“I can see you’re taking your role as the Bonder seriously,” he murmured.
I leashed the urge to snap back with a fuck-you.
“How can I help you, Your Majesty?” I asked sweetly, tucking the thin robe tightly around my chest.
“Last night did not go well,” he continued, crossing his arms. “I spoke with Isla this morning.” Bayne paused, something like irritation flickering across his face, and a brief wave ofamusement rushed over me as I imagined the lecture he must have received from her.
“I am willing to let you harvest the leaves from the Living Library, but Antares needs some convincing. An act of good faith would be appreciated, especially given the news about Carina.”
My face fell, and my heart threatened to jump up my throat.
“What happened to Carina?” I asked quickly, the words escaping in a rushed jumble.
Bayne’s features softened, and his lips parted before he relayed all that had transpired on Kayj in the last few months in his composed, calm confidence.
The skinof my eyelids prickled and burned as I blinked rapidly. I looked like hell, I knew, after the hours of tears that had followed. My eyes felt dry, like autumn had arrived early. The knots in my stomach had yet to loosen since we’d learned of the princess’s death. Carina, my ally, my bookish, fierce friend, was dead at the hands of Ganmira and Renova, the Embodied who searched the realm forme.
Kellan appeared right when I needed him, and I’d backed into his hard body as the words left Bayne’s lips. A numbness quickly spread from the tips of my fingers. Though Bayne’s composure never faltered, I caught the shuddering of his eyes as he told me of his cousin’s death. He left after the first sob climbed up my throat. My face had buried into Kellan’s chest for the remainder of the afternoon as I let myself deflate in grief.
A tight, unbearable vice of guilt wrapped itself around my chest, adding to the edgy anxiety fueling the tapping of my fingers against my thigh where we now stood in a small clearing in the woods.
Our group waited a distance from where Queen Antares and Kellan stood. Kellan’s tanned arms were crossed as he spoke with the queen, her low-cut, teal gown showcasing the tops of her rounded breasts.
My gaze hopped to Khato, the ancient master of spells, as he approached. His gray hair swayed in the slight breeze snaking through the trees and ferns. His dark skin cracked as he smiled.
“Welcome back, Bonder,” he said quietly as he reached me, his tawny eyes soft.
I nodded in respect, and my brows tilted upward as I recalled our last conversation together. He’d instructed me in secret to go to the Waters of Ascendiel, in hopes I might identify the soulbinding thread between myself and Bayne. I waited for the quiet ache of the events that followed, but it didn’t arrive. My eyes drifted back to the queen and Kellan in the distance.
“He didn’t believe me,” I said after a moment. “But thank you, nonetheless.”
Khato grunted his soft acknowledgment.
“It appears it wasn’t meant to be,” he replied quietly. “I trust the trip into the Waters was a success either way. It appears it led you to where you need to be. And you’ve at last discovered what binds the light and the dark.”
I allowed a soft smile as I nodded and turned to him. His bristly gray brows narrowed as he surveyed me.
“Threadsight is a powerful gift, Lyvia,” he murmured as he stared at the queen in the distance. “Take caution. Every glimpse into the secrets of the universe comes at a price.”
I frowned.
“Is my ability threadsight, or is it something else?” I asked, shaking my head slightly.
The master of spells cocked his head. “I’m not entirely sure,” he replied. “But you’ve been gifted glimpses a few times now,and it seems to have led you to your fate, even if it took you over some broken roads and impassible mountains.”
I followed his gaze as it landed on Kellan, the breeze carrying his cedar and leather scent across the valley to me. I cleared my throat and nodded.
“Yes. His power will end all or bless all,” I agreed, thinking of Ursa’s words. “I choose to believe the latter. We need him.”
Khato shifted next to me, and I turned my gaze back to him. His mouth fell open, and his bristly gray brows narrowed in thought.
“I suppose we will find out, won’t we? Though I don’t think it was a Lotrennian prophecy that led you to him.”
I paused, my brows narrowing. “Lotrennianprophecy?” I clarified, and he nodded.
Then I replayed the rest of his words. “Wait, do you know what led me to him?”
Khato’s dry lips tilted up in a soft grin, and he gave a schoolboy shrug of his hunched shoulders as he turned back to where Kellan stood with the queen.
