Page 131 of A Storm in Every Heart
How did the soldiers find us?
Why were they sent in the first place?
When Kastian and I don’t turn up at the border, will Jett realize what’s happened, or did they find him too?
And most of all, why would Magnus want to kidnap me,again.I was willing to go to his castle anyway as the emissary, but now he’s destroyed any hope of peace. When Daemon finds out about this—that the Hydrattan soldiers shot and poisoned Kastian, and took both of us against our will—I know he’ll crush Hydratta, even without his growing army.
I can’t think of a single answer, and the uncertainty makes my mind race, drowning out anything else. Drowning out the thoughts of what was happening just before the soldiers arrived—what I thought I felt…what it might mean…
Something inside me seems to leap at that thought, and even though I’m blindfolded, I turn my face toward the sound of Kastian’s breathing.
The feeling in my chest is almost like a heartbeat, but different somehow. Warmer. I’m almost certain I know what it is, even if I don’t understand exactly how it got there.
Somehow, Kastian and I are bonded.
That can only mean we always were—or at least, he knew we were even if he didn’t remember why.
I don’t understand how this happened, but I swear I’m going to find out. We’re going to get out of this and talk about the bond. I’m going to find a way to undo the vow I made a hundred years ago.
I’ll fix everything—first, we just need to survive.
We ride for what feels like hours—long enough for my legs to go numb and my anxiety to transition to despair.
The soldiers don’t talk much, communicating only in grunts and the occasional sharp order. The silence becomes its own sort of torture—every hoofbeat a reminder that we are utterly at their mercy, and there’s nothing to do but wait and pray I can still hear Kastian breathing when the ride ends.
Eventually, the sounds of the swamp disappear, and the air gets easier to breathe. Brightness shines beyond the fabric covering my eyes, and the rhythm and sound of the horses’ hooves make me think we've finally reached a main road. Soon after that, the horses slow. There's a brief, jarring stop and some clattering as one of the soldiers dismounts.
I jump at the sound of a sharp voice somewhere to my right. “Bend down so I can reach your blindfold. I’m going to take it off so you can see while you get down from the horse.”
I bend as much as possible despite the restraints, and a hand grasps the fabric over my eyes and tugs it away. The sudden light burns, and I have to squint until my eyes adjust.
We’ve stopped in front of an achingly familiar white stone castle. I glance up and see the wide, round balcony on its face. It’s empty, which is something of a relief. I was expecting tosee King Magnus standing there, watching us arrive, just as Kastian’s family did a hundred years ago.
I turn my head, searching for Kastian, desperate to see if he’s alright and to gauge his reaction to being back here after so long. My eyes land on the soldiers standing by their horses, looking exhausted after the long journey. Kastian isn’t among them. Cold dread washes over me. Oh gods, what if I’ve been listening to one of the soldiers breathing all this time? What if they left him in the swamp? What if?—
“Mmmm,” I try to speak, the gag muffling any actual words.
The Fae soldier who took off my blindfold snorts, unimpressed. She’s dressed identically to the soldier who shot Kastian, but she’s slightly thinner and her braided hair is a dull blonde
She grips my calf and hauls me down from the horse. I lose my balance and nearly collapse, but she holds my shoulder until I can balance. The world seems to tip and roll around me, but I steady myself and glare up at her with every ounce of fury I can muster.
“Mmmm!” I try again, more insistently.
She rolls her eyes. “Don’t scream.”
She yanks the sodden gag out of my mouth, and I gasp, tasting blood and cloth and the sour reek of my own breath. “Where’s Kastian? What did you do to him?”
The guard’s grip tightens on my arm. “He’s alive,” she says, like it’s an inconvenience.
“If Magnus hurts him—” My voice cracks.
“KingMagnus,” she corrects me with a scowl.
“Fuck your king.”
She scowls harder and shoves me forward a few paces. “From what I heard, you will be.”
My eyes widen and I draw back. That thought is not only revolting, it fills me with a deep aversion and disgust that feelsso much stronger than any reaction I was capable of yesterday. Could that be a side effect of the potential soul-bond? Or perhaps I simply never thought of it in such vivid terms before
