I snorted. If my experience was anything like Valens’s, I was in for a few uncomfortable moments and then a solid nap. I’d be fine. Although… I stripped off my shirt, tossing it across the end of the bed. His mark had burned a hole in his, and I didn’t have many left after returning my uniforms.
Bright side: I could now afford to buy more.
Valens helped me unload the journals from the chest, and then he opened the false bottom with a flourish.
“Ready?”
“I was born ready,” I said, giving him my best sassy wink.
He reached into the chest, moving his sword out of the way. After a fortifying breath, I knelt in front of the chest and reached in to grab the other sword’s grip.
Nothing happened when my fingertips brushed the cool leather wrap. There was no buzz of energy, no shock, no muscle-freezing wave of power.
Just… nothing.
Determined, I wrapped my hand around the grip, moving to lift the sword from the chest.
Valens had the bloodline of the guardians; perhaps I needed a bit more time with the sword for the effects to kick in?
The sword could have weighed ten thousand pounds for how hard I struggled to lift it, but it didn’t move a single centimeter. I grunted with the effort, putting both hands on the hilt and throwing my weight into it.
Still… nothing.
Huffing and puffing now, I shifted my hands around and tried again, and again, and again.
The sword wouldn’t budge, and it didn’t latch on to me with the power that had bonded Valens to his own sword.
After several minutes, I sat back on my haunches, shaking my head. “It doesn’t want me. I don’t know who that sword is for, but… I guess it’s not me after all.”
Valens watched from his chair, chin propped in his hand and brows drawn tightly together, forming a little crease between them.
“It makes no sense. The legends all implied it would be you. Maybe… I don’t know. Maybe you have to keep trying, or maybe we have to complete the bond first? It could be any number of things required to trigger it.”
“That’s true.” I hadn’t thought about the fact that it might require a complete bond, though it made sense.
“Unfortunately, we’re going to be fighting this full moon, not… bonding.”
“Why do I feel like you wanted to say fucking?”
I snorted. “Hey, if the shoe fits.” I waggled my eyebrows, trying not to let him see how much it was bothering me.
I’d been so sure.
“Well… I guess I’ll need a different sword for the battle.”
He grinned. “Oh, we’ve got plenty of swords. Let’s go to the prewar council, and then I’ll take you down to the basement to pick one.”
I took his offered hand up, and then we reloaded the chest, and I pulled my shirt back on. I cast it one last, longing look as we left the room.
What are you waiting for, sword?
Chapter 56
Valens
My mind was admittedly elsewhere as we walked into the prewar council. Mainly on why the sword hadn’t bonded to Elodie.
I was certain it would, but perhaps it required somethingextra? I had no clue what, besides possibly a bond. I’d felt the pull, and she hadn’t yet. So it could purely be a matter of timing. Tonight, I would dig into the journals I’d been conveniently ignoring since finding the chest.
