Page 40 of Their Trials

“Oookay,” Rhowyn replied, having no idea that her world was about to change again. For just this moment, I was glad that he was stalling, waiting to drop the weight of the world down on her shoulders again. She deserved to have a moment of respite.

“How are you feeling?” Arryn asked her, concern on his face.

“Honestly? I feel great. I'm a little sore...” Lennox snickered at that statement, and she cut her eyes at him before continuing, hiding her amusement at his childishness. “...but nowhere near like I thought I would be.”

“And your magic?” Arryn questioned her further.

She closed her eyes and sought it out, getting faster at being able to call it to her. “It feels good. I'm not drained like I was yesterday. I almost feel full to the brim.”

“Anything different about it?”

“What do you mean? Is there something I should know? Did something happen?” She bombarded him with questions, her suspicion growing. The peace I had given her was now ruined as she sat up, alert and analyzing. Her eyes darted between us all when no one said anything. “What's going on, guys?”

Just then, Callum walked through the door, and I slumped in my chair in relief at the reprieve. He marched into the room, Arryn rising to meet him halfway. Callum handed him some papers and whispered to him, so low that I couldn't hear a thing.

“You're sure?” Arryn's voice was harsh, causing Rhowyn to furrow her brow in concern.

“If you guys don't tell me what's going on right now...” she threatened them.

“You'll what? Spank them?” Lennox interrupted with a smirk. “I'd like to see that.” He waggled his brows at her playfully.

Rhowyn just gaped at him, torn between chastising him or the other two. I remained quiet, hoping she didn't notice me, not wanting to be the one to deliver the news. Thankfully, Arryn walked back to the table, taking his seat. Callum joined us, sitting on my other side, across from Lennox.

Rhowyn glared at Arryn, knowing that our silence was due to him. “What's going on, Arryn?”

He sighed, running a hand over his face, the pressure weighing heavily on him today. For a moment, I felt bad that he had to bear so much of that responsibility on his own, but he was the best at this stuff. I'd try to help, but I wasn't sure exactly what I could do to ease his burden.

Rhowyn placed a hand over his on the table. “You can tell me. I'll be okay,” she encouraged him.

He pulled his other hand away from his face and looked at her sadly, his grip on her hand tightening. With a sigh, he began his explanation. “After you passed out, we were still in the fully enclosed room with no escape. Or so we thought. To our surprise, there was a glamor over the room, which dropped when we all stood, Callum carrying you. Apparently, we were the first group to enter the center of the maze. We’ll receive a reward tonight at the ball that the Queen is hosting.”

“Okay. That doesn't sound so bad. I'm shocked that we were first, but that's better than not making it out. Right?” Rhowyn said, confused at why we were all so quiet.

“Yes. It's certainly better than not making it out of the maze, although, at one point, I was starting to have doubts about that. That's not the problem, though,” Arryn said.

“Then what is?”

“Do you remember anything before you passed out? When you were healing Baer?” he questioned her.

“Not really. I just know you were trying to stop me. I was pretty drained, and I kept pushing my...” She gasped, sitting back in her seat, her words trailing off.

“What is it? What did you just remember?” he pushed her, leaning forward now, his eyes scanning her for the answers.

“Like I said, I was pretty drained, but then I felt a crack in my chest, painful enough that it caused me to collapse onto Baer's back.” She looked at me sadly, remembering why she'd been so desperate. I had come way too close to losing everything.

“Then, somehow, I felt more magic flowing into me. I don't know where it came from, just that it was there. Not much, just a trickle really, but I could tell there was a lot there, waiting to get out.”

Arryn nodded at her explanation, his brow furrowed in thought. “We suspect that when you were healing Baer, you managed to tie him to you in some way. We’re not sure what it means, but we plan on asking Jude about it.”

“Is this true?” Rhowyn asked me, her eyes wide in shock.

I nodded. “Yeah.” Her mouth dropped open further. “I feel you in here now.” I rubbed at my sternum, where the fullness had yet to leave me. It wasn't painful, just different from anything I'd experienced before. “I think you found a way to connect us, deeper than the bonding ceremony did. I had to sleep next to you because being apart was so painful. That’s why I was in your bed when you woke.”

“Are you sure?” Her eyes scrunched up.

“Don't you feel it? Like you said, you 'feel full to the brim'. Mine is similar, but I can tell it's you.” I didn’t want to admit that I had gotten a sharp, almost stabbing pain in my chest when I'd tried to sleep in my own room, not wanting to scare her away. Not after we’d just gotten so close.

She nodded, her own hand going to rest over the same spot I kept rubbing, the place that ached when she wasn’t near. She closed her eyes, quickly diving into her magic, her eyes darting back and forth under her eyelids.

---