Chapter 7
Roark
Blood thudded in my head. A smile seemed out of sorts on such a night, but I could not find the will to care.
My grin only widened the more I thought on what had just happened.
Mother always told me the fastening of a soul bond felt like a wave of heat burned beneath the flesh.
She said it was impossible to ignore, for one’s soul brightened near their bond.
The instant I’d touched the melder girl’s hand, it seemed as though dozens of bursts of light cascaded everywhere, all at once.
I skidded to a stop outside my brother’s tent. The melder girl, gods, I did not even ask her damn name and she was my soul bond. With a sigh of embarrassment, I vowed to do better, speak better around my melder girl.
The gods favored me, for when I entered the tent, the Dark Watch was gone, and my brother was alone, securing his sword onto his belt.
“Nivek.” I doubled over my knees, catching my breath. “I…I…something…come with me.”
“Roark.” He was at my side in three strides. “What is it? What’s happened?”
I waved him off. “I need you…come with me. Hurry. She’s not safe.”
“Who’s not safe?”
My throat burned. Foolish of me not to accept an actual drink from my melder girl. “I found her and we gotta get her out.”
“Roark.” Nivek placed both palms on my shoulders, giving me a slight shake. “Slow down. What happened?”
The notion that my brother might not wish to help a melder struck me. He was here to kill her, after all. To not trust my brother, the man I admired more than anyone, cracked down my chest. “I can’t tell you unless you make a vow not to hurt her.”
“Hurt who?”
“Vow it.” I spoke sharply, enough that Nivek’s brows raised in surprise.
Slowly, he removed one of the leather gloves on his hands and held out his bare palm. “You’ve my word I’ll keep your secrets, little brother.”
I shook his hand, the prickle of soul craft beneath our skin. Vows of the soul were common in Dravenmoor. Not as powerful as bonds, but should it be broken, Nivek would feel rather ill for days to come.
“I found the melder girl.”
The way my brother stiffened it did not take much to guess he’d anticipated anything but that to come out of my mouth. “You saw the melder child?”
“You knew she was a damn girl!” Gods, I wanted to kick him. “You’re gonna kill a girl!”
“Lower your damn voice.” Nivek clapped a hand over my mouth and cast a wary look at the front flap of the tent.
When he was convinced no one heard my outburst, he faced me again.
“I wasn’t going to kill a girl. But she can’t stay here, not when the Jorvans will use her for their corruption. Now, tell me where you found her.”
I made quick work of describing the slope where I’d stumbled into her yard, the way silver carved through her eyes, the fear that had shone through when she thought I might send her to Salur.
“Nivek,” I went on, voice low. “Something happened. Something…here.” I patted my chest.
“What do you mean?”
I paused. “She’s mine. Soul deep.”
“Roark, are you saying you think—”
“I don’t think,” I gritted out through my teeth. “I know. She felt it too, said so herself. She’s mine. She’s my soul bond. Our clan can’t kill her because…because they can’t kill soul bonds.”
For a moment, I considered I’d stunned my brother into losing the ability to speak. Then, Nivek rose, hands in his hair, pacing, cursing under his breath.
“You believe me, right, Nivek? You know we gotta get her back home, we gotta keep her safe.”
“No. Dammit.” He spun on me. “You’re certain you felt something. It will be sharp, like you have fire—”
“Inside me?” I nodded. “It burned, but not in a bad way. I felt like if I couldn’t stand closer to her, I was going to split in half.”
“Shit.” Nivek closed his eyes.
I said nothing. I knew enough to understand he was altering his every move, his every plan. I only hoped it no longer involved hurting my melder girl.
“Where is she?” Nivek asked after a pause, a new weariness to his voice.
“What are you gonna do?”
“I’m going to save your soul bond.”
Hounds sounded in the distance. Nivek kept his cowl over his head, but he stared off in the direction toward the sea. “Jorvans are here.”
“Then we need to hurry.”
“Roark, stop.” My brother gripped my arm. “You must understand, she’s not safe in Dravenmoor. She’s not safe…with you.”
Inside my chest, it felt like a knot of thorns bundled around my heart. “What are you saying?”
“Our folk despise melders, little brother.”
“But she’s my soul—”
“I know.” He smiled with a touch of sadness. “You wanted to be a man tonight, and you must be one now. Sometimes what is best for the ones we love is to let them go. I can get her safely over the Night Ledges, it was already arranged, but she cannot stay with you.”
The Night Ledges? With Unfettered Folk? I was ashamed at the tears that stung behind my eyes. Never had I felt so greedy, so possessive over anything. Now he wanted to take her away?
“Do you understand, Roark? She will greet Salur if she remains here. If you want what is best for your untimely soul bond, then you must do anything you can to keep her safe.”
My jaw tightened, but I nodded. “Anything.”
“Good.” Nivek gave my shoulder a quick shake. “That is what we do for those we love. Anything to keep them breathing. Now let’s get to her. Jorvans are moving swiftly.”
We took the slope with more care than I’d done earlier. At the bottom, shouts sounded clearer and distant cries of fear rose in the night.
Nivek gripped the front of my tunic, holding me back. “By the gods. They’re here.”
My insides plummeted. Jorvans.
Desperate cries for a girl named Lyra rang out from the inside of the house. Lyra. My melder girl was named Lyra.
I spun around, a strange sort of fear taking hold as I scanned the trees to see her face again. Twigs snapped. Leaves rustled. Someone whimpered.
“Nivek. There.” I ran for the shadows of the evergreens.
In the darkness her pale features broke the night. She jolted at the sight of me and backed against the nearest tree when Nivek came into view.
Tears stained my melder girl’s cheeks and I wanted to wipe them away. I curled my fists at my sides to keep from touching her. My brother studied her for half a breath before lowering to one knee in front of her. “I am not going to harm you.”
The girl lifted those silver scarred eyes over his head, looking at me.
“My brother,” I whispered. “He’s the heir of Dravenmoor.”
The melder girl’s lips parted and she seemed even more afraid.
Nivek clapped a hand against my stomach, knocking the air from my lungs, then returned a small smile to the girl. “Doesn’t matter what I am. We aren’t here to harm you. I must ask, girl, did you feel something near my brother? It’s important that you’re honest with me.”
“I already told you—”
“Shut it, Roark,” Nivek snapped, then glanced back at my melder. “Either way I won’t harm you, but it would help to know. Did you feel something strange?”
The melder dragged her bottom lip between her teeth. She fiddled with a loose thread on her sleeve, then nodded.
Nivek let out a sigh. “We need to take you and your folk to a cove on the Fjord. We’ll get you free of every kingdom tonight. Is that your mother and father calling for you?”
Again, she nodded. “He told me not to move.” Her voice was small when she cast a look my way. “But I wanted to tell them where I was. But I promised him not to move.”
“Of course. Roark is rather petulant.”
Heat flooded my cheeks. I wanted to fall into the shadows and disappear. I wasn’t petulant. I was keeping my melder safe.
“We’ll go together to get them,” Nivek went on, “then we’ll need to move swiftly, understand?”
I took a bit of pleasure when my melder looked at me, like she wanted to know my thoughts. Perhaps it was the pull to the girl, but I stepped next to her; I did not hesitate before I squeezed her palm with one hand.
Heat crackled beneath the touch, enough that my melder girl drew in a sharp breath.
“I’m not gonna let them hurt you.” I didn’t know how I’d be able to follow what Nivek said. How could I let her go?
I’d need to go to the Night Ledges with her.
Screams broke the night. Too close. Glass shattered. The scent of ash and burning wood floated across the yard.
“Damn the gods.” Nivek stepped in front of us.
There, across the yard, my melder girl’s small house went up in flames.