I turn to him, taking him in for the first time. He’s clearly just walked in and is dressed in boots and riding trousers, his shirt unbuttoned and askew as if he just threw it on. There’s mud on his trousers and his boots, and his hair is a mess, with a couple of sticks and leaves in it.
I sit up, alarmed, and the sheet falls down to my waist. Fox’s eyes immediately land on my chest, but I pull the blanket back up, suddenly feeling vulnerable. “Did you just get back?”
“Yes,” he says slowly. “Have you been here all night?”
Oh Gods… my ears buzz with mortification as heat floods my cheeks.
Oh, Gods!
I spent the entire night in his bed while he was…elsewhere.
Which is completely fine—he owes me nothing, can do whatever he pleases—but I waited for him like some lovesick idiot. Gods, what was I thinking?
I keep the sheet pressed to my chest as I jump up and spin in a circle, looking for wherever I put my clothes.
Fox says nothing, but looks helpless as he picks up my GOODDAY EUGENE shirt and passes it to me.
“Thanks,” I hiss, snatching it from him and pulling it over my head as I stride to the door. “Ugh, don’t look at me like that. Can we please pretend this never happened? I’m just going to go and?—”
“Aurelia!” Fox interrupts.
I freeze with my hand on the doorknob. “Yes?”
“It’s morning. Everyone is out…you need to be careful if you don’t want anyone to see you.”
My face flames hotter, and a fresh wave of horror washes over me. I think I’m going to be sick.
Idon’t go to Fox’s room again for nearly three months.
It’s approaching Yuletide again, and Alix and Daemon have finally found the time to focus on their wedding. Kastian and Odessa are back for a visit, and today, Dessa and I are supposed to be helping Alix try on her dress.
I sit on a plush window seat, looking out over the grounds. Dozens of soldiers are outside in the snow, running drills. I can’t tell which one is Fox at this distance, but I’m sure he’s out there. I’ve had to make twice as many healing potions as usual, so I know he’s been venting his frustration on the army.
I’m just not sure if that frustration has to do with me, or something else.
“Isn’t it perfect, Aurelia?” Odessa asks.
I startle at the sound of my name and turn to find Dessa and Alix both looking at me expectantly. “Sorry, what did you ask?”
“Just fishing for compliments,” Alix says with a sheepish smile. “What are you looking at?”
“Nothing!” I say, probably too quickly, because both of them give me an odd look. “Sorry, catch me up. What were we talking about again?”
“I was just asking Alix how her wedding wishes were coming along,” Odessa says.
The two of them launch into more wedding conversation, and I nod along, doing my best to pay attention. It’s not that I don’t care about the wedding—I do. I’m tremendously happy for Alix, and for Odessa too, now that she and Kastian have officially bonded and are living together on their ship. I just feel…off.
I never really wanted a soul-bond before. It’s not something I was against, exactly, but it’s not as if I thought I would find one while stuck in Storia all my life.
Soul-bonds are magically charged connections between two people which can only form once. Once you’re bonded, it’s forever. Your partner can never love anyone else without experiencing excruciating agony. They would never want to, because bonded partners will always be in harmony.
There’s a lot of debate amongst the Fae about whether soul-bonds are fated or formed over time. The more common opinion—and the one I tend to agree with—is that bonds are triggered during a period of extreme emotional impact. That’s often a trauma, like a battle or a near-death experience, but it doesn’t have to be. It could be a positive emotion too; it just needs to be impactful.
I never thought there was much chance of having any sort of emotionally impactful moment with anyone while trapped in the village and barely leaving my tower, so a soul-bond wasn’t something I wanted. Only now that I’m surrounded by so manyhappy couples, I can’t help but feel like maybe I’m missing something.
After Alix’s dress fitting, I go to visit Celestina.
The rabbit I rescued is now happily living in the barracks, where she has hundreds of soldiers to feed and pet her. When she’s not being doted on, she has a cage in one of the large meeting rooms that hardly ever gets used. The room is long, with only one large table and a dozen mismatched chairs surrounding it, and Celestina’s large cage standing against the wall by the window.
