Xykeir patted at the mage’s face.Nora watched as Riven’s…no…Tassos’sattention was claimed by his Bonded.
“Send for the King,” Avice, at the door, whispered to the guards while glancing nervously back over her shoulder to where Mira and Caris were trying to appease the Bonded.It wasn’t working.
Witless had a pile of babes in his lap and was cooing to quiet their squalling.The floor was completely clear, with no trace of the spell matrix.
Nora was frozen, rattled and confused.Blood was cooling and sticky between her fingers.She had a man’s blood on her hands, she had slit his throat, and yet he was sitting there, healed and whole.
Tassos looked at her again, his eyes warm and—
What had he done?What had he tried to do?
The stone knife was still in her grip but the blade was clean, as if the black stone of the blade had absorbed the blood it had drawn.
Yet Riven—her Riven—sat there, healthy and alive.
Her Riven?Where had that thought—
Nora felt a tightness growing within, constricted around her ribs as if something held her breath within.
Constricting her heart.
She was shaken to her core; helpless in a way she’d never felt before.
He’d turned to her, reached to her.He tried to—
The tightness grew, and she fought it, fighting for this one thought.
Riven…Tassos…had tried to free her.
The very idea was terrifying and strange.Why would he do that?Deep within, she knew, she felt…her heart cracked open.No one had ever done anything like that for her.Ever.
Tassos looked at her, gaze filled with love and compassion and strength.
Nora opened her mouth, to say what…She wasn’t sure.No matter, because in that moment she felt the Bond clamp down, hard and fierce, on her body and her soul.And in the face of that towering, unknown emotion, she let go, slipping back into the Bond’s comfortable, confining embrace.
“Perhaps we should get those babes in nappies, eh?”The King’s voice was calm and strong.
Nora blinked, coming back to her surroundings.
King Xyrath stood in the doorway, looking at the naked babes crawling over Witless and Tassos.Avice must have told him of the outcome, but he only seemed mildly amused, even in the face of Satia’s rage.The Bonded was pacing and cursing, her black hair tumbling from its bun.
Nora hid the stone knife from Xyrath’s view, pressing it to her thigh.
“They need to die,” Saita spat, fuming and furious, turning on the King.
Mira and Caris scurried about, gathering nappies and swaddlings, handing them to Witless while keeping a wary eye on the Bonded.Avice hovered near the door.The moon-child began immediately to tend to the infants and their sobbing began to taper off.
“Now, now, let’s keep our swords sheathed for the moment.”Xyrath strode to Satia’s side and put an arm around her shoulder.“Let’s think this through, sweetling.”
Satia jerked away from him and stomped to the window.
The King followed.“So, it didn’t turn out the way you expected,” Xyrath said.“I understand your frustration.But we made a point of telling people that we were providing our son and heir with companions.Forming a hearth-band, in the old ways.Having them all die suddenly and at once would be awkward, don’t you think?”
Satia cursed.
“Better to dispose of them slowly, over time.”Xyrath said.“But who knows, might be good for the lad.Maybe we will not have to foster him, eh?”
Satia snorted, her arms crossed.“I’ll find another blood mage and we will try again.”
