The words are in the old tongue—ancient and lyrical, rolling off her tongue like music. I don't understand most of it, but I catch phrases here and there.Souls intertwined. Life to life. Light to light.
Her hands begin to glow.
Not the harsh, burning gold of combat magic, but something softer. Warmer. Like captured sunlight given form. She raises them, palms out, and the glow intensifies until it's almost blinding.
Then I feel it.
The bond in my chest—that tight, insistent ache—pulls. Not painful, but undeniable. Like something essential is being drawn out of me and toward Senna. I gasp, my grip on her hands tightening, and see her eyes widen as she feels it too.
Serai's magic extends from her palms in twin threads of light—one reaching for me, one for Senna. They touch our chests, just over our hearts, and sink in.
The sensation is... indescribable.
It's not pain. Not pleasure. It'severything. A rush of emotion and sensation so overwhelming I can barely process it. I feel Senna's fear, her hope, her tentative joy all tangled together with something deeper—something that feels likeme. Like my soul is reaching out and finding hers, wrapping around it, intertwining until I can't tell where I end and she begins.
The threads of light connect between us now, glowing silver-white as they bridge the space between our hearts. I watch, transfixed, as they pulse once, twice?—
Then sink into our skin.
The bondsnapsinto place.
I stagger, would've fallen if Senna hadn't been holding onto me just as tightly. The ache in my chest is gone, replaced by something whole and perfect andright. Like a piece I didn't know was missing has finally slotted home.
I can feel her. Not just the echo of her emotions anymore, buther. Her presence, warm and steady in the back of my mind. Her heartbeat, syncing with mine. Her soul, bound to mine so completely that nothing—not distance, not death, not the gods themselves—could ever truly separate us.
Serai lowers her hands, the glow fading. She's smiling, soft and knowing. "It's done."
I can't look away from Senna.
Her eyes are wide, lips parted in wonder as she stares back at me. I know she feels it too—this completeness. Thisrightness. The bond thrums between us, content and satisfied in a way it hasn't been since the moment we met.
"Lorenth," she breathes.
I pull her into my arms, crushing her against my chest as I bury my face in her hair. She fits perfectly, like she was made for this. Made forme.
Mine. She'sminenow. Legally, magically, irrevocably mine.
And I'm hers.
The realization should terrify me—I've spent my entire life avoiding exactly this kind of entanglement—but all I feel is relief. Like I've been holding my breath for thirty-two years and can finally exhale.
"Thank you," I murmur against her hair, though I'm not sure if I'm talking to Senna or Serai or Solis himself.
Serai laughs, the sound bright and musical. "The bond thanksyou. It's been trying to bring you together since the moment your souls recognized each other." She tilts her head, white irises gleaming. "Now go. Live. Love. Let the bond settle."
I pull back just enough to look at Senna. "You okay?"
She nods, a real smile breaking across her face for the first time since I've known her. Not a tentative one or a shy one, but something genuine and radiant. "I'm... yes. I'm okay."
More than okay, if the warmth flooding through the bond is any indication.
I brush my thumb over her cheek, marveling at how soft her skin is, how perfectly her face fits in my hand. "Come on. Let's get you out of my clothes and into something that actually fits."
The boutique districtsits just west of the temple quarter, where merchant stalls give way to proper shops with glass windows and hand-painted signs. I guide Senna through the streets, my hand never leaving her back, hyperaware of every glance thrown our way.
Most are curious—a human woman walking beside a xaphan noble isn't exactly common in this part of the city. A few are disdainful, nobles wrinkling their noses like Senna's presence offends them.
Those ones get a look that makes them remember exactly who I am and what I'm capable of.
