A Baron of Bonds (Conduit of Light #2)

38. Karus

Chapter 38

Karus

Each one of them had different reactions.

Each one of them was angry, relieved, or excited in their own way.

Moira’s wings beat furiously as I spoke of the Blightress’s land, of the Grower, of the monsters that had chased us in the woods.

Figuerah was furious I had followed her into that hole in the ground. Like Revich, she thought there were better options than blindly following an ancient woman into a blighted tunnel.

Then there was Clairannia. She was upset for me and had plenty of empathy toward what I had been through, but was angry for an entirely different reason.

“Karus, I really am sorry for what happened to you, but did you have to do it? You really could not wait until you were back in Felgren? All that planning, all that preparation and you go and do the ceremony without us?” She huffed and fell into one of the saffron chairs. “And in that! You wore that to your own ceremony? Your gown just arrived and you chose to show up in this .”

She pointed to my laced-up copper dress which had been mended enough through magic that it looked a bit frumpy.

I looked down and pulled on the lace. “It’s not so bad. It looked a lot nicer during the ceremony. Besides,” I stated, putting my hands on my hips, “it’s not like Revich cared what I was wearing anyway.”

“I’m sure he didn’t,” remarked Figuerah.

“Yes, yes, he loves you regardless of what you wear and all that, but Karus . He would just die if he saw you in this gown—it’s gorgeous .”

“Let me guess. You brought it with you.”

“Of course, I did! Your message said, and I quote, ‘P.S. Rev and I are going through the companion ceremony tonight. I’m sorry, but we can’t wait any longer.’” She huffed again. “I don’t even know how you were able to do it yourselves, but I was not going to let you get away without seeing his reaction to you in this dress. I told you years ago that your love story would end up like this, and I refuse to let you get away without some kind of public party.”

I laughed and bent down to hug her in the chair. “For you, dearest, for you.” I kissed her cheek and she grinned. She’d always had a love of romance, and who was I to deny her the ending she wished for?

“I don’t know how to say this delicately, so I’m not going to try.” Figuerah interrupted. “Have you been using styris tea?”

“Of course! I mean, most of the time.”

“What is styris tea?” Moira asked, sitting up from where she lay on the table, picking at the little cookies left there.

Figuerah sighed. “I know it’s not my place to say, but a child right now would probably not be the best thing.”

“I know. We do want children…eventually. It was only one time. We’re fine. Right, Clairannia?”

She nodded emphatically. “It’s possible, but extremely unlikely you’ll be with child, Karus. Especially since your liberum mark just left your wrists. You will now begin to go through cycles of bleeding. It’s complicated, but when people have their mark, their bodies do nothing to produce what’s necessary to conceive a child. But…”—she rose and took my hand—“once your first bleeding begins, it’s all very possible from there. Your body will begin to actively produce what it needs to make a child and not drinking styris tea…it could easily result in one.”

I grimaced and bit my bottom lip. “What if just one of us drinks it? Is that enough?”

“You could do that. Though, I’ve been with plenty of mothers on their birthing days when only she or her companion drank the tea. Your best bet is to both drink it. Every time. And it only stays in your bodies for about two hours.”

“Glad I don’t have to take it,” Figuerah mumbled.

“What is styris tea?” Moira piped up again.

Clairannia turned to her. “It’s a drink that stops human bodies from conceiving a child when they come together.”

Moira made a face of disgust and I laughed. “Is there anything else, then? Any other spells or things we can do to prevent a child for now?”

Clairannia shook her head. “Styris tea is your best bet. The liberum mark is impossible to re-implement on companions and nothing works better than the tea. If something else was easier, we wouldn’t have new generations of children to take our places.” She looked around at each of us, her medicus conduit side lecturing. “Our population has stayed at a steady number, if not slightly declining in the past fifty years. We actually need companions to have children.” She turned back to me, nudging my hip with hers. “Just when they’re ready.”

I agreed, “When we’re ready.”

“Do you know what this big meeting is about, Karus? We thought we’d get here and have to defend you both. The Queen told us there would be no trial for Rev. She also said it was up to you what you’d tell us afterward.”

“The Queen knows more about the Blightress than she’s told us so far. I’m going to guess she wants all the leaders of the isle to hear the same information and discuss the next steps she has planned.”

“I can’t believe she has a Grower.” Moira mumbled, hopping from one cushioned chair to the other.

“What exactly is a Grower? What can they do?” I asked, beginning to pace.

A soft knock came to the door followed by, “It’s Rev.”

Clairannia got there first, swinging it open and hugging him tightly, her arms stretched up high, her toes almost at a point to reach him.

He grinned wide and kissed her cheek before letting go. “It’s good to see you.”

She pushed his shoulder. “Yes, well, you’ve been awfully busy, I’ve heard. You know you’re in just as much trouble as she is,”—she pointed back to me—“if not more so, because, honestly, I don’t think Karus can help but do the first thing that comes to her head. But you —” she jabbed her finger in his chest and stormed, “you couldn’t have waited another few days? I realize I’m being selfish, but really , Rev? After everything you’ve both been through, you had to do that without us?”

He glanced at me with an I told you so look.

“Clairannia…” Figuerah crossed the room to both of them, reaching up to give Rev a tight squeeze. “You’re gonna have to get over this, girl.”

“I know, I know. I just wanted to be there because I love you both, and I’m just…”—she wiped a tear from her face—“I’m just so happy for you.”

I laughed and rushed to her side, the four of us embracing in one big hug, all of us having been through so much love and loss together. I caught Rev’s eye, my own brimming with tears of happiness, and he leaned in to kiss me.

“So, Growers are the fae that grow things.” Moira sat cross-legged on the table of sweets, a chocolate bun in front of her, licking her fingers. She continued, choosing not to join in on our embrace. “Their power comes from Felgren, of course, and their numbers wane and grow with the seasons. During Karus’s winter, there were very few to be found. I don’t know if that’s part of why it lasted as long as it did, but lately, they’ve been popping up everywhere.”

It was so rare to hear Moira speak of her own kind, we all turned to listen.

“That’s why I’m surprised there was a Grower with the Blightress. We fae only stay in Felgren. Well,” she added, shrugging, “most of us only stay in Felgren. Growers have the power to revive dead trees and rebuild devastation. They’re the ones who’ve been helping Felgren return since Karus destroyed most of the Blight. They’re the ones who kept track of its growth in the first place.”

“Why haven’t we ever seen one before?” I looked to Rev in question. He shook his head, confirming he had not either.

“They don’t want you to see them, so you don’t.”

I puffed air out of my lips. “We really need to get back home.”

Rev nodded, moving into the room and closing the door. “Thank you three for coming. I’m sorry you missed the companion binding, but we can celebrate when we get back to Felgren.”

Clairannia and Figuerah looked at each other and then back at him.

Figuerah spoke first. “Rev, Karus, we can’t go back with you. We need to return to our lives. Our people are depending on us as conduits, and they need us now more than you do.”

I frowned. I wanted to keep them. I wanted them to stay with us in Felgren like we used to. I wanted to spend more sunny days in fields of wild buttercups with them, talking about anything and everything as we once did.

“She’s right. We’ve stayed for a while now, and we need to return. They’ve been wonderful months, and I would not give up seeing you come back to us for anything, Karus.”

I lowered my head and nodded. They were right, of course. They had lives that had gone on after they had become conduits, and we had no right to ask them to stay.

“I will miss you both so very, very much.” My voice trembled as tears streamed down my face. I had lived in Felgren without them already. I had lived and loved Moira, but I had not lived as myself without them by my side.

“We’ll write as often as we can, love.” Figuerah grabbed my hands in hers. “Nyeimah needs me, too,” she whispered, speaking of her companion—the same woman who had loved her before she’d trained as a conduit.

“I can’t wait to meet her someday,” I whispered, sniffing.

“We’ll plan it. You can come visit me in the Attatok Mountains and then travel south to see Clairannia in the Spire. Nyeimah and I will come with you, and we’ll be reunited again.”

I squeezed her tighter.

Rev moved closer to me. “We’ll plan for it then. As soon as we get settled back with the channelers. How are they?”

Figuerah answered, “Oh, they’re fine. We haven’t let them off the hook, and I think they’re glad for a little break. Pompeii promised to watch over them for now. Though…” she trailed off, a slight smirk on her dark lips.

“Figuerah…” Rev lowered his voice in question.

“It’s nothing. I just think you should get back quickly. They need your guidance, Baron.” She turned to me. “And yours, Karus. We told them quite a few stories of our time together as channelers in training and they begged us for more.”

“Your meeting will start soon, I think,” Clairannia interrupted. “But before it does, you cannot meet the leaders of the isle in that dress, Karus.” She looked to Rev. “And I’ve got something for you, too.”

I laughed and pulled her close. “Anything for you, Clairannia. Let’s see what you’ve brought.”

I stood transfixed watching Clairannia adjust the delicate skirts and rearrange the fabric flowers of the most breathtaking gown I had ever seen. She draped it across one of the small couches, and her crimson magic flowed delicately between the petals of each one, ensuring they were unfolded and free of wrinkles since traveling from Felgren.

“Don’t forget this,” Figuerah murmured, pulling a headpiece out from the bag.

Clairannia laughed, taking it to adjust as well. “Like I could.”

Moira fluttered to my shoulder, pulling the hair back from my ear so she could whisper, “I actually really like this one.”

I nodded, my jaw still hanging open after the gown’s reveal.

“Well, I think that’s as good as I can get it. C’mon, Karus, get undressed. We don’t have all night like we should have had. Rev’s clothing won’t take nearly as long for him to get into.”

“I don’t…I mean…what do I say?” I stepped forward, my hand tracing the skirts. I shook my head. “How…just how ?”

“Oh, I have my connections in the Spire. This was hand-crafted by one of the famous dressmakers there.” Clairannia started untying the ribbons at my chest, and Figuerah pulled at my sleeves, urging me to keep moving.

“When I explained to her that it was for the first-ever companion of a Baron of Felgren, she dropped everything else and got to work.”

Moira left my shoulder to straighten some of the blooms on the headpiece.

I shimmied out of my dress and stepped into the gown.

If Viridis was something to wear, it would have been this.

If spring in Felgren could be made into a dress, it would have been this.

The silk was a sage green, the same color as Moira’s skin in the afternoon sun. The bodice hugged my breasts and waist tightly. Long trails of delicate leaves fashioned out of fabric had been sewn into the front, which spilled into long vines of blush roses. They fell down the front and sides of the skirts that bloomed off my hips.

A skirt of green moss spilled to the floor behind me, the hem littered with rose petals, leaves, and more vines that trickled behind when I walked. The length in the front hit the floor in a cascade of a sheer-white gauzy material and the sleeves began just below my shoulders, flowing out from my arms and ending in a bundle of sage lace that gathered over my wrists.

I turned to look in the gold mirror above the sideboard. I shook my head, again at a loss of words that I could ever wear something so beautiful. This was art. This was my home gathered into one stunning piece.

“What should we do with her hair?”

“What we can, I guess. When did she last brush it?”

“I’ve been busy,” I laughed.

“I’m sure you have,” Figuerah muttered, smirking in the mirror.

Clairannia took a comb and began to unwind my hair from the braid it had loosened from.

Moira flew to the sideboard, a small pot of red lip stain in her hands. “Can’t forget this!”

I grinned as she flew to my lips and began to paint. When she finished, I said, “Moira, I’m surprised you’re excited about this.”

“No one more than me.” She showed her teeth and continued, “This means you stay in Felgren. This means there will finally be a human with some sense who gets a say over what happens in the Fortress.”

I bent my knees carefully as Clairannia reached up to place the headpiece on top of my now shining hair. It was akin to a crown of cream and blush floral blooms that brushed to one side, the circlet gold and glinting in the candlelight.

“The Queen of Felgren.” Clairannia giggled, “It has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

I laughed, “I’m not sure that’s quite right. But we’ll figure out something.”

“Karus you are every bit a queen as any of the rulers on this isle. You’ve done more to save Felgren and magic than anyone.” Figuerah lifted her fingers to my ear. “Now these are from the Attatok Mountains. Our goldsmith fashioned these just for you.”

She clipped an earring onto my lobe, phases of the moon crawling up the sides. The other earring was crafted into the setting of a sun. Each one graced the full length of my ears, ending in a cuff at the very top.

Tears threatened their treks down my cheeks, and I widened my eyes and sighed, unable to keep the grin off my face.

I turned from the mirror and pulled my two friends close, my fellow channelers, lovers of Viridis and Felgren, lumens, and fields of yellow blossoms. “Thank you,” I whispered, meaning more than for what I wore. “Thank you for loving me.”

They both squeezed tighter and pulled back revealing, their own tracks of tears.

The soft knock came as we knew it soon would.

“I’ll get it!” Moira shouted, flying to the long handle and looking to me in question.

I looked down at the masterpiece I wore one more time, swallowing the tears away, ignoring the butterflies in my stomach.

“Ready,” I spoke with confidence, straightening my shoulders. “I’m ready.”