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“Who?”
Eisley gave two names I didn’t recognize, but Kierden swore viciously.
Ice crept over his fists as he stormed down the hallway. Eisley kept his pace without a problem.
Death and Bright remained beside me as I stared behind them for a moment, then Bright bumped the side of my leg with her nose.
Right.
I needed to stick with them, because of the pain that would come from the bond if we were separated too much.
So I slipped onto Bright’s back, leaning toward her and burying my fingers in her fur as she and Death caught up to the fae.
“You’ll need to act indifferent,”Bright murmured to me.“Don’t let anyone see that you and the king have gotten closer.”
I agreed.
Eisley and Kierden climbed onto the backs of their bonded esu, and then we were all moving quickly through the trees. I couldn’t help but stare at the vibrant flowers that had spread through the jungle all around us. The further we ran, the more flowers I noticed.
None of them had been there before me.Ihad grown them and made the beauty of the jungle even more vibrant and alive.
I was proud of that, even if the tiniest bit of fear was curling in my belly at the fact that we were headed toward the bodies of two mated fae who had been killed.
We reached a small house built inside a tree. There were a few fae already standing on the platform just outside it. A few of them were crying, a few looked hollow… and a few looked absolutely furious.
Everyone parted for Kierden and Eisley, and their bonded esu stepped through the crowd and into the house.
Bright and I remained outside with the other fae. We hoped it would show respect for their dead and put distance between me and the king. A few of the fae glowered at me, and I tried not to shrink under the weight of their hatred. Most of them ignored me, so that made it slightly better.
“They’re just mourning,”Bright said quietly.
“She told me she wasn’t going to seal the bond,” one of the women near us said, wiping tears away with shaky hands. “She knew this could happen. Why did she seal it?”
“Why do any of them seal it?” another woman asked bitterly.
When no one answered, I realized it was a genuine question.
I remembered the itch in my mind to speak the words Kierden had said to me. The desire to seal the bond, even when I knew I didn’t want that.
If I was in love with him, or actually wanted a sealed bond… veil, it would’ve been impossible to fight.
“They seal it because the magic pushes them to,” I said quietly.
Everyone on the platform looked at me.
I explained, “There’s an urge in your mind. It’s unconscious, almost. You find yourself thinking the words you’d have to say to seal it, while the magic pushes you to speak them aloud. Even if you don’t want it, you find yourself itching to do it. I’m so sorry for your loss, but it’s not their fault; the magic most-likely made the decision for them.”
Slowly, all of their gazes lowered to the glowing handprint around my wrist. Someone had taken my bracelet off me at some point while I was healing, and I hadn’t thought about putting it back on.
My face warmed, slightly.
Kierden and Eisley emerged from the house, still on the backs of their bonded esu. Everyone was silent as they looked at the king.
There was something in his eyes—some combination of fury, horror, and guilt.
“Just like the last times,” he said. His stance remained strong, and his gaze grew harder.
“The laws against sex helped prevent this,” one of the male fae said.
