Page 87 of Kneel Before Me

“Only if you tell him.”

“He will kill you if he finds out you are sleeping with the enemy.”

Silence fell. Caspen stared at his mother, the one person he was supposed to be able to rely on. He could not comprehend how she could have done something this stupid. Normally it would not matter who she slept with. But Solomon was the wrong choice.

“I am not sleeping with him.”

Caspen blinked. He had just walked in on them together in bed. What else could they possibly be doing?

“You are not sleeping with him,” he repeated blankly.

Deltene nodded.

“Then what in Kora’s name are you doing?”

His mother pursed her lips. She fell back on the bed. “Your father and I are bound by blood,” she said quietly.

“I am aware.”

“That bond can only be broken by one thing. And if that thing should occur, a curse is put into effect.”

Caspen blinked again. Everyone knew the details of the blood bond curse—if either party slept with someone they had fallen in love with, the other half of the couple would be forced to kill the betrayer. It was part of the reason why such a bond was so rare. Binding your life to someone else’s was an enormous risk unless you were positive both of you would never love another. Most basilisks could not act with such conviction.

“Caspenon,” Deltene whispered. “Do you understand what I am telling you?”

Caspen did understand. He did not want to, but he did. “You are in love with him,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“Yes,” she whispered. “I am.”

“You cannot be.”

“But I am.”

“You say you have not slept together.”

“We have not.”

“So do not.”

Deltene shook her head. “It is not that simple, my son. You cannot understand.”

“Why not?”

“Because you have never been in love.”

Caspen frowned. What he felt for Harmony was intense and all-consuming. He would kill for her. How could that not be love?

“The curse will be triggered when I sleep with him.”

Caspen shook his head. “When you sleep with him?”

“Yes. And when it is triggered, the curse will force your father to kill me.”

“Surely, he will resist.”

“He will not be able to. Blood bonds are sacred; Kora herself sanctions them. To break one is the ultimate betrayal.”

“Then do not break it.”