My heart began to race as I searched the book for the passage that described the Bondsmith’s actions.
The Bondsmith is gentle and kind. They exist to protect, heal, and provide balance in our world. When they walked with us, the Bondsmith could even heal the sick by uniting them together. The unification was forever, and this allowed the sick to siphon energy from the strong. Neither person would ever be sick again, trading energy across the Bond when necessary, though, their life force was also tied. When one died, so did the other.
I reread the passage three more times.
Holy shit.
I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Once I was sure of what I read, Ihurriedly copied the runes into my notebook and transcribed what I saw in the picture before jumping to my feet.
“Holy shit, Cotton. Holy shit!” I exclaimed. I grabbed Cotton from the carpet, which he protested with a loud meow, before running from the room. In my haste, I forgot to turn off the light orbs and lock Rohak’s door, so I sprinted back to his office and quickly locked up for the night before clutching the notebook to my chest and running out of the administration building. My feet slapped the cold concrete as I ran all the way back to the palace, intent on finding Rohak.
I can do it. I know how to cure Mage Sickness.
Chapter 55
Rohak
Iwas interrupted from my sleep by a loud banging on my door.
“Rohak! Rohak, open up!” That voice, I knew that voice. Usually it was softer, but right now it possessed an urgency and excitement I had never heard before. Her anticipation was palpable, and I wondered what she had found.
Her excitement, and the incessant banging on my door, was what ultimately pulled me from the comfort of my bed to the door of my rooms. I grabbed a thin pair of linen pants before I opened the door, Faylinn’s hand still moving to knock. Her small fist ended up hitting my chest rather than the door and I grunted in surprise.
She, on the other hand, felt no remorse. “Oops, sorry. Sorry to wake you, I know you need to sleep and you’re grumpy as it is, but Ihaveto show you this! Also, where is your shirt? Never mind, at least you have pants on. I can maybe recover from seeing you shirtless, but a no pants situation would do me in for sure. There’d be no coming back from that.”
She got like this when she was nervous or excited—words and thoughts all over the place. I didn’t even think that she knew what she was saying half the time when her mind was whirling with an idea.
“Does my lack of shirt distract you, Faylinn?” My voice was husky from sleep, and I saw her pupils widen a fraction.
“N-no. It doesn’t. Quite alright for you to wear whatever you want. It’s your room after all and the middle of the night. But maybe you should put one on, you might burn out the retinas of your guards or something.” The guards in question were doing their best to not look at the two of us, and they were undoubtedly holding back laughs. A few of which escaped, and I shot them a dark glare, which sobered them enough that they weren’t outright laughing at Faylinn.
“Faylinn, why don’t you come inside,” I suggested.
“Nope. Nope, absolutely not. The staff already think we’re sleeping together and me disappearing into your room in the middle of the night while you have no shirt on is just not going to end well for me.”
The guards did outright laugh at that, and I huffed my own sigh. “Fine, then. What’s got you all . . . excited?”
“Look!” She opened her journal, Cotton falling unceremoniously to the ground with a loud meow before trotting in the direction of the stairs, and thrust it into my face. I pushed it back slightly so I could see what was written, but it was all in runes. “Love, I can’t read any of this,” I said gently.
She frowned before pulling her journal back and quickly scanning the pages. “Oh. I’m an idiot. I rewrote the rune passage in more runes. That’s annoying.” She seemed to be talking to herself as she quickly translated her scribblings while standing up. “There! Fixed!” She shoved the journal in my face again and I read what she wrote.
“That’s . . . great, Faylinn. But I’m not sure why it warrants waking me . . .?” I didn’t want to be rude, but I truly didn’t understand why she was so excited. The girl was practically vibrating with energy and the high of her find, and my skepticism did nothing to dull that.
“I can do it!” she screeched. “I can cure Mage Sickness.”
My heart stopped beating for a moment as I regarded her. She was positively beaming, confidence written all across her face. “You’re sure?” I asked, and she nodded. I snapped her journal closed and turned back into my room to grab the tunic lying across my couch. I slipped a pair of boots on my feet before shutting and locking my door.
“Please wake Lord d’Refan. Tell him it’s urgent and he’s needed in the servant’s wing,” I informed the guards as I grabbed Faylinn’s hand, leading her down the stairs and into the wing where we housed Ben. “Where did you find this information?” I asked as we ran through thehallways.
“Oh!The Bondsmith,” she panted. I halted and she practically ran into my back.
“A children’s book? You’re basing your information off of a children’s book?” I asked, incredulously. She simply rolled her eyes at me.
“Yes,” she said as we continued to walk. “I know what I read and what I saw. And at the end of the day, I’m testing it on someone who is important to me, not one of your Mages. It’s the only thing you’ve got, right? You have no other way to help them other than to ease their passing?”
I jerked a nod, running my hand through my sleep-mussed hair.
“So, what’s the issue, then?” Her voice had taken on a defensive edge, the excitement of her discovery fully drained. “If he dies, it’s just another person close to me that leaves. No one else is affected,” she said cooly, tugging her hand from my grip, but I saw through her frosty demeanor.
