“When?” Thom asked eagerly.
“If we coordinate it right with Edmund’s arrival, we should catch them off guard,” Ilyan said. The tone of his words made this all sound strangely final, as if tomorrow morning we would wake up and stroll into the forest, expecting to come out again in one piece. Ilyan maybe, but the sight had shown me something other than that for myself.
“Joclyn,” Ilyan whispered, his voice only for me, even though I was sure everyone else could hear him. “I will need your help to track their movements and pinpoint my father’s arrival. Can you do that?”
I nodded at his question, knowing that even if I wasn’t yet ready to fight, that at least was something I could do.
“Then I will need you two to continue watching over the abbey from the tower. Thom, I also need you to watch over Wyn and Dramin. I would like to know the second we can move them.” Ilyan’s voice rumbled through me as he spoke.
“Why don’t I knit you a new Christmas sweater while I am at it?” Thom grumbled under his breath.
“Thomas.”
“Yes, My Lord,” Thom relented, nodding once in acceptance, even though I could tell he was upset over having to do so much.
I had expected to see the same acceptance of the plan on Sain’s face, but instead, he stared right at me, his green eyes as wide as saucers.
I cringed as the knife of his eyes cut into me, moving closer to Ilyan on habit.
Why is he looking at me like that? I asked into Ilyan’s mind, my confusion growing.
I heard Ilyan’s heart rate pick up in my ears before his hand moved to stroke the side of my face. His fingers grazed over the skin as his emotions shifted, his thoughts moving right along with them when his own confusion gave way to a gentle pride.
“He is amazed by you, as am I.” His voice was a whisper as he spoke to me.
“It is more than amazement, Ilyan,” Sain said, his tone matching the awe that his face had held before. I almost jumped at his voice, shocked that he had been paying attention at all.
“What do you mean, Sain?” Ilyan asked, the muscles in his arms tensing as he held me against him protectively, the action flaring my nerves.
“She has been speaking into your mind,” Sain said as an answer, the words almost sounding like a revered song.
“Yes,” Ilyan’s deep voice rumbled through his chest, making it clear he didn’t want to elaborate.
“I had my suspicions before when I saw the burn of the Black Water on your hand, but I thought you were just pacifying an old man…” Sain whispered softly.
My fingers clung to Ilyan’s shirt as I waited for the news that was sure to come.
“You have fused your souls.”
Three
“F-f-us-sed-d?” The word was out before I could stop it, the stutter worse than right after Ilyan had pulled me from the nightmare, when I huddled against the toilet. I couldn’t help it, though; I couldn’t make sense of the confusing mess my father had just divulged.
“That is only lore, Sain.” Ilyan’s voice rumbled in disbelief, his emotions moving through me as his thoughts tumbled over each other.
“Is it?” Sain asked, his awe fading into amusement. “Then tell me, how does my child speak into your mind? There is no magical ability that can accomplish such things. I am sure there are others anomalies that connect you two. Things that cannot be explained.”
I looked away from Ilyan’s shocked expression to my father, my pulse quickening at being referred to as his child. The surprise at such an intimate title wore off as his words sank in, though.
There were other things that connected us.
I had felt them in the way I could feel Ilyan’s emotions, the way I could understand his thoughts before he put words to them. I had thought those were supposed to be normal magical abilities, which had come to me when my full powers had awakened. They felt normal to me. My magic, my mind just knew what to do—how to find Ilyan when he wasn’t near me, how to feel his emotions.
Then why was it only with Ilyan? Why could I not hear my father’s thoughts or feel Wyn’s emotions from across the abbey? The only time I had felt something similar was with Ryland, but we had been bonded then.
Is it a Z?lství? I asked as I turned in Ilyan’s arms, my hands soft against his chest as I looked up to him. I could see my shock looking back at me through him, my silver eyes wide as I tried to understand.
It was the only thing that made sense, out of the limited knowledge I had of magic. I felt like I was sifting through sand in search of a diamond as I tried to understand what Sain had been talking about.
“No, my love,” Ilyan whispered to me, his hand running down my face as he moved my hair out of my eyes. I could hear his thoughts as they trickled down to me; the promise to never bind himself to me until I was ready still strong.