Page 39 of Oath of Betrayal
Alaric gave Katja an exaggerated bow when she looked at him sharply, and I continued. ‘So, for now, I’ll be staying here. Even though I need to stay near the commander and the fortress mage, I swear I’m safe,’ I said, not giving Katja all the details to avoid another of her famous lectures.
‘Can you really do it?’ she asked quietly. ‘That would help so many.’
‘I don’t know, but Alaric believes I can, so I have to try.’
Katja turned around, her gaze sliding over Alaric’s relaxed posture with such judgement that he smirked when she was done. ‘I hope you like what you saw, or are you another woman determined to see me naked?’
‘No one wants to see your pasty body!’ I snapped, looking for something to throw at him, but the exchange seemed to calm Katja. She chuckled slightly, looking around.
‘Well, I’ll leave you to your life of luxury and irritating men. Just don’t forget about those of us crammed in the female boarding house. I’ll visit tomorrow, and if I can do anything, let me know. I don’t want you to struggle when I’m available to help.’
I loved her for that, for trusting my judgement and for accepting the situation without overdramatising or making life difficult. When she left, I turned towards Alaric. ‘It’s your turn now. I don’t want you here,’ I ordered, scowling when Alaric came closer, still wearing that arrogant smirk. ‘Would you prefer someone else? I can call you-know-who if you let me stay and watch; you were so keen for his company last night.’
‘Master Alaric, let my lady rest.’
Agnes’s timely intervention saved the dark fae from a well-deserved slap, and I watched with a satisfied smirk of my own as she grabbed Alaric by the collar and marched him out of the room like an unruly toddler.
I wasdefinitelygoing to keep her. A gem like Agnes could not be wasted peeling carrots in the kitchen.
Happy to be left alone, I dived under the blankets, sighing with pleasure when the masculine scent of cedarwood and leather filled my senses. I was in Orm’s bed, and I was sure that my host hadn’t been prepared to share, as the linen—albeit clean—still carried the scent of his body.
No one is watching, whispered the voice in my head. After a moment of hesitation, I grabbed a pillow and buried my face in it. Orm’s scent was like a safe port in a heavy storm, and I allowed myself a moment to enjoy it, internally promising to put the pillow back in its place in a minute … only to crush it to my chest and fall asleep with it in my arms.
The view before me went unnoticed as I stood on the granite walls of the fortress. The harsh mountain wind tugged at my dress, wrapping it tight around my legs. I wish I’d gone to see Vahin the moment I woke up instead of listening to Orm and staying in bed.
That damn man had used my recovery to fly to the mines without me. I knew why he’d done it, but being away from my Anchor feltwrong. Besides, I had proved I could help with the Vel when I had dispatched that swarm of spectrae.
Why couldn’t he have waited for a few more hours?
He’d need to explain himself because I didn’t intend to let this go. Especially since, in his absence, I wasn’t sure what I should do. I’d spent the last few days aimlessly wandering around, with occasional visits to the town with Alaric as my only company.
‘Are you feeling restless again, Ani?’ I hadn’t heard him approaching, but Alaric appeared by my side, seemingly out of nowhere. As a warm cloak landed on my shoulders, I turned myhead to the side to smile at the dark fae.
After our rocky start, he had done his best to keep me entertained; but with Ormond and Tomma gone, he was left in charge—and the local population was giving him enough trouble to take up most of his time.
‘A little. I tried to read the book you showed me, but I’m desperate for a break and needed to feel the wind on my face.’
Alaric had explained the situation the second I had noticed Orm’s absence. Just before the commander came to Zalesie, the court had sent a letter and a group of miners, finally granting his request to reopen the old dwarven adit. However, he was only given a week to ensure the mine was viable and that the men were safe there. If the place was not secure in time—or empty of crystals—the workers had to return to the capital.
Orm had sent a contingent of soldiers to escort the miners and ordered the search for a replacement crystal within moments. Unfortunately, he’d received reports of an incident so had left to investigate at the first opportunity. The wounded soldiers sent back to the fortress had told Alaric that the search had been unsuccessful thus far, and constant fights with Vel demons had delayed the operation.
I tried to make myself useful, helping Alaric, ignoring how awkward it felt without Orm’s presence. My days were consumed with researching how to link magical artefacts. And in the evenings, I would put aside my worries and enjoyed the dark fae’s company.
Except for that one time in the bath, Alaric hadn’t mention Anchoring me, and I was grateful for that small mercy. I was even more grateful when he explained his other idea to me, and we focused on something he called the ‘tethering glyph.’
It was still a work in progress, but—in theory—it could replicate the Anchor bond. As a conduit, I could help by describing how the flow of aether was influenced when Alaricexperimented with the lines of the sigil or the wording of the tethering spell.
There was a problem, though. The glyph was meant to be created with high magic, and not just any form of high magic—thehighestorder of descriptive magic; and even during my university days I hadn’t come close to understanding the subject.
Alaric could do something similar with the blood sacrifice of the Foul Order, but it would only allow him to draw from me, and the one-sided link didn’t fit our purpose. To say I disliked the idea of attempting to learn such a complex topic at my age was an understatement.
Once, when I’d thought I’d grasped the concept and had added my own lines to the construct, something in the drawing changed, and the next thing I knew, I had been zapped by a string of red aether so hard it had thrown me against the opposite wall. Dazed and angry, I had cursed up a storm while a laughing Alaric healed my scrapes. ‘Calm down, my lovely apprentice. There’s a learning curve, for both of us,’ he’d said with a laugh.
I smiled at my reminiscence before I heard him say, ‘If you need a break, then you shall have a break. Still, standing here won’t make them return any sooner.’ A gust of wind raised dust from the floor. I blew out a breath, squeezing my eyes, and Alaric stepped in front of me, sheltering me with his body. ‘Don’t worry, Ani, Orm always returns. It doesn’t matter how difficult the situation is; he will prevail.’
‘You’re assuming I miss Ormond, but the one I’m waiting for is Vahin,’ I retorted, raising my head, unwilling to admit I was waiting for them both, only to see that all-knowing smirk again.
‘Of course, Ani, if you say so. How about we go to the waterfall, and you can miss the dragon there? Or we can return to the library—but instead of studying, I could read something for you.I’ve noticed several books about star-crossed lovers in there … We could even recreate some of the more interesting scenes.’
