Page 92 of A Baron of Bonds
I was not as amused.
I waited for more, my eyes narrowing.
“Yes. We…” Talon straightened, rolling his shoulders slightly. I noticed his two black braids were wound with white ribbons. I could guess what they were from. “We bonded last night. While…while everyone was away.”
Well, fuck.
They’d only known each other for a few months and the minute they were out from under mine and the conduits’ thumbs, they ran off to do this.
I took a breath, gathering patience.
“Please say something,” Ilyenna pleaded, her soft blue eyes staring up at me. She was barely past twenty, Talon twenty-five. They seemed so young to do this.
Karus brushed in front of me and held her arms out to embrace Ilyenna, then doing the same to Talon. “Congratulations to you both. We will celebrate when we return to Felgren.”
Talon grinned, relieved. “We hoped we could stay a few more nights?—”
“You will do no such thing,” I interrupted. “You will return home with us in the morning, and we will discuss your decision then.”
Karus glanced back at me, a scolding look on her face. “Where did you find a conduit to conduct the ceremony? And how did you escape the clutches of Pompeii?”
“He was ill last night. He retired early, and we thought this was our chance because you wouldn’t approve.” Talon looked at me in appeal.
“I would not,” I stated.
“Will you join us?” Ilyenna gestured to the table, and my heart pulled at the lightness of her voice.
These were two of my channelers, my responsibility, and I had failed them. I should have seen this coming, though I knew I would have done the same with Karus had it not been for the very different roles we had been in seven years ago.
“Of course, we would love to.”
I glanced at Karus who was still grinning ear-to-ear. At least she could see some good in this.
We all sat, Talon and Ilyenna poking at their dinner.
“We were so relieved when the letter came that you were safe,” Talon spoke first, looking to me and adding, “And we were anxious to hear about your trial, Baron. Clairannia and Figuerah made us stay behind, but we didn’t want to. In fact, we thought we’d head to Hyrithia after another day here to see if there was anything we could do.”
The same server, seeing we had moved tables, brought us two plates of mutton glazed in a rich sauce, roasted carrots and squash on the side.
I rubbed my mouth, defeated. “Alright. I’m angry. I suspected you two had some connection for a while, but I would not have guessed you’d go and do this. And in the middle of the night—sneaking out while Pompeii, yourcaretaker, was ill. I would have preferred we talk about this.”
Ilyenna shook her head. “There would be nothing to say, Baron Revich. Please know we did not intend to hurt you oranyone. We only listened to our hearts, which led us here. There’s a medicus conduit who travels from here to Hyrithia often. We found her last night and she conducted the ceremony for us. We didn’t tell her we were channelers from Felgren, assuming she wouldn’t approve.”
“I’d imagine not,” I started.
She continued, “But the truth is, Baron Revich, we knew you would not allow us to do this. Or it would at least take a lot of convincing, which neither of us wanted to do, so we took our chance when it arose.”
Karus tugged on my arm and set her chin on my shoulder. “It’s quite the surprise, but I’m sure you’ve made the best decision for yourselves. I hope Pompeii isn’t upset. Did you leave a note or anything?”
Ilyenna chewed and nodded. “We told Rell and Renn. They promised to keep our secret until the morning when they would reveal it to Pompeii and the other servants. It’s probably the first time they’ve ever kept a secret for so long.”
I suppressed a grin. Ilyenna was probably right.
“Are you both doing well?” she continued as Karus dug into her food. “I mean, I’m sure there’s so much to speak of, but both of you are out of danger?”
Karus nodded, gulping water. “Yes. We have much to explain when we return for everyone to hear, but for now, catch us up on everything that has happened in Felgren the past two weeks.”
Talon cleared his throat, looking at me again. I softened my face and picked up my fork. He and I would have a serious talk later.
