She sighed and looked at the ceiling. “I am just worried about you. That’s all.”
“Me?”
She snapped her head and gave me a look my mother had on numerous occasions. She leaned in, grabbed me by the shoulders, and whispered, “Your magic, darling. Will you be all right tonight around the king? Now that you have magic?”
I gave her a shrug. “I’m not honestly sure how I will keep it from him.” I hadn’t told her I now held all but a drop of Krew’s magic and was quite powerful. It was nice that I’d never had to hide my magic from Silvia, but I wasn’t sure I should tell her everything either. Particularly when not knowing the truth could help keep her safe. I felt I could be honest with one thing though. If only so I could have another safe place to vent. “Krew and I are soul bound. I’ve found my magic feels the strong need to protect Krew as well as myself.”
Silvia’s eyes went wide and her hand fell away from my shoulder in order to cover her mouth that had fallen open. “Soul bound?”
I gave her a nod. “Yes. So it’s not quite so simple as me keeping my magic contained.”
She gave her head a shake. “I knew that you somehow felt...strong.”
That was when I noticed the tears swimming in her eyes.
My forehead wrinkled. “I am truly sorry I didn’t tell you before now. I’ve been a bit distracted since the bonding. Figuring out how to use my magic and how to do so safely.”
She shook her head. “No. It is not that.” She wiped at an eye and gave me a smile laced in sadness.
“Silvia?”
“It is only that I cling to the day in which the two of you rule this castle and not that man.” She paused to wipe at another tear. “I have clung to that day for years. Since the first bruises showed on Katarina.” She gasped out, “But this, my darling. This gives me hope anew. Hope that this bond between you and Prince Krewan can heal Wylan. For good.”
“All because we are soul bound?”
She laughed. “No. Did you know the king was heart bound with his final two consorts from his own Assemblage?”
I shook my head. “No. I did not know that.”
She smirked. “He wanted a soul bound pairing and for a while believed it could make him stronger. Katarina always suspected he was bound to a few of his mistresses as well. He never was soul bound to anyone.” She paused as if looking into the past to dig up more memories. “His obsession to become soul bound only lasted a few years. He gave up altogether, not wanting to waste his magic. Not wanting to do the work of recouping it again and again.”
That must have been how they found out the bonds themselves became weaker the more you had. Through the king. But he’d found a different way to become stronger anyway. And given this information from Silvia, I wondered if John wasn’t right. If Krew’s selfless motives had caused or triggered the soul bonding. Because the king would have always been far too selfish for such a thing to work.
“In my lifetime,” Silvia continued, “I have only known three soul bound couples.” She paused. “But there is a common theme among them.”
“Which is?”
“That soul bonding isnevera mistake.” She smiled a real smile this time and looked down her nose at me. “And don’t you find it a poetic sort of justice? That his son would have something the king wanted but failed to have?”
While this news made Silvia rather hopeful for the future, what she’d said filled me with even more dread. This would be just another reason for the king to take aninterestin me if he knew.
I needed to keep my magic far from view tonight. Far from the king. Until the moment we used it to remove him from that throne.
* * *
Krew had been gone mostof the day dealing with the ring and then meeting with his father. While he quickly showered and readied himself for the ball, I had a book on the floor that I was moving back and forth and in patterns with my magic, just like I had done with Owen this morning. I was only using a small amount of magic, not wanting my skin to even remotely glow, but wanting to use enough that my magic would be easier to control throughout the night.
The goal was to only be down there a few hours. I had survived countless balls and conversations in that ballroom as a magicless and vulnerable woman from the lowest level in the kingdom. So I should be able to play my part despite the fact that I was very much now a weapon.
I felt Krew through the bond before I physically felt his arm around my waist as he pulled my body into his chest.
I stopped the flow of magic and took a deep breath.
Krew kissed the back of my head. “You can do this, Jorah love. And if you cannot,wecan handle this.”
I closed my eyes and just stood in his arms a moment. It was not lost on me that one of Krew’s hands was traveling along the velvet portion of my dress toward the slit in my leg.
“Krew,” I groaned. Turning to face him. “The top part of this dress is literally a corset. So don’t even think about it.”
