In the Veins of the Drowning(29)

A heavy rolling sound, like thunder, filled the cabin. “What is that?”

“Cannons,” Lachlan said, attention on his dagger. “They’re readying them in the very likely event that Nemea sends his ships after us. You know, since his captain was murdered, and his ward was stolen away in the night.”

His harsh hazel gaze and the derogation in his tone made it more than clear: Lachlan did not think highly of me.

“If I didn’t know better,” he went on, metal ringing with each swipe of his blade, “I’d think you were trying to take advantage of Theo. He’s always been susceptible to a damsel in distress.”

Agatha flopped down onto the settee, where she cradled her forehead in her hand. “Shut up, Lach.”

Theodore gave him an annihilating scowl, but Lachlan only raised his brows placatingly. The whetstone gave another scrape.

“Take advantage of him?” It was almost comical, to picture someone so implacable and intimidating as the king of Varya being victimized.

Lachlan looked at me like I was simple. “To make yourself queen.”

“Queen?” I blinked. “What do you… I don’t understand.”

Theodore’s deep voice was quiet, filled with a soft sort of tension. “Marriages are not performed as blood bonds on Seraf, Lach. She didn’t know.”

“Marriages!” My gaze bounced between all three of them. “We’re married?”

Theodore rubbed at his eye.

“That’s fine,” said Lachlan, clearly annoyed. “But you did. And you agreed. So now, in the eyes of the Great Gods, you’ve taken a fugitive wife, right before you’re supposed to meet your fiancée.”

“Your what?” My glare shot to Theodore. A surge of inexplicable possessiveness raced through me like venom. Color sat high on his cheeks. His full mouth was a hard, flat line. I could hardly understand my emotions—the irrational, spitting jealousy, the impulse to defend him to Lachlan. “I gave His Majesty my word that I’d have our blood bond severed. I trek to the Mage Seer the moment I land on Varian soil.”

The air seemed to thin. Slowly, Agatha raised her head from her hand. Lachlan set his dagger to the table with a deafening clack.

“You’re going to the Mage Seer?” Agatha shuddered. “For a severance?”

A chill raced through me at the devastation that suddenly weighed on her. “Yes.”

Agatha’s voice went weak, impudent. “Your Majesty—”

Lachlan held up a hand. “Now, hold on.” He gave Theodore a disbelieving look, a strained and angry tilt to his lips. “You’re not actually sending her to the Mage Seer, are you? You wouldn’t. The severance will happen in the safety of the palace.”

Theodore’s broad chest rose and fell with increasing breaths, but his features were even as ever. “The severance will happen in the Mage Seer’s hut.”

“No.” Agatha rose from the settee so quickly I flinched. She stood like a bedraggled soldier, fierce and strong. Her black curls were a wild, sea-misted halo. Dirt and large tears marred her dress. “Absolutely not.”

Theodore’s gaze narrowed. “You’re out of line, Agatha.”

“I beg your forgiveness, then, because I do not plan on ceasing,” she snapped. “Please, Your Majesty, you cannot send her there.”

“Agatha.” Lachlan’s entire countenance softened as he made his way to her side. He reached out a tentative hand, but she stepped away.

“No,” she said, resolutely. She looked pleadingly toward Lachlan. “He cannot. Tell him. He cannot do this.” Her voice wobbled with tears.

I’d never witnessed Agatha in such a state. I wanted to go to her, take her hand, but as I tried to sit taller, I realized I was naked. With a violent tug, I pulled the sheets to my chin. My mind filled with questions, with dreadful, nightmarish thoughts of this Mage Seer and her severance ritual. They fell through me like stones, collecting painfully in my gut. “Tell me what’s wrong,” I said. “Is the Mage Seer dangerous?”

Agatha gaped at me. “Is she dangerous?” She rounded on Theodore. “Shame on you.” Theodore went so still, so terrifyingly quiet, but Agatha went on. “When your father ordered that Lachlan and I sever our blood bond, he sent us to the Mage Seer with nothing but a pack of food and two horses. I nearly died in that rotting hut of hers.”

The memory seemed to grind her down. Her shoulders drooped. Her voice faltered. “The severing draught… It turns the blood black and forces it through the nose and eyes and mouth. The pain of the binding is nothing compared to the severance. Lachlan could only sit and watch as I lost blood over days on a filthy pallet, without a healer, while the Mage Seer did nothing but slither around in her putrid smoke.”

An ugly silence stretched between us all. Finally, Theodore spoke, his tone barbed and labored. “I am not my father.” He paused. Pulled in a deep breath. “I know how terrible the Mage Seer is. That is why Lady Imogen will be accompanied by a retinue of guards and a palace healer.”

“I beg you to send a rider instead.” Tears slipped down Agatha’s cheeks. “Let them bring the severing draught back to the palace. Let her endure the ritual under your care. You’re the most powerful healer in all of Leucosia.”