Page 42 of A Baron of Bonds
I was finally able to twist the ribbon so that it lay flat across the front of my chest and looked over to see Rev watching me with confusion.
“What?” I exhaled, starting up the second to last staircase before our destination.
“I don’t know…it’s like…like I can feel how nervous you are. More so than what you’re showing right now on your face.” He pulled on my arm to stop only a quarter way up the stairs.
We’d passed several guards and servants on our way, and two more carried trays of pastries and small meat pies up the stairs, passing us by.
“And now you’re starving. Karus, I think I can feel everything you feel.” His smile widened. “Close your eyes.”
I did, curious and taking a deep breath.
“Without looking, how am I feeling right now?” he asked softly.
I leaned in closer. I smelled the familiar draft of the castle, but also him. Earthy, pine. Even away from Felgren, he smelled like the fresh breeze of the forest and the upturned earth of a new sapling. “You’re feeling…sorrow.” I twisted my mouth into a frown and moved closer, reaching up to find his cheek. “Sorrow and a hole. Like there’s a hole, right here.” I opened my eyes and moved my hand to his chest over his heart.
His grin was brilliant, his black and blue eyes glassy. He bent down to kiss me. “It’s true then. We can sense each other’s emotions and desires. I didn’t know it would be this strong.”
“I don’t think it typically is,” I murmured. “What was that?” I patted at his chest where I had sensed that he was so wounded just now. I could not feel it again, but it was so real, as if someone had dug under his ribs and yanked out his heart, leaving behind an expanse of space that echoed through the world in a longing to be filled.
His smile fell and he rubbed the back of his neck. “I thought of what it was like when you were there, but not there. I wanted to see if you could feel that from me.”
I pushed my forehead into his, holding back from crying right before meeting the Queen to discuss how well and healthy our relationship was. I sniffed. “How long did it feel like, Rev? Seven years outside of Felgren—how long was it for you?”
He brushed his lips across my forehead and pulled me to his chest. The castle staff whispered to each other about this scene of the Baron of Felgren and the woman who was supposed to be dead, holding each other on carpeted crimson stairs.
“An eternity, Karus. Just one eternity.”
Chapter 27
Rev
Somehow,I resisted from bursting into the study ahead, declaring my love, devotion, and life for this woman who writhed in nerves and poorly subdued anger next to me.
Her dark clouds raged around her thoughts, and yet, I could not be more elated. I could not be more proud, committed, or sure of what our future held together and the happiness we would share.
This whole trial and question of my intentions with Karus was nothing more than a trying charade of formality I would see through for her. I could have left these castle walls at any time in the last seventeen days, but stayed, waiting for her to land.
Even if the Queen and leaders of the isle decided I was guilty of…whatever they deemed unacceptable, we would not stay to hear my sentence.
The Baron of Felgren was indispensable to the isle. The Queen knew that. Barons had trained conduits for centuries, and conduits were necessary to keep our way of life going.
The Queen needed me.
I did not need her.
After Karus’s knock, I already had my hand on the doorknob when we heard the Queen bid us to enter.
My companion glanced at me one last time, her face set, a flame licking her eyes, and I smiled smugly, ready to watch this unfold.
Her hand squeezed mine as I opened the door, and we stepped into the room.
The Queen stood at her desk, her dark face taut in a disapproving stare as she watched us.
It was an expensively furnished room with wide, cushioned chairs that encircled a short table. The trays of pastries that had passed us earlier were now set on its glass surface.
The Queen and Karus stared at each other, neither willing to give an inch, and I felt like an intruder, watching what was brewing between these two powerful women.
“Did you consider—” Karus spoke just as the Queen said, “I have more?—”
