Page 88 of Tristan
“Corrik seemed pretty confident about it.”
“Corrik is Corrik. He believes far too much in prophecy and therefore the visions he has had of you—he thinks that since it was written in the stars for the two of you to be together so is everything that goes with that. I know better. Only Elves can bond by flesh, therefore Corrik has bonded with you, but you couldn’t possibly bond with him in the way another Elf would.”
“I heard thunder in my head when it happened—that’s got to mean something. Maybe we can’t bond like an Elf and an Elf are meant to, but what about the magic part?”
“Thunder in your head you say? I am sure that was just your shoddy human brain malfunctioning,” he says, laughing at his own joke. “A bonding by magic during a wedding consummation is not a real thing, it is more of a, what do you Markaytians call it? Oh yes, an old wife’s tale. If only Elves could command sex magic in such a way.”
“It’s, old wives’ tale,” I correct him. I’m tired of being insulted by him for being human.
“What do you know of magic anyway, Warlord? The magic of humans died well before your time.”
“Corrik said new magic can be created.”
“Indeed. That much is true, but like I said, Corrik believes far too many outrageous things about magic, figures he would be arrogant enough to think he could command the Sex Gods to do whatever he pleased.”
Bloody hypocrite.Corrik is arrogant to be sure, but Andothair talks like he’s not. “Well, let’s just say he can, and I am bonded to him by flesh in the way Elves are meant to bond and the old wives’ tale isn’t a tale and so the magic thing has worked too, what then? Won’t that interfere with whatever it is you want to do to me?”
Maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up, maybe my being bonded to Corrik will null whatever he wants to do to me, but there’s also the chance it could rip me apart. Andothair is right on one count, I don’t know much about magic, or Elves. My lack of knowledge creates in my mind all the outrageous possibilities of what could happen, things that most likely defy common sense.
“Not to worry, Warlord. Elven bonding is a natural thing and is as polyamorous as we can be. Hypothetically, if you did bond with Corrik, you could still bond with another.”
“This makes the ‘bond’ sound meaningless. What’s the point of bonding if you can bond with as many people as you like?”
“It is not meaningless. The whole point of bonding is to create some form of unbreakable connection. When Elves mate, they mate forlifeand it connects them in a way that is above and beyond merehuman bonding. An Elf will crave his mate or mates like no other and can become possessive, especially when the bond is first formed—that is part of mating—I would not expect a human to understand. And while each Dominant Elf is different in how he conducts his relationship with his mate, one thing is consistent: they both feel they own each other—something that gets stronger over time.”
“Even the submissive mate?”
“Of course, even the submissive mate,” he says like I’ve been living under a rock. “Submissive doesn’t mean pushover, submissives feel very possessive over their Dominant.”
“Your bond to him still exists, doesn’t it?”
“You are smart for a human; I’ll give you that.”
I don’t expect that information to cut me like it does. Corrik’s lived a long time, I’ve known he wasn’t a virgin since before our wedding day (like he hypocritically expected me to be), but hearing Andothair say they’ve mated feels different to me. My dragon’s blood boils, but then I remember this is Andothair I’m talking to and he’s probably lying.
“Calm down,” he says when he sees I’m about to break something. “I am not Corrik’s mate, he has taken you as his mate. Yet my bond with him still exists becauseIhave bonded withhim. He has never bonded with me. This means we have mated in the biological sense of the word, but not in the other sense.”
“That can happen?”
“Obviously.” He’s beginning to get annoyed with my ignorance.
“Well, there must be some consequence for stealing another’s mate,” I say.
He continues to look at me like I’m the stupidest person alive.
“Let me guess, stealing a mate can result in death.” Which is why he said he couldn’t help himself wanting to kill me.
“You got it, Warlord. Stealing a mate is not illegal, but it is frowned upon. In most cases, it is almost impossible to break up Elves who have mated, but since you are human, it was no trouble for me at all.”
“Good for you. But even if all you say is true, while I may not have the strength or power to fight you, Corrik does and he’s going to kill you.”
“Do not worry about me, Warlord. I have an offer he can’t refuse.” His eyes are saying something I can’t decipher. Whatever his plan is, he’s not concerned with Corrik finding him. “Anyway, the enchantment I have in mind is of a different nature and would not interfere with a bond of flesh or of magic—I am not preposterous enough to think I can command Sex Gods. Humans cannot bond with Elves,” he scoffs again in case I didn’t hear him the first fifty times.
And I would roll my eyes at him, except, I think that some form of bonding has happened between me and Corrik. No, I’m not as possessive over Corrik as Corrik seems to be of me or Andothair over Corrik, but perhaps that’s the part where my being a human comes into play. Maybe the bond simply didn’t take as intensely.
But I do have dragon in my blood and that means at least a small inkling of magic, perhaps it even makes me part creature. Maybe the bond was able to take hold in some capacity.
“I’m not convinced, Ando. Tell me more about this old wives’ tale.”
