A Baron of Bonds (Conduit of Light #2)

43. Karus

Chapter 43

Karus

I was first out of the carriage, first to the border of Felgren with Parvus and Rauca at my sides.

I stood at the edge of endless green. An unfathomable line of power, that I now recognized as part of me, raced along the ground. One side of this strip of land was dull—a dirty array of muddy grass that was mostly beige. The other line was filled with tall trees that reached up to the sky. I’d never see the tips unless I was back in my channeler room looking out the slanted window. Even then, I could never see the edge of the vast wilderness that lay across Arcaynen’s southeastern corner with acres upon acres of trees, and flowers, and fields.

The pull to enter the place that kept me alive was impossible to resist, so I stepped forward, my boots traveling from one edge of mucky brown patches to the blissful soft underbrush of Felgren Forest.

I’d never traveled through its barrier by foot. The sweet scent of newly budded golden daffodils and white apple blossoms filled my lungs as I took a heavy breath, renewing my soul with my home. Birdsong lifted through the air in a chorus of new life and the warm, sunny days to come.

Parvus and Rauca ran ahead, jumping up and into each other, just as relieved to be back in this place which fueled us all.

I bit back tears of relief, memories flooding within me of the rainy spring day I had followed the Blightress underground. But that field of clover was acres away, and I had changed since I had entered it.

Rev stood behind me, his small pack slung over one shoulder, the same sense of relief across his face that I knew was brandished on mine.

We grinned at each other in absolute joy, both of us laughing as we came together, wrapping our arms at each other’s waists.

“Let’s never leave again,” I declared, watching his black irises turn blue.

“Let’s never leave for at least a while.”

“Let’s never follow strange, ancient women underground.”

“Agreed. Let’s.”

I paused in my response, gritting my teeth in remembrance of what I had done, trying to make light of the choice I had made and failing. “I’m sorry, Revich,” I whispered, my breath heavy.

“I know.” He pulled me closer to him. “We’re moving on from it. Don’t dwell. Just be here with me.”

I took a deep breath with him, my hands on his chest, feeling it expand slowly over my fingers. I glanced over his shoulder, eyeing Talon and Ilyenna approaching hand-in-hand. “How much trouble are they in, Baron of Felgren?”

He looked behind him and murmured, “Plenty.”

“And what will be their punishment?”

“Cleaning out the lumen den…and Pompeii.”

“Pompeii?”

“Yes. They will take care of his every need for a week at least. They will wait on him hand-and-foot until he is well, and then they will continue to do so until I feel they’ve gained some contrition for their impulsivity.”

I giggled into his shoulder. “And what about me? What is my punishment, now that we’re home, for my impulsivity?”

His lips brushed mine, then moved across my cheek, the curve of my jaw, his warm breath on my ear as he whispered, “You’ve suffered enough, Karus. Though, I have some ideas on ways you could take care of me if you still wish to atone.”

I closed my eyes and tilted my head, wanting and needing more of his heated words that left me in a puddle at his feet.

“How far do we have to travel to get to the Fortress?”

Philius’s question jolted my current melting into my lover’s arms, and I blinked at him for a moment as Revich sighed and drew back from my neck.

The Prince and Mychael each held a handle of his wooden trunk as they lugged it through the trees.

Mychael’s rich brown eyes were darting along every surface of the forest, taking in its immense beauty. I wondered if he could hear the whisper of it calling to his magic and settling itself into his very bones as it did on my first visit to its thread of life.

Philius only looked at me, the small frown on his lips he had held since we’d left Hyrithia ever present still.

“Karus and I will walk with you, if you’d prefer. It will take most of the day to arrive at the Fortress without riding a lumen.”

“Why can’t we ride lumens, then?” Philius asked, setting his end of the trunk down on the path.

“A lumen cannot carry that trunk and you. You also have not bonded to any of the lumens yet, and I think a long walk through this forest will be good for you.”

He crossed his arms and grumbled, “Don’t you have magic or something that can carry this to the Fortress? I’ve seen Karus use hers to carry heavy items throughout the castle. Don’t tell me your magic doesn’t work that way.”

Mychael tuned into the conversation and grimaced, the lines of his forehead creasing.

I bit my tongue and let Rev handle it. I’d said enough to Philius in the past two days to go another week without having to argue with him again.

Revich slipped his hands off my waist, but not before giving me a squeeze and slid them into his pockets. He stepped toward Philius. “There are four of us here with enough power to lift your trunk. Though, I see this as an opportunity for your first lesson.” He addressed the channelers, “Talon, Ilyenna, please take Parvus and Rauca back to the Fortress, and inform the staff of our arrival by sunset.”

They nodded and called the lumens to them, Talon helping Ilyenna onto Parvus before he climbed onto Rauca’s back.

“And please inform Pompeii that he is not to help in preparations for our arrival. He is to rest, and I will see to him first.”

They nodded and Rev added, “If he is in need of anything, you two will see to his requests. For a week.”

Talon looked relieved more than anything and Ilyenna responded, “We’d be happy to, Baron Revich. We will do what you ask and see you this evening.”

They whistled to the lumens and they were off, the pounding of the massive beasts’ paws thundering over the dirt path.

Rev returned his attention back to Philius. “If you’d like to reach the Fortress without needing to carry your trunk, you’ll have to work with Mychael and summon your power to do so.”

Philius huffed. “How?”

Rev shrugged. “It’s simple, really. Stand on the ground that feeds your power and let it fill you with the knowledge you need. Felgren speaks to each channeler and conduit in different ways. You must discover how it speaks to you.”

“I don’t hear anything,” he replied curtly.

I met Revich at his side, gathering patience. “For me, it was the breeze within the tips of the trees. It felt like my name was being called on the wind, something I did not yet know myself, but Felgren was aware of. I felt myself being reached through ageless power that sought to settle itself within my very soul.”

Rev beamed at me and nodded. “Yes. Like that.”

A tendril of white encircled the handle that Mychael held, thin and wispy, but proof nonetheless of his channeler magic.

He looked down at his hand and laughed, shaking his head in surprise.

“Congratulations, Mychael. You’ve proven your position as channeler to be here.”

I thought of the first time I had been asked to prove myself here in Felgren. Heimlen had led us to a small patch of earth and requested we each grow a flower from the thawing soil.

All three of us had done it, not yet knowing that was our first trial in Felgren.

Philius furrowed his brow at his guard, looking down at his own marred hand gripping the handle tightly. “What if I can’t do it?”

“Then you can turn around and catch your carriage back to Hyrithia,” Revich answered, now crossing his arms at his chest—something I rarely saw him do.

“I don’t want to go back.”

“Then summon your magic to carry the trunk,” Rev replied.

Philius fought back a retort. I could see it in the tension of his body and the way he slid his jaw to the side as he had always done when we were children.

We’d both been taught to hold back our anger. We’d both found ways to suppress it, and I wondered if he’d rebel upon that demand of the Queen’s just as I did.

Mychael’s magic was thin, and he still needed to hold the handle to keep the trunk upright, but I was proud of him for heeding our words. He glanced at me and I smiled, watching his face light up in a similar grin. He was a handsome man, at least ten years older than me, a few strands of gray littering his brown, shoulder-length hair that curled at the ends. His beard and mustache were flecked with grays too, leaving him looking more than a bit dashing, and there was a kindness to his features. He was probably the oldest channeler ever to be trained in Felgren.

We stood for a few minutes, waiting for Philius to prove he belonged in Felgren as he glared down at his hand wrapped around the trunk’s side handle.

“It’s not working,” he said bluntly, not looking up.

“We noticed,” Rev replied, quickly adding, “Would you like to hit me again and we’ll see if you can summon the strength?”

I knew what he was doing.

And it worked.

Sparks of orange light shot from Philius’s hands. His side of the trunk lifted suddenly, the weight off-balance as one end flew into the air and they both let go. The trunk crashed to the ground in a thud. I wondered how many bottles of wine he’d undoubtedly brought were now broken.

I’d never seen a channeler or conduit’s magic express itself like his. Typically, it displayed in thin tendrils like smoke around the magic wielder’s hands as they used it for tasks. But Philius’s magic sparked like the initial flare of a fire about to burst into flame.

“Well done. You’ve both shown your suitability to be here. You may follow us to the Fortress.”

Rev turned from them, slipping his hand into mine and continuing down the path.

We walked in silence for a time, and I took those moments to bask in the late morning sun and fill my soul with Felgren.

I stole a glance back at the two new channelers. Mychael’s magic still swirled around the handle of the trunk while Philius seemed to have lost his.

He glared at the back of Revich’s head, and I rolled my eyes, turning away.

“Was I this stubborn when I arrived here?” I mumbled.

“You had more reason to be. You had been forced to come here. He has not. Though, I understand his frustration. His power only shows through anger, and when you arrived, yours flowed from your skin easily and without your knowledge.”

“Not when I first arrived.” I frowned.

He squeezed my hand. “Yes, it did. The very night I met you, your magic slid from your hands to catch the vase you had knocked off the table before I caught it.”

I met his eyes with disbelief. “I don’t remember that.”

“I’d guess at the time, you didn’t believe you were so powerful and didn’t notice those things as I did. Do you remember growing the crocus in the forest before I took you to Viridis for the first time?”

“Of course.”

“You sat on that hard ground with your eyes squeezed shut and green magic rose from every surface of your body. You were trying so hard not to use your power, it instead left you in excess. That’s what had confused me for weeks. You were obviously powerful, but denied it continuously, pretending you held very little.”

I thought for a moment in silence. I remembered trying to hold back what was mine to wield here in Felgren in those first few weeks on its soil. I remembered pretending, feigning a difficulty in summoning the power that I had always possessed.

It wasn’t until Heimlen had shown me the Blight that I’d decided to test my own limits, and prove that I was strong enough to save Felgren.

“And what about you?” I asked. “Has your magic ever left you without summoning it?”

He slid his eyes to mine as we walked. “No.”

I raised a brow. “Just how powerful are you as Baron of Felgren? I don’t believe I’ve seen the extent of it.”

I felt his hesitancy at my mention of it. I felt the pull from our bond to suddenly protect me and keep me near, yet something was amiss.

“What are you not telling me, my love?” I asked, my eyes narrowing.

He cleared his throat quickly and replied without answering, “What would you like to me to show you? The power of a Baron is very strong indeed.”

I stared ahead, thinking. “Could you move the trees if you liked? Diverge a stream?” I grabbed his arm, and pulled myself closer to his warmth. “Could the Baron of Felgren move the very earth we walk and transport us right up to the steps of the Fortress if he so wished?”

“Yes.”

“Alright then, let’s see it. Show me something new. Something I haven’t seen you do before.”

He responded to my challenge immediately, nodding ahead of us as roots of the opposite towering pines broke through the earth, rising upward to wind together across the path in an archway. Clomps of dirt fell as a woody vine slid along the intertwined roots before blooming into great heaps of purple wisteria that hung heavily down the archway.

My jaw dropped at the display, and I laughed, letting go of his hand and running to the proof of his power. I gripped the sides of my waist and asked, “Was that simple for you, Revich?”

“A Baron’s power is most easily called upon in Felgren. I’m not sure I could do something like this outside of it, or to trees that did not grow here.”

I lifted a purple hanging strand of petals to my nose and breathed in the sweet smell of fresh blossoms. I lifted my hand in the air, calling to the monarch nearby. She landed on the ring of my forefinger, stretching her wings in and out slowly before finding the wisteria and fluttering to its petals for a drink.

I looked to the sky in a wordless call to more of them. Moments later, a swarm of orange and black wings flew to the blossomed archway.

“We can do it, can’t we?” I whispered, coming back to him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders while Philius and Mychael set the trunk down on the path to take a rest. “We can build our lives here, training channelers together. We can provide the isle with more magic and make people’s lives better because of it.”

He pressed his forehead to mine. “Together, I believe we could do anything.”

I closed my eyes, inhaling his warmth of fresh pine and woods—the life of Felgren. “You breathe, I breathe,” I spoke, our phrase of tethered lives now settled between us.

He hovered over my mouth, his breath familiar and sweet. “You live, I live, Karus.”

Our lips met in slow admission of our strength together, our love of this forest, and our desire to see it thrive.

We could do that. Together, we could do anything.

We stopped every once in a while to allow Philius and Mychael to catch their breath.

Mychael’s magic was still weak, but present all the same to help him on our long trek to the Fortress.

Philius, however, couldn’t keep his magic flowing and his forehead was streaked with sweat.

We sat near a small stream, only another hour’s walk to the Fortress, and I began to recognize more of the details of my home.

Offering Philius an apple, I sat next to him on a rock while Mychael and Rev spoke together of Felgren’s history.

“You’re lucky you get to bring this at all, you know,” I mentioned, my boot lightly tapping the trunk. “When most channelers come here, they cannot bring anything from their homes, let alone an entire trunk which I’d guess is filled with wine.” I raised a brow at him in a challenge to deny it.

He bit into his apple and eyed the trunk, before looking back at me, shrugging.

“Also,” I continued, “the Baron of Felgren typically dresses you in formal clothing that suits your personality, and a conduit ring”—I lifted my right hand—“is formed on your finger.”

“You think I don’t know that?” he huffed, chewing with his mouth open just to annoy me.

“I wasn’t sure you remembered. It’s not like we saw Offerings growing up.”

He cleared his throat and murmured, “I’m sorry I missed yours.”

“It’s not like it was a real Offering. I didn’t have a choice, and you were still in bed from what almost killed you. Of course you weren’t there.”

“I’m still sorry for it.”

I nodded, sighing. “Why did you agree to come?”

“Well, I wasn’t exactly fulfilling my duties at home.” He took a last bite of the apple and threw the core into the stream, watching it bob up and down as it was carried away. “Besides, I don’t trust him. And I want to see you safe. Like I should have done.”

I blew air out of my lips, exasperated by this continuing conversation we came back to time and again.

He laid back against the rock, his hands behind his head, soaking in the sunlight. He reminded me of the orange and white cat we once kept hidden in his room so that the Queen could not take her away. She loved to bask in the sun, too.

“What would he have to do then?” I asked, looking for a way out of this endless argument. “What would Revich have to do to earn your trust?”

He shrugged one shoulder, eyes still closed. “Turn back time?”

“He can’t do that.”

“Then I will probably never trust him.”

“You’re impossibly stubborn, Prince Philius.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

He peeked one eye open with a slight smile. “Oh, you’re one to talk.”

“I know I’m stubborn, but at least I’ll admit it.”

“I’ll admit I’m stubborn, too, then.”

I tilted my head back and groaned.

The sound caught Rev’s attention and he turned to us, in question.

“Let’s keep moving,” I said, standing and thinking of all the ways I could return Philius’s grating remarks using my own short temper.

Rev slipped his hand into mine, and we continued our journey forward, the Fortress soon in sight.

The black towers joined the tops of the trees, and though they once had felt looming and dark, I couldn’t help but smile seeing them again. The Fortress was such a contrast to the forest, but I no longer minded as I once did. Now, it felt more like a place of rest and recovery. Now, I saw the Fortress as shelter from the elements, a place I could curl up into with a good book and a good lover.

The windowless structure met us in its usual defiance of the green that surrounded it, though creeping vines of ivy still fought their way up its black stone steps.

Rev put his arm around my waist and pulled me to him, kissing the top of my head without a word.

He turned to meet Philius and Mychael. “Welcome to your new home, channelers. We’ll get you settled in the tallest tower,”—he jerked his head to the dark stone spire that rose high into the waning blue sky—“and then we’ll meet in the dining hall for dinner.”

Mychael’s eyes widened with awe as he gaped at the structure. Philius took an air of indifference, but I saw right through it. He was curious, and I hoped for the hundredth time then that Rev was right—that this new life would help him let go of the one he left behind.

Rev stepped closer to them both, holding out his hand first to Mychael. “It’s tradition for the Baron of Felgren to bestow new clothing and a conduit ring onto channelers before they enter the Fortress.”

Mychael nodded and took a step forward to grasp his hand. Instantly, his attire changed from that of a Hyrithian guard to a new channeler of Felgren. Sleek black boots replaced his brown riding ones. Fitted pants, the color of deep green verging on the edge of midnight blue, wove over his legs. Lastly, a black shirt clung tightly to his chest and rose halfway up his neck along with a fitted vest in the same color.

I smiled, a small laugh escaping me as Rev glanced my way, one brow raised, and I bit my lips together.

Mychael, the former royal guard, was quite handsome. And it showed now even more so in the waining light of Felgren.

He took his hand from Rev as his conduit ring appeared on his right forefinger in a band of gold, offset with a middle ring of mother of pearl.

“That was…fascinating,” he finally spoke, pulling on his vest and sleeves.

Revich shrugged. “It’s a subconscious part of you who chooses the garments and the ring. I just have the power to give them to you.”

He turned to Philius without a word, holding his hand out in question. Philius glanced to me first and took a deep breath, taking it in his. A suit of emerald soon hugged his tall form. Bands of gold-embroidered flourishes cuffed his wrists and climbed up his overcoat, spilling onto the collar at his neck, stiff and upright. He looked more like royalty than I’d ever seen, and I smirked slyly, crossing my arms as he gazed in awe at his new attire.

He pulled his hand away and held it up in front of his face. His conduit ring contrasted his blackened fingers in a brilliant flash of iridescent orange opals that spun through a band of silver in a pattern the shape of a flame. He twisted his hand around, his face falling slightly as he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up at the Fortress once more.

“You both look so handsome.” I slid my arm through Philius’s, our arguments not over, but my heart at a truce.

He stumbled forward with me as I yanked him up the steps of the Fortress, my simple white dress snagging on the stone. I pushed the heavy iron-lead doors open and welcomed him to my home.