Chapter 43
Ahush held the hall, each Seer hollowed out from the Divine Atrium’s demands.
Another life stuttered out, this time one of the males.
At least we’d only heard the cries through the walls, rather than having witnessed him perish in another violent manner.
The “vision” I’d produced shortly after had been borne of threads I’d snatched by eavesdropping on Heraphia as she delivered hers to her attendant.
My best friend curled into a tight ball beside me, one hand clutching her pillow, and slumbered. I, despite the fatigue that threatened to seal my eyes shut, merely rested on my back, watching the sunlight flicker through the curtains.
It was almost time to go to the healing feather, and the Issaraeth had slunk into my mind to remind me that he would escort me that very morning.
The invisible chain linking our fates coiled tighter, biting into my chest at his approach.
I glanced at Heraphia, expression tense even in the land of dreams. Careful not to wake her, I scooted away and slid to the floor.
When we’d heaved ourselves through Heraphia’s window in the middle of the night, I’d been utterly drained.
Emotionally, physically, spiritually. Yet I couldn’t sleep, my thoughts consumed with the Issaraeth.
Vaeron. My mate. And how he’d gently guided us back to Thalvireth rather than slapping bronze around our wrists and dragging.
He had risked more than he let on by ensuring our escape attempt remained hidden.
And I didn’t know how to feel about that. Or anything to do with our relationship.
If one could even call it that.
I crept through the adjoining bathing chamber, pausing to survey myself in the mirror.
My silvery locks were a wild tangle, having tossed and turned so much after forgetting to find another tie for my hair after leaving my other in Vaeron’s room.
I smoothed out the snares, then secured them at the top of my head with a leather band.
After a quick sniff, I decided a change of clothes was also necessary.
Yet as I stood in front of the wardrobe, indecision gripped me.
Why did the thought of seeing him send my pulse into a crescendo?
What he had done for me the previous night had undeniably shifted my opinion of him. I wanted to see him again. I hated myself for that. Hated the bond too. Because while he’d carried me in his arms, the agony had abated.
And not just from the distance I forced between us.
I inhaled a shaky breath and grabbed an indigo top and matching skirt. Tried not to think about how he always wore the same dark color. Yet I couldn’t help the excitement that flowed through my veins as I donned the clothes. They truly flattered my complexion—and his.
We were an unintentional mirror.
With a limp, I trekked through the silent gathering chamber. Even the kitchen was devoid of inhabitants.
Everyone was spent after another long day among the smoke and crystal chairs.
I knocked on the exterior door, lightly so as not to wake anyone. The lock clicked, and then a Sightkeeper appeared in front of me. “Right, you,” was all he said before he stepped aside.
The Issaraeth glanced up from a bundle of parchment at the sound. His eyes immediately collided with mine. My stride hitched. His iron-gray hair was still slightly damp and hung loose around his shoulders. Stubble graced his strong jaw. And a simple tunic stretched tight across his broad chest.
Why did he have to be so infuriatingly handsome?
Without taking his gaze off me, he folded and tucked the parchment away. “Sylaira,” he greeted me, his voice rolling a shiver down my spine.
“Issaraeth,” I replied, looking up at him.
When had I closed the distance between us?
“After you,” he said, sweeping out a hand.
I shook myself out of the hold of the invisible rope tying us together and continued on toward the healer’s feather. We walked in silence, so much unspoken hurt stretched between us.
Finally, I cleared my throat. “Thank you.” Flicking a glance in his direction, I tried to gauge his reaction.
But his expression remained stoic, unaffected. “Of course.” The words were cold, distant, like he was interacting with me from the other side of Keleti. They stung like I’d jumped into the ocean in the middle of water.
Frustration nipped at my nerves. One day his intensity scorched me like high sun. The next, he withdrew into the glaciers of the Skala Mountains.
But was I any better?
Would we ever align? On anything?
We were doomed.
Something in my chest trembled at the thought. I couldn’t decide if it was my heart or our bond. I didn’t have to dwell long as the arched entry to the treatment area emerged around a bend in the stone.
“Will you wait here?” I blurted out while we were still alone, fingers twisting in my flowy skirt.
It was dangerous. But I couldn’t help but blur the line between us again. He was like a drug, and I was helplessly addicted.
The Issaraeth halted, his head tilting to look down at me. His voice was velvet, but something flickered behind his eyes—fragile, aching hope. “Is that what you would like?”
I nodded.
“Then here is where I shall stay.”
He followed me into the bright chamber, his presence a shadow that haunted me as I prepared to put my knee through grueling paces. My normal healer greeted me, and I hopped up onto the table, allowing him to examine my injury before moving into exercises to strengthen my leg again.
At the end of the session, he gave me a potion to accelerate my recovery. I wasn’t sure what all he blended together for the concoction, but my ability to walk had increased a hundred fold upon arriving at Thalvireth Palace.
It was the one good thing about living here now.
The Issaraeth rose, once again tucking away the papers he had been reading. No doubt about the war. How involved was he in the ruling of the realm? He was head of House R?viel and brother to the Korona, so I assumed quite a bit.
I tried not to let that examination ink itself onto the list of grievances I held against him.
His scar returned to my mind unbidden.
DUTY ABOVE ALL
He was beholden to so many things…
“How are you feeling?” he asked me, the tiniest sip of warmth in his tone.
“Better every day,” I replied, as I followed him back into the halls of Thalvireth. The hitch in my stride was smoother than it had been upon departing my room.
“Do you think you’ll dance again?” he questioned, so quiet and yet booming with unspoken desire.
A small smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. “I think so. Between the healer’s magic and whatever potion he’s been giving me, I have hope.”
The Issaraeth stopped and faced me. “I am glad to hear it. I can’t wait to see you twirl for me, little fugitive.”
The nickname had my breath hitching. Something low and dangerous fluttered through me. The kind of desire that snuffed out all defiance.
He stepped closer, sparks lighting under my skin. I didn’t dare move. I scarcely dared inhale again.
The air between us shimmered like a phantom bolt readied to strike. Lust rose, hot and heavy, down our connection.
My mate reached past me and pulled back a curtain. Darkness swallowed us as he walked me into a small room. My back hit cool stone, but it barely registered as Vaeron captivated me like a squall on the horizon.
“Tell me,” he murmured, voice barely audible, “what would you perform for me?”
A ragged exhale dragged through my throat. “The Ashrain.” There was no other that so perfectly captured my emotion for the male caging me. It was smoky, sultry, and mournful. Typically a soloist performance, which made enacting it all the more intimate.
He groaned—low and predatory. “Of course.”
My spine arched off the wall as I gazed up at him.
Why was it impossible to stay away from him? To deny that my mind was focused on the slight twist of his lips? On the memory of his body pressed against mine? On how I wanted him to do exactly that in this shadowed corner of the palace?
As if he read my mind—or I had projected my desire down our bond, he did.
“Sylaira, why do you torment me so?” he crooned against the curve of my neck. Pebbles dusted my skin as he pressed a kiss just below my ear. “I can’t sleep because your scent haunts my dreams. I can’t eat because food tastes like dirt compared to you.”
Each word was a slow unravelling of my defenses. I turned molten at my core. He shouldn’t have been able to undo me like this.
“I need you so, so badly.”
His knuckles ran along each of my ribs in a low, controlled motion, like he was mapping the way my body curved. Then, he trapped my waist in his large, calloused hands.
“You know what you have to do,” I panted as he trailed his mouth down the side of my neck to my exposed collarbone.
“You don’t understand what’s at stake,” he growled, teeth raking over my pulse point.
My lashes fluttered against my cheeks. Radiant need curled in my core.
Yet through the fog of my lust, I managed to cling to the rock that anchored me to reality.
“Explain it, then. Tell me why you can’t speak of your mate.
” The truth tangled in my throat, but I forced it out anyway.
“Tell me why you are abandoning your duty to me.”
He stiffened, fingers digging into the flesh of my hips. “I am not abandoning you. You have no idea what I’ve done to ensure your safety since our arrival.”
I shoved against his chest, forcing him to look at me. “Then tell me.”
A muscle feathered in his jaw, our earlier desire dissipating like light into the darkness.
“My escorting you to the healers has put you at great risk. But I cannot stay away from you,” he groaned, raking a hand through his hair.
“Iaoth would, and has previously, exploited any sign of weakness in me. Anything I care about even a little too much, she latches onto. Learned it from our father and honed her manipulations into blades.”