His skin burned under the flame of Ilain’s proximity, her lips only a breath away. He swallowed down the longing, hardening himself against the urge within. And his words were a terse whisper between them.
“Then you’ll just have to be patient.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
1ST OF RADIA, 1574
Already, Evylin was growing weary of the crowd at the camp. Returning to the road was exhausting on its own. Coupled with their urgent quest for the Relics, the demanding training Brea put them through, the sensation of overwhelming emotions from Deckard, and the countdown of her last days with Hewitt, the continual presence of others became increasingly frustrating.
Dropping to a seat on the grass, Evylin heaved for breath after Brea’s latest training session. After years of training with Hewitt, she’d thought herself in peak condition. Now, Brea’s regimen had her second-guessing herself.
It appeared that Ethenn was of the same mind. “How is it that she is harder on us than Hewitt?” he asked, sweat dripping off his nose.
“It’s because I don’t have a soft spot for you,” Brea said, surveying their exhaustion from the side. She’d worked up a sweat as well, though she wasn’t nearly as worn out as the two of them.
Ethenn blew out a puff of air. “Hewitt only ever cared about Evie. He pushed me as hard as anyone else.”
Evylin reached over to shove his shoulder. “Hewitt was hard on me too.”
“If a mother hen is hard on her chicks, then sure.”
She threw a clump of grass at him. Then she heaved a breath and stared at the thick curtain of trees above them. “Shouldn’t being Bonded make this easier?” she lamented. “I thought I was supposed to be stronger.”
“You are stronger,” Brea said. “That doesn’t mean you get to stop working.”
Evylin grumbled her discontentment at hearing the truth.
Ethenn brushed the grass off his damp shirt. “How does that work?” he asked. “I mean, in terms of Bonding. How does it affect your magic? Can you...feelthat it’s different?”
Worn out, Evylin didn’t want to think about the complexities she now felt inside of her. “Maybe?” she sighed.
His frown made it clear that her short reply wasn’t a good enough answer.
“I don’t know, Ethenn,” she managed through a chuckle. “Jonn and I have been Bonded for three days. I knew nothing about it before, and all I know now is that I hardly feel different at all, and yet...”
He waited with expectation as she smiled and thought about the constant sense of a familiar presence in her chest. “And yet,” she continued, “it feels unlike anything else I’ve experienced.”
“How so?” Ethenn prompted.
Finding the words felt impossible. “It’s just... On the surface, I feel the same as ever. Our relationship feels the same. Nothing seems to have changed.” Evylin paused and set a hand on her chest. “But underneath all that, something has happened. And now...I can feel him.”
Ethenn’s brow rose.
Evylin tapped her sternum. “Right here. Even though we’re nearly a mile out of camp, I can feel him like he’s right here beside me.”
“Isn’t that...” Ethenn fumbled for words. “Odd?” he concluded.
She let out a breathy laugh. “It is,” she admitted readily. “But it’s also comforting, being able to sense every bit of my husband at every second. Somehow, I know exactly where he is.” She pointed toward the camp, letting her internal compass guide her to Deckard’s precise location. “There. If you were to draw a straight line from the tip of my finger, somehow, I know it would end right at his heart.”
Ethenn and Brea listened with varying degrees of interest. While Ethenn was rapt, taking in all the information for himself, the other woman stood dispassionately nearby.
Letting her hand fall, Evylin sighed. “Ilain gave me a book,” she said. “It’s all about Bonding and what it is and does, and I imagine it explains all this better than I ever could. She told me that Jonn and I need to read it, so I assume she’ll tell you to read it too.”
“Attachments of the Soul?” Brea asked, a knowing look on her face.
“Yes.”
She nodded. “I tried to read that once. Couldn’t make it through the first five pages.”
