Rorik gripped the back of his neck as his gaze darkened. “Family name.Honor.My father cared about order and appearances above all, and his obsession with hiding my mother’stransgressionled to the evervow.”
“Transgression?”
“I am not my father’s blood. Seville and Orin are my half-siblings. I am a Fernglove only because my father hated the idea of anyone learning of my mother’s dalliance. I was expected to act as his son even though, behind closed doors, he refused to acknowledge me. His disgust was palpable, and my siblings took it upon themselves to follow in his stead. There was little peace. Lots of pain.
“But outside the walls of our home”—Rorik flexed his hands as he stared at one of the tree limbs—“they pretended like everything was fine. I couldn’t take it. I lashed out often, until my father created the evervow to keep his deteriorating family ties, the precious Fernglove name, intact.”
I followed his gaze to a thick limb that branched from the trunk. I had no way of knowing which appendage belonged to which deceased family member, but there was an unmistakable air of malice that grew from him the longer he stared at that arm. After a weighted pause, he shook his head and retrieved his shirt, easily slipping it back into place.
“Rorik.” I failed to find words as I saw decades of pain etched into his gaze. I couldn’t imagine growing up in a loveless home, not to mention my siblings betraying me. If Noam or Nohr ever abandoned me the way Seville and Orin did...
As horrific as his past was, his story revealed a truth I couldn’t deny: he held no love for this place. I pored over the words of Rowena’s letter in my mind. If I wanted Rorik’s help, we needed to break the vow.
“Is there a way out of it?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Evervows aren’t meant to be broken. My mother tried to find a way, but I’m not sure if she succeeded.”
A heady sense of knowing filled my limbs. The name. It had to be the key.
“Rorik”—I grasped his forearms—“I might have a way. But we need to do this carefully.”
“What are you talking about?” His eyes flicked between my hands and my face. “How?”
My words came out in a tight rush. “Rowena left me a message. I think I can do it, but not yet. I still need to heartbond with Orin, so I—”
Rorik took a sharp step back, as if I’d slapped him across the face. “Heartbond. After everything I just told you, you still want to be with him?” He hissed as he adjusted the collar of his shirt, giving it a harsh yank. “Do you even know where he is right now?”
“No, I don’t, but that’s not what I’m trying to say. I just need—”
“He’s with Ossanna. And Issa.”
I stalled as I pictured Issa and her sweeping dark hair. She’dbeen quiet the last time I saw her, standing with her mother and brother on the lawns outside Fernglove. She had no need to attend lessons, but that didn’t keep her from stopping by.
“Why?”
Rorik glowered at me. “He’s reassuring Ossanna about the terms of their agreement. Issa was meant to be his heartbond in a few years.” His eyes scoured my face before dropping to my heart. “He’ll be sure to tell them of your shortened lifespan and how it has little impact on his promise.”
A smaller, weaker part of me was thrust under another wave of hurt. Given everything, I shouldn’t have been surprised. But heat still pricked behind my eyes. Yesterday, we’d shared a hopeful bliss, and now... none of that mattered.
Thoughts fell into place like sink weights in water.
First, Seville’s words:
I met someone years ago who could summon stars that dusted into diamond-like particles. It was beautiful.
Then the black-haired attendant in the foyer:
She did pass rather quickly after, well, you know.
And of course, Amalyss:
Especially since she deteriorated after moving here.
My breath hit harder, faster. I’d known that Lorelai had been Orin’s former heartbond, but I hadn’t connected the dots. The stars. The magic he’d used while we’d come together. A brackish substance flooded my tongue, and I forced it back down with a hard swallow. Lorelai Starglen had bonded with Orin, and she’d died soon after.
Not the first time, either.
I fisted my hands by my sides as the whispered words of the attendant surfaced in my mind. Orin was a black widow that no one could control, and I’d fallen into his web. How many other powers did he have stored away? Rorik was right. I had no fucking idea what I was getting into.
