Page 44 of A Baron of Bonds
I hadn’t told anyone but Karus that much of our story, not even my channelers. There were people who had lived it with me and knew, but I had only sat down and told her. And though I meant to speak of it someday, it cut through my chest sharper than I expected, hearing her retell some of the most painful years of my life.
She stopped mid-sentence, explaining how I had taken her to Viridis when she’d asked and how she’d fallen back into the dark after seeing it so corrupted.
Karus turned to me abruptly, her mouth parting slightly as her eyes furrowed. I met her stare, realizing I was a beacon of heartbreak right then, and she could feel every bit of it.
“Sorry,” I spoke under my breath, producing a small smile. She rose from her chair and came to mine, bending over me, encasing me with her hands on both arm rests.
She brushed my lips with hers lightly, saying between just the two of us, “We can stop. We can stop here and go back to our room.”
There she was. There was the woman I deserved. The one I called home.
I cupped her face with my hands, straightening to meet her with a kiss. Her hair fell into my face with the scent of lavender and rose mixed with what was justher.
I pushed her hair behind her ears and kissed the tip of her nose. “Never mind me, love. We stay until she has the story she needs to understand what happened.”
She nodded and went back to her seat, taking my hand in hers again.
I turned to the Queen. Tears ran down her cheeks in a shimmering stream.
She took a handkerchief from her pocket to wipe them away and asked, “How—how did you find your memories again?”
Karus nodded toward me. “I found the rhyzolm that Rev was searching for. Holding it awoke the feelings of our past and memories began to return to me. He used that same rhyzolm recently when he came to you for help. And that day, after seeing Viridis…I…” She glanced back to me and continued, “I heard a voice speaking to me inside my head. It told me to wake. And then I did. And I remembered. I knew who I was. I knew something of what had happened. Rev, Moira, Clairannia, and Figuerah filled in the rest.”
“Who was this voice? Who spoke to you in your mind?”
I watched Karus carefully. We had discussed this many times, never coming to an answer that made sense.
She squeezed my hand again and bit her lip, pausing before she said, “I know now who it was.”
I cocked my head in surprise and she continued, staring right at me.
“It was the voice of the Blightress.”
Chapter 28
Karus
WatchingRev’s reaction as I admitted who had woken me from seven years of knowing nothing of who I was, tore at me just as much as I guessed it would.
His lips pursed and he brought his hand to his mouth, covering any raw emotions he felt.
He could no longer hide from me, though. We were now bound, and though I couldn’t explain why our companion bond was so strong, it was blatantly obvious to me that his reaction was confusion, fear, and anger.
Confusion for how it was possible, fear for what I had gotten myself into, and anger that I did not tell him earlier.
I squeezed his hand and turned back to the Queen, not ignoring him, but needing to see her reaction.
She was too still in hearing me speak about a woman who should have been long dead, and I frowned.
“You know, don’t you?” I shook my head, recalling what the Blightress had casually mentioned about excursions funded to her land by the Queen. More and more I understood the countless number of details about my life and its origins that had been hidden from me.
Nodding slowly, she took a breath and answered, “The Blightress lives. Yes, I am aware of this.”
Rev pulled his hand from mine and bent forward on his knees, rubbing his face.
“You areawareof this?” I laughed in disbelief. “Tell us, Your Majesty, what else do you know that could change the world we live in? What else have you hidden from me about my past and my parents?”
“I hid things from you to protect you.”
