“She is notouranything,” I say, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. The temperature in the room plummets several degrees as my power ripples outward. “Choose your words with more care, Callum.”
He steps back instinctively, a flicker of genuine fear crossing his face before he masks it. But the damage is done, I’ve seen it, and we both know it. The other Guardians shift uncomfortably, sensing the edge of my control fraying.
I wrestle my emotions back into place, burying the things I don’t want to examine too closely. The things I’ve been struggling not to dwell on since I first saw them together.
The bond. The way their shadows reach for each other without conscious thought. The way she looks at him, at all of them, like they’re pieces of her soul she didn’t know she was missing.
My chest tightens with an ache that’s grown all too familiar. I mask it with practiced indifference.
“The records—” Callum begins again.
“—mention connections even the oldest seers didn’t fully understand,” I interrupt, keeping my voice steady despite thestorm brewing beneath my skin. “Malrik Duskbane is exactly where he needs to be.”
“But why now?” Mira asks, pausing mid-step. She turns to face me, her expression tight. “Why return now, when the barriers are barely holding?”
“The scrolls—” Callum starts again, but Revna snorts, the sound sharp as breaking glass.
“Enough with the scrolls and ancient texts. You weren’t there, Callum. None of you were.” Her eyes meet mine, ancient and unwavering. “Only Kieran and I remember what it was really like. What we lost.”
Revna moves to stand beside me, her presence as steady as it’s been for centuries. She was there when Solveig made her choice, when everything changed. She’s been there for every endless year of searching since.
“She was just a child,” I say quietly, the words scraping my throat. “Only six years old when Solveig sent her forward.”
“And now she returns with not one, but multiple bonds forming,” Mira observes, her tone carefully neutral though her eyes betray her wariness. “That’s… unprecedented.”
“She has a shadow prince, a chaos mage, and two berserkers bound to her soul,” Callum says, like he’s listing crimes. “How can we be sure she’s even still—”
“Choose your next words very carefully,” I cut in, my voice dropping dangerously low. The temperature in the room plummets. “That’s Solveig’s daughter you’re questioning.”
Revna straightens, her movement drawing all eyes. “The bonds are not a weakness,” she says firmly. “They’re part of this. Can’t you feel it? The way everything is weaving itself together?” She looks at me. “The lost prince returns just as she does. The berserkers awaken. None of this is coincidence.”
“I think,” Revna adds, her eyes glinting with that familiar determination that’s gotten us through worse, “it’s time we spoke with all of them. Together.”
I exhale slowly. She’s right, of course she’s right. She usually is, though I rarely admit it aloud.
“Have them brought to the Hall of Echoes,” I say, ignoring the way my chest aches at the thought of facing this. “All of them.”
Mira and the other guardians move toward the door. Their silver-threaded ceremonial garments shimmer with subtle runes, fabric whispering against the stone floor as they exit. Revna and I hang back. I’ve known her long enough to recognize when she has something to say that the others shouldn’t hear.
“When were you going to tell me?” Revna asks quietly once they’re out of earshot. When I don’t answer immediately, she adds, “About your bond. To her.”
I exhale slowly. “I’ve always known.”
She studies me for a long moment, waiting. Her patience has always been her greatest weapon against my silence.
I drag a hand through my hair. “When I first met her, I felt it. The connection. But she was so young, and she didn’t understand. And then…” My throat tightens. “Then she was gone.”
“And now she’s back,” Revna says, voice steady.
I nod, jaw clenching. “And she’s forming bonds with them.”
Revna exhales sharply. “You thought it would just be you.”
I don’t answer. Because yes. That’s exactly what I thought.
“That’s not how it works,” Revna says, watching me carefully. “Not for Valkyries. Not for her.”
My fingers tighten into a fist at my side. “I know that now.”
