“What did you just say?” asks Ronan. “What was that word?”
“Shadowbound,” repeats Seth. “Of course. Bound, as in bound together. As in two.”
Ronan’s look is alarming. He’s heard this word before. “Zara said that to me. She told me we were shadowbound, and that’s why our magic affected each other. But she didn’t explain it.” He turns to Seth, seeing him in a whole new light. “Do you know what it means?”
“Extraordinary power. That’s all I know. I didn’t realize it meant two people until this moment. But whyyou two?” He shakes his head in exasperation. “I had a palimpsest with the word on it, but I’m afraid I burned it on our way out. Oh, well. I’m not sure whatyouneed extraordinary power for.”
Ronan completely ignores my brother’s repeated insults. “A palimpsest?”
“A book that was overwritten,” I say. “I saved the scrap, Seth. Taran has it.”
The three of us all turn to where Taran is helping Octavia with the sail. He looks up, his face blanching when he sees us all staring.
“Like a frightened rabbit,” says Seth, his voice teasing but not without affection.
I watch the way his body tenses as Taran approaches. Godsdammit, Ronan is right. They’re definitely attracted to each other.
I was so worried about Seth hurting us, I missed it entirely.
“Taran, do you have that bit of paper I gave you? The weird old scrap of it?”
Taran reaches into his pockets and pulls out the stack of Seth’s orders, dropping a few sheets to the ground as Seth hisses his disapproval.
“Look at this mess. Did you have to crease them like this? They could be useful!” Seth angrily smooths the papers, snatching one out of Taran’s hand as he tries to help.
Taran raises his eyebrows, and though I can’t sense it, I can imagine him shaming himself for being attracted tothisman, of all the people in the damned world.
“There it is,” I say, reaching into the pile for the thick scrap. “I know it doesn’t look like much. Seth says you have to reveal the writing with some kind of special elixir.”
“Let me try,” says Ronan, touching the paper with light from his fingertips.
“Holy shit,” says Seth, snatching the palimpsest from Ronan and then handing it back when he realizes he needs Ronan’s magic to see it. The faintest outline of letters appears on the page where Ronan’s light touches it. “I can read it. Well, most of it.”
_described by High Priestess of Vahlo Lady Postuma of House Juni as ‘shadowbound,’ a unique form of sacrilege occurring only in certain shadow-born in which the sacred__of the Codex is torn asunder, granting extraordinary powers. A__________
________________________regardless of royal ties. See also Queen Julia I
“You see?” Seth points at the paper excitedly. “Nothing about pairs in there. But the royal ties—that’s where the bound part comes in. The royals aren’t shadow-born. They haven’t been for centuries, not even by marriage. ‘Shadowbound’ must mean that a shadow-born and light-born are bound together.” He bounces his eyebrows up and down, entirely too pleased by his own cleverness.
“Sacrilege?” I say.
“Well, of course a priestess would say that. Anything that isn’t in their bloody Codex is sacrilege,” says Seth. “Butextraordinary powers. That’s you two. It has to be.”
Ronan and I look at each other uneasily. I do think Seth is likely right about this, especially if Zara told Ronan the same thing. But even if it were true, what would it mean for us?
And what does it matter right now, anyway? Unless Ronan seeing a little better in the dark could somehow stop an army of tens of thousands, it isn’t likely to do us much good.
“Do you have the rest of this book?” Ronan asks. Apparently, he cares about this more than I do. And so does Seth.
For once, the two of them seem to agree on something.
I find it unsettling.
“It’s gone. Likely burned byhiskind to barbecue babies, or whatever it is that they do.” Seth looks at Taran with remembered loathing. He may be attracted to Taran, but it’s going to take him a long time not to hate him for what has happened between our people. Hell, knowing Seth, that loathing might be part of the appeal.
“What are all of you doing over there? Doesn’t anyone want to make it back to the palace?” whispers Octavia loudly enough we can hear her across the deck.
She has brought thePegasusashore in a protected inlet beneath a low cliff on the southern bank of the Mara. The city of Faros looms behind us to the east, just a short walk from where we’ve landed. Ronan explains that while thePegasuswas able to leave Faros during the night unmolested, we won’t be able to return to the city the same way. Dawn is approaching, putting us at risk of notice by Nithyrian forces, and Ronan couldn’t take the risk of allowing the wrong Nithyrian vessel to cross the boom into the city’s waters.
