Page 54 of Ties of Death

“And he only put on the second bracer today? He wasn’t wearing it at the feast yesterday when you arrived?”

I shake my head. “He put it on last night. I didn’t want him to, but...”

“The king will do what he wants,” Master Healer Tyr finishes when my voice trails off.

I nod. He may have been saying it simply because Daenn is a king, and kings always get their way, but Daenn is also an incredibly stubborn man, king or no.

Behind me, Eskil shifts and scoffs. He knows how Daenn is. He understands.

“Well…” Master Healer Tyr steps back and finally turns to me. “My own magic is specific to the body, so I can’t see what the bracers are doing to his magic.” He frowns as he speaks, his brow drawing together. “But I can tell you the bracers are draining his life.”

I grit my teeth to keep from shouting, even as my stomach drops at the confirmation. I knew that already. I don’t want him to confirm it. I want him tofixit. Why is the man wasting time instead of doing something about it?

He continues, oblivious to my impatience. “Since he put them on separately, they’re out of sync with each other. But the longer he wears them, the more they will attune, and the faster they will drain him.”

Getting my next words out is like speaking with a mouthful of glass shards. I hate that they even exist, but I need to know the answer. “How long until they kill him?”

Master Healer Tyr tilts his head as he considers it. “I can’t say. It’s impossible to predict how long it will take them to attune to each other. Our best course of action is to remove them immediately.”

A part of me wants to leap forward at the words to rip them off Daenn right now. A smaller part holds me back.

Daenn wanted this. Daenn put them on. He wanted nothing more than to be rid of his magic, but… they’re killing him.

“Do it,” I say. I will take Daenn’s wrath if he’s alive enough to bestow it. And when he’s done raging, I’ll tell him of my idea.

Master Healer Tyr wastes no time, and I move to Daenn’s other side and begin unlacing the other bracer. I glance at Daenn, and the sight makes my fingers shake. He’s so still, almost like he’s already dead. I flex my fingers and focus on my task. I refuse to entertain that idea.

Master Healer Tyr finishes first, and he begins to pull the bracer off Daenn’s wrist.

Daenn arches his back and screams.

That scream holds a world of pain. Inside me, the bond jerks taut, like a bowstring ready to snap.

“Stop!” I cry, jerking my hands away from the bracer.

Master Healer Tyr shoves Daenn’s bracer back into place. Eskil is by my side, I realize. He moved in an instant at Daenn’s reaction.

My whole body shakes, and I drop to the bed by Daenn’s knee. “We almost killed him. We can’t remove them.”

My words hang in the air with an agonizing finality. I stare at Daenn. He’s still again, the only sign of life the movement of his chest as he takes in shallow breaths. Sweat dots his unnaturally pale skin.

After a long moment, Master Healer Tyr re-laces the bracer back to a snug fit. I don’t bother with mine. I hadn’t gotten that far.

“Why isn’t it killing me, too?” I ask, my voice breaking. “Why are they only affecting him even though we’re bonded?”

Master Healer Tyr blinks, bemused. “Are you?” He glances at Daenn and then Eskil.

A tired, slightly hysterical laugh bursts from me. “Daenn dragged me here and married me. Eskil and Sigrid were there as witnesses. It took me a while to notice it, but I can feel him all the time.”

The confusion on Master Healer Tyr’s face lifts, and he looks almost apologetic. “Yes, well, I heard about the marriage, of course, and that would have begun the bond, but there’s no way the king would have completed it.”

A hot flush starts climbing my neck. How could Master Healer Tyr know we didn’t—and then to bring it up in front of Eskil and Sigrid…

Am I the only one delusional enough to think that Daenn might be capable of caring for me enough to have a true marriage?

Master Healer Tyr catches the look on my face, and his eyes widen. He shakes his head rapidly. “Oh, no—no, Your Majesty. Not that. That helps reinforce the bond, of course, and is integral to the marriage being valid, but what I was referring to is a part of the wedding ceremony. Given His Majesty’s aversion to touch, I assumed he skipped over it during the ceremony.”

My memory slaps me in the face. During the wedding, Daenn didn’t removed his gloves. He didn’t even let me put the wedding band in place fully so I wouldn’t graze his skin. I noticed, but I didn’t realize it wasthatsignificant.

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