Page 77 of The Exile's Curse

Right. That was the next priority. See what could be done for her injuries. "You're an earth witch. Can you stop the bleeding?" he asked.

Her mouth flattened. "It's complicated. It takes a lot of energy to work on yourself. With the right herbs and things to use, it would be easier. Right now, I'm not sure I wouldn't just pass out."

He swore under his breath. "Well, let's keep thinking. We have an hour or so before it gets dark and the fire goes out. I'd prefer not to die on the side of an Andalyssian mountain."

That earned him a flash of a smile. "Me, too."

"Maybe the Andalyssians are right after all," he said glumly, staring into the sparking fire. "We should be more balanced in our magic. That way I could help you."

"Power," she muttered. Then frowned. Then went still, eyes widening.

"Chloe? What is it?"

"I'm having what might be a very bad idea," she muttered.

"Let's assume in this situation there are no bad ideas. Well, no ideas too bad to suggest. We can figure out whether or not they're useful after you tell me."

"You have power," she said. "I can do the magic we need, but right now, I don't have the power."

"Well, I'd share if I could...." He trailed off as he realized what she was suggesting. "An augmentier? Is that what you're thinking of?" A bond between mages. Not something illusioners bothered much with, but water mages did it with their sanctii, and some of the other magics used them, too. In Anglion they used marriage bonds to lock away some of their women's power, siphoning it to their husbands. "Aren't those kind of complicated?"

"They can't be that hard. Sophie and Cameron did it by accident." She blushed, and he wondered if perhaps the rumors about exactly how the Queen of Anglion and her consort came to be bonded were true. "I know the theory. They teach it to water mages. And earth witches for bonding petty fams."

He suspected bonding another human's magic might be more complicated than binding a raven. Though, admittedly, not as difficult as binding an infinitely powerful sanctii. Pity she'd never done that. If she had a sanctii, they’d be far safer. It couldn’t transport them back to the palace, but it could let the others know where they were and fetch more wood and water. "Have you ever had to form a bond?" he asked.

"No. But it doesn't have to be perfect. Just last through the night. If I can access your power, I can stop the bleeding and, I'm guessing, keep a warming charm going well enough to stop us freezing to death." She squinted at him. "It's worth a try, isn't it?"

It said something about how bad their situation was that she was suggesting it. She'd had sex with him, but he didn't think she'd particularly changed her mind about him. She certainly hadn't yet sought out a repeat encounter. "What if something goes wrong? How do we know we can undo it?"

"Sophie once told me Elarus offered to break the bond between her and Cameron. I know quite a few sanctii. I'm sure one of them will help if we can't work it out ourselves."

He didn't particularly like the idea, but she was right. It was better than dying. "What do we need to do?"

"The basic version takes blood." She lifted her injured arm. "I have plenty of that right now. Do you have a knife?"

"Yes." He never hunted without a spare tucked into a sheath in his boot. Knives were handy things. He pulled his free. "Should have kept some of that kafiet to pour over it. Isn't that what you do?"

"Shove the blade into the fire for a bit, then wipe it off in the snow," Chloe suggested. "That should be clean enough. I don't have any virulent diseases that I'm aware of, and I assume you don't either."

"No," he agreed. Unless extreme idiocy was one. "All right." He followed her suggestion, and by the time he'd cooled the knife outside, he was shivering again. Chloe, on the other hand, had a tiny bit more color in her cheeks after the kafiet.

"So, what do we need to do?"

"Share blood and touch the ley line. And then I will try to hook my power into yours. There are words for the ritual, but Madame Simsa used to say they were more for show and focus when a mage is bonding with another mage. It's not like a sanctii, where you're warding yourself as well." She straightened her shoulders and held out her injured arm. "Unwrap the bandage, then cut your hand and put it over the gash. That should work."

"That's going to hurt you," he objected.

"Dying will hurt more. Or frostbite. I'm fond of my fingers and toes, Lucien. And Irina will be very upset if I let your ruin your looks by losing half your nose." She smiled, but the expression was shaky. If she was willing to put up with the pain, then he had to try. Share his power with her. Keep them both alive and deal with the consequences when they were safely back in Deephilm.

He passed the knife to Chloe. "Hold this while I deal with the bandage."

She nodded and looked away as he unwound the cravat, hissing a breath out as he got to the final layer. The cravat was unpleasantly damp with blood, but he couldn't throw it on the fire, despite his instinct to do just that. He could assess if they could spare something else to wrap it after they tried the bond.

At least there was still blood in the wound. It glistened in the firelight, and he swallowed hard. "Give me the knife."

He sliced across the meaty part of his palm under his thumb before he could stop and think. Blood welled, and he clamped his hand as gently as possible around Chloe's arm.

"Ow. Goddess damn it," she muttered. "All right, Truth Seeker. Grab that damn ley line fast. This hurts." She stared at him, focused but shivering. She was watching, he realized, for his magic.

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