The Bound (Ascension #2)(21)

“No. No. No. You can’t do this to me, Avoca,” Cyrene commanded.

Tears welled in Cyrene’s eyes, and her hands trembled as she tried to stop the blood from pooling around at the chest wound. It hadn’t hit her heart, but it was doing enough damage with internal bleeding that it couldn’t be stopped.

Cyrene reached futilely for her magic, but it wasn’t there. She wasn’t skilled enough in healing to mend the wound anyway, but her uselessness was debilitating.

“You’re not supposed to go this way!”

“Cyrene,” she garbled, “I have fulfilled my destiny.”

“No. Don’t even say that!”

“A life for a life.”

“Stop! Stop!” Cyrene screamed. Tears splashed down her cheeks, and she pressed her face onto Avoca’s chest. This can’t be happening. “You think that you’ve fulfilled your destiny, but your destiny is to live.”

“I love you,” Avoca whispered.

“I love you, too.” Cyrene’s voice shook.

Avoca’s eyes fluttered closed, and then she went still.



Cyrene opened her tear-filled eyes and stared at Avoca, where they sat crumpled in a heap on the floor. It was as if they had gone through a lifetime together all in a matter of hours. Avoca nodded in understanding of what had passed between them. They were both still shaking, but their arms were linked.

Loyalty. They had sure proven their loyalty to each other.

The crown, home, love, and death.

They were cruel challenges, but Cyrene already felt closer to Avoca. Her soul had been stripped bare for another to witness.

“You completed the task,” Queen Shira said in awe. “Let me perform the final binding. I suspect you would like to finish?”

“Yes,” they said in unison.

There was no longer fear. Just determination.

A smile crept onto Avoca’s face, and Cyrene’s eyes crinkled at the corner. They stood uneasily, holding on to each other on unsteady feet.

Queen Shira dropped her hand onto their clasped hands and breathed in deeply. Energy passed from the Queen to the joined hands. The Queen spoke a few words in a language Cyrene did not understand. Then, a jolt zapped through both of them, and she released them.

When she next looked up at Avoca, Cyrene gasped. A gold nimbus hovered all around herself and Avoca, like they were shining beacons of light. The magic coursed through them, and when it had finished, the light disappeared. It embedded itself into their wrists, leaving a shimmering gold tattoo in the shape of a dragon making a figure eight, and then vanished entirely.

They released each other and took a step back.

For the first time, Cyrene’s mind was filled with the sense of another. She could feel Avoca’s presence.

They were bound.





“Excuse me,” a voice said from the entrance to Rhea’s office in Master Caro Barca’s home where she lived in Albion. His fingers wrapped softly on the wooden door.

Her head snapped up. “High Order Eren!”

“Hello, Rhea.”

“How can I help you?” she asked, standing quickly.

“King Edric has requested your presence at court. We should have a report in from Aurum,” Eren said.

“Wonderful. We should go swiftly then.” She grabbed her bag and hurried with him out of her home.

Ever since Cyrene had left, Rhea’s life had been turned upside down. In truth, the kingdom had been turned upside down.

High Order Eren had been in charge of the investigation regarding the deaths of the Affiliates and High Order when they traveled on procession to Albion. It had turned out that the deaths were linked to Cyrene. After discovering that she had magic, she had confided in Rhea and told her that she was fleeing the country to discover how to use her abilities.

While that was great news for Cyrene, it’d left Rhea in a terrible place. She was the only one who knew the truth, and as much as she hated lying, she had promised to hold Cyrene’s secret.

“Do you think they’ve located Cyrene?” Rhea asked.

High Order Eren sighed and let his guard down. He didn’t do it often. “I’m not sure. King Edric sent the remaining Affiliates back to Byern this morning. I fear he is losing hope on her rescue.”

“It has been weeks since she disappeared without a sign.” Rhea wished the King would call the entire thing off, but she couldn’t sound too eager about it either. “I just hope she’s okay.”

“I’m sure she will be,” High Order Eren said, dropping his hand down on hers.

She stared at their hands between them. Their eyes met, and then he quickly pulled away.

“She’s a fighter, and as far as we know, she has Affiliate Maelia with her. Born with two Captains as her parents, I’m sure Maelia will defend Cyrene. I can’t think she was involved,” he said.

“Oh, yes…Affiliate Maelia.” Rhea heard the bitterness in her own tone but couldn’t seem to stamp it out.

Maelia and Eren had had some kind of relationship while on procession together, and every time Maelia’s name was brought up, Rhea would feel guilty, for she could not stop the growing feelings she felt for Eren.

Their trip to the palace was thankfully a short one. Albion had been built up around Krisana, the great white castle, which gleamed like a whitewashed pearl at all times. Surrounding the castle were the various neighborhoods called Vedas. Her master lived in the wealthiest of all the Vedas, and his estate spanned an entire city block.