Chapter 39
Iopened my eyes, a groan reaching my ears.
It was my own.
The world was blurry, and it took several blinks for the fogginess to clear.
The first thing I noticed was the wooden beams over my head, strung with everything from peppers to flowers, all of them hung to dry. My memory was still recovering, and I pinched my eyes shut again, desperate to remember where this place was and why it was familiar.
“You’re awake.” It was a feminine voice.
I turned my head, unable to find the energy to do anything else, though I did clench my fist opened and closed a few times.
“Is this the afterlife?” My voice was light and airy.
A chuckle, then, “No. Well, maybe, but I would hope the afterlife is better than this.”
At her words, pain filtered into my senses, most of it coming from my throat and shoulder.
“What happened?” I asked the voice.
That’s when she leaned over my head, revealing the black hair and blue eyes that were all too familiar.
“Friar,” I recited, proud I had remembered her name. But then the dream I had been having came back and I felt my cheeks flood with color. This was going to be awkward.
“You were injured pretty badly, but Otho was able to get you back to camp. Unfortunately, you weren’t stabilizing, so we had to bring you back to Adis’s where I had more supplies.”
My heart stuttered.
“He doesn’t know you are here,” Friar added, though I wasn’t sure how she was so easily able to deduce my panic. “Even if he did, I doubt he would recognize you.”
I swallowed. I knew she was correct, but it didn’t really quell my fears.
Then her hand was behind my back, helping me to sit up as she tipped a glass of water between my lips. I pinched my eyes closed, the water burning a path down my throat.
“It will probably hurt to eat and drink for a while. You really did almost drown.”
Well, at least that part was real.
“And Ena?” I asked, even though I was reasonably sure she was fine at this point.
“Fine.” She helped me take another sip. “She’s been settling in well and is currently helping Askel with training.”
Even though I was actively drinking, my throat felt dry as I asked the next question, “And Otho?”
“A bit worse off than Ena, angry that he had to rest his leg for a few days, but I sent word to him that you are awake. I am sure he will be here as soon as possible.”
The way she said the words left a weird feeling in my stomach. On the one hand, I had been dying, and it was likely I was misremembering some things. But, if what had happened was real, I needed to let Friar know. I owed her as much.
“Friar.” Her name was a breath as she placed the cup down and turned her full attention to me. It was a struggle to force the words out, but I knew I had to. “Otho . . .when I was dying, he . . . he told me I was his weighted.”
A ghost of a smile flickered on her lips. “I’m glad he finally told you.”
My brows furrowed, and I had to clear my throat before I could continue. “You knew?”
She chuckled. “My brother may not tell me everything, but I knew from that first time he walked in here and found you shirtless, simply from the expression on his face, that you meant something more to him than he was letting on. I forced him to confess a few nights later.”
The room spun as I struggled to come to terms with everything she had said, my heart and brain finally snapping into sync with that single sentence. “Wait . . . your brother?”
“Yeah.” The smile remained on her face. “What did you think we were?”
“I just . . .” I stumbled over the words before bringing my hand to my face in embarrassment. “Never mind, it’s not important, he just never mentioned it to me.”
She sighed, but in a lighthearted manner. “That’s Otho, ever forgetting to mention his over-achieving older sister. I’m sure he didn’t forget to tell you Cal was his brother, however.”
Her happiness was infectious, and though I was tired, I found a smile forming on my lips too. “Brothers,” I joked, finding it impossible to hide my relief, “are the worst.”
“You can say that again,” Friar replied, but her happiness was snuffed out as her mind flickered to our interaction with my brother.
My mind drifted through all of my interactions with Otho as Friar stood and mixed items in a stone bowl. “Why didn’t Otho tell me I was his weighted before?”
Friar didn’t look up from the ingredients in her hands.
“He can explain better than I, but I know he was worried you would feel pressure. He didn’t want you to think you didn’t have a choice when it came to .
. . to being with him. And he didn’t want anyone to get any ideas and try to use you against him. ”
It was hard to swallow as I recognized what Leif had done.
I could tell this topic was becoming awkward, so I decided to ask the other questions that were bubbling in my chest. “Is it possible for a person to have more than one weighted?”
Her hands stopped. “I don’t think so.” I waited, not saying anything.
“But even the . . . science—if you call it that—behind weighteds has been murky the past century. While it was once believed that a weighted relationship was an end-all, that the two Seid in one were absolutely destined for one another, new information has changed things.”
“Such as?” I pressed.
“Well, my coven always taught me that the weighted relationship was one of amplification. Two individuals who were weighted are stronger together than they are apart. Especially because one of them typically has the seeker affinity. But many are questioning if that relationship has to be romantic or not, and if it was truly designed by the gods, because, if you think about it, a partnership is always stronger—whether they are Seid or . . . other.”
What she was saying made sense. It didn’t answer the question as to whether one of the men saying they were my weighted was lying or not, but at least now I knew there was more human input on the weighted relationship—it wasn’t just something imposed by the gods.
“So, in theory, weighted may not be a thing at all?”
Friar bobbed her head, her back still to me. “Correct. But there is just one issue with that theory.”
“And that is?”
“Every weighted couple refers to the attraction to their weighted as irresistible, feeling as if it is an integral part of their life force. In fact, when a couple that has been ‘confirmed’ weighted experiences the death of one of the two, the other Seid follows soon after.”
I sucked in a breath. “So they can’t live without each other then?”
“It would appear that way, yes.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but the door opening interrupted me, revealing broad shoulders, black hair, and gray eyes. My heart stuttered—Otho.
The world stopped in that moment. I think Friar was still talking, but her voice became a low hum in the background as the world fell from beneath my feet; I was floating. There was nothing else in this room. Nothing, beyond myself, and my pounding heart, and Otho.
I was vaguely aware of Friar excusing herself, the door closing behind her.
Next, he was crossing the room.
I think he asked if I was okay, and I think I nodded.
Then his lips were on mine and there was nothing less than pure bliss.