Bowen made a small fire that we all huddled around. I leaned into Dom’s side, his arm mooring me to himself. His shadows offered another blanketed layer of warmth that I nestled into.
“Can I see the compass?” I ventured.
Dom pulled it from its velvet bag presenting it to me. The soft glow had brightened just a little from a pale sky blue to a soft cornflower—evidence that Dom was headed in the rightdirection. I burrowed further into him, so grateful to have found him again, hopeful for his future.
Resolve at what I must do hardened within me. I inhaled his masculine scent, wishing things had been different. That I had been different.
Quiet sadness swathed me. I closed my eyes and reached for the snow around me.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
THE GENERAL
Liora fell asleep against me. I secured her cloak around her, draping her in my shadows. The sight of the compass’s strengthening glow had shifted something in her just as it had me. Hope alighted like the growing dawn around us.
Her body tensed with a swift inhale like she hadn’t truly been breathing. It roused her from her slumber. She blinked up at me, eyes softening, and I watched as whatever plagued her dreams melted away. She was at once new and familiar. I knew her deeply, even as I wanted to know everything about her new life. If the compass was to be my lifeline, we would have time to catch up, to discover, because my cure awaited.
Evander poked at the fire sending sparks spiraling upward. “We should continue on foot. Let the horses go in case they have protections like Surveille parasites or other wards to track them.”
Liora shivered against me at the mention of the Surveilles.
With the storm behind us, and Xuri and Finn likely making their way toward us, we wouldn’t have long to travel on foot. And Evander was right; the risk of keeping the horses was too great.
The temperature had warmed to a less tortuous sting, the winds having died down significantly. We grabbed our belongings and released the horses, turning again to the south, toward Aphellion.
Evander and Bowen walked together, eating bread and cheese, and speaking in low tones about elixirs and the art of dissolving sound affinity into different base liquids.
I kept pace with Liora, my shadows on alert for any threats. Liora removed the book I’d brought her at the inn from her satchel and began thumbing through its pages.
She filled me in on the information she had gleaned from it. I was surprised it made any mention of Nokts, considering I just learned the term a few days ago. Had Queen Thaleia not introduced the idea, I would have chalked this book up to mythical stories. But my interest was piqued.
Liora shared about thecouerdiae. I repeated the word as she nodded. “Do you know what it means?”
I glanced toward the horizon. The word was Sarulien, and I had come across it before. Hearing it spoken from Liora’s lips stirred something within me. My metal rings flared.
“It means heartbond.”
“How do you think you form one?” She returned the book to her satchel and began rebraiding her hair. Two on the left, three on the right, like always.
“Did the book not say anything about it?”
Liora paused her braiding, thinking. “No. Only that it was required to access higher magic.”
I didn’t know much about heartbonds. I had never heard of anyone forming one in the last few centuries. It had become part of the legends of betrothed women and pining maidens.
Evander interjected, “I’m familiar with higher magic.”
We both turned toward him.
“I was just explaining to Bowen how my tonics are made. The magic used is incredibly draining. I’ve bottled the sound of screams, of song, and various weapons. Well, those are my favorite ones anyway.” He chuckled at himself. “I’m only able to make a few vials at a time, and then I have to rest for several days before attempting again. The nymph who taught me indicated the magic I required was a superior type of magic.”
Liora adjusted the hood of her cloak to further conceal her hair, the silvery white now mostly faded to reveal a lilac-pink that I wanted to paint. “And this draining magic is different from the use of normal affinities?”
Evander studied her, nodding in affirmation.
Liora rushed on, “Do you know of Astrals and Nokts?”
Evander quirked a brow. “Yes,” he ventured. “Knowledge is power in all places. Knowledge can also be dangerous if the wrong people find out it is spreading. Suppression is a very effective tool for people in power. They will do violent things to keep hidden what they deem threatening. Information related to Astrals and Nokts has been lost, and many people want to keep it that way. I’d use discretion when discussing it.”
