Ivor took a steadying breath to soothe her anger. “Your fates are tied together now. If you die, he dies.”
Her vision tunneled. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be true. Vali wouldn’t keep something like that from her, he wouldn’t bind his life to hers knowing their timeline. The air suddenly was thin and unsatiating, her legs tingled until they were completely numb and unable to support her weight. Her knees buckled and she fell on her backside, her stare a thousand miles beyond where she sat.
But hehadtold her. Just not outright. He told her their threads would be one, but she hadn’t the reasoning to redact something like this. She’d never in her wildest deductions believe he’d tie himself to her fate.
“No…” she whispered. The salt from a single tear stung the torn flesh of her cheek.
She heard Ivor kick a rock across the pavers in frustration, her breath still heavy. She neither helped her nor spared her another minute of her time. “I have to go,” she mumbled.
Ailsa watched her as she turned away and left in the opposite direction of whence they came. She stared up at the ivory statue of herFraendi, a storm of emotions all competing for dominance in her heart. No longer did her decision affect just her. She had to tell him the truth, the complete truth about what the Crow told her.
This changed everything.
“Ailsa?”Seela’s voice cut through the quiet. But she could not turn to face the commander. Not when she probably thought of her as the most selfish creature in the Nine Realms, unknowingly dragging herHjartablóddown into the pitfall of death.
“Ailsa, look at me! What happened?” Seela crouched in front of her and assessed her wound with wide eyes. “Who did this to you?”
“I’m so sorry,” was all she could say. “I didn’t know, I swear. I didn’t know about theFraendibond.” More tears followed the leader until her cheeks were damp. Seela wiped the diluted crimson streaks with the back of her shirt sleeve.
“Why are you apologizing?”
“He didn’t tell me our fates were bound together now…”
“Oh, Ailsa,” she said. Seela smoothed a hand down her back, remaining quiet for a while. Letting the silence wear away the shock. “Do not apologize for something so beautiful. The fact Vali chose you means your bond with him runs deeper than choice, than life itself. Some elfin wait lifetimes to find their mate! Don’t you understand how much this means to him?”
“But he’s going to die!” She was sick just thinking about it.
“How do you think he felt when you told him about the Crow and the threat of your death?”
“Probably just like this,” she admitted weakly. She understood what Seela was saying but she still felt this was a blindside. He should have been honest with her. “Is that why… you were so mad at us this morning?”
“What—no!” She flinched. “Vali is like my brother. I don’t ever want to catch him post-sex ever again! And please refrain from… pleasing him while I wait in the next room.” A shiver rippled down Seela’s spine, and she shook it off, making Ailsa’s lips betray a ghost of a smile. “Come on,” the commander beckoned as she stood up. She held out her hands to pull Ailsa to her feet. “Let’s go get your face fixed and then we’ll find Vali. But Ailsa?”
“Aye?”
“Please don’t be too hard on him. Yes, he kept a major part of the bond from you, but this only proves he loves you more than life itself. For the sake of the little time you both have left, don’t ruin this for him.”
When Ailsa sat with Erik on her final night in Drakame, she had only asked for a love that rewrote the stars, for someone who would look past her early death and love the person beneath the illness. Vali didmore. He had known the consequences of this bond, and he still tied his thread to hers without a second thought.
Who was she to choose his fate?
She nodded and embraced Seela in a tight hug, the elfin stiffened in surprise before timidly returning her embrace. “Thank you, Seela, you are a good friend to us both.”
The commander walked her back to the castle while blood still oozed from the three lines on her cheek. She brought a hand to her face and skimmed the torn flesh, the breeze drying the sticky liquid and tightening her skin as she spoke. “You know what I’m curious about?”
“What is that?” Seela asked.
“How did Ivor know about theFraendibond, and why did she say it ruined everything?” She had been too shocked to question the wolven before she fled, but it troubled her heart.
“I don’t know, but I intend to find out when I see her again,” Seela replied.
Ailsa looked behind them in the direction where the wolven disappeared, but she was long gone.
“Aye,” she said. “Me too.”
His mother could hardly look at him when she saw the mark on his hand, heard the announcement from his lips.
It hurt him to know she didn’t approve of his choice, but that was why he made it without consulting anyone. There would always be someone who disagreed, someone who would try to talk him out of his decisions. This was one he needed to make for himself. Alone.