Page 47 of Ties of Starlight

Warmth. Safety.

Love.

In response, the anxiety quieted.

Idonea was staring down at her saddle, her hair in her face, but he could see her cheeks had turned pink even as her brow furrowed.

He quickly took his place at the front of the group, leading the way and dismissing Frode, telling him to ridewith Lady Asa. He also sent the guards to ride farther ahead as their scouts so no one could overhear.

After a few seconds, Idonea rode up to his side, and her knuckles were stark white as she gripped her reins. Anxiety started climbing up his throat again.

He took a deep breath. “Olaug. You mentioned him. He was Olvir? How do you know?”

Idonea's voice was so soft he almost couldn't hear it above their horses plodding along the road out of the ruins. “Because it always is. It's him. I know him. Every time, I know him.”

“How?”

“He's my soulmate.” Idonea looked at the bag that was now on his horse, containing her journals and the letter her so-called soulmate had left. “I don't know how else to explain it.”

“Try.”

The word came out more guttural than he intended and Idonea winced. Nyrunn silently kicked himself, but he could not soothe the burning pain that had gone through him as she said ‘soulmate.’ He was only inviting more agony, but he was never going to get answers if Idonea couldn’t talk about Olaug.

Idonea sighed. “It's like... Every time I meet him in a new life, it's there. This feeling in the back of my head. I've been looking for something, for someone, and then it's right there. Everything in me says, 'That's him. The one we know. We found him.'“

Nyrunn's stomach rolled.

How could any elf compete with that?

“So when do you know this isn't the first…” Just saying it felt insane. “That it’s not the first life you've lived? Do you meet him and remember?”

“No.” She ran her thumb over her reins, staring at it toavoid his gaze. “Sometimes I know before we meet, sometimes after. The first few times it wasn't until after the wedding. The last few times, years before we're selected as the Cometa Couple.”

“Olaug, when does he realize it?”

“Sometimes, never. Always after me, if ever. Usually after the wedding.”

Nyrunn made a note of that. Why Idonea? Why was she the one remembering?

“So, how did this happen? You're not the first. You’re not Gytha. You're not even part of the first couple after Gytha and Agnarr. If you're on seven now, that means there were several cycles before you that you didn't live through.”

Idonea still wasn’t looking him in the eyes. “During my first life, I think something happened during the rituals, probably at the Constellation Pool since we always come back tied to the comet's next appearance. I think our souls are bound together and to the comet until we get it right.”

While this was still absolutely insane, it was starting to explain a lot.

About the last two weeks. About the last few years. About everything since he’d laid eyes on her that first day in the library.

“So... has this ever happened before?”

She finally looked up at him. “Have you ever happened before?”

He nodded.

“No.” Idonea’s voice was soft, but direct. “Every time something goes wrong, even if we manage to get to the end, but never have I married anyone who wasn't Olaug.”

“So... I'm what went wrong then?”

Her eyes doubled in size. “No!”

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