Chapter 69
Rohak
Iwatched as a subtle shiver worked its way over her body.
Faylinn rubbed the scars on her right arm subconsciously and I tracked the movement, wanting nothing more than to stride across the room, fold her into my arms, and pull her snugly against my chest. Her dress was flattering but much more formal than what she usually wore, and I found myself missing the tunics with the rolled-up sleeves and bare feet.
This outfit, while nice, covered up all of her tattoos—the markings that made her her, and I wanted nothing more than to rip the dress apart and expose them all again.
Was she embarrassed by them? Did this woman make her feel that way?
A protective instinct rose in me at the thought of someone making Faylinn feel like anything less than a goddess.
“Boots today, Rune Master?” I gritted out, and Faylinn shrugged noncommittally.
“Just trying to make a good impression on your new Vessel before she has the opportunity to flee when she sees what the future king’s Rune Master really looks like.” Some of her normal sass returned when she spoke, and my mouth quirked in amusement.
There she is.
The woman on the couch—Giselle? Geslaine?—coughed slightly and broke my locked stare.
“I hear you’re the general for the future king?” she asked, her voice strained and forced. Maybe she was here against her will, too, or maybe she felt uncomfortable about my exchange with Faylinn.
I felt the slightest tinge of embarrassment and regret, but wouldn’t let it grow and metastasize.
Faylinn was my closest friend, an important piece of who I was, and my Vessel would have to understand that.
I would never be unfaithful to my Bonded—I still held some of my old beliefs—but there was no realm in which I would forsake my friendship with Faylinn.
Nodding my head in assent, I turned my gaze in her direction.
“And what is it you do in Samyr?” I asked.
She smiled slightly before fanning her long-fingered hands over her lap, smoothing nonexistent wrinkles in her dress. “I’m a dressmaker. One of the finest in Kiluo.”
“Ah,” I said, not sure what else to say, and Faylinn coughed slightly. I suspected to disguise a laugh.
“Well . . .” I started, not sure what else to say, and was thankfully saved by Faylinn.
“Rohak, Gisei, if you would follow me.” Faylinn indicated toward the bedroom behind her shoulder, and I relaxed slightly when she took the lead.
Gisei. That’s her name.
It was pretty, like her, but I still preferred Faylinn—both her name and her appearance.
Gisei was conventionally beautiful, and in another time, I would have immediately taken her to bed.
Now, it seemed, I was doomed to compare everyone to the knowledge-hungry Rune Master with hair as untamable as her spirit and a penchant for tunics and bare feet.
I’d even take the cat with an attitude if it meant I could have her.
Alas, it was not meant to be, no matter how much I desired it to be so.
My room was the same as always—large four-poster bed with black sheets and a neatly folded blanket at the foot and devoid of all other personal touches—though it was clear Faylinn had already made the necessary changes for the Bonding Ceremony.
The covers were drawn on my bed, ready and waiting for my Vessel and I.
A rickety wooden table stood to the right of the bed, a sharp and gleaming steel knife rested on the top next to a variety of cloths to wipe away excess blood or bandage the wound if necessary.
There was also a bottle of some clear, viscous liquid that looked a lot like personal lubricant.
My cheeks pinked as I realized that’s exactly what it was, and my heart fell at the notion that I’d need to use it with a woman who wasn’t Faylinn.
“Gisei, the bathroom is through that door if you’d like to remove your clothes in private?” Faylinn asked, completely professional, even as she absently fiddled with the things on the table. Gisei shook her head.
“Thank you for the offer, Rune Master. If it’s all the same, I’ll just remove my clothes here.
My Bonded will be seeing me shortly anyway.
” She laughed lightly as she quickly unfastened the hidden buttons at the side of her dress before peeling it from her body.
I turned my head at the last second, unwilling and unable to look at her nakedness just yet.
“Rohak?” Faylinn asked, her voice quiet and withdrawn, none of her usual fire present. She avoided my eyes, choosing to watch as Gisei climbed into the bed, the covers rustling with the movement.
I huffed and toed off my boots as I untucked my tunic with short, perfunctory movements. I shucked my shirt first, leaving it folded on the edge of the bed before removing my pants and briefs, stacking both on top of my tunic.
My flaccid dick hung heavy between my thighs, uninterested in anything that was happening in the bed. It, like me, only had an interest in the woman standing a few feet from us.
A woman who refused to look at me.
“Rohak,” Gisei called, patting the bed lightly next to her.
I grunted and padded across the heated stone floors to climb into bed.
She had the covers pulled up just enough to cover her nipples, leaving the rest of her chest exposed.
Unbiddenly, my eyes drifted to her ample breasts—they were larger than a handful and should have made my cock harden.
They were nice. But I would have much preferred to see what Faylinn hid beneath her tunics. The dress she wore today was tighter than her normal attire, and I was able to see the faint outline of her small tits.
I was historically a tit man—until now, apparently.
Heaving a sigh, I climbed into bed and didn’t miss as Gisei’s eyes roamed appreciatively over my muscled frame before she paused at my cock hanging limply between my legs. Her eyebrows rose a hair in appreciation as her lips quirked.
Faylinn cleared her throat, and I settled the rest of the way into the bed, pulling the covers to my hips before refocusing my gaze on the Rune Master to my right.
“Before we can begin the ceremony, there are certain things I have to say and confirm,” she said, her tone completely professional and devoid of any emotion. I longed to hear something, anything, that would indicate how she felt about this whole situation.
But that was Faylinn—she reverted to her life as a healer when things became too emotional, too difficult, for her to handle as just herself.
“You both understand and acknowledge that you are entering into a Forced Bonding.” Faylinn paused, waiting for our nods of assent before continuing.
“There are certain side effects from Bonding, even more so when a Bond is forced. Dizziness and exhaustion are to be expected but should pass within a few hours. If you feel a prolonged sense of tiredness, please see me immediately. Nausea is also common, as is increased libido. As a Forced Bond, you may experience heightened and longer effects. There have also been extensive reports that channeling your magic through a Forced Vessel can feel painful on both sides.”
She rattled off the effects of Bonding as if we were patients in a clinic, her eyes dead and almost unseeing.
“Do you still consent?”
“Y—” My voice cracked, and I cleared my throat. “Yes.”
“Yes,” Gisei mumbled.
Faylinn nodded her head before picking up the knife from the top of the table.
“If you will expose both forearms and turn them toward the ceiling, I will begin the ceremony. I will need to make identical cuts on each of your left forearms before tracing the rune on the opposite arm. You will need to stay still during the entire procedure or risk further unknown and potentially dangerous complications.”
I felt Gisei stiffen beside me at Faylinn’s words, but I relaxed. Faylinn was a master, knew more about runes and their effects than anyone in centuries.
I trusted her with more than my life.
Deftly, Faylinn reached over and sliced the inside of my left forearm.
There was a slight sting from where the blade kissed my flesh, but her overwhelming scent flooded my senses and took away any pain I would have felt.
Just as soon as she appeared, she left my side, walked to the other side of the bed, and repeated the action on Gisei.
I heard her hiss a breath of pain, and Faylinn murmured some soft-spoken words too quietly for me to hear before reappraising at my side, her finger coated in Gisei’s blood.
With precise movements, she sketched the Bonding Rune on my arm, the touch of her skin on mine lighting a fire in my blood.
She wiped her finger on one of the towels before pushing the sleeve of her dress up to the crook of her elbow and, with no hesitation, shallowly cut her own skin.
Dipping her finger in her own blood, she traced the lines of the rune once more, muttering ancient words I couldn’t even begin to understand.
The rune on my skin glowed hot, but the heat didn’t burn—it simply felt like it was absorbing into my skin, my soul. Faylinn delicately swiped a few droplets of my blood from the cut on my arm before quickly repeating the process with Gisei.
Once she traced Gisei’s Bonding Rune with her own blood, I felt the rune heat further before it glowed softly, sinking into my skin to return as a tattoo—the black ink shiny and stark against my skin.
I felt immediate relief—the headache that was a constant pounding presence since the sickness first appeared ebbed and disappeared nearly entirely, the pain in my chest eased, and I felt like I could breathe deep for the first time in months.
Shakily, I inhaled and exhaled, testing the weight of the Bond that I felt nestled deep within my chest. She was there—Gisei—and I could feel her empty wells of power. They were small, much smaller than I could normally pull, but I at least had a lifeline, a way to survive.