“There is a Lord in Xanthia – of the East. He is…cruel. He has visions that none of us share. When we would not ally with him, he sought to take over our territories, one by one.”
“There are two known ways that the Wells and the power within them transfer to another Lord. One way is that the Lord dies of natural causes or illness, and his eldest offspring inherits the Power that sits within the Well. It becomes theirs, and they become a key part of the future of Xanthia. The other way is if the Lord who is linked with the Well is killed by another.”
Rionan paused, shuddering. He picked up a drink of water and took a long sip before continuing. “Xanthia is not naturally an aggressive or violent place. To kill another Lord and take their Power for your own…it corrupts the Lord that does it. In doing so, it corrupts their power. Where life was brought, death reigns. Where beauty flourished, chaos erupts.”
“The Lord of the East, Rannirr. He had killed the Southern Lord. When this happened, Rannirr’s power, which was already dark, magnified. His evil intentions became much worse. Before I came here, my territory was under attack.”
Rionan waited to see if Alianna’s expression changed at all, but she stayed motionless, unfeeling, waiting for him to continue.
“We were outnumbered. He influenced the soldiers of the East and the North. The Northern Lord and his people had fled, we suspect into the mountains. So, I was the next target. My friends…my armies. They fought valiantly, but we were not winning. We could not win. So, there was only one choice to be made.”
“I pulled my power from the land. From the Well. It pained me to do so, and I felt Xanthia crying out to me as I did it. But I had no choice, to stop him. If there was no Power, and no me – he would be halted, for a time. I asked my Power to take me where I needed to go, with hope in my heart that I would find a way to save my people, my friends, and my Realm. I was transported to this human Realm, to Porthan, on West Beach. And I found you.”
“My Power wishes for me to find whatever I need here. It speaks to me, in a way. I know I need to find something here, but I do not knowwhere to go. My Power also desperately tries to reconnect itself with Xanthia, which will perish if a Well remains empty for too long. That is, I think, why I have the nightmares. Why I become so…destructive.”
Rionan studied Alianna’s face, wishing she would speak. “I did not imagine that I would fall in love with the human girl who found me on the beach. I did not imagine that this would happen. I am sorry, Ali. Not for loving you. I will never apologise for that. I am sorry that you didn’t know the full truth until now. You must know…with you, I feel alive. I feel as though I have found part of myself that I did not know I was searching for. I am drawn to you like a moth to candlelight. Like the waves inevitably find themselves being pulled to the shore. I will not apologise for that.”
Rionan just stared at her, soul bared, waiting for her to say something. Anything.
“What have you done to me?” she asked, voice breaking. Rionan’s eyes clouded with worry as he looked over her.
“What? Are you hurt - ”
“What haveYOU,” Alianna cried, standing up and jabbing a finger into his chest. “Done to me?”
“What do you mean?” he asked, wincing.
Alianna reflected on all he’d told her, all he’d said he was, and was evidently capable of. Yet he’d just winced away from her.
“This,” she hissed, pointing at her chest, leaning over where he sat in his chair. Her eyes clouded with tears. “This hurts. A constant, dull feeling. Why is it doing that? What did you do?”
“Ah,” Rionan said, contemplating his next words. He reflected on the intense ache he’d been experiencing in his chest for the last two days. “Idid not do anything, but I can explain.”
Alianna remained where she stood, still pointing at her chest, waiting for him to reply. Her shoulders rose and fell with each breath as her eyes pierced through him.
“I have had a similar pain in my chest all day. Yesterday, too, in fact. It has been…intense. It is not something I have experienced before, either,” he said, feeling himself beginning to talk in circles. “May I stand up, Ali?”
“Yes.” Alianna stepped back, allowing him the space to rise. He stood, pacing backwards and forwards, talking as he went.
“When a Xanthian experiences a deep feeling of connection towards somebody, and that feeling is reciprocated, unique magic begins to work, blossoming between the two individuals. I have never heard of it happening between anyone other than Xanthians. We do not typically spend much time in romantic relationships with humans,” he went on, scratching the back of his head, his feet drumming the floor. “This magic is at its most heightened during intimate acts with one another. If the right things are felt during this time, it is possible for the couple to become soul-bonded.” Rionan finished, finally stopping and facing her.
Alianna waited for him to elaborate. When he did not, she sighed, realising she would have to ask.
“Soul-bonded? What does that mean?”
“It means exactly how it sounds. You hold a piece of my soul, Ali. That is why you can feel my emotions deep within you. Soul-bonded partners can feel the emotions of the other. It is what has been causing you the pain since we separated. I am sorry. I feel the same thing. Intensely. It has been excruciating. If yours has been dulled, then I can only assume it is because you are human, and this is Xanthian magic. You are bonded to a Xanthian, so the magic still affects you.”
Alianna stared at him, dumbfounded. “So, you are saying…a bit of your soul is in me. Connected to me. And you have felt the same pain today – worse, because this is magic of your people. Is this…is a piece ofmysoul within you?”
Rionan nodded slowly.
Alianna stared at him.
“And you’re being so matter-of-fact about this?”
“To be soul-bonded to another is a sacred, treasured thing. This is not something I would make light of. To be soul-bonded to a mortal…it is not something I would have foreseen. Soul-bonding only happens with one other being within a Xanthian’s lifetime.”
“What does that mean?” Alianna asked, throwing her arms out to her sides.
