Keir’s eyes went big as they bounced between us. “Really?”
Krew gave him a nod. “Yes. And Jorah does not like the plan.”
“I agree with her. Also that is creepy,” Renna laughed, looking between us. “What if he flirts with you when you are talking to someone else?”
Tempting.
I rolled my eyes. “Then I will do my best to ignore it?”
Or you could whisk me away to a secluded corner, unable to deny me for a moment longer.
I glared at Krew. “Enough. Let’s get back to this obnoxiously flawed plan.”
The rest of them were just sitting there.
I put my hands out in a gesture. “What? You all really think this idea is going to work perfectly? Not considering one of the seven thousand different ways it could go awry?”
“No,” Keir said quietly. “We are all just wondering about the bond but don’t want to pry.”
Renna smiled at me. “What the two of you have is incredibly rare and intimate.”
I never considered that. Of course they’d be curious. I would be too in their positions. Most days I was too busy trying to figure out how to control my magic that I tended to forget that what Krew and I had was not the norm. Far from it.
Krew took my hand and gave it a squeeze. “Well, I felt her stronger emotions even before we were bonded. I think it had more to do with where I was at with my own feelings than hers. Since she still loathed me at that point.”
“How soon did you begin to feel her emotions?” Keir asked him.
Krew gave him a look. “You don’t want to know the honest answer to that.”
Keir cocked his head but didn’t appear bothered, just thoughtful. “Fair enough.”
There was only a brief awkward pause before Renna’s voice ended it. “Jo and I are only heart bound, of course, and we cannot speak telepathically, but I can sometimes feel her emotions too. The extreme ones. She doesn’t have to tell me how she feels, I just know. So I get it.”
Krew added, “As soon as we were bonded, as odd as it may sound, it’s like there became a space in my head that is no longer my own. It’s not like the space she takes up when I have thoughts of her, rather it’s like there is an actual place in my head which is justours. It’s a fluid sort of space. The best way I can explain it is an invisible tether giving me an immediate way to access her and her emotions. I don’t have toseeher to make sure she’s safe, she’s always with me instead. If something were to happen, I’d immediately know.”
Though it was all new, it didn’t feel all that weird either. Maybe it was because Krew and I had a connection for a long time before we were ever bonded, I wasn’t sure. But I did feel bad that Renna and Jo couldn’t also communicate telepathically. I didn’t for a second believe that Krew’s and my relationship was somehow stronger or more special than theirs. There had to be a better explanation than that. Maybe it was just the amount of magic he gave me that had somehow triggered the soul bonding instead of the heart bonding.
Krew added, “And through our bond, I can feel the direction she is in. If I really focus, I can figure out the specifics. But it doesn’t take much work to know if she’s in the forest or in the castle or training with Owen.”
Renna tipped her head to the side. “Impressive.”
Owen gave a nod in agreement. “And the talking. Is there a distance it won’t work?”
Krew gave a shrug. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Great, more experiments for us to try for Owen,” I groaned.
Renna stood to grab a drink. “And we still have no idea why Krew didn’t seem to lose any of his magic?” She reached for the whiskey bottle and helped herself to a small glass of it.
Krew gave his head a shake. “No.”
I knew he’d gone to John Nottle, the same sage who had married us, and asked why his magic had not seemed to lessen at all. John was just as confused as we were, though he wondered if Krew’s selfless motives were at play.
Each day we all kind of just waited around for Krew’s magic to vanish or slowly lessen. And each day Krew woke up the same. As if he’d given me only a drop or a few drops.
Meanwhile I was living proof that he’d given me much more than a drop. I wasn’t just Enchanted; I was strongly Enchanted.
I sighed, drawing Owen’s attention to me. “Stop sighing, Jorah.”
