“Call your power,” Niara ordered.
Inky dark tendrils appeared, winding and tangling with the cord on their wrists, and after studying what he was doing, Kailia called forth her smoke and ashes. Sucking in a breath,her muscles tensed as she worked to hold herself steady. Because that something in her soul was more than warm now. Intensifying into something hot and heady.
“As your magic merges into one, your souls also merge,” Niara recited, and Kailia could swear the waters around them had stilled. As if even the lake was holding its breath to observe…whatever this was.
The Witch turned to Cethin. “If your intention is binding, speak the words.”
Silver eyes held hers with an intensity she was unsure what to do with, but his words were strong and steady, not an ounce of trepidation.
“Beneath the moon and stars, I claim you in the night and shadows. A bond that is eternal, and a union that marks my soul and makes it yours. Your heartbeat in my soul, this night I bind myself to you.”
When he finished, Niara stepped forward, the glass bowl of enchanted moon water in hand. She poured the water over one set of the linked hands. It shimmered there, but before Kailia could ask, Niara turned to her.
“If your intention is binding, speak the words.”
Kailia swallowed, her throat going dry because this was all so much more intimate than she’d imagined it would be. She now understood why the union ceremonies took place privately rather than in front of others. She couldn’t imagine the emotions if they had actually cared for one another.
Swallowing again, her words weren’t nearly as steady as she recalled what Cethin had said a moment ago. “Beneath the moon and stars, I claim you in the night and shadows. A bond that is eternal, and a union that marks my soul and makes it yours. Your heartbeat in my soul, this night I bind myself to you.”
Niara did the same thing, dumping the rest of the water on their other hands. “As the moon illuminates the dark, she marks you as each other’s.”
“Breathe, Kailia,” Cethin whispered, and she didn’t understand what he meant.
But then the cord around their wrists erupted in bright light, bathing them in a white glow. That warm and heady thing in her soul erupted too. She could feel it everywhere—from her toes to the crown of her head. But on her left palm, there was a stinging sensation, sharp and biting, as if tiny shards of glass were being pressed into her flesh. She tried to yank her hands back, but the cords at her wrists held them there. More than that, Cethin interlocked their fingers, keeping their palms joined tightly together. She couldn’t see anything, all of it too bright and blinding, but she could feel the icy touch of his power wrapping around her as if to comfort her. There was a pulsing in her soul. An erratic heartbeat thrumming in her ears that drowned out everything else.
She didn’t know how long they stood there, but everything slowly faded. The light. The stinging on her palm. She was trembling, suddenly feeling the iciness of the lake as the sound of the waterfall rushed over her again, the pulsing sound waning. Niara was gone, and the cord that had wound around their wrists was now in the water, floating between them.
“Breathe, Kailia,” Cethin said again, a soft order. “Look at me and breathe.”
She lifted her gaze, finding Cethin’s eyes glowing as bright as the stars. The warmth in her soul stirred, her racing heartbeat slowing and her breathing evening out as seconds ticked by.
“What was that?” she finally asked.
Cethin didn’t answer, but he did release her hands. He bent to retrieve the cord from the water, looping it around his neck. When he stood again, he reached for her hand, turning the leftone face up. A Mark was there. Not black like union Marks, but silvery-white. Pale as moonlight.
She immediately looked at her other hand, finding it bare. Studying the new Mark, she asked, “This is a union Mark?”
“It is a Moon Mark,” he replied. “They are only visible at night.”
Moon Marks? She’d never heard of such a thing.
“I’ve seen plenty of people in the kingdom with Union Marks,” she said, her trembling intensifying as the adrenaline of what she’d done waned.
“I mentioned some choose something different,” he went on, gesturing to the shore. He didn’t touch her, but she felt his hand hovering along her lower back as she moved. The long dress had become heavy, laden down with the lake water. “By some, I meant those I descend from.”
“I don’t understand,” she said, her teeth beginning to chatter.
“I’ll explain at home…wife,” he replied, holding out his hand once more. Hisbarehand. There was no Mark adorning his palm.
“Where is your Mark then?”
“At home. I’ll explain at home,” he said again, worry flickering in his eyes. “When you’re warm.”
She looked from Cethin to the waterfall to the full moon, feeling like she’d just participated in something far bigger than a simple marriage.
Feeling as if once again, she’d thought she was the cat in this game they were playing when she was really the mouse.
Sliding her arms into the plush robe, she cinched the sash. She was freezing, so it was rather ridiculous that she’d put on one of the silk nightdresses that Cethin procured for her. They were just so godsdamn comfortable and easy to move in. Actually, they’d be great for hunting in if they had a little more support in the chest. Or any support, really.
