The Problem With His Focus #3
“Complication,” Caelan responded.
I shot him a glare he completely ignored.
Maelor stepped forward. “We heard you can undo bonds.”
She barely looked at him. “Silence, decorative man.”
Maelor blinked rapidly, his hand frozen mid-wave.
She didn't break eye contact with Caelan.
I barely converted the sound that came out of me into a cough.
Riven shifted his stance and crossed his arms.
Maerith noticed, and so did I.
One of these days, I was going to personally thank whoever had designed Primorian cut uniforms. Sleeveless. Such a fantastic idea.
Her gaze dropped to Riven’s muscular arms, then returned to his face.
“Hmm,” she murmured to herself and searched his face as if she were seeing something we didn’t.
“What?” Riven said.
“Nothing,” she said lightly.
“Are you Maerith?” Caelan asked, wedging himself between Riven and me. “The Covenant Weaver.”
She leaned back in her chair.
“Weaver.” A small wave of her hand. “Witch. Fraud. Merchant. I prefer the last. It pays better.”
Her gaze moved between Caelan and me and dropped to the ink on my forearm.
“You're bound,” she said, all humor lost. “You carry it like a tight knot.”
She rose and circled the table.
I kept my expression blank and glanced around the room without looking like I was. There were glass jars of… things submerged in liquid on the shelves that looked illegal.
“Bond-breaking is not entertainment,” Maerith said. “It is not a ribbon to be cut because you are uncomfortable. Bonds are architecture. They distribute weight. They prevent collapse.” Her eyes settled on Caelan. “Especially when power like yours is involved.”
She folded her hands behind her back and lifted her chin.
“I do not unravel bonds for impatient royals. I do not meddle in threads woven by fate.” The academic tone held with perfect composure. “Breaking such a bond risks destabilizing more than you think. It risks altering balances—“
Riven dropped a heavy bag of coins onto the table.
Her sentence stopped mid-breath.
She looked down at the bag. Then up at Riven. Then down again.
“…Ah.”
Maerith cleared her throat and adjusted her posture. “Well,” she said thoughtfully. “It would be irresponsible of me to not even examine it first.”
Her hand settled lightly on the gold.
Riven's hard expression didn't change. “Can you break it?”
Calculation moved through her eyes. “I can attempt it,” she said. “Whether it can be broken is a different conversation.”
She looked back at Caelan and me.
“Understand this first,” she said quietly. “Breaking a bond that doesn't want to break will have consequences.” She slid the gold closer with two fingers. “But,” she added brightly, “we can discuss your options.”
She held out her hand.
I glanced at Caelan, and we offered our left arms together. The serpent ink ran from wrist to elbow on both of us. Completely identical.
Maerith's fingers hovered over my arm first. Then she snatched her hand back as if she'd been burned.
“This is blood magic.” Her eyes came up to mine. “Whoever did this wanted you bonded very badly.”
Caelan went still.
“How do we break it?” I asked.
She crossed one arm over her chest, the other hand working at her chin. “Blood magic is tricky. What you have is exceptionally rare.” She pulled open a drawer and shuffled through the contents before producing a wrinkled parchment and stylus.
With the focused energy of someone who had just been paid very well, she scribbled wildly.
“These,” she said, thrusting the parchment at Caelan, “retrieve them, and we can try to break the bond.”
I leaned in. “Veil ash. Glassroot vine. Mirror shard.” I looked up. “Where do we find them?”
“Veil ash.” Caelan’s head snapped up to Maerith. “That's—“
“In the Hollow,” Maerith said. “And no, there is no alternative. Veil ash breaks blood oaths. What you have is a blood oath.”
Maelor muttered his devotion to the gods behind us.
“The Hollow.” The laugh that came out of me was short and not cheerful. “And the rest?”
“Glassroot Cathedral is in Verdant Court,” Caelan said. “Mirror shard can be found at Mirror Lake in Mallas’s Kingdom of Winter.”
“Can we commission any of them?”
He winced. “We could have purchased glassroot vine in the past, but it's now under trade restrictions from Verdant.
We won't be able to acquire it anywhere.” He looked at Maerith, who only shrugged.
“Mirror Lake is not open to the public, so no one would be selling mirror shards either.” He shifted his stance and crossed his arms. “Veil ash is occasionally sold, though it's extremely rare. Riven can look into it.”
Riven offered no opinions on the matter. I had forgotten he was even here.
Three items. Two of them in other kingdoms. One of them in a place full of monsters.
Caelan nodded once and turned to leave. We moved to follow.
“By the way,” Maerith said, “the longer you stay bonded, the deeper the magic anchors.” Her amber eyes glowed as she looked at us one more time. “Good luck. You’re going to need it.”
She didn't say it like a pleasantry. She said it like a warning that had already come true.