Page 80 of Glow of the Everflame

She nodded. “For us, marriage is just a ceremony to exchange rings and vows. You can get married for any reason—politics, alliances, money—and you can remarry as often as you like. But a mate...” Her eyes shone with reverence. “A mate is so much more. A mating bond can only be made by love—truelove.”

I gave her a skeptical look. “True love?”

She smiled dreamily, oblivious to my cynicism. “Any two Descended can attempt the mating ritual, but the bonding magic will only work if your love is genuine and unconditional, and if you freely commit to stand by your mate forever, in life and in death. Once you’re mated, your heart is bound to your mate for eternity. You can never love anyone else.”

“Never?Even if they die?”

“Never. It’s a legacy of the Kindred’s choice to give up their immortality for their mortal lovers.”

“Being mated isn’t just a relationship,” Taran said, his expression equally aglow. “It changes you physically. Your bodies become two halves of a whole. If you’re away from your mate for too long, you get ill and your magic weakens. They say you can even die from it.”

“I heard they can sense each other’s emotions,” Eleanor added. “And it doesn’t end at death. Whichever mate dies first, they stay in limbo until the other joins them. Their worthiness is judged together, like a single soul.”

Taran sighed happily. “It’s just soromantic.”

“You two aren’t really selling me on this mating thing,” I joked. They both looked at me like I had sprouted a second head. “It sounds like giving up a lot of yourself. And it’s very... permanent. Why would anyone choose that over marriage?”

“Because they’re yourmate,” Eleanor said, drawing the word out as if that should say it all. “To be connected so deeply to the one you love, even beyond death... it’s the greatest joy anyone can experience.”

Taran leaned over with a savage grin. “And they say sex with your mate ismind-blowing.”

Eleanor swatted at him and laughed, though she threw me a tawdry grin that said she agreed.

“The mating bond is sacred,” he added. “It’s respected by all Descended, no matter the realm. Even if one mate is imprisoned, the other is permitted access to them at all times. To separate mates is an insult to the Kindred themselves.”

I sat back and frowned, trying to imagine being bound in such an intimate and irreversible way—to give away half of my very soul to another and trust them to protect it and remain loyal to it always. My mind lingered on Henri and the marriage proposal I had nearly rejected, and a horrible pit settled in my stomach.

“How do you know if your love for someone is true enough to be mated?” I asked.

“Oh, the rite is very simple,” Eleanor chirped. “You shed a little blood, commit to them forever... if the love is worthy, the magic does the rest.”

It wasn’t themechanicsof the rite that were haunting me, but her words caught my attention.

“If it doesn’t work, haven’t you just admitted that you don’t truly love each other?”

“Happens all the time,” Taran answered.

“It’s the worst,” Eleanor groaned. “Sopainful to watch. Some couples test the rite first to avoid embarrassment. Technically, the bond can be one-sided, so—”

“What?” I cried out, drawing stares from nearby Corbois.

Taran grinned at my outburst. “It’s not uncommon to start the rite in private to be certain it will work. If one mate completes the bond, the other usually will, too.”

“But not always?”

“It’s very rare, but it’s possible,” Eleanor agreed. “They’re called stranded mates. It’s all the worst parts of the bond—having to be near them, feeling their pain, never being able to love anyone else—without any of the benefits.” She winced as if just thinking on it caused her actual pain. “It’s the worst fate I could imagine.”

I studied the couples seated around us. “Who is mated in House Corbois?”

Eleanor and Taran exchanged a loaded glance. A shared pain seemed to pass across their faces.

“Royals marry for strategic alliances, not for love.” Eleanor’s posture drooped. “Uncle Garath told me if I tried to mate without his consent, I’d be exiled from the realm.”

Taran grunted quietly, his glum expression implying he’d received the same order.

My eyes narrowed on the throne where his father now sat. The more I learned about Garath, the more I reviled him. I wasn’t sold on the concept of taking a mate—even a simple marriage to Henri was keeping me awake at night—but I very much believed in love.

I had seen it countless times in my years as a healer. Desperate, gut-wrenching pleas for help when a spouse was gravely ill, and quaking sobs of relief when they recovered. Elderly couples saying their final goodbyes, their devotion steadfast over decades of ups and downs. Healthy spouses who mysteriously passed within days of their partner, their hearts unwilling to keep beating in a world where their beloved’s heart didn’t.

---