His Hyton Blue eyes flicked down to Daigen, who gasped as he pushed himself up from the dirt floor. “See you at sunrise.”
The trap door slammed shut behind Alastar and the click of a lock echoed through the small dungeon. Only thin strips of moonlight crept through the gaps in the wooden door. Even in near darkness, Fraleigh pulled at the end of her chains to lift Daigen up.
He coughed. “You should have let him kill me.”
Fraleigh’s golden eyes scanned Daigen’s face. “Do you have a knife?”
Daigen shakily reached for the scabbard at his hip and pulled out a knife with a curved blade—Reginbani.
Fraleigh took the knife from him, running the tip of the blade against her left palm. “You helped me, so I’ll help you. I earned my power through a sacrifice, and maybe…maybe I can give you my power too. You can be deathless too.”
He shook his head. “Are you talking about the old legend from the mountain? It’s not going to work.”
Her brow went hard. “Yes it will. The moon is full and everything that needed to happen did.”
Daigen’s brow furrowed. “No, that would mean—”
They looked at each other in a moment of silent understanding. He shook his head. “No, Fraleigh, you can’t. I’m a criminal. I don’t deserve your lo—”
“Do you love me too?”
Daigen took in a shuddering breath, but then looked into Fraleigh’s eyes. “Yes.”
“Then stay with me,” Fraleigh pleaded. “Forever.”
Daigen blinked out a single tear and offered her his right palm.
With the slice of a blade and a few whispered words, the dungeon filled with golden light.
It was not the same enchantment I had known. It was bright as a dandelion, warm as a night by the fire, and pure as fresh driven snow.
And with the might of a bond made from true love and sacrifice, two hearts became one.
Brilliant golden light flooded my vision and morphed into Fraleigh’s gold irises as I gently left her memory. My hand trembled in her grip as I returned to the misty morning and the calls of the sea birds.
My eyes dropped to her golden collar. The words “Ipse Dixit” were still clearly etched, even after four hundred and fifty-one years.
“I know the choice I made,” Fraleigh said as she released my hand. “Even after centuries of chains and cages, even when my power diminished little by little…it was worth it.”
She swallowed and traced the scar on her palm. “Hewas worth it.”
All this time, I had thought Daigen had a rivalry with Fraleigh. His disdain was not for her, but for the noble marriage enchantment.
The bond that originated from sacrifice had cheapened into chattel, became its own golden chain, and made every noble marriage a question of what was even real.
Daigen was angry enough to rip the corrupted blood bond out of my veins because it was a mockery of what Fraleigh had given, of what was supposed to just betheirs.
My heart ached, but I finally understood Daigen. He tore out my bond to make me a blank slate, uncorrupted by another Hyton lie. He wanted Riyan and I to have a chance at true, pure love because…that’s what he and Fraleigh had.
And all he wanted was to get back the person he lost.
“But Iwillget you out of this,” I said as I looked into Fraleigh’s sad golden eyes. “A life for a life is an unbreakable bargain but…your sister has Riyan. She is going to doom him to an eternity in the place West of the Moon and East of the Sun if I do not free you by the full moon.”
Fraleigh’s long dark hair gently danced in the breeze. “Riyan knew the sacrifice he made, and he made it gladly. Why not just leave him be?”
My hands tightened into fists at my sides. “Because he does not deserve oblivion! I still…I still may not know how I feel, but who cares about my feelings when his life is on the line?” Tears pricked the backs of my eyes. “I will not turn my back on him, not after I have seenexactlywhat that kind of sacrifice does.”
My eyes dropped from her face to that horrible golden collar around her neck.
