Chapter 23 #2
I pushed open the doors to the dining hall. Lucina’s gaze found me, pausing on the bandage at my wrist and the wrap around my head, her mouth curving into a thin smirk before she leaned toward Mira and Iris. They looked up in unison, their laughter mocking.
An urge rose to snap at them, to wipe that look from their faces. I swallowed it and crossed the room without pause. Tavin’s seat was painfully empty. A crease formed between my brows as I passed Talia’s empty seat. I would find her after breakfast. I should have already.
I smiled at Jorius, but the humor drained from his face the moment he saw me. He guided me into my chair.
“Why is it that you look worse every day?” he muttered. “What happened during the rite? Did you fall headfirst into the shrine?”
“I assure you, I didn’t,” I replied dryly, reaching for a serving of potatoes and a thick slice of meat from his plate. A hearty breakfast was just what I wanted. The first bite sent a pulse of pain through me, enough to tighten my grip on the fork, but I kept eating.
He lowered his voice. I leaned in to catch it. “Please tell me you didn’t try to escape.”
“I wanted to. But I couldn’t.”
His features eased as he sat back.
I recounted what happened, my voice low, steady only by force.
I told him enough—about the attack, the clawlike daggers and the cloaks he’d warned me of.
But I kept the rest to myself. The failed rite.
The way Thanor’s piercing mirrored mine.
That stayed locked behind my teeth, the thought of Thanor’s threat pulling low inside me.
At the mention of the daggers, his expression stilled, his features turning distant. “Lunara help you. These men… you’re no longer safe outside the Ludaryn, Tina… You’re lucky Kharos was there.”
I pulled my hair higher as I retied it. Not safe outside the Ludaryn. It wasn’t any safer inside.
“Lucky… I suppose you’re right. It could’ve ended much worse…” I said quietly, the words sitting wrong even as I spoke them. “Are you certain you want to remain by my side? Knowing it could put you in harm’s way.”
“Nothing can break me. You know that.” His tone remained light. His expression didn’t. “And if you ever need more than a friend… you only have to say so.”
I turned toward him, expecting mischief, but found none.
“Jorius… I—”
“No, no,” he said, lifting his hands. “Don’t say anything.
I know how you feel. I just want you to know…
Thanor isn’t the only one willing to protect you.
” His mouth curved, some of the old ease returning.
“I may be no warrior, but I assure you I know how to protect my woman.” He winked and offered me his hand. “Come, my unlucky friend.”
I smiled—but it faltered before I could take his hand. He’d warned me about the cloaks and the daggers, but nothing more. How could he call me his friend, speak of wanting more, while keeping parts of himself just out of reach?
“You warned me about them,” I snapped. “The cloaks. The daggers. But you didn’t tell me who they are. Where they come from.”
My voice dropped. “Why are you keeping me in the dark?”
His mouth opened, then closed, his jaw working. I drew in a slow breath.
“If we were more than friends, would you tell me?” I asked. “You’re hiding something. Maybe if I actually knew you… things would be different.”
His hand hovered between us, then dropped, his fingers curling into a fist. “That’s not fair.
Are you telling me that if I told you my past, you’d suddenly be interested in me?
If you wanted me, you’d take me as I am now.
You don’t know anything about Thanor either, I’m guessing.
Yet that doesn’t seem to be an issue, does it? ”
He wasn’t wrong. But last night, Thanor had trusted me with more than Jorius ever had.
My anger drained as quickly as it had come, leaving everything else in its wake. Too little sleep, too much pressing in at once, my thoughts slipping no matter how strongly I tried to hold them.
I sighed, the apology already forming—but before I could speak, a houseguard stepped inside, sweeping the room before stopping in front of me.
“Bondward Valentina. You are summoned.”
Heads turned as I rose. My eyes closed. Why was it always me?
Sorry , I mouthed to Jorius.
“Off to fuck for your next promotion?” Lucina muttered as I passed her.
I merely smiled at her before leaving the room. Her pettiness could no longer reach me. Not after what I’d been through.
The guard nodded as I followed him with measured steps.
The last times I’d been summoned, I had walked straight into danger.
Right now, I was holding myself together through sheer force of will.
The gray leathers felt unfamiliar against my skin, too tight across my shoulders, and the strap at my thigh, once weighted with my dagger, lay empty.
A remnant of my father… gone.
We turned through the corridors until the houseguard sent me outside. I frowned but stepped through. Morning light had already claimed the stone. Marcus waited beside a carriage.
“Valentina, good morning. How was the rite?” he asked warmly, though his expression shifted as he took in the bandages and the stiffness in my posture. “Why are you injured?”
“I—”
“The rite demanded more than expected. She was injured on the journey back,” Thanor cut in, stepping out behind me in full armor.
The sight of the curled serpent on his blackened steel chestplate reminded me of who he was.
What he was. The Imperator’s favorite. The Ringbreaker.
I had to keep reminding myself of this, to prevent myself from letting him in.
Even though he’d wiped away my tears last night…
His hand came to rest on my shoulder, the heat of him pressing through leather and skin.
Marcus studied us, doubt flickering across his features.
Yet he seemed unwilling to question his champion outright.
“I trust you will recover swiftly. If you require anything, visit Vibius at the earliest opportunity.”
He gestured toward the carriage. “Come.”
We settled inside, Thanor’s frame filling the confined space so completely that there was scarcely room to breathe.
I was pressed between him and the side panel, our thighs touching, his shoulder solid against mine with every shift of the wheels.
I tried to inch away, but he widened his stance, keeping the contact.
When I glared at him, I caught the corner of his mouth lifting.
“You must be wondering where we are going.” Marcus said, breaking the tension.
Grateful for the distraction, I turned from the annoying presence beside me. “I am.”
“The Aurexium Lanista has issued a challenge for revenge. He has publicly declared that he has found a new champion—one he claims would defeat Vayren without difficulty. He has forced my hand. There will be an exhibition match in the market square at midday. No sabers this time. There is no official arena.”
He adjusted his robes. “Ordinarily, I would not indulge something so far beneath our champion. But the Aedile and his wife were present when the challenge was made, and they expressed considerable interest in seeing Vayren fight again. So here we are.”
“I understand,” I said carefully, “but why am I required if Kharos is not?”
Marcus answered without hesitation. “Since you have not felt the tether between yourself and Vayren. I would have you remain close to him the coming days. We will see whether proximity forces it to manifest.”
Thanor’s knee nudged mine. I ignored it.
“I don’t know if Vibius is correct in that regard,” I said. “I have opened myself since I began shadowing Cassius. If I haven’t felt the tether thus far, wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume that I am simply not compatible as his Bondward?”
Thanor shifted beside me. The air in the carriage grew taut.
“It does not matter whether she feels the tether,” he said coolly, addressing Marcus as though I hadn’t spoken. “She is sufficient. Kharos accepts her. I see no reason why she would not fit me.”
“I agree. Still, I would like to see if proximity initiates the bond from her part.” Marcus replied thoughtfully. “It is my understanding that your magic would align well. You are both strong and strategic.”
He turned to me. “Did your elixirs prove successful at the Ludaryn shrine, Valentina?”
“Yes, but—”
Thanor’s hand closed around my knee in a firm grip, cutting me off. I stared at him, momentarily speechless.
“Her elixirs are potent,” he said. “Her magic is strong. I would like to speak with you about that, Marcus. The temporary bond serves its purpose, but there is a proposal I wish to make—privately.”
Again, he spoke like my voice held no meaning. Irritation surged hot through my chest. The urge to tell him exactly where he could shove his proposal was almost impossible to swallow.
“That is acceptable, Vayren. I will have time tonight. I shall summon you once you are victorious and bathed. For now, focus on the match. I expect you at your best.”
I tried to shake his hand off my knee and shifted toward the window.
The carriage rolled forward. Merchants arranged stalls, children darted between doorways, life moving in an ordinary rhythm that once felt familiar.
Now everything had changed. The memory of the blade against my skin returned.
I pressed my knuckles against the side of the carriage.
A pinch at my knee made me jolt, snapping me out of my memories. Thanor withdrew his hand, as though the reaction had been the point, then crossed his arms over his chest. Silence settled inside the carriage as the wheels ground over stone.
We came to an abrupt stop. Marcus stepped out first, already turning toward the growing crowd in the square. The noise carried inward—voices rising, boots shifting, anticipation thick in the air.
I moved to follow, but Thanor’s arm circled my waist and pulled me back against him. He leaned down, his mouth close to my ear.
“Try to behave yourself. I won’t be able to watch you during the match.”