“We had expected a male counterpart, darling,” he supplied gently. “But your happiness and safety are paramount. Is this what you want?”
I swallowed hard. “I am content. Hera is steady. She is kind. We decided it was the best path for both of us.”
Mother smoothed her apron, her hands trembling slightly. “Well, if she is kind, then that is what matters. A good match for my daughter.”
“It feels… calm,” I added quickly. “There is a great deal of peace between us, Mother.”
My father watched me for a moment longer, his eyes narrowing slightly before he finally nodded.
“Peace is a good omen,” Mother whispered. “If you are not fighting the bond, then it is a blessing.”
Father offered a measured smile. “If you have found a measure of peace after all this turmoil, Kaelia, then that is all that matters.”
Peace.
My soul did not want peace; it wanted the scorching heat of the man who had called me his little flame.
“Tomorrow,” Mother said, her eyes glistening. “She must come for supper. We will celebrate the binding.”
“Tomorrow,” I agreed.
The rest of the evening was a blur of forced normalcy. I sat at the table, pushing stew around my bowl, listening to Father’s low chuckle and Lyra’s humming.
It was everything I had believed I would struggle to leave behind if I had remained boundless.
Later, when the house had quieted, I sat at the edge of my bed and drew the Whisper Stone from my pocket. It lay in my palm, the runes drifting in slow blue currents.
I tried not to think of Talon. I tried not to remember the way his voice had wrapped around my name.
But memory is a treacherous thing.
The moment my thoughts brushed his, the stone reacted.
Heat flared through it without warning. The soft blue deepened, then sharpened into a furious red that bled across the runes in jagged streaks. It vibrated against my bones with a low, threatening growl.
I cried out and let it fall. My palm burned, the skin flushed red.
I stared at the stone as it settled back to blue. It was a tracking device. It was tuned to my emotions, a spy in my very pocket designed to ensure I did not stray toward the dark.
I crossed the room and unlatched the window, the night air rushing in to meet me. With a flick of my wrist, I threw the bone-pale stone into the darkness of the woods. I did not wait to hear it hit the ground.
I would no longer bow to the sterile commands of Keeper Sora. My soul knew Talon’s words were the only truth, and though I had shackled myself to a bond I did not want, I knew this was not the end.
Because Talon did not strike me as a man who would bow to parchment and signatures. And I was not a woman who could survive a lifetime built on quiet instead of truth.
16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Acool breeze startled me from my slumber.
My breath caught in a strangled gasp, my eyes snapping open to a world suddenly much darker than it should be.
The familiar contours of my bedroom were swallowed by a tall shadow that loomed over my bed, eclipsing the sliver of moonlight that usually silvered my floor.
My hand instinctively shot out, searching for the lamp.
“Do not.”