“I need to send a letter,” I stated, proud that my voice came out strong, if a bit quiet. The servant curtsied low with a bow of her head. I moved quickly to the war table, haphazardly shoving maps and battle plans; papers and objects careened loudly to the floor in my haste to locate a blank sheet of parchment and pen.
“My lady?” the servant asked, holding out a pen that had dropped to the floor. Her eyes were achingly familiar, even if they were a common brown. I stared for far too long, trying to discern her identity.
At the sound of footsteps, I shook my head and grabbed the pen from her with my empty hand. I flattened the crumpled letter before scrawling a quick note on the back and folding it messily. With shaking hands, I shoved the parchment into the servant’s hand, my eyes wild with fear at being caught with this information.
“Tell no one what you have. Use the fastest falcon available,” I murmured lowly to her as the footsteps grew closer. Her eyes glinted with an understanding far beyond what a servant should possess, and I briefly questioned putting my faith in this unknown woman.
“And who is this going to, Sasori?” she asked. I didn’t even take the time to correct her on the familiar use of my first name.
“Lex,” I whispered as Razia and a handful of advisors careened into the open war room, Solace hot on their heels. “Get it to Lex.”
I only prayed that my former Bonded would heed my words.
Chapter Seventy-Six
Rohak
My boots thunked against the hard-packed earthen floor of Faylinn’s cottage on the edge of the forests that surrounded Isrun. Faylinn’s touch covered every inch.
The cupboard bookshelves were empty, but I could envision them full of countless tomes and journals. The table was bare—save for two bowls and spoons—but if I squinted hard enough, it came alive with her drawings and notes, a candle burning in the dim light as she sat in the chair hunched over some book or other.
The thoughts brought a small smile to my face—a smile that instantly dropped when I remembered the reason for my presence.
Kaos embodied his name to the fullest when he appeared in those stables and transported me to the edge of the woods that separated Reeria from the outskirts of Vespera. There, on the quickly darkening horizon, was the outline of yet another forest. Despite only traveling through it once, I recognized it immediately, knew its trees intimately.
It was the last barrier between the Borderlands and the Northern Territories, and, most importantly, those impossibly tall oaks surrounded the cottage where my love once lived.
“Go,” Kaos had said, a desperation I’d never heard in a god’s voice before. His dark eyes glittered with intensity even as he began to fade into the ether, stepping back into a portal that would take him elsewhere. “She will come. Wait for her.”
I’d wasted little time—already spurring Balios into a hard gallop before the last vestiges of Kaos’ transport were whisked away on the burgeoning spring’sbreeze. His hooves pounded against the hard ground, his breaths nearly as erratic as my own.
I shook my head and ran a hand through my already wild black strands, unable to calm the fear and apprehension that flowed down my half of the Bond. Faylinn blocked me long ago—most likely when she was in the Valley—and being unable to gauge her emotions and physical state nearly sent me into a spiral so deep it would take more than just a few softly muttered words to pull me back again.
Thud, thud, thud.
Swish.
The repetition of my pacing ended with the slamming of the cottage door. I jumped in surprise, instinctually pulling on my magic that was no longer there. When Destruction refused to pool in my palm, I reached for my belt, where I’d kept a dagger, but cursed colorfully when I realized it was no longer strapped to my hip. Instead, it lay on the hearth, glinting in the light of the fire where I’d used it to strike a flint.
“Rohak.” A small, surprised cry laced with exhaustive relief hit my ears, pulling my gaze back to the intruder.
There, outlined in the doorway, firelight spilling across her ragged features as obsidian darkness framed her lithe frame, was my Faylinn.
I froze, hands hanging in the air halfway between us, unable to move, unable to speak. It was as if I’d had a spell cast upon me, only given the ability to watch as Faylinn smiled softly and turned around to close the door to the cottage with a softthunk.
The broken eye contact released me, and I quickly catalogued the ripped pants and tunic, the dried blood on a palm as one of her hands fell from the thin wooden door.
A low growl built deep within as I realized that Faylinn was not just tired—she was injured.
Faylinn turned suddenly, and I could fully assess the damage her escape had done.
“What. Happened,” I gritted between my clenched teeth, striding across the room in two steps to cup Faylinn’s bruised and marked face in my hands.
The infuriating woman rolled her sparkling eyes at me as her hands came up in an attempt to dislodge my grip. I stepped closer, pulling her body against my own, effectively stilling her fight.
Her hands dropped back to her sides with a sigh.
“I thought you said your trip to the Valley would besafeandinformative”—I emphasized the words she’d thrown at me—“enlightening, even.”
