Sighing, I leaned my head against the windowpane and stared out at the pristine lawns. I’d taken up the bench seating by the bay window in my room, a tray of cooled tea and biscuits untouched beside me. Vora would be back any minute now to clear it. Ten days. Ten days had passed, and I was incapable of doing anything to save my family.
A soft knock sounded from the door, and Vora entered quietly. She looked as disheartened as I felt, her eyes downcast. She barely spoke while I recovered, and I was grateful for that. When Orin visited, he tried to soothe me with promises of future attempts and the knowledge that my brothers were still alive. I knew that. The only time I left my room was to lie on the floor by their coffins and cry. But I’d dried the last of my tears a handful of days ago and was growing weary of Orin’s reassurances.
“No tea today?” Vora asked quietly as she came to my side and picked up the tray.
I shook my head. Outside, a farmhand was ushering the stags into an open field. Zota stood out from the rest. His movements were lithe and strong, and he frequently pranced about as if begging the others to play with him. I wondered how old he was, if his age had anything to do with the success of my cure. I doubted it, but I was grasping at straws to try to find an answer.
“Orin requested you join him for a walk.”
Vora’s gaze traveled over my body, searching for something. I’d bathed and dressed on my own in the hopes some action would alleviate the ache in my mind. Maybe a walk would help.
Vora’s stare softened. “Or I can tell him you’re sleeping.”
I looked at her out of the corner of my eye. “No, it’s all right.”
She settled on the window bench beside me. “You carry too much weight.”
“Not by choice.” I returned my focus to the window and Zota. His innate bestial magic, plus the glamour bandage from Orin, had kept him alive despite the scale of his infection. Blight wasswift when it came to claiming the life of a mortal, but when blight attacked an Ever it was a deliberate, prolonged assault. Something meant to last years, until the suffering finally became too much.
I wasn’t sure how it would be to try to mend Nohr or Noam, if my reaction would be as visceral. Fear snaked through my gut. If I failed and one of them died in my arms, I’d never survive.
“I’m sorry, Edira. I wish I could’ve done more to help.” Vora toyed with the teapot. “If only the medicines we blended together worked half as well on blight as they did on you.”
Blended.I reflected on combining Ever cures with my own tinctures. There was something about melding the two healing practices together that...
A rush of adrenaline coursed through my limbs. “Vora, where is Orin?”
“In the courtyard.” She watched me closely.
“I have to go.” I jumped to my feet and turned in a circle as I searched for my shoes. Prickling awareness danced over my skin. I knew the answer. Power sharing. Heartbond. I’d waited long enough. All this time I’d been hesitant because I didn’t truly know, didn’t truly trust, but not anymore. Warmth purled from my chest. I loved him. I had been too afraid to admit it. Too afraid to acknowledge something that would last only a short while with my death looming nearer.
All the more reason to hold on tighter.
Orin’s words filled my mind, my soul, and the fears that had been plaguing me for days drifted away. We could find a way to get rid of blight together. If we combined our magic, we could take on anything. Including blight.
“What’s gotten into you?” Vora set down the tray and stood. Her eyes tracked my movements as I whirled about the room, finally finding my shoes and quickly securing them in place.
“I’m going to ask Orin to be my heartbond.”
“What?” She froze for a moment, only her stare trailing afterme. Then she moved between me and the door and placed her hands on my shoulders. “Please.” She opened her mouth to speak and then forced a hard swallow. “Ask every question. Be absolutely certain.”
“Vora.” I placed my hands over hers. “Iamcertain. I’m certain this is the only way.” I stepped out of her grip and into the hall, quickly taking the stairs to the first floor. Vora called my name as I went, but I didn’t stop. I pushed through the double doors leading to the courtyard, and I found Orin sitting on a stone bench cradling a small book in one hand. My heart fluttered at the sight.
My feet pounded against the cobblestone, and he glanced up from the pages at my approach. Relief and shock blended in his features until he smiled. “Edira?”
I sank to the bench before him and closed his book over his fingers. “I know what to do.”
He frowned. “About?”
“The blight.”
His eyes grew wide, his smile brilliant. I could barely contain my excitement, and his response only fueled my resolve.
“What do we do?”
We.I bit my lip as I shifted to hold his hands in mine. Nerves tingled in the pit of my belly. It was strange to suddenly be hit with a burst of anxiety when every other interaction with him had been so easy. Natural. Yet something about asking him to be my heartbond, to tie him to me, changed everything. I loved this man, this Ever. We were already a team.
“I want to be your heartbond.” I said the words in a rush before I could take them back. “I know I don’t have as much to offer in terms of power sharing as some other Evers, but—”
