“It’s just, I notice Aegir likes taking freezing ice baths. Sometimes he freezes himself in the middle of it.” Amanionly shrugged. “And what about his powers? Can he just freeze people to death? You know, like freeze their hearts or something?”
“I fear these are questions you should be asking him, but since I know the answer to this one, I’ll tell you. He can, but by doing so, he would have to completely deplete his powers. In theory—who am I kidding—inpractice, that is only done when you are either a stupid fool or when you are desperately neck-deep in shit. And before you ask me why it is that Ice Wielders can form a dagger and shove it in someone’s heart with just a flick of the wrist but are incapable of freezing someone without such great expense, I can tell you that I have no clue.”
“Can I ask you something else, then?”
“What? You’re going to ask me if Aegir prefers cold or warm meals?” She made herself laugh.
“No. I have very serious questions.”
“Ohh,” she almost mocked. “Fire ahead, then.”
“Will you tell me about tonight’s meeting? Your brothers left me short of details.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Who are the attendees?”
“The attendees are my family and some other dear people whom we happen to trust. Eldric, for example.”
“And what will it be about?”
“Silly!You, of course. And your people.”
“My people?”
“Yes, you are their queen, so you must decide for them.”
Oh. “So it will be about war and politics?”
“Something like that. It changes things, you know, now that you’re back. So yeah, it will entail war and strategy and politics and life-altering decisions, and blah, blah, blah. Can we do something fun now?” she said, letting out a puff in the form of a gradually growing circle. “Let’s leave the boring stuff for later.”She handed me the cigarette holder. “What do you want to do? Do you want me to cut your hair? Or maybe we could get our nails painted.”
Cut my hair? Hell no. I was fairly certain that Aegir was obsessed with it, so no, my hair stays. I had a much better idea.
“Can you make one for me?”
“What, a cigarette? I wouldn’t recom—”
“No, a tattoo.”
Amani screeched. “Yes! But you have to think about the design and placement. I can show you some of my sketches.”
“I already know what I want and where I want it.”
She clapped and made a high-pitched noise before rushing out of the bath. “Come on, let’s get dried and dressed.”
We stayed on the furry carpet in the sitting room, lying on our bellies as she sketched the design for me. It felt as if she read my mind—she knew exactly what I was envisioning.
Then she brought a bowl filled with the darkest ink that unfortunately reminded me of the Seer’s potion. She unfolded a leather pouch and revealed a set of long metal sticks with needles at their end. I took off my shirt, covering my breasts with one of my arms, then I lay once more on my belly, my hands resting beneath my cheek.
“Ready when you are,” Amani said.
I nodded. And so she began her long series of needle-poking along the length of my spine. My eyes squeezed shut and I gritted my teeth.
“Are you doing all right?” she asked. “You can breathe normally, you know. You don’t need to hold your breath.”
“Mmhmm.”
“That sounded very reassuring.” Amani chuckled. “So, Elara, you have found your soulbound, and I can tell that you have accepted the bond.”Distraction.
