Page 120 of A Baron of Bonds
“Till dawn.”
My cheeks flushed and my body responded to his voice, low and deep. “I remember.”
We entered a clearing. A circlet of tall, skinny trees surrounded us. The soft glow of mushrooms sprouting from each of them gave the space an unearthly feel, their stems like fingers reaching out from the wood.
Moira flew to the center of the circle and landed on a boulder, cupping her mouth and emitting a high-pitched wail that had me gritting my teeth.
Revich looked to me with a single brow raised. I shrugged.
The movement began as soon as the ear-piercing call was over. Dark forms of creatures moved between the trees, coming to the center.
There were seven of them, each as unique as any human, some sporting the same mushroom-capped heads as the Grower I had met in the Blightress’s lands, some with tall, leafy stems sprouting from their tops.
Each of them was built like a cross between a human and a tree, legs and arms as branches, their long torsos like a trunk.
I glanced at Revich to see his reaction, finding he had none. He stood there, still, his frame hard as he watched with little expression. But I could feel it. Through our bond, I knew of his apprehension for this meeting.
A Grower with a smooth mushroom dome of soft white began to speak. The speech was little more than murmurs of the wind, the light sway of branches as they crossed each other in forced movement.
Moira listened with rapt attention, nodding occasionally, once bunching her shoulders up by her neck before letting them fall into a deep sigh.
Revich and I stood there for what felt like ten, twenty minutes before Moira turned to us, hands on her hips. “They want to see the spell. The one that produces the sun.”
Rev stepped forward, producing a ball of blue light over his palms.
“Not from you. They want to see the sun from the one who held it against the Blight.” She stared at me, hesitancy on her face.
“No,” Rev announced, focusing on the Growers. “It’s too dangerous. She can’t control its size, nor break it.”
I bit my lip, crossing my arms. I hated that he was right.
Of course, I’d be willing to do it anyway. Viridis and Pompeii’s life was worth the struggle and the danger the spell, but I waited to hear a response.
Moira turned back to the Growers, her screeching grating in the night.
A few more minutes passed before she turned to us again. “They say it must be you. First of all, they don’t trust Barons,”—Moira eyed Revich with a sneer—“and second of all, we’ll have only one chance to try this because the effort will drain them forthe rest of the season. It must be done right the first time, before summer begins.”
“I’ll do it,” I declared, stepping up beside Revich.
“She won’t,” he responded, still holding his light above his hands.
“Yes, I will,” I returned. “You can help me break it. As long as you’re there, I’ll be alright. You won’t let it grow too big. You won’t let me go too far.”
“No, Karus.” His light disappeared and he turned my shoulders to face him. “Here we are again, talking about what’s worth the risk. Viridis is not. They can use my magic or nothing.”
“And Pompeii’s life? Is that not worth the risk?”
“He—”
“Don’t I get to decide what risk I’m willing to take? Finding a way to save Pompeii outweighs the danger, Revich. This is my choice.”
“And your choices affect the both of us, remember? What if I can’t get to you? What if I can’t knock you down to break the spell? What then, Karus? What purpose is my life without the whole of you in it?”
“I’ll be fine.” My voice wavered. “You’ve saved me from this twice. You can do it a third time.” I addressed Moira once more. “Tell them I’ll do it. But not here. It’s draining and we need to get this done as soon as we possibly can. Can they come to the Fortress tomorrow at dawn?”
Moria glanced from me to Revich. He shook his head, and she scrunched her face in a grimace. “Karus, maybe?—”
“No. Not you, too. This choice is mine and I make it for Pompeii and Viridis. We have to try something and his time runs thin.”
