They would be unstoppable.
In return, the Lotrennians would escort the Rising forces back to Sultira, and they would send fifteen thousand fighters along to crush Saros.
We could end this in months if he said yes.
She’d set him up for this, to spring the offer on him, and then throw it in his face before he had a chance to talk to us, to talk to me about it.
And with the presence of the other elves and mystics in that meeting, word would spread quickly through Lotrennia.
Repulsion settled in my gut. What choice did he have? We’d all sacrificed for this. And the Lotrennians were his people. He deserved to be king, would thrive as king. The land, the people, the world would thrive. But could anyone keep the ill intent of Queen Antares leashed?
I was going to be sick. I couldn’t meet Bayne’s eyes as we all gathered below deck.
His gaze burned against my face, along with the gentle caress of his consciousness as he searched for a way to reach me.
I had thrown the curtain up the second I pieced together what Queen Antares had said.
The second I realized he hadn’t immediately rejected her offer, that he still considered it.
My stomach pitched. What did I even want from him?
I’d avoided the Match, the marriage protocol for the Court of Two Moons, for as long as I’d been in society, clinging to the hope I might be accepted as a Death Scholar one day.
I didn’t want to be married. I hadn’t wanted to be married. But with Bayne…
Shame snaked its way into my heart as the selfish feelings ripped through me. I pinned my eyes on Ronan, and he glanced at me before sliding his gaze to the others. Marian, Drystan, and Vulcan eyed the group warily, uncertain what events had transpired.
“Well fuck,” Isla sighed the words. “She has you by the balls, Captain.”
Bayne pulled his stare from my own and raised a dark brow at her.
“Can someone fill us in?” Vulcan growled from the corner.
“Queen Antares proposed marriage to Bayne,” I murmured.
“That’s nothing compared to what Khato claims,” Isla interjected, her words sharp yet wary as she slid her gaze to Bayne. His face paled as I searched it for meaning.
“It’s not true,” Nerissa cut in quietly, her voice dripping with accusation and devastation. Her face was as pale as Bayne’s, repulsion lining her wan lips. “Tell me it’s a lie.”
“What claim?” Ronan asked, straightening in his chair.
All eyes landed on Bayne as he uncrossed his arms and rubbed his face. Silence stretched. I counted my heartbeats as we waited.
“The master of spells has elevated his powers enough to unlock the ability of threadsight. Khato can see the threads of the universe, connecting everyone and everything, living or otherwise. See them and identify them…”
I looked to the others, still not understanding what this meant.
“Get on with it,” Nerissa growled, pinning Bayne to the spot with her matching eyes. Bayne’s throat bobbed as he caught my eye.
“He’s identified a soulbinding thread linking the queen and me.”
An inexplicable laugh escaped my lips, and the eyes in the room turned toward me. I couldn’t pull my gaze from Bayne’s as I slowly shook my head.
“That is,” I began, my lips curving up. “I mean, come on. There is no way, right? There’s no possible way.” My head continued to shake.
Isla leaned forward, grasping my hand, and leveled a serious look at me.
“Bayne—” I began, my voice foreign and far away.
“Have you felt it?” Nerissa’s words were quiet with accusing outrage.
The dark lashes above Bayne’s green eyes shuddered as his gaze drifted away from mine at last.
I barely processed the filthy string of curses leaving Vulcan’s mouth as the world seemed to drop out from beneath me. Soulbound. Or rather, the potential to be. The universe, sick and twisted as it was, sought to bind him to someone who had done such horrific deeds to his parents.
Nerissa stood frozen in her outrage, eyes not leaving Bayne.
“Queen Antares is power-obsessed. We know that soulbinding amplifies the powers of those bound. It’s no surprise she’s fixated on this,” Isla began.
“But just because you’ve felt it, doesn’t mean you have to act on it.
Soulbinding must be consensual. You have a choice, Bayne. ” Her voice bent with urge.
I choked as I tried to swallow the dryness in my throat. “What does it feel like?” I rasped out.
Bayne shook his head, and my chest caved inward.
Tension rippled through the small room as several moments passed in silence. This couldn’t be happening. Drystan’s crystal eyes found mine, and I bristled at the pity in them. Isla at last broke the silence with a frustrated groan.
“And there’s the matter of you going after the bone in the Death Dunes,” she murmured, turning toward me.
Vulcan snapped his head toward me, and I scowled.
“I didn’t have much of a choice in that,” I retorted, glancing at Ronan. “And I’m sure I can find it.”
Isla held up her hand. “I’ve no doubt you can find it. I’m worried what your separation will do,” she said, rubbing her thumb and forefinger in the space between her eyes.
My brows pinched.
“This is all a part of her scheme. Separate you, distance you from Bayne, from Tiberius, position you as the enemy. The Lotrennians might not like you, but they don’t see you as a real threat yet because of us.” She motioned to herself and those left in the room. “Because we are family.”
“But Bayne will come with,” I interjected, looking to him for confirmation. My stomach plummeted as his eyes dipped.
“They are starting to trust you,” Isla continued. “And after Tiberius’s little performance at the Awakening…”
Pointed stomping began above deck as Tiberius listened in on our conversation.
“Yes, you,” Isla snapped back, looking up at the smooth teak ceiling. “With that little rainbow display at the Eye of the Wood, they see you both as gods. Antares needs to weaken us. And the first step in doing that is separating you two. And then to dangle the alliance in front of us like that…”
Bayne’s dark lashes shuddered a moment before he blinked and finally sat down at the table across from me, reaching for my hands. I let him take them, as the realization filled my chest with a painful ache.
“You don’t have much of a choice in going to the Death Dunes,” Bayne murmured. “And with the marriage, with the soulbinding, she’s promised a way to fight for the freedom of my love’s homeland. To protect her in a way I can’t without her.”
I frowned, small buds of liquid forming in the corners of my eyes.
“No,” I said, resisting the urge to scream.
Bayne’s hard gaze found mine.
“No, we’ll find another way. Come with me... You could…”
“I can’t leave,” Bayne murmured, dropping my hands as he stood and began to pace in the small space.
“Why?”
“Because Lotrennia is dying,” Vulcan answered, words cutting through the silence.
I snapped my gaze to his. “What do you mean it’s dying?”
Vulcan’s hazel eyes surveyed Bayne. “I’m right, aren’t I?
” he asked, blonde eyebrows raised high.
“The land has been dying for years. It got worse when we fled, decades ago, because Aelius’s essence left the continent.
And since our return, the land has recovered slowly, but only in Bayne’s presence.
Tell us what you saw on the way to the Waters of Ascendiel. ”
Bayne's dark gaze flickered as they met Vulcan’s across the room.
“Death. Ground that will not yield crops. Animals have fled. Even the fish seem to have abandoned the rivers and lakes. And the wolves are indeed gone. I need to protect Lotrennia,” Bayne answered in a hoarse voice.
“That’s why she allowed you to go,” I said quietly, color leaching from my face as the others looked at me. “She wanted you to see what leaving did to your kingdom. What will happen if you leave again. Already, she’s chained you here.” The last words escaped my lips in a whisper.
Bayne’s shoulders heaved as his breath quickened, the rage storming inside him barely constrained against the wall he’d thrown between us. Nerissa hadn’t moved a muscle, and I briefly searched her face for any sign of the power raging beneath her skin.
I weighed my next words carefully, knowing I treaded dangerous water as my mind drifted to what Isla had shared with me months ago. About the cause of the strain in Bayne and Lida’s relationship.
“We could fight…” I murmured cautiously. “You could take the throne.”
The power of the sun exploded in front of me. Terrifying white flames, flaring without heat, ripped into the small room below deck in a cascade of waves, blinding us. They were gone within an instant. Isla’s hand reached for mine as the Obscura surged to my palms in a quick, reflexive response.
“I CAN’T!” he bellowed, throwing his arms to either side. “Because if I take back the throne, I throw our entire fucking land into a civil war, all while Dark King Daimos attacks from the north and Sultira is too busy fighting their own war to send aid!”
My voice caught in my throat as I blanched. The crew stilled, Bayne’s break in control freezing everyone in place.
Nerissa took a quiet step forward and seethed, “Get it together, Bayne.” She shot a quick look at Ronan, disgust, betrayal, and pain shining in her eyes before stalking to the exit.