CHAPTER 41 #2
Tobias lifted the tent flap and they entered together, the ruby shield vanishing as they did so, though the Fatàn twins stayed close.
A sea of noise surrounded them – the Council was already assembled, mid-meal, mid-strategy.
Voices carried over plates of roasted meat and flagons of mead.
Maps lay spread across one end of the long table, markers scattered in battle formations.
It was warmer in here, filled with candlelight and braziers. Too warm. Suffocating.
They were all here, Merrick, Elias, Simone, Evelyn, Galen. And her father.
The moment Sebastian saw Alaric Hale, intense loathing spiked through the bond, so sharp it actually hurt.
Kara squeezed his hand gently. But it wasn’t just the Council, some of their families were here too.
Two of Merrick’s three sons sat beside him, red-cheeked and deep in their cups, and beside Galen, his eldest son Jareth and–
Henry.
Oh no.
Kara had known he’d be in camp somewhere but she hadn’t expected to be thrown into his company immediately. Sebastian stiffened as his gaze followed hers. She felt his anger rise sharply in her own chest.
“Sebastian Thorne and Karalynna Hale,” Tobias announced, as if it were an everyday occurrence.
All eyes fell on them as the room went silent. Her father eyed her sword with open disdain. For a heartbeat, no one moved. Then Galen rose from his seat and stopped before Kara, his portly frame stiff, and inclined his head.
“You came,” he said hoarsely. “After what we almost–” He swallowed hard, unable to finish the thought and appeared to change tack mid-sentence. “You have my thanks, Lady Hale. For standing here. For standing with us.”
Kara nodded awkwardly. What could she say to that? Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Henry staring intently at the table. His brother, however, was watching them with a keen, unreadable gaze.
Elias Lyra stepped forward next, violet light stirring nervously at his fingertips. He bowed, shallow, but sincere. “You will not find me amongst your enemies.”
Encouraging. One ally out of seven.
“I am told you united the Shards?” Elias asked.
Sebastian nodded curtly.
Elias’s eyes gleamed. “Then the Arcanth has spoken, and I will not doubt its will.”
Then Elias stilled, his gaze narrowing as though he were listening to something no one else could hear. His magic glimmered stronger now, and his expression shifted from curiosity to wonder.
“By the Four,” he breathed, looking between them. “You’re Soulbonded.”
The blood drained from Kara’s cheeks.
No. Not here. Not now. Not in front of everyone.
Tobias’s head jerked towards them. Kara knew, in that instant, that Sebastian hadn’t written of it in his letters.
Elias didn’t stop, his excitement carrying him forward. “Your bond is blazing. I’ve never felt – Gods – I can feel it from here! Does your magic–”
But the scrape of a chair distracted Elias from his discovery. Alaric Hale was on his feet, his face contorted with rage.
“Enough,” he ordered.
The single word silenced Elias. Alaric’s glare locked onto Kara, hard and unrelenting.
“You dare flaunt this – this abomination in my presence?” He turned his fury on Elias, voice rising.
“You celebrate my daughter binding herself to a murderer?” He looked directly at Sebastian as he snarled, “To a man whose hands are covered in Vallennan blood?”
Kara’s pulse hammered. She felt Sebastian’s fury ignite white-hot.
It was mirrored with her own. The words cut deep, as her father knew they would.
How dare he call the bond that made her stronger, whole, an abomination.
Call Sebastian, the man she loved more than life itself, a murderer.
In that moment, she hated Alaric Hale. Sebastian stormed forward, fists clenched, as if he meant to face Kara’s father down right there.
But Tobias was faster. He clamped a hand down hard on Sebastian’s shoulder, holding him back with quiet, immovable strength. Kara didn’t let go of his hand.
“That will do, Alaric,” Tobias said firmly. “The past is done. This Council voted to rescind their condemnation. They are pardoned. Sebastian and Kara stand under the Arcanth’s blessing, and they will be treated with respect.”
“I did not vote for that,” Alaric spat venomously. He stared with open contempt at Kara and Sebastian’s joined hands – the sight of it apparently more than he could bear. “I will not stand in the presence of my daughter’s greatest mistake.”
Mistake?
“I urge you to reconsider your words, Alaric,” Evelyn said. “Vallenna’s survival is more important than your personal feelings.”
Her father turned purple with rage, and as he stumbled for words, Kara seized her opportunity.
“He is no mistake, Father.” Kara’s voice shook with anger. “He is the bravest man I know. The most honourable. He sacrificed everything for this realm–”
Her father looked at her incredulously. “Honourable? You call what he’s done honourable, Karalynna?
” His eyes went cold. “If it wasn’t for him, you wouldn’t have turned your back on your family, killed a man at the Fire temple.
And now you’re Soulbonded to this – this–” His gaze settled on Sebastian. “Butcher.”
Sebastian’s magic flared hot beside her. “Father,” Kara cried, outraged. “Stop this–”
“You are no daughter of mine, Karalynna,” Alaric snarled. “Better you be dead than what’s become of you. At least then Alys could inherit a House untainted by your violence and chaos–”
Galen looked aghast. “Really, Alaric, you go too far–”
But before he could speak further, Alaric shoved back from the table, acting as if he hadn’t heard a single word of Galen’s protest. “I cannot be here,” he snarled. “Not with them.”
Alaric glared at her as he stormed past, and for half a second Kara felt like her old self. Standing scared under her father’s gaze, awaiting his judgement. She moved closer into Sebastian. An instinct and a statement.
I am his.
Sebastian didn’t move. Just stared down at her father.
His expression was cold but Kara could feel the red-hot rage burning underneath.
Alaric met Sebastian’s eyes and faltered – only for a moment.
He turned and marched out of the tent, its flap billowing in his wake.
Nobody moved to stop him. Tobias watched him go with a look of such cold fury that Kara almost flinched.
No love was lost between the two lords. There never had been.
The silence after was brutal. Her father’s words were poison – better you be dead.
Sebastian tried to reach her through their bond, sending love, reassurance, even righteous anger but her own emotions drowned everything else out. Rage. Hurt.
And underneath it all? Shame.
Shame that her father, after everything, could still make her feel small. Still held that power over her.
No. I won’t let him.
She lifted her chin.
Alaric Hale doesn’t get that. Not anymore.
Elias let out a slow breath. “That was... unnecessary,” he said, looking at Kara. “You have my apologies for my fellow Councilman, Lady Hale. Anger gets us nowhere.” He looked imploringly at the rest of the Council. “Let us move on.”
Simone Navyr rose from her chair, clad in sea-blue oilskins. She appeared to be completely uninterested in what had just happened. Her gaze was pinned on Sebastian.
“I do not forgive what happened in Saltmoor,” she said, her tone measured. “And I will not forget it.” Then, she said softer, “But I now understand your reasons. And I find myself... grateful that you both came.”
Sebastian’s hands curled into fists at his sides but he didn’t say a word. Only gave a single sharp nod. It seemed to be all he could manage without losing control completely.
Evelyn leaned forward, expression sharp with interest. “Lord Thorne tells me you both hold the power of all eight houses? Of Vallenna itself?”
“Yes. It happened when we united the Shards,” Kara told her.
“Can you show me?” Evelyn asked.
Seriously? Here? Now?
But Kara drew in a breath and slowly raised her palms. Light answered.
Threads of each colour in turn; crimson, violet, emerald, sapphire – the spectrum of all eight houses.
The magic shimmered across her skin, spilling out into the room, surrounding the Council members, throwing wild shadows across the canvas walls.
A low hum of the power that now ran through her veins filled the room.
Gasps broke the silence. Evelyn’s hand flew to her mouth, Elias watched wide-eyed.
Merrick paled and stumbled back a step, his sons lowering their cups.
Galen bowed his head low. Simone murmured, “By the Four, it’s true.
” Tobias didn’t move, but watched in quiet admiration.
But behind the awe, she felt something else.
They were scared of her.
Perhaps that was a good thing.
Evelyn let out a startled laugh, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Well,” she said slowly, “I suppose it’s a good thing, Lady Hale, that your heart truly lies with Vallenna.
Because with that power...” She shook her head and placed a hand over her heart.
“I would rather stand beside you than face you across a battlefield.”
Kara lowered her palms and smiled faintly. “That is why we are here.”
Elias stepped closer. “We were fools to ever doubt it.”
“Please, sit,” Tobias said, gesturing to two empty seats that had been prepared near him.
Kara and Sebastian exchanged a glance, and his reluctance surged through her chest. Her hand sparked ice-white as she sent a thought to him.
We should. Your father asked us.
A growl came back. I don’t give a fuck, these people tried to–
I know, but I don’t want them to see us as enemies.