Page 146 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
I wasn’t ready to learn more about the Elders’ manipulations or how I could possibly be related to Leanora.So I settled for something normal. Something I could wrap my head around.
“What can I call you?” I asked. “Do you have a name?”
He drew a hand to his chin where he stroked his square jaw. “You wish to know my name?” he asked, his voice filled with something like surprise.
“If that’s okay.”
“I was born Eiran but haven’t been called that for hundreds of thousands of years,” he said.
Hundreds of thousands of years. He was that eternal, yet he’d given me what I’d asked for. Had taken the time to speak to me and now wanted to teach me to fight with a sword in exchange for the answers I sought.
It was humbling. Terrifying. But why? I still couldn’t comprehend why he’d do any of this for me.
“Eiran.” I tested out his name, and he gifted me with an amused smile. “I can still accept the bond although I rejected him?” Twice.
He pushed the edge of his sword to my chest, and I took a step back.
“Plant your feet, hands up, and eyes on me,” he instructed. Once I did what he asked, he continued. “The thing with fighting with swords is that it isn’t merely the distance of the sword you must know, but how long the sword is and how tall your opponent is.”
Too quick for me to track, he extended his sword and lunged toward me. I ushered back a few steps but not fast enough as he cut a small slice that tore through my clothes and across my stomach.
“What the hell?” I hissed out. “Do I get another tattoo for every cut?”
Another throaty laugh.
“Watch.” His tone held little room for objection.
This time, he moved slower. He drew his sword from his side and thrust it toward me, leaned forward with his upper body, and stepped toward me. I used what I’d learned, and with my hands up and body angled away, I retreated. All while staring at his sword as if I expected him to dig it into my chest.
He lowered the blade, and I heaved in a breath.
“Do you wish to accept the bond?” Eiran asked.
I hesitated. I wanted Elias. Loved him. And he’d said he liked me for me, not because of some bond that decided we were meant for each other.
“Should you accept the bond, what you feel will be amplified,” Eiran said. “His heart already beats for you. Whether you accept it or keep your end of the bond broken, he will spend the rest of his life devoted to you.”
“What happens when I die?” I asked quietly.
Because I would die before him. Where he still had three, almost four hundred years left, I’d be gone in sixty, maybe seventy years.
“A part of his soul will die with you,” he answered. “He’ll love and mourn you until his last breath.”
“And what?” I questioned. “He suffers for hundreds of years after? That’s cruel. Why make me his mate, then?”
Waiting for him to reply, I didn’t notice him move. Didn’t have enough time to retreat. His sword lay across my throat, where my pulse thrashed.
“Why would fate bind your souls together, indeed?” He dropped his sword and quirked up a single sleek eyebrow. It was an almost too human expression.
I kept my attention on his blade while he continued talking.
“That is a different question I will only answer once youretreat correctly,” he said. “But it seems I’m feeling generous, so I’ll tell you this. If you accept the bond, you will have another choice.”
This time, I was ready when he thrust his sword up, and although I moved quickly, his sword lay inches away from my arm, where he made another small slice.
Tightening my stomach muscles, I held myself in the same fighter’s position Everly and Brenton had drilled into me.
“While you’d remain human, you could choose to have the same lifespan as your mate,” he continued, his tone even. Not even the tiniest bit winded. “Age as he does.”
