Chapter 46
GRAESON
Graeson couldn't tear his focus away from Kalisandre's retreating figure. Just as he began to follow her, Dani's sharp voice stopped him in his tracks.
"This is all her fault," Dani spat.
Graeson turned toward her, his hands clenched into tight fists at his sides. "Do not blame Kalisandre for this," he said, rage boiling in his veins.
Dani huffed, shaking her head in disbelief. "All the destruction, all the lives lost over the past few months are because of her. We know it, and she knows it. It does us no good to lie about it. A few meals, some trivial conversations, and simple training sessions do not erase the past."
"Dani," Terin growled, his gaze flicking to Graeson as he scooted back his chair. "This is not--"
"Not the time?" Dani asked, fury rising to her face. "It is never the time!"
"You cannot put this all on Kallie," Terin snapped, his voice taking on a foreign edge. "You wanted to come here, as well. You wanted your revenge just as much as we wanted to save her. One person is not to blame for the fate of the seven kingdoms!"
"One person can make all the difference, though," Dani countered, her lip curling in disgust. "One person can set things into motion. Did you not hear your mother? We are being charged with treason. "
"Perhaps we should--" Sylvia carefully started, standing as well, but Dani talked over them as if Sylvia hadn't even spoken at all.
"All it takes is one person to slither their way into your home and take everything you know and love away from you! Hasn't she caused enough harm?" she demanded.
Fury propelled Graeson forward, his feet carrying him around the table toward where Dani stood.
But Dani did not retreat. She did not take back her words. She only dug her heels further into the ground. "Coming to protect your precious little soul bond?" Dani challenged, quirking a brow.
A feral noise vibrated in his throat as the blinding rage of the beast rose even higher. Graeson stepped forward before Ellie pressed a firm hand against his chest, stepping between them. He scowled at her hand, glaring.
She dares stand in our way? the god within roared, furious.
He heard someone--Sylvia, perhaps--whisper, "Soul bond?"
But he ignored her, just as Dani did.
"Does she know yet?" Dani asked, a slight smirk twitching at the corner of her lip. "Based on how she acted when I mentioned soul bonds several weeks ago, my guess is no. She had no idea what they even were." She chuckled darkly. "I wonder how that conversation is going to go."
"You have no right," Graeson roared, his vision blurring with rage as Dani stood at the epicenter.
"No right ?" Dani retorted as Sylvia shifted beside her. "That's hilarious, Graeson. I wonder what will be more painful: losing a soul bond or being denied by one. I, of course, can only speak for the former, but I have heard the latter is just as painful, if not worse."
As if sensing his anger toppling over, Ellie wrapped her arms around him, holding him back.
"Graeson," Terin beckoned. Graeson didn't know when the prince had gotten up, but now Terin was standing beside him, gripping his shoulder. "Kallie needs you right now."
Graeson felt Terin prod at his mind as if an ice-cold bucket of water had been doused over his head. He took a strained step back, and with a final glare in Dani's direction, he left the room, chasing after Kalisandre.
Graeson, however, did not get far.
The moment he stepped out of the dining room and turned, Kalisandre was there, her back pressed against the wall. Her cheeks were stained with tears, and her wide eyes were streaked with red.
And as Graeson made to approach her, she held up a shaking hand and croaked, "What did Dani mean?"
"What?" Graeson asked, his brows furrowing together and gut twisting. His breaths were still unsteady, his previous rage slowly dwindling as he stared at Kalisandre, speechless.
She pushed herself off the wall and took a step backward. "She asked you, 'Does she know yet?' Who was she referring to?"
Graeson squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his fingers along the bridge of his nose.
He hadn't known she was still there. He didn't know Kalisandre had heard them. In his rage, he had assumed she was long gone, racing down the hall.
Graeson took a deep breath and opened his eyes. Tears continued to fall down the contours of her face. This was not how she was supposed to find out.
A small movement near Kalisandre's hands caught his attention. She twisted the ring around her finger, an anxious habit she still had not done away with.
Graeson swallowed and whispered, "I think you already know the answer."
"I want to hear you say it," Kalisandre said, her voice clipped.
Graeson took a step forward, and this time, to his surprise, Kalisandre did not take another step back. She stared up at him, her expression unreadable.
"You," he said firmly but gently. "She was referring to you."
"No," she rasped, shaking her head.
Fear laced Kalisandre's eyes, and it was as if she had stabbed him with a knife and twisted it.
For a moment, Graeson had believed that the monster residing in him didn't matter to her, that it, in fact, only brought them closer. It seemed he was wrong.
Despite what she had told him, she was afraid of him.
He could see the fear written all over her face.
"That's not--that's not possible. I don't--I can't be your soul bond."
"Why not?"
"Because!" Kallie shouted, the sound echoing in the hall, causing Graeson to flinch.
He glanced at the door and knew that the others in the room could all hear them. "Can we talk about this somewhere else?"
"What is there to talk about? I am not yours, Graeson. I refuse to be another man's tool."
"It doesn't--" Graeson shook his head, struggling to find the right words. "It doesn't work like that."
A shadow fell over her features. "Oh, really? Then please explain how a bond that ties our souls together would not tether me to you."
He rubbed his hands across his face.
He didn't know how to explain something that was natural to him. It wasn't that Kalisandre would be tethered to him, but rather that their souls connected on a deeper level. The connection was said to fill a void that lived within.
"When were you going to tell me, Graeson?" Kalisandre asked when he still hadn't formulated a response.
He dug his fingers into his hair, tugging on the strands.
"When it was the right time," he muttered.
She scoffed and threw up her hands. "When is any time the right time? You know what? I can't deal with this right now." Kalisandre spun and without looking back, she spat, "And do not even think about following me."
Graeson jolted to a stop as he made to take a step forward. He stared at her, unsure what to do, as she disappeared down the hall.
A hand landed on his shoulder. "I'll see if I can talk to her," Terin murmured.
Graeson's relationship with Kalisandre was not something Terin could solve. However, before Graeson could argue with him, the prince was already jogging after her.