“Mage d’Talionis. Today, please,” the acolyte snapped as he regarded me with open irritation. I slowly turned my head toface him. “Unless it is no longer your wish to take this Vessel as a Bond?”
I shook my head, seeing Ilyas’ face fall a fraction at the movement.
The acolyte looked exasperated as he motioned for Ilyas to get up from the bed.
“No, no. That’s not what I meant,” I hurriedly explained. Ilyas paused his movements, eyes trained on me, waiting for me to continue. “It’s just . . . I don’t understand the need for a bed?”
Ilyas’ eyes softened as the acolyte pursed his already thin lips.
“Do you not know what happens after a Mage and Vessel Bond?” Ilyas asked softly from the bed. I shook my head, and Ilyas hummed. “Generally, the Bond requires a . . . physical dedication in order to seal completely.”
“That’s what the blood is for, right?” I asked.
The acolyte shook his head.
“No, the blood is what activates the rune,” he grumbled, mumbling something else under his breath about Lord d’Refan and teaching runes.
I shook my head slightly and looked at Ilyas again, who regarded me like I was a puzzle.
“It means we’ll have to be intimate. Generally, sex is required, but sometimes other sexual acts will do the trick,” he said lightly, and I felt the blood drain from my face as the room spun around me.
Sex?
I hadn’t been able to even think about sex, let alone sport an erection since my time in the dungeon. I swallowed audibly.
“First time with a man?” Ilyas asked and I shook my head, sweat beading on my forehead and down my back.
“Forced Awakening,” I ground out, clenching my fists until I nearly drew blood. His eyes widened a fraction before softeningin understanding. Ilyas sat back against the wooden headboard before patting the bed next to him.
“Come, my Mage. We won’t do anything you’re not prepared to,” he coaxed, and I found myself bending to remove my boots before padding on bare feet across the cold floor and climbing into bed next to him. My heart thumped erratically the entire way.
“The Bondwillrequire—” the acolyte began, but Ilyas cut him off with a hard look.
“I will not force him. We will cross that bridge together.” His tone was hard, brokering no arguments, and my chest swelled in admiration.
This man barely knew me and already was protecting me in a way only General d’Alvey had.
The thought nearly had me in tears.
The acolyte sighed through his nose and shook his head once before pulling the dagger from its leather wrapping without another word. Ilyas took my hand once more, squeezing it once in both comfort and affection.
“The Bonding Ceremony requires use of both forearms, if you could expose those for me now,” the acolyte stated as he moved to my side of the bed first, the dagger gleaming in the low light of the room.
I swallowed heavily, from the magnitude of the situation rather than the potential sting of the blade.
I’d had more than enough of that to last me a lifetime.
The acolyte made a thin slice in my upper forearm, near my inner elbow, before dipping his finger into my quickly welling blood and drawing a complicated looking rune on Ilyas’ right forearm. With a precision that belied his experience, the acolyte moved to Ilyas’ side and performed the same cut before marking a matching rune on my own right forearm.
As he completed the intricate whorls and lines, I felt my skin buzz and something snap inside; a thin tendril that connected the very essence of my being to the man sitting next to me. At the same time, the blood-drawn rune sank into my skin, leaving a faint black outline in its wake—a physical reminder of the Bond we just took. It was like my magic was pulsating just beneath the surface of my skin, desperate to be released into the Vessel that was now tied to me for eternity.
My soul sang and my magic danced at that thought.
He was mine. Forever.
A slow grin spread on my face as I watched in rapt wonder at the look of awe on Ilyas’ own face. I was so enraptured by my Vessel, by this new sensation, that I was barely aware of the acolyte wrapping a thin bandage around the cut on my arm.
“The Bonding is complete, at least on my end. There is now the physical devotion between Mage and Vessel that must occur in order to solidify the Bond completely. Without that, the Bond will fade, as will a piece of your soul.”
