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Another weekand the isles were bidding farewell to the foreign guests. I thought when the day came that my folk returned to Etta, I would be tormented. A part of me would always live in the soil of Ruskig, but this was my home. This was where my heart had taken root.
“You feel right about this?” Valen asked me. He folded his arms over his chest, watching Calista tickle Prince Aleksi near a longship being loaded. Sol and Tor laughed when their son tried to tickle the storyteller back.
“I can’t force her to remain with us. We’re not sending her alone.”
“You trust him?” Kase narrowed his eyes at the men loading the ship.
“Yes, you skeptical fiend.” I rested a hand on the hilt of my descendant blade. “She is an heir of this land as much as Saga, perhaps more, and that affords a certain protection. Whether she likes it or not.”
Cuyler and a unit of blood fae watchers were under the new position of guarding the heir of House Ode. It would be strange not to have the blood heir around, but I felt better knowing he’d be with Calista in Raven Row. Davorin would hunt her as fiercely as he hunted Saga.
“She’s hiding,” Valen said. “We all know what grief does. She wants to go on as if life has not changed.”
“I know.” I removed the crinkled note I’d found when we returned to the Court of Blood. “Read this. Annon left it for me before we ever went after Eryka.”
“Without the first bond, you will not have the gifts of fate. She will fight against the call, but do not let his patience wane, or I do not know what becomes of such a bond if left ignored too long. She must find her voice.” Valen read the words out loud, not giving a reason, but we’d known Kase long enough to take note how he never read. If he was asked, Malin conveniently took over. No mistake, we’d never broach the subject, and would likely always read out loud in his presence.
Valen looked at me, eyes wide when he finished. “What do you make of this?”
“A first bond. It’s been repeated numerous times.” I lowered my voice and leaned in. “You both saw the king’s ward from my memory.”
“Yes,” Kase nodded. “The boy who could twist fate like the king.”
“But only for House Ode,” I said. “And after a time, do you remember, he was always joined by another.”
It only took a few breaths for Valen to curse with realization. “He was always with the child. With . . .”
“Calista.” Kase said, his rocky rasp low like a building storm.
I nodded. “What if her power is strengthened and shared with another? Like mine and Saga’s.”
Valen huffed. “You think this ward is alive?”
“At this point, I believe anything.”
Wraith was no child when he led me through my sleep. He was sharp, demanding, and soft about the past in many ways. There was a clear power emanating from him, even as a phantom guide. What if he hadn’t joined from the Otherworld? What if he, like so many others, was hidden by Riot’s curse, waiting for one to find the bond that was missing?
“I hate fate.” Kase shook his head. “Bloodshed and pain could be spared if it would be even the slightest bit clearer.”
I chuckled. “Ah, my friend, but we’d never have met without a few twists of fate.”
“How empty my life would be.”
“I am taking that sincerely,” I told him. “Not a drop of irony shall I find in your tone.”
Kase smiled—for him—and tugged the black cowl over his head. “I am leaving. I have a wife who carries my tormenting littles. I’ve been told—more threatened—by Elise, that I should be serving her every spare moment I have.”
Valen laughed. “Wait until she brings those littles into the world. When you witness that, then you will want to kiss her feet, and no matter what, never utter a complaint of pain again.”
Kase paled a bit, but bid us a mumbled farewell before he rushed off. No doubt to find Niklas about creating a way Malin could do the whole ordeal without a drop of discomfort.
Alone, Valen held out his arm. I clasped it and pulled him into a quick embrace.
“I never thought I’d call you King Ari again,” he said, grinning. “But the isles are fortunate to have you on the throne. I should know, I was a prisoner of the tyrant of Ruskig once.”
“Some of my most cherished days.” My smile faded. “Perhaps consider Stieg or Frey to be your ambassador. They know the isles well.”
“I’ll give that some thought.” Valen gripped my shoulder. “You may not be my ambassador, Ari, but I will come and bring war to your shores if you do not write us. Even if it is Saga to Elise. Elise is desperate to make up for holding a knife to her throat.”
