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“Oh Gods. Are you Bonded to them?”

“Not yet.”

Her eyes are like saucers. “That was a huge thing to drop on me before dinner.”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry.” She wraps me up in a warm hug. “Does anyone else know?”

“Not a soul.”

“You’re so lucky,” she says, and the way she’s staring at me hurts. I don’t know what it is, exactly, but she’s not looking at me as just her sister anymore. Even when I wore the Prime Minister’s uniform, it was like she didn’t see it. Now, something’s changed I can’t get back.

“What do you mean, I’m lucky?”

“I better sit down,” she says, plopping down heavily on the couch. “I mean, you’re going to live forever. That’s a stretch. But like, a thousand years. I’m going to get all wrinkly while you’re young and beautiful, forever,” she says, trailing off breathlessly.

“I’m not sure that’s the life I want, no matter how long it is,” I answer. I’ve been grappling with the implications of the Bond since I first felt them. I can’t push it down anymore. I can’t avoid it, no matter how my mind screams.

Her eyes widen, angry. “Adriana, don’t you dare say that. No way. You do it, as soon as possible. What if they get killed at war or something? You could lose it all.”

“It’s a deal with the devil. I don’t want to live a thousand years as someone else. I’ve seen how it warps your mind. Look at Queen Jasmine.”

“You’re nothing like her.”

“What if I am? What if Jasmine before the Bond wouldn’t even recognize what she became?”

“I’ve got an idea. I’ll get in touch with Jadah. She’s a friend of a friend, and she can give you a first-hand view of the Bond.”

I immediately shake my head, alarmed. Confiding in my younger sister felt like a release, but it also risked exposingdangerous information. I’m used to keeping state secrets. She’d never reveal my secret consciously, but she could accidentally slip up. “June, don’t change your behavior in any way. The Aurelian Intelligence Service is cunning. I can’t say for certain if they monitor their citizens’ communications, but they’d catch wind if someone from Virelia starts probing about the Bond.”

“Why would that matter?”

“Their marriage is sacrificial. The triads in their armies are forbidden to chase their Mates until the war is won. If it came out that I’m their Fated Mate, it would undermine them.”

“Okay, okay. Relax. I’m just trying to help.”

“I know, June. Maybe I shouldn’t have put this on you. It wasn’t fair.”

“I’m glad you told me. I know the stakes.”

I look to the door. The happiness and peace of my home was broken when my brother stormed out, and tonight’s dinner has the potential to erupt.

21

PRINCE DOMAN

“Tell it to me straight. Is this purely political, or is there something else going on?” Adriana's father, the chief warden of Virelia's lush forests, breaks the silence that has hung between us during our hour-long trek. His words echo in the thick, endless woods around us. Even with my honed sense of direction, the forest has disoriented me.

He turns to face us. “That depends on Adriana,” I answer, meeting his probing eyes head-on.

“It was a slick move. Even the fiercest nationalists think she pulled the wool over your eyes. She made a good deal for Pentaris, sealed with the sanctity of our matrimonial customs. Even the triad of royal princes put aside their Fated Mate to follow our customs. Me, I’ve always been a suspicious bastard.”

I keep my mouth shut. Nothing can be gained from speaking.

“Obsidian. The reports I get are thick with the fog of war. But something’s changed in the battle. He’s striking your forces on planets you thought safe. If you foresaw this… development, the deal suddenly leans in your favor. You need Pentarian territorial access to hit his flanks.”

“I never underestimated him. But I didn’t predict he’d gain mastery over the Rift. That’s how he’s struck nineteen planets in the last week alone.”