A Baron of Bonds (Conduit of Light #2)

80. Karus

Chapter 80

Karus

“Do you think that when we die, somehow, some part of us will remain here?”

Figuerah’s eyes met mine before we burst into a laugh matched in joy and mirth.

“Clairannia, where did that come from?” I chortled, weaving her crown of golden blooms in the same field of yellow we’d met in many times before.

I pulled another flower, lying on my stomach, elbows dug into the dirt. Figuerah already wore her crown, the light petals complimenting her dark skin and honey eyes.

“I just want there to be something, you know?” Clairannia turned her head to me, lying on her back, staring up at the brilliant blue sky. “Something of us like this that stays here forever, taking up space if our bodies no longer can.”

“Goodness, girl, it’s nine in the morning. Save the heavy talk for afternoon tea at least.”

Clairannia threw some of my stock of long-stemmed flowers at Figuerah who laughed, pulling them off her chest.

“Hey!” I shouted. “I need those!”

She giggled, helping me pick them up, setting the flowers back into my pile.

“I know what you mean.” I sighed, weaving another one through the stem of the chain I’d made. “I don’t come here when you two aren’t here. It’s not right. It always feels off, like I don’t belong in this space without you both.”

Figuerah smiled down at me, leaning on her hand. “Let’s do it then. Let’s promise that when we die, many, many years from now, we send a part of ourselves here. We bask in the sun, lie in the fields, and our color will be yellow.”

“Our sky will be clear.” Clairannia sat up, her brown eyes agleam, her black hair sliding over her cheeks.

I rose as well, placing the completed golden flower crown on her head. “Our sun will be bright. Our love will live on together. Right here. Promise?”

I put my hand forward and they put their hands over my open palm.

“Promise,” Figuerah said.

“Promise,” Clairannia returned. “Now, about the party food…”

We’d spent more days than I could count since Clairannia and Figuerah’s arrival planning this party. I was exhausted, falling into bed each night from full days of training, balancing my own power, and taking the few hours after dinner to help Clairannia plan every tiny detail for the celebration.

We were celebrating so many things—companion bonds, Ilyenna and Talon’s growing baby, my own part in the Baronship—I was glad there would only be one grand night and Revich and I could leave immediately after to spend quiet time in the north visiting Geyrand and his family.

Revich promised an empty cottage was waiting for us near their home, providing us with a few days to just…be.

“When you say these Hyrithian’s are missing,”—a yawn interrupted my question—“do you mean missing-missing, or missing, likely traveling and haven’t been seen yet?”

Clairannia, Figuerah, Nyeimah, Moira, and I were sitting at the dining hall table, now unrecognizable as such with banners and ribbons, floral bouquets, and strings of magically woven lights littering its long surface.

“So far, missing-missing. The whole group of them just up and left.” Figuerah was forcing a particularly stubborn red rose into a vase already full of the blooms. “The Queen has sent a commandment of soldiers to search for them.”

“And you say they all had survived,”—my next words came out mid-yawn—“the Black Fever?”

Moira piqued her head to the side, her violet eyes narrowing toward me as she licked her hand and then stuck another peony petal onto the lighted ribbon.

“Karus, we can finish up here,” Nyeimah urged, her hazel eyes warm against her olive skin and resting on my tired face. She fit Figuerah so well. I smiled just in the knowledge that she’d waited for her all five years that Figuerah had been gone from their village.

“She’s right. You’re useless anyway.” Figuerah jabbed another rose into the vase, eyeing my sparse one, the bundle of cream blooms still lying on the table.

I nodded, rising, so tired I didn’t even want to walk back to bed. I’d happily lay my head down here and rest, just listening to my friends talk about the celebration tomorrow evening.

“I’ll take you, Karus.” Moira rose and stretched, fluttering to my face. “You don’t look so good.”

“Give her a break, Moira. She does too much. And then I come here and demand this extravagant party while she’s still slipping into her new powers.” Clairannia tsked her tongue. “Really, we can finish this tonight, go rest.”

“I don’t mean tired.” Moira leaned in close, studying my black eyes. “I mean something’s not quite right. You look…more.”

I quirked a brow. “More?”

“More. Like more than you’ve ever looked.”

“Moira,” I said, rubbing my eyes, “please just make sure I make it to bed.”

She scrunched her face and shrugged, pulling on my hand to follow her out of the dining hall.

When we reached my door, I told her goodnight, getting her promise she’d show up on time and dressed for the celebration tomorrow night.

I slipped into the room, finding Revich on his chair, whittling at something over a basket of wood shavings.

“I’m too tired to ask,” I muttered as I fell into our bed, kicking off my shoes and burying my head into my pillow.

He followed me, also not bothering to undress, pulling my back to his chest, wrapping his arms around me and kissing my shoulder.

“Do you want me to help you into your nightgown?”

“No, I want to sleep.”

He chuckled, snuggling his head to the back of my neck. “Alright, my love. Sleep.”