Page 86 of Draekora

Deciding to answer the easiest part first, Alex said, “I wasn’t on thevarrungardto try out for the guard. It was more to test my… Meyarin-ness.”

In a dubious tone, he repeated, “Your Meyarin-ness?”

Picking at a thread on the blanket beside her, Alex quietly asked, “Who did you tell, Roka? About what happened today, I mean.”

There was a pause before he answered, “No one, Aeylia. After I cleared my head, I decided to wait to hear you out first.”

Alex nodded, hoping that would be the case but hardly believing her luck. “If I answer your question, you have to promise, you have toswearthat what I tell you will go no further than us.”

She’d been staring at her fidgeting fingers, but when Roka reached out for her chin and turned her to face him, she didn’t resist his gentle touch.

His eyes were steady on hers when he said, “I swear by the stars that I will keep whatever secrets you entrust to me.”

Biting her lip, Alex took in his open, honest expression and uncurled her left hand, showing him her scar. “In the future, a… very bad Meyarin is doing… very bad things.”Jeez, I suck at this, Alex thought, wincing at her lame offering but continuing anyway. “This Meyarin needed something from me but I wasn’t willing to help, so he—or she—performed theMenada dae Loransaon me, Claiming my will as their own.”

Roka’s reaction was fierce as horror overtook his features. “But you’re mortal!”

“I am,” Alex confirmed.

“And blood-bonding rituals are supposed to be forbidden on pain of death,” Roka continued. “Or… Does that change in the future?”

“No, the Claiming ritual is still very much forbidden,” Alex said firmly. “But this Meyarin no longer lives by the laws of Meya. They are… an outcast, I suppose you could say. Accountable to no one and caring nothing for right and wrong.” She let that sink in and said, “And it didn’t matter that I was mortal. They started practising the ritual on others of my kind long before my time.”

“Others?” Roka swallowed. “You don’t mean…?”

“I’m not the only mortal this Meyarin has bonded with,” Alex answered. “They were—are—actively seeking out gifted humans, people who your grandfather created Akarnae for, because with control over the mortals comes control over their gifts.”

“Butwhy?” Roka asked, aghast. “What could motivate anyone to do something so inherently evil?”

“From what I understand,” Alex said, being very careful with her words, “they thought they were doing the right thing. At least to start with. Now I don’t think they care. It’s all in the name of vengeance now.”

Roka’s face was so pale even the shadows couldn’t mask his horror. “If this Meyarin is so malicious, how did you get them to Release you from the bond? I know you wouldn’t be here freely telling me all this if you were still Claimed.”

“No, I’m not bonded anymore,” Alex confirmed, answering his unspoken question. “But the Meyarin didn’t willingly Release me. In fact, I didn’t even know anyonecouldbe Released fromMenada dae Loransauntil recently. But I’m hoping—I’mhopingnow that I do, I’ll be able to find a way to free some of the other bonded humans when I get back to my time.”

“But if the one who Claimed you didn’t Release you, then how—”

“I’m gifted,” Alex interrupted. “I’m a student at Akarnae. I didn’t know it when the ritual was performed on me, but it turns out I have a supernatural strength of will. My gift was triggered when I was under the influence of the Claiming, allowing my willpower to break the bond between us.”

With a voice full of awe, Roka said, “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Trust me, you’re not the only one,” Alex said, somewhat dryly. “But in a roundabout way, what I’m trying to explain is that something in me changed when the bond was severed. Somehow I ended up absorbing Meyarin characteristics that, even though I’m no longer Claimed, I’ve still managed to retain.”

Roka made a pensive sound. “I bet it’s because you weren’t willingly Released.”

“Sorry?”

“From the bond,” he clarified. “From the accounts I’ve read, whenever a Claimed Meyarin was willingly Released by their healer, the grip of the ritual left them instantly. But since it sounds like you destroyed your bond by sheer strength of will, the life force that was Claiming you left a trace residue behind. Almost like the difference between cutting a piece of cloth cleanly as opposed to ripping it and leaving frayed edges behind.”

“Are you calling me a frayed edge, Roka?” Alex asked, a small smile on her face.

His return smile was brief but she definitely saw a flash of it. “Not you personally, Aeylia, but the effect of the Meyarin blood that was in your veins.”

“Strangely enough, you and I have already had a similar conversation to this before, though neither of us made the connection to the ‘willingly Released’ part then. Still, it’s good to understand that might be why the Meyarin abilities have stayed with me.”

As she spoke, Roka seemed to slump beside her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, alarmed.

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