To The Gallows

Chapter 12

Eldric

F ireflies danced in the darkness, flitting about in pairs with their green-yellow glow illuminating the open window. The throbbing within his chest was ceaseless, and he wondered how Lorali would find her way home—if their separation affected her just as much as it did him. Would she walk with those self-assured steps, her creased brow the only sign of anything wrong? Or would she stumble across the cobbled stone until it turned to a trodden dirt path, finally leading her to him? He’d pushed at first when she wouldn’t let him go with her to take Saraina home, but then he agreed that it was best for him to not show up at a council member’s house after nightfall with his daughter in tow. His footfalls were the only sound that filled the empty house for hours as he waited for her return.

Left with nothing but his thoughts, Daeson’s words from earlier were still echoing against the walls of his mind.

You don’t find it strange ?

No , he had answered. He knew how involved Lorali was within the Order, spending more time at the temple than at home. They were lucky today was her off day, that her home wasn’t on the other side of the city. That she knew exactly who they asked her to save and had the power to do something about it. The guts to take that step against the Order and channel power from deities other than Ostara. It was something he could tell bothered her, a step he didn’t know if she’d recover from.

Some would say that the gods had been on their side today, but Eldric knew better. It was Lorali—her competence saved the girl, not any god or goddess. They were useless without her as their conduit, her quick thinking, her capability earned through years of dedication and study.

I trust her.

More than me? Daeson had asked, the years binding them together laid bare in the simple question. Reaching forward, he’d covered Daeson’s hand beneath his own.

Never more than you, Daeson, but I do trust her. This was a coincidence—a pure, damn lucky coincidence.

I don’t care, I don’t trust her! Daeson’s whispering grew louder, and Eldric had to squeeze his hand to remind him to be quiet. Lorali was still there, in the room next door, as they continued to argue .

Are you really going to jeopardize everything by trying to keep her here against her will? he asked, knowing Daeson’s fear was driving him. Eldric didn’t blame him—couldn’t blame him. After all that he had been through, suspicion in heavy doses was unavoidable. That’s a good way to get every guardsman in the fucking city looking where they shouldn’t be. Guarantees they’ll find this house and everyone in it. You can’t get rid of her without killing me too. Even if you did, that still has every guardsman out looking for the next archcleric. Do you want to risk that? Or trust that I know what I’m doing?

And then she’d appeared, as if their voices had summoned her. So innocent, it clawed at his chest to think that Daeson would harm her. Fear did that to people, made them irrational. Dangerous.

His mind spiraled, picking apart everything said between them over and over and over. He went to the garden, pulling vegetables from the soil and freeing them from their stems to add to dinner. He knew the ravenous appetite she had when coming home from a grueling day at the temple and he’d bet his few meager coppers that she had eaten nothing since breakfast.

Strange, he thought, how short and how long three months could be. Long enough to know how she often forgot lunch when out in the garden, lost in the warm loam between her fingers. Short enough that they still kept each other at arm’s length. That divide between cleric and convict they maintained with their secrets. She was there, close enough to touch—to feel beneath his palm and know. But he had never tried, never reached out to bridge the gap between them. He hadn’t thought he wanted to, until now.

He wanted to know her, he realized. Know her soul, what made her heart beat hummingbird fast within its ribbed cage, the places she hid within herself that no one would find without guidance. He wanted to unravel her and entangle himself in the existence that was Lorali Wynmar.

When the sound of feet against packed dirt mingled with his own pacing steps, Eldric had the front door open in an instant, breathless as he took her in. Marigolds swayed in the night breeze, lining her path with their sweet scent that hung thick on the humid air.

“Thought I was going to have to come find you.” He tried to keep his voice light, to hide the way the knot in his throat dipped as he watched the moonlight dance in her hair.

“I told you not to wait,” she said, everything about her screaming exhaustion. As she brushed past him, the brief touch of their arms eased his aching head in an instant, a sigh passing his lips.

“I would wait lifetimes for you, Lorali,” he said with a lazy smile, following her in. “Plus, it’s a little difficult when a magical tattoo makes it painfully obvious when you’re not around.”

Kicking her boots off at the door and setting down a stack of books, Lorali slumped into the chair, strands of hair slipping through her fingers as she cradled her head with a groan. Shutting the door behind her, Eldric slid the bolt home.

“Stellian was furious—he had the guard searching for Saraina all day. I couldn’t leave her there until he calmed down. I knew I’d be late, but I didn’t think it’d be this bad.” Unshed tears lined her eyes, from exhaustion or pain, he didn’t know. As she pinched the bridge of her nose, he decided it was likely both and offered his hand. She shook her head, leaning away from him. As if leaning on him would make her break.

“Lorali, let me help,” he whispered, kneeling beside her with an upturned palm still outstretched. It didn’t matter to him that their bond was gnawing at his bones, rattling his head, and demanding her touch. If he was in pain, she must be in agony after everything she'd done today. He didn’t like the thought of her hurting when there was something he could do to help.

She glanced at it, hesitant. Almost weary.

“I don’t need your help,” she whispered.

“I know.” And he sat there, waiting for her to take his hand. To trust him enough to let her guard down with him. The moment she placed her hand in his, she gave a sigh of relief, slumping forward and pressing her forehead into his shoulder.

“I’m sorry if I’ve been hurting you today,” she whispered, voice hoarse. “I feel like I’m always the one who pushes the bond to its limits. I’m bad at this whole ‘wife’ thing, aren’t I?”

“Nonsense,” he shushed her, running his hand over her braided hair. “You’re the best wife I’ve ever had,” he teased.

“Only wife you’ve ever had, I think. By that logic, I am also the worst wife you’ve ever had.”

He leaned her back with a devilish smirk and quirked brow, a hand on each arm. “Oh Lorali, don’t you know you’re the only one for me?”

When she looked away with rose-flooded cheeks, it only made his smirk grow wider.

“I think you mean the only one willing to put up with you. Stop saying things you don’t mean. It’s embarrassing.” She pouted, as if she were truly disappointed at the thought.

“What if I do mean it?” he asked, gently guiding her chin so she would look at him. “I’ve grown quite fond of you.”

He saw her swallow, eyes wide as she looked at him. His heart raced as he glanced down at her lips, leaning in. She didn’t move to meet him, but didn’t move away either as he cupped her face with a smile.

“And I’m beginning to think that, maybe, you’ve grown rather fond of me, too, Lorali Wynmar. And, as your doting husband, I think it’s only natural.” He could feel her breath on his skin as he waited for permission, for her eyes to flutter shut, a subtle nod, a tilt of her head. Anything that showed she wanted this too.

She pushed at his chest, whispering his name. He looked up through lowered lashes to find pure panic in her eyes as she said it again, with more force. Demanding his attention. “Eldric.”

He sprung back, cursing that he may have severely misjudged their situation, and hurt that the thought of kissing him would put such a look on her face.

Then he smelled it, as she pointed, shoving his shoulder so he turned to see the light grey billow of smoke coming from their oven.

“Eldric!! The food—it’s burning!”

** *

Despite their flatbread laden with cheese and garden vegetables being thoroughly singed at the edges, they devoured it at record speed sitting across from each other on the couch, legs tangled together.

“What do we actually know about the bond?” he asked, reaching over to swap their empty plates for the cups of tea waiting on the side table.

“Surprisingly little,” she said, raising the offered glass of sweetened chamomile to her lips, savoring the cool and floral taste. “We know that it is an ancient ritual recognized by the city and, within the faith, clerics are allowed to invoke. We know that it binds the lives of two people together in all ways, intrinsically linking them until the set time is up. We know that the farther apart we are, the more painful it becomes and the only way to get relief is—”

“Cuddle time?” he teased, knowing how it annoyed her when he referred to it as such.

“Physical contact. We don’t cuddle,” she deadpanned, just as he expected, causing him to chuckle.

“But how does it work? Does it siphon off our innate magic? What if one person didn’t have any magic? What then? ”

Lorali paused, a flash of uncertainty crossing her face as she watched the remnants of melting ice swirl in her tea, and thought for a moment.

“It was theorized by the Vikal that every person has some level of magic in them. How practical it was to use was a different matter,” she mused, a smile crossing her face as she continued. “They were the ones who originally developed lucernas, you know. Supposedly to test a child’s magical capability when they came of age. So, if we want to believe that, then the bond would work between anyone—even people with no practical magical capabilities. But I don’t know if they’re the most trustworthy source—they believed in dragons, and perpetuated the belief that they were the only people who could tame them. Kind of hard to tame a mythical creature, though.” She chuckled to herself as if she had told the funniest joke.

“You know the strangest facts,” Eldric murmured with a quirked brow, quietly sipping his own drink and listening to the cadence of her voice.

“When you’ve done as much research as I have, you learn a few things. Even so, I still haven’t found any written record or firsthand account that could tell us other important information we may not have discovered yet.” She frowned, eyes flickering over to the small stack of clothbound books she brought back with her .

“More research?” he asked, inclining his head. She nodded, her lips pressed tightly together.

“I’m hoping to find some information, or at least ideas, to answer our questions. What’s the farthest distance the bond can be pushed? Is there anything that resolves the pain quicker? Are you able to tap into your bonded’s magic? There’s just so much we don’t know.”

Eldric sipped his tea, hushed and thinking as he absently brushed slow lines across Lorali’s calf with his foot. He could tell she was still exhausted, still in pain. He felt it too, her end of the bond a tired and taught rope that could snap if pulled too hard. He worried that, if they weren’t careful, they could cause permanent damage that this slight contact of their skin wouldn’t be able to relieve. A simple bandage on a bleeding wound that required pressure. His brows furrowed and his finger tapped a silent rhythm against his cup, mind whirling. Reaching for something he had said months ago, at the beginning of it all.

“ Must be why it’s called a gallows marriage,” he whispered, eyes flashing to her.

“What?”

“Remember when we first found out that this,” he placed a hand on her calf, “helped? That we were going to look like an old couple to anyone else. If we don’t know the rules, we should work on figuring them out. What if married couple behavior is what makes things better, if we can speed up the process by—”

“We are not doing that,” she said with such force, it surprised him.

“First, ouch . Second, wasn’t suggesting that . Third—” he paused, words caught in his throat. “I’m sorry about earlier. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“What are you suggesting then?” Her brow arched skeptically, looking between where their legs touched and him, ignoring his apology. As if she didn’t want to talk about it. It was his mistake; he could do that for her.

“What if we can speed up the process with more contact?” he said, shifting his legs just enough that they broke contact and the pain came roaring back to life. “A finger doesn’t give as much relief as a hand,” he said, a small wave of relief coming from the first touch and intensifying with the second.

“So what if…” He stretched out his hand toward her, motioning for her to come closer. She stared at him, mouth slightly open as if he had asked her to marry him for real. “Oh, don’t give me that look, it’s possible and you know it. We try this, and if it doesn’t work, then we know.”

“And if it does?” She winced at the loss of contact as she spoke, the pain springing back to life within his chest .

“If you keep staying late, I really will end up getting cuddle time.” He smirked playfully.

Lorali pursed her lips and he could see her mind at work, every emotion playing across her unguarded face. He loved that he was the only one who got to see it. The hesitation between staying put and coming to his side, the moment when desire for comfort won, and the trust she placed in him as she moved across the couch into his awaiting embrace. Eldric pulled her closer, scooping her into his lap so that she could rest her head upon his chest. In an instant, the roaring pain quieted into something sweeter, something domestic. It felt like home—as if they were two parts of a whole, finally put back together. Perhaps they were. Maybe they were now bound, forever intertwined with the other with no hope of ever separating, even once their bargain was done. He could tell she felt it too, her limbs lax against him as every bit of tension melted away.

“Don’t try anything weird again. I’m fine with making us both suffer,” she cautioned, not bothering to open her eyes. He couldn’t help but smile down at her as he brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

“I’d never dream of it.”