Onyx Blood [True North series book 2/3]

It took me a long time to get undressed and into the tub. I contemplated asking for help more than once, but decided to power through in the end. I slowly sunk into the water, and the heat immediately offered some much-needed relief for my sore muscles.

I grabbed the basket Maista had left me with, and opened all of the flasks. “Add them all at once,” she had said. Unsure how literally that was to be taken, I contorted my hands into impossible positions to grab onto all of them at the same time, and turned them all over into the water.

Murky, green liquids poured into the bath water, but they didn’t smell unpleasant. They gave off a strong, herbal scent that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but smelled familiar somehow. I leaned back and rested my head against the edge of the tub. I closed my eyes, and immediately felt how tired I truly was.

I pictured myself, Tophyn and Nysander in the hot springs back home. Tophyn had just been a toddler, and I had been very nervous to take him into the water, especially since he had already been ill at the time. But he had loved it. He had splashed around in the water, and had looked lively — almost like a healthy toddler. I wiped the tears from my eyes, and smiled at the memory.

When I opened my eyes again, I shot up in shock. I was still in the tub — but the water was now freezing. My body felt better, although stiffened by the cold water. I lifted my shivering body out of the tub, grabbed the toweling cloth I had laid out, and wrapped it around my body. My hands were so rigid I could barely hold the cloth, and my nails had turned a deep shade of purple.

I dragged myself toward the fireplace in the back of the bathing chamber, and plopped down in front of it. I clumsily grabbed onto the cast-iron poker that hung from the mantle, and poked around in the embers, trying to get the fire to burn a little brighter. I felt a slight pulling around my neck, and before I realized what was happening, my necklace snapped and slid down the poker and straight into the red-hot pieces of coal. The amulet lit on fire immediately, a tiny, bright flash fire amongst the glowing embers.

“No!” I yelled and quickly used the poker to move it out of the fire. I reached into the ashes and pulled out the piece of jewelry, throwing it back and forth between my hands as to not get burned.

I laid it out on the stone tiles in front of me, and inspected it. The dainty silver chain and the casing around the vial had been turned black by soot, that I could easily rub off. The vial seemed to be intact, luckily. I held it up in front of my face, and inspected the contents. I knit my brows together in confusion as I noticed the liquid hadn’t evaporated or coagulated, but in stead, had turned pitch black. “What the…” I mumbled, and swirled the liquid around in the vial.

“Thor?” I called out into my mind.

The humming immediately returned, and so did Thoridor’s voice. “Hi Serin,” he said.

“Hi,” I mumbled, “do you know what happens to blood when exposed to fire?”

Thoridor was quiet for a moment. “Please don’t experiment with fire,” he said eventually.

“I’m not,” I replied impatiently, “do you know or not?”

“I’ll ask Phaedra,” Thoridor said, “she’s sitting next to me. Hold on.”

He was quiet for a long moment. “She says it depends on the circumstances,” he finally replied, “the temperature, the length of the exposure. Why do you want to know all this, Serin?”

“How about one of those elixirs to keep blood from coagulating in a vial, could that make it change color after exposure to heat?” I asked, ignoring his question.

“Maybe,” Thoridor replied, “is this about your necklace? Do you need me to come see you?”

“No,” I said dismissively, “actually, I’d like to see Phaedra. Where are you? Can I come see her?”

“You can come see us whenever you want, love,” Thoridor said, “we are in the throne room.”

I didn’t even bother asking him to leave my mind. I toweled dry my rigid body, and quickly put on a simple linen gown. I couldn’t be bothered to try to lace up the back, so I belted it to my waist and tugged on my boots before running out of the room. It took me much longer than necessary to get to the throne room, because I kept getting lost on the way there.

“Are you coming?” Thoridor asked in my mind. “I’m trying,” I panted, “all these hallways look the exact same.”

“Show me,” Thoridor commanded, “I’ll guide you.”

“What do you mean, ‘show me’?” I huffed.

“Just let me see what you see,” Thoridor replied plainly.

I stopped walking, and focussed my eyes on the hallway before me. And then I invited him to look. And I could feel him join me, looking through my eyes as if they were a window he was standing behind.

“Straight ahead,” Thoridor said, “and up those stairs. But after that, I need you to find me with your heart. You’ve done it before. Just locate me and come find me.” And then he was gone again.

“Find me with your heart?!” What did that even mean. “You’ve done it before?”

I wrecked my brain as I ascended the stairs. And then I remembered. I had found someone before, using just my heart. I just didn’t know it had been Thoridor at the time. I thought my True North had been Warrian — but it had been Thoridor all along. My mate.

I squared my shoulders. I still didn’t think the mating bond was paramount in my decision-making, but I had to admit to myself, now that Thoridor was showing another side of himself, it did get me thinking.

I pictured the compass again — the same one I had used to find my way bach to Ardanis, and followed the direction the needle was pointing in until I ended up in front of a heavy wooden door.

“You did it,” Thoridor said proudly in my mind, “you found me with your heart. Does that mean I’m in your heart, Serin?” Those last words were spoken with a teasing undertone.

I narrowed my eyes, and suppressed the smile that crept onto my face. “Quit pushing your luck, Sire.”