“When the bond first snaps into place, it feels like a tug or a pull. Sometimes it’s more intense for the other person, but both sides always feel close to the other. Like you want to be around them, to touch them, feel them nearby. But when the bond is acted on, it feels like something locking into place. Your desirefor each other grows more fierce, more passionate. There are other ways too, like how mates can speak to each other, mind-to-mind.”
My heart jumped, and my blood ran cold. “The mind-to-mind thing, are there other bonds that can do that? Other than Samian’s soul-bonding, I mean?”
Aster’s brows knitted as she thought about my question. Finally, she shook her head. “No, I don’t believe so. Not any that I’ve heard of, anyway.” Her eyes narrowed, taking in how my body went still, the color leaching from my face. “Why do you ask?”
I willed my body to relax, to lean against the table’s edge and shrug. “I was just wondering,” I murmured, looking away from her. “Your mate,” I said quickly, changing the subject. “It was the tall redhead, right?”
Her face warmed, her eyes growing distant. “Bryony,” she whispered, her voice sounding sad.
“If finding your mate is a good thing, why do you look so unhappy?”
Aster hesitated, her hands twisting in her lap. “Arbus was her fiancé.”
The world felt like it had come to a screeching halt. “Samian told you.” Shame coiled through me, making it hard to breathe.
“He did. After I healed you the last time.” Her voice was careful, but soft and warm. “I know that it's not your fault. That Ambrose forced you to do it, but it does make the mating bond harder for Bryony. She just lost someone she loved dearly, only to find her mate a few days later.”
I stared at the floor, the guilt unbearable. “I imagine it would feel confusing,” I whispered back.
Aster only nodded, letting the silence fill the room, and I never hated myself more. It was easy for them to say that it wasn’t my fault. That Ambrose forced me to do it. But it didn’tfeel like enough. I was the one who agreed to this bargain in the first place. I let it happen. I had killed someone rather than let the bargain kill me, and I felt like nothing more than a coward. Looking over my shoulder, I eyed the hidden door that led into the old passageways.
“Seeing me wasn’t the real reason you came here, was it?”
My head whipped toward her, and I blinked. “What do you mean?” Jerking her chin to the secret door, Aster raised her eyebrow. “Tell me I’m wrong”, she seemed to say.
I sighed, looking back to the floor, my chest tightening. She wasn’t entirely wrong. I raised my eyes to meet hers. “Ididwant to check in with you. You looked so pale last night after what Samian told us, and after Bryony. I was worried about you. But your office conveniently has the passageway that leads to the queen.”
“Don’t you have an entrance in your room?”
I cringed at her question as heat crawled up my neck. “I do, but I don’t know where it is yet, or the way to the dungeon, and I didn’t want to ask Samian in case he said no or wanted to join me. I want to talk to her on my own.”
Aster laughed quietly; her face seemed brighter, softer even. This was a side of her that I was sure not many people had seen before. “Go, I’ll wait here and cover for you if anyone comes looking.”
I jumped up, giving her a tight hug. I could feel Aster going stiff in my arms, but she relaxed a moment later and wrapped her arms around me. Breaking away, I went to the hidden door and opened it. “I’ll be back soon, I promise.”
Entering the passage, I followed the path we had taken the night before to help Ezra escape his death sentence. I kept my eyes forward, not allowing myself to look at the cells or the prisoners inside them until I approached the brightly lit chamber that housed the queen.
Stepping in front of the iron bars, Queen Cassia looked up from her book. Surprise flickered in those sky-blue eyes of hers, reminding me so much of my father’s.
My heart beat hard in my chest, and I took a steadying breath. “Do you know who I am?” I asked. My voice shook with every word.
Queen Cassia blew out a breath and closed her book, setting it on the table beside her chair. She stood and made her way to the bars. Every movement she made was graceful, but powerful. She raised her chin, looking down at me. “I do,” she murmured. “You are Sybil Hart, descendant of my brother, Dryden. You were born in Mide, though you were brought here just weeks ago.” Her eyes moved along my face, studying me. “You’ve had a difficult time since coming here,” she sighed, a deep sadness gleaming in her gaze. “There’s a darkness growing in you, gaining strength. How curious it is about you, about your pain.” Her eyes met mine again, warming slightly. “Your eyes are becoming more like hers every day. But you came here to ask me something.” The queen twisted, returning to her chair. Once she settled in, she looked at me, giving me a slight nod.
I cleared my throat, shoving aside the apprehension that grew from her inspection and her words. “I wanted to ask about the bargain, if you knew of a way to break it. Ifyoucould break it.”
Regret rippled across her face. “Sadly, no. The only way to break this bargain is if Ambrose releases you from it or if one of you dies. But it isn’t time for either yet.”
My brows scrunched together. “What does that mean?”
“It means that there is a story being woven in time. One fated to destroy another. One fated to destroy herself to save those she loves and more. Your path…it will be a hard one, but one you must follow to become who you need to be to stop him.”
“I don’t understand. You said I have to destroy myself?”
“Yes,” Queen Cassia sighed. “When the time comes, you will have to choose between yourself and your mates.”
“What does that mean?” My frustration grew at her vague words, but I forced myself to stay calm as she looked at the wall beside her, as if she were trying to find the right words to say.
Finally, looking back at me, she said, “It means that you will have to decide who falls. You can either let your mates die and forever be bound to Ambrose’s bargain, or you will have to die and break free.”
