“And you’re Bonded! I would not recommend that method of Bonding to anyone, but I’m glad…” He trailed off. “I’m glad.”
I nodded, and he rose, turned to the other two and nodded to them, then left. Pebble took Crown’s place on the edge of my bed, and Hearth took the tray of food and placed it on her lap as she took the chair.
“Can you sit?” Hearth asked.
“I… think so.” I still felt achy and exhausted, but I wanted to show strength for these two. I started to rise, then fell back, my stomach spasmed with sharp pain. That wound was still healing.
“Let me help,” Hearth said, giving the tray to Pebble and helping to lift me and shift me so I was sitting sideways on the bed. She took my pillow and put it against the wall for me to lean on. “There.”
My head spun a little now that I was upright, but it settled quickly enough. My stomach still stung, but Hearth had been careful and the pain faded as long as I wasn’t moving too much. Just sitting here wasn’t too bad.
Hearth took the chair again and Pebble handed me the tray of food. There were salted strips of dried pork, slices of plum, melon, and a few blackberries. There was also a thick slice of bread and a cup half-filled with water. I started with the bread, tearing off a few chunks to eat tentatively. They went down well and only made me realize how hungry I was.
The others spoke as I ate.
“We’ve Bonded,” Hearth said with a sad, confused smile. “Like you.” She forced a big grin. “Not the way I would have chosen, but it worked.” A sigh. “I’m Blackclaw now. Not the most feminine name, but it fits. And Pebble is now called Silence.”
I smiled and nodded at each of them in turn.
“We… ah… well, we were terrified after you came around that night. We barricaded ourselves in and hid, like you said, but… Then so much time seemed to pass. We had no clue what was going on.” She looked to Pebble — now Silence — and he nodded, taking up the telling from there.
His voice was still low and soft, but it now possessed a clear and resolute quality, which made it easier to hear and understand. “I… I was terrified and I just wanted to be as small as I could and hide.” He looked away, clearly ashamed, but Hearth — now Blackclaw, what a name — leaned forward and put a reassuring hand on his knee. He swung his gaze to her and something passed between them. He drew a long breath and spoke again. “I felt the Bond happen, then… almost instantly I took my avatar form. I was a tiny mouse. Since we were so uncertain and curious, I snuck out to the door and peered underneath to see what was happening. Two people were working their way slowly down the hall. When they got to your room, one of them cursed viciously and they mentioned someone was dead. From how upset they were I didn’t think it was you. But then they seemed to go looking for you. They gathered someone from the far end of the hall then made their way down to the baths. I ran back to tell Hearth… ah… I mean Blackclaw this. She was the one who wanted to follow after them. She’s far braver than I am.”
I didn’t know about that. He’d been there, right beside Blackclaw, charging in at my attacker, before I’d blacked out.
“It takes far more bravery to help when you’re terrified, than it does when you’re not,” Blackclaw reassured him gently.
I agreed with that sentiment.
I had finished the bread and fruit and was moving on to the pork. I bit off a small chunk and sucked on it, savoring the salty, smokey goodness.
Blackclaw took up the telling. “And I was terrified myself, but… I had to help. Something… shifted within me. I need to protect, to defend, to help, and I think that’s what caused my Bonding. When I heard what Silence said, we cleared away the barricade, as quietly as we could, and snuck out.” She drew in a long, steadying breath.
I could tell, even just retelling the events was frightening for her.
“We crept along slowly, keeping well behind them. We were just reaching the bottom of the stairs when we heard the fighting. Your trap there nearly got me too, if Silence hadn’t caught me.” She smiled at him. “He was sure-footed enough.”
He smiled at that and blushed a little at the praise.
“Even then we were both scared and cautious,” continued Blackclaw. “So… we thought we’d arrived too late. You looked… horrible, just about to faint into the baths and drown. Something came over me then, and I rushed forward, throwing myself at that last man. I was very surprised to see Silence there next to me and between the two of us we managed to subdue him.” She chuckled. “I can apparently be… quite strong when I want to be.”
“But she took a cut to her arm,” Silence said, voice heavy with concern.
“But bears have tough hides,” she said with a grin. “It wasn’t that bad.” She pulled up the short sleeve of her dress to show the long cut on her shoulder and upper arm, still an angry red, but scabbed over. She wore it like a badge of honor. She looked at the wound for a long moment then nodded to herself. “I hadn’t been going to test for a Noble House before, but… I think I will now. I need to be out there, defending people.”
“I’m going to test too,” Silence said with quiet determination.
I’d lost track of time. “When is the test?” I asked around a mouthful of pork.
“A little over a week.”
“A week? In the capital? We’ll never get there in time.” I didn’t know the travel time exactly, but I figured by fast carriage it would be at least six to eight days to the capital from here; but fast carriages were rare and by regular carriage the trip was probably eight to ten days.
Blackclaw smiled. “They’ve heard of what happened here and agreed to extend the tests over a few days if needed. They’re also sending a fast carriage for us.” That answered that. “The healers think you’ll be fine by tomorrow and ready for the trip, and you’ll have the beds on the carriage to rest as well.
I nodded to that. Finished with my meal, I put the tray aside and took a moment to give each of the two a long look. “Thank you,” I said from the depths of my heart. “You saved me. I will never be able to repay you for that.”
Blackclaw grinned. “We’re fast friends now. No need for repayment.” She put a hand out and I took it. Silence reached out to put a hand on both of ours.
