“We don’t know. The menders are conducting a detailed examination now.”
The pink hue of morning light crept in through the far window beyond the curtain, where I noticed Bayne’s bed sat undisturbed. He hadn’t slept. A twinge of guilt raked at my chest. The queen’s eyes followed mine.
“Your ship departs soon, Bonder. I’ll see you at the top of the hour.”
That twisting scent followed Queen Antares as she sauntered from the room, slivers of skin peeking out as her hips swayed beneath her shift. Marian followed her out, closing the door behind her. I turned back to Bayne and gripped his hand, my lips kicking up in a smile despite the unease this news brought.
“I saw the threads, Bayne. My threads.Our threads,” I finally said, leaning in close after I relayed everything that transpired, my heart beating rapidly in hopeful triumph. “We are bound by more than Bellator powers. A soulbinding thread was there.I saw it.”
I squeezed his hands as my heart threatened to combust. Bayne quietly listened, his emerald eyes never leaving mine. His calloused thumb brushed strokes over the top of my hand as his brows pinched upward.
“Lyv,” he began, eyes softening. “Only mystics have ever had threadsight. You have yet to whisper with the wind or water,” he continued gently, eyes drifting to my lips as he cupped my face with his other hand.
I reined in the twisting in my gut, my own inadequacy sinking into the darkness that smothered my soul.He didn’t believe me.Bayne’s brows tilted ever so slightly in regret, an apology forming on his lips. I quickly shook my head, squashing the self-pity.
“I’m so sorry,” he continued, a pained look crossing his features. “But it’s impossible. Elves and humans cannot be soulbound. They say the Waters of Ascendiel show you what youneedto see, not what youwantto see.”
Blood rushed from my face as I wilted before him, devastated at his disbelief. I was so certain what I’d seen… Had I imagined it? Had I simply seen what I wanted to see?
“But—” I began, as I tried tapping against our connection once more, running into a solid wall. “Why won’t you let me in?” I whispered, the minutes suddenly turning into seconds.
He held my gaze for a moment before he swallowed.
“I can’t,” he said, voice cracking. His throat bobbed as he shook his head.
The air sucked from my lungs as his next words sank in.
“There is a thread linking the queen and me. I canfeelit. And I’m sorry, Lyv, but it is different from what I feel with you. I must keep myself cut off from my connection with you all, or I fear she will use this bond with me to get to you. I’m so sorry.” His thumb brushed against my lips as he planted a kiss on my forehead.
I blinked away tears. “But you won’t do it, right? You won’t bind yourself. You can’t.”
Bayne dropped his hand to mine, his eyes again shooting to my neck before he began shaking his head.
“You are my anchor, Lyv. My home. The night that brings the stars.”
He reached toward the door, and I grabbed his hand.
“Bayne—”
“Say you’ll remember this,” he murmured, lips inches from my ears.
“I’ll remember,” I breathed.
“I would do anything for my kingdom. I would do anything for you,” he said, thumb and forefinger gripping my chin as he leaned in. “Anything.”
The kiss he planted on my lips was hard but brief, bringing an air of finality with it. My heart cracked as he pulled away, a strange mixture of grief and self-doubt colliding in my chest and replacing the spark of hope that had ignited at the Waters of Ascendiel.
