Chapter 14

The morning after they’d met with the Council of Elders, Treya stood in the private yard behind the guest house, feeling the frozen ground beneath her bare feet. Since coming north, she’d started wearing her lace-up boots to avoid frostbite, but for her exercises, she needed to be in contact with the world around her.

Focusing her attention inward, she breathed in deeply, filling her lungs with the chilly air. Then she squared off against a yellow birch tree, standing close enough to the trunk that when she punched toward it, her knuckles just barely brushed up against the bark.

She alternated arms, striking rapidly but never touching the tree with more than a slight graze. The goal of the exercise was to transfer all the energy of the blow into the tiniest, briefest bit of contact. Given a moment to prepare, Shana could hit just as hard with a single finger as she could with her entire fist. Treya had never managed it.

A voice came from behind her. “Are you trying to kill the tree?”

She turned to find Sarette. “You must think I’m crazy. You keep watching me do strange things.”

“Was that more practicing to be a mystic?”

“Yes. Something one of my teachers has been trying to show me.”

The other girl fidgeted with one of the straps on her coat. “Is that why you wanted to be bonded by a warden? To get better at it?”

“What? No. The thing with Corec was an accident.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize. How did it happen?”

Treya paused while she thought about what to say. The stormborn actually knew things about wardens, and she wasn’t sure how they’d react to the unintentional binding spells.

“We just weren’t expecting it,” she said carefully. “We didn’t know what was happening back then. We didn’t find out about wardens until later.”

“Oh, I see. Is it like the stories say?”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s an old children’s story about a stormborn wizard who wasn’t very good at what he did,” Sarette said. “He left Snow Crown after messing up too many spells, but while he was gone, he was bonded by a warden. He came back, and when the other wizards laughed at him, he challenged them to a contest. He won, and then he left forever. It’s meant to be a parable about not making fun of someone, because you never know what they might be capable of, but when I was little, I just liked the story because of all the magic.”

“Another warden told us it’s supposed to work that way, but we’re still new to it, so I can’t say for sure. I think it’s helped me with my healing, though.”

“Healing? You’re a priestess? I thought...” Sarette trailed off.

Treya thought back to their earlier conversations. “Oh, mystics aren’t mages. Being a priestess is something different.” It was still easier to think of herself as a priestess. She wasn’t sure how to talk to the others about being godborn.

The other woman nodded. “Do you think it could help me?”

“Could what help you? Wait, the binding spell? You want to do it?”

Sarette glanced around to make sure nobody was listening. “All I ever wanted to be was a stormrunner, but my gift isn’t strong enough. I don’t like being in the High Guard, especially as an officer, but my training doesn’t really lend itself to anything else. I was thinking about leaving Snow Crown to find work as a caravan guard, but that’s not any better.”

Treya led her over to a bench. “I’m not sure how to answer your question. None of us realized what was happening at the time, and I don’t think any of us would have chosen this if we knew, even Corec. He’s never actually cast the spell on someone on purpose—it would be a big step.”

“Do you think he’d do it for me?”

“I don’t know. You could ask him, but there’s a lot to consider. You’re coming with us to the ruins, but what about after that? Would you go with us or stay here?”

“I thought if he bonded me, I’d have to go with you.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But have you ever left the Storm Heights before? Do you really want to be away from home, at least for a while?”

“I would if it means I could fly the storms.”

Treya shook her head. “I don’t know what that means, and I don’t know how much it would help you. We really have no idea what the binding spell actually does. And it’s not just the spell. We’ve been attacked on the road a few times, and we keep ending up in fights. The other warden we met sent one of her bondmates to fight a group of demons. It could be dangerous.”

Sarette shrugged. “Being a soldier is dangerous too. There haven’t been any raiders in the mountains this winter, but we had to do an avalanche rescue two weeks ago.”

Treya sighed. She wasn’t sure whether she should be warning the other woman away or welcoming her. Then, she thought about how she’d felt when she’d been told she couldn’t be a mystic. What would she have done if Mother Ola hadn’t changed her mind?

“If you decide to ask him, I’ll support you.”

“And then she asked me to cast the binding spell on her,” Corec said, relating the story to Katrin, Shavala, Treya, and Ellerie.

They were in the library of the guest house the Council had provided. It was a governmental building, intended for visiting dignitaries, and the elders had made it clear they’d offered it because of his status as a warden. He’d attempted to refuse, since he’d done nothing to deserve it, but the Council had insisted.

Boktar and Sarette were out obtaining supplies for the journey through the mountains, and Corec hadn’t mentioned the gathering to Bobo. He wanted to get opinions from the people he’d bonded before telling the rest of the group.

“Are you going to do it?” Katrin asked.

“I wanted to see what the rest of you thought about it first.”

“You’re not considering it, are you?” Ellerie said. Her mood was difficult to read, but she’d spent the morning talking with the others rather than locked away in her room with a stack of books.

“I didn’t think you’d be as concerned if she actually asked me to do it.”

“No, I suppose I wouldn’t be, but we hardly know her. Do you really want to be stuck with another stranger for a thousand years?”

“She just wants to be a stormrunner, and she thinks this’ll let her do it,” Treya said. “She’s spoken to me about it a couple of times.”

“Whats a stormrunner?” Ellerie asked.

“I gather they’re something like knights, but with magic,” Corec said. “I didn’t want to ask too much about it until I’d made a decision, but she moves like she knows how to fight.”

“You really need to know more about her than that. What if she just disappears like that demonborn woman did?”

Treya said, “She’s willing to come with us if that’s what it takes. Or at least that’s what she said yesterday.”

“Is that what it takes, though?” Corec asked. “Razai proved we don’t have to stay together. I could just cast the binding spell, and then she could stay here when we leave.” He didn’t mention the faint urge he’d had to head south ever since Razai left. He wasn’t sure whether it was real or his imagination.

“Yelena said you can only bond eight people,” Katrin reminded him.

“She did?” Ellerie asked, a startled look on her face.

“Oh, I guess I only told Katrin and Shavala about that,” Corec said, then shrugged. “Yes, that’s what she said, but I don’t know if it matters.”

Shavala tilted her head to the side. “That depends. Are you going to be a warden, or are you going to not be a warden?”

“What do you mean?”

“You told Katrin you were thinking about ignoring it all. If you do that, then it doesn’t matter who you cast the binding spell on, or what they do afterward.”

Treya nodded. “But if you’re going to be an actual warden, like Yelena, then you’ll need people like Venni—people who know what they’re doing. The rest of us ... don’t. Not really. Except for Boktar, but he’s not a mage so he can’t be one of us.”

“Venni didn’t know what she was doing when she was first bonded,” Corec pointed out. “She was just like us back then. And she’s a friend, but honestly, I’m just as happy she’s with Yelena instead. I’m not sure we’d get along if we were stuck together.”

“That’s not really their point,” Ellerie said. “Shavala’s right—are you going to set yourself up like Yelena did, or are you going to go back to working as a caravan guard?”

Corec exhaled slowly as he thought about it. “I don’t know. I’d like to do something more important with my life than I’ve been doing, but what would that mean? Work for some duke and spy on everyone, the way Yelena does? Is that what the rest of you want?”

“Not me,” Ellerie replied. “As soon as we find a way to end the bond, I’ll go my own way ... unless you’re still interested in helping to find Tir Yadar?”

“If you want me to, sure. It helps to have a goal while I think about everything else.”

Ellerie nodded. She no longer seemed annoyed at the thought of their continued association, which Corec took as a good sign.

“I don’t mind if you want to be a warden,” Katrin said, “but I’m not like Venni. I can’t go off on my own and fight demons. Maybe we do need to find someone like her.”

“What do you want to do, though?” Corec asked her. “Are you still going to try to find a bard teacher?”

“Anise didn’t think they could teach me much. Maybe if we’re ever in Valara, I could ask at the school she attended.”

He nodded.

Shavala said, “I have to return home someday, but I’d like to come back and visit you. Perhaps if you need my help, I could divide my time between both places. Can you live somewhere near the forest?”

“Tyrsall’s the closest major city,” Corec said. “I don’t think Yelena would like that, at least while she’s still there.”

“Circle Bay’s not far, though,” Katrin said.

“Or Matagor,” Ellerie suggested.

“Matagor doesn’t have a Three Orders chapter house,” Treya said.

Corec raised his eyebrows. “You’re coming with us? I thought, even if you decided to keep the bond, you’d want to go off and do your own thing.”

“Maybe this is my own thing. I’d have to finish my journeying first, but not all mystics travel, and I could probably do more with my healing if I stayed in one place most of the time. There are rules I’d have to follow, but I could find work like Enna does for the Princeps.” She blushed for some reason. “As a bodyguard, I mean. But I’d like to be near a chapter house.”

Corec tapped the table with his fingers as he thought. Circle Bay, High Cove, and Ironholt were all possibilities, and if Katrin wanted to join a bardic school, Valara wasn’t much farther south than Circle Bay. There were smaller towns too, like Four Roads, that were closer to the forest and had a Three Orders chapter house. He had to go back to Four Roads at some point anyway; he was still renting a room there.

He said, “I don’t want to do things the way Yelena does, but if the rest of you are on board—not you, of course, Ellerie—we could look for a place where we can try to work together. I’m still not entirely sure what that means, but I suppose I could find bodyguard work like Treya. Let’s keep to our plan, though; we’ll search for Tir Yadar first, and a way to end the binding spell. Then we’ll decide.”

“What about Sarette?” Treya asked.

“Well, it seems I’ve got some control over the binding spell now. If I’m going to try to be a real warden, we should avoid any more situations like Razai. If I bond anyone else, they have to be willing to stick around. If nobody has a problem with it, I’ll talk to Sarette to see how she feels. But we should take the time to get to know her first, to make sure she fits in.”

“I like her so far,” Treya said.

“I’ve barely spoken with her, but we should have more time on our way to the ruins.”

“What about Razai?” Katrin asked. “Are you going to look for her?”

“If I get close, I’ll track her down—I owe her some money for helping with the demons. But otherwise, if she wants to find us, she can. I don’t think she will.”