Braern gave him an odd look, then his eyes widened, and he slapped a hand to his mouth. “Oh, gods, I forgot you aren’t really an elf—you don’t know about the bond, do you?”
Adrissu frowned. It was a point of pride that there was little in the world of which he had no knowledge. But this, at least, was one such thing.
“No,” he said simply, and he stood up from his desk to settle in a reading chair next to Braern. “Enlighten me.”
“It’s part of the elven marriage... rites, I guess,” Braern said, gesticulating in the air with an almost derisive expression. “It’s meant to bring people closer, foster a connection between them. The bond is a sort of mental link, so when you’re within a certain radius of each other, you have a... asenseof them, I guess, and a feel of their thoughts and emotions.”
“That sounds extremely unpleasant,” Adrissu muttered, frowning. “And invasive.”
Braern laughed bitterly. “It can be, on both accounts,” he said. “We almost always kept our bond mostly closed. But even with it closed, if we’re ever within about a mile of each other, we’d know the other was near. So if hereallywanted to find me, he could.”
“Do you think he wants to find you?”
“I don’t know,” Braern sighed, sinking down in his chair slightly. “I don’t really think so. But even after all our time together I feel like we never knew each other very well. So maybe. He never seemed fond of me, but I can see him being angry that I left because it makes him look bad.”
“Let me see something,” Adrissu said quickly, leaning closer to him. He held one hand up—Braern eyed him for a moment, then nodded—and Adrissu reached forward to touch the side of the elf’s face, his fingertips brushing against Braern’s temple just below his hairline. Adrissu closed his eyes and reached out with his magic, letting it course through him into Braern. He could feel the elf’s aura, the beating of his heart, the slight tingling sensation of his life force—and there, like a tiny bead in the back of his head, wassomething else, the presence of another. He had never sensed anything like it before. Did all married elves really live with such an invasion of their privacy? Although, he thought, he could see the romanticism of it, if it were with someone he loved. Even then, aconstantpresence in his head? It sounded nightmarish. Maybe that was why it was, apparently, a secret amongst elves.
“I can sense it,” he said, opening his eyes to see Braern watching him with a slight smile. “What?”
“You’re handsome,” Braern said simply, his grin widening. Adrissu felt himself flush, but smiled in return.
“Stay focused,” he chided, though there was no reprimand in his tone, and Braern only smiled wider at him. “As I was saying, I can sense the magic that connects you to him. If you want to, I think I could remove it.”
“Remove it?” Braern asked, his eyes going wide and the teasing expression falling away from his face. “You could? Really?”
“I think so,” Adrissu repeated, nodding as he let his hand slide down Braern’s face to cup his cheek. “It seems like a simple enough enchantment—strong, but not entirely complicated. It really just feels like... a little point of someone else they stuck in your brain, so I don’t see why I can’t just take it back out or cut it off entirely.”
Where Adrissu’s fingers just barely brushed Braern’s neck, right below his jaw, he felt the other man’s pulse quicken, felt him swallow nervously, though his expression remained mostly the same. His big brown eyes flickered away from Adrissu, eyebrows drawn together in thought.
“Only if you want,” Adrissu added quickly, his own brows furrowing in concern. Braern gave a start as if being pulled from deep reflection, eyes flicking back up to meet Adrissu’s gaze.
“I’m... not sure,” he said softly, grimacing. “Isn’t that ridiculous? I don’t ever want to see him again, but the thought of ending the bond feels... frightening, somehow.”
“Well,” Adrissu said slowly, leaning back. “If the thought of that doesn’t appeal to you, we could approach this a different way.”
“How?” Braern asked. Adrissu sighed, worrying his lip between his teeth for a moment, before looking up at Braern with a pointed expression.
“We could get rid of him,” he said simply. Braern blinked. Adrissu raised his eyebrows, giving him a knowing look. Braern’s eyes widened.
“Adrissu!” he exclaimed, stuttering. “Suggesting such a thing!”
“It would be the simplest solution,” Adrissu replied, shrugging. Braern laughed, but the edge of hysteria to his laugh made Adrissu certain that outright killing the man was probably out of the question. “But let me suggest something slightly different. We could get rid of him as a problem without necessarily killing him.”
Braern frowned at that, but at least he didn’t look as affronted as he had before. “What do you mean?”
Adrissu was silent for a long moment, considering what exactly to say, how much to give away. To bring up the possibility of doing something with Braern’s soul now was unlikely to be successful; but if he only brought up the concept of soul transference now and asked about Braern’s soul later on, then it might work out. Maybe.
For now, he would only discuss what was necessary. “I’ve done some research on the... nature of souls,” he started slowly, choosing his words with care. “It was an elven scholar, actually, who introduced me to the concept of taking a soul and removing it from the body without killing it. Inducing a stasis sort of state.”
From the way Braern leaned back slightly, he could tell that he had already guessed what he would suggest, but he continued anyway.
“If he ever came here, I could do that to him,” Adrissu said. “I’ve experimented with animals and such. I know I could do it. It would completely incapacitate him without actually harming him.”
“But then what?” Braern asked, frowning. “We would just leave him like that forever?”
Adrissu shrugged. “Why not? It seems like a fitting punishment to me. Let him remain alive, but deny him the ability to trulylive.Whatever happens to an elf’s soul when they die, prevent his from participating.”
“It would be kinder to kill him,” Braern scoffed. Again Adrissu shrugged.
