Page 3 of Daughter of the Ninth Line, Part Three

Three

Hayle

M y Soul Tie was here at Boellium. I still couldn’t believe it, but I’d known instantly that she was the one. She was the other half of me. My mate. It had hit me like a bolt of lightning to my chest, a deep knowing that was indescribable.

I hadn’t known it could happen that way; from what my grandparents had told me, it wasn’t an instantaneous thing.

It was like two magnets moving toward each other, pulled by invisible strings until it grew into a longing to be in their presence, to know everything about them.

Eventually, when the time was right, the Soul Tie snapped into place, and you were helpless to resist.

Maybe it was different because she wasn’t from the Third Line. Avalon Halhed of the Ninth Line, that’s what she’d said. I needed to know more about her. I needed to know everything.

My first stop was Svenna’s office. She’d have the basic information, and from there, I’d have my own sources look into her.

I was just stepping up to the door when I scented blood. Not unusual in a war college, but still, I paused. When some conscripts from the Twelfth Line emerged from the stairs, one was holding some girl in his arms.

No, not some girl. My girl.

A growl rumbled up my throat, and I was striding across the atrium before the thought even took hold in my mind. “What happened?” I snapped at the wide-eyed Twelfth Line conscripts.

These ones had arrived last year, but the Twelfth Line had sent triple the amount of conscripts this conscription day.

The drought in their Barony was brutal, and I didn’t blame them for sending their half-starved teens to Boellium to be fed and trained for a couple of years.

Hopefully, by the time they were done, the drought would have broken.

The guy holding Avalon stared at me, but didn’t move to put her down. My Soul Tie turned her head, groaning, but conscious and kind of pissed. She tapped at the guy’s chest, and he placed her gently on her feet. They were all still staring at me mutely.

That’s when I saw the bleeding gash on her head, and all reasonableness left me, subsumed by rage. “I asked what happened? ”

The guys stiffened their spines, stepping in front of the women, including Avalon. The urge to protect through violence rose up in me, and I worked hard to keep it tamped down.

What the hell was wrong with me?

They were all saved from serious injury by Avalon stepping out from behind them, back into my line of sight.

She was frowning at me, her expression somewhere between confused and annoyed.

“I fell down the stairs, and they were taking me to the healer. Well, they were, until you came over here growling like a rabid bear.”

Someone gasped, tugging at her sleeve in warning, but I had to admire her audacity. No one outside my Line spoke to me like that—fear and a healthy dose of self-preservation made them watch their tone.

Either Avalon Halhed had no idea who I was, or she was brave. Or perhaps stupid. I couldn’t wait to see which it was.

“I’ll take you to the healer,” I told her, stepping into her space to scoop her into my arms.

She stepped back, batting away my hands.

“Whoa. I don’t need or want your help,” she said, holding out both hands like she was trying to ward off the aforementioned rabid bear.

“I’m more than capable of getting myself to the healer.

I just had a little moment of dizziness.

” She turned to the people behind her. “I’m fine. Thank you again for the rescue.”

One of the Twelfth Line girls eyeballed me, like it was my fault she was sending them away.

“Fine. But if the healer says someone needs to watch you due to a possible concussion, you’re welcome down on our floor.

I have some healing experience.” She glared at me again, and I tried to remember her name.

I didn’t have much to do with the Lower Six, so I had no idea, but I’d get Lucio to find out.

Avalon gave her a genuine smile. “Thank you again for your help. I appreciate the rescue.”

The other female narrowed her eyes at me and opened her mouth to argue, but the guys bundled them away. Avalon watched them go, then stepped around me to walk down the hall. The wrong hall.

I realized she had no idea where the healer was.

I trailed along behind her, ignoring her annoyed huffs, until she was so turned around, I was fairly sure she wouldn’t even know how to make it back to the atrium, let alone the healer or the food hall.

Eventually, she reached a dead end and was forced to turn and face me. I leaned against the wall, grinning at the enraged expression on her face.

“Lost, Avalon?”

She ground her teeth and winced. I straightened, moving toward her. I gently touched the lump on her head, and she hissed. It was a bad contusion, but she looked okay. I was a shit Soul Tie, chasing around after her, rather than getting her medical attention.

“Are you okay?”

“Apart from a massive headache and a giant pain in my ass?” she asked pointedly, and I smiled. Man, she was fiery. And beautiful. So fucking beautiful. I stared at her a little longer, until she let out another aggravated noise and went to move around me.

I gripped her arm and pulled her to a stop, staring in awe at the place where my skin touched hers. It was like a current passing between us. I wanted to get her naked and feel every inch of her skin until I was electrified.

I looked down at her solemnly. She was kind of tiny. “Please let me escort you to the healer’s rooms.”

She closed her eyes slowly, in obvious pain. I resisted the urge to lean down and lift her into my arms. “Fine,” she ground out.

I slipped my palm from her forearm to her hand, lacing our fingers together like it was the most natural thing in the world. When she didn’t pull away, I smiled. We were making progress already.

Sighing, she followed along behind me, and I slowed my pace to match hers. “You know, there has to be an easier option,” she informed me lightly.

“Easier?” Easier than the healer? Not that I was aware of. The healers had magic on their side. The kind of slow medicine the people down in the Twelfth used would have taken her days to heal.

“An easier way to get laid. I’m not interested in being your conquest, Heir Taeme.” Ah, so she did know who I was.

My jaw tensed. How did I explain to her that there would be no other ways to get laid—no other conquests, no one else but her from now on—without scaring the shit out of her?

I squeezed her palm in mine, relishing the contact. “I’m not looking to fuck you, Avalon.” Lie, lie, lie, but it wasn’t the reason I was doing what I was doing. “I’m just being a good member of Boellium War College, helping you find your way to some of our important facilities.”

She snorted, like she knew I was full of shit, then fell silent. It was okay; with the warmth of her palm in mine, I knew everything would be fine.

“Why did you fall down the stairs?”

She shrugged. “Exhaustion, probably? I should have slept, but there was no food in the dorm, and I was hungry. It’s been a while since I’ve eaten.”

I looked down at her. “You missed breakfast?”

Staring at me like I was stupid, she tried to yank her hand away, but I held it tightly. She glared at me instead. “The last three breakfasts. And midday meals. Though I’ve had some nut bread for dinner the last few nights, so that’s something, right?”

I slowed. My mate hadn’t eaten in three days? The beast inside me howled its outrage, and I worked hard to keep it from my face. “I’ll take you to the food hall after the healers. And I’ll get someone to stock your dormitory.”

She side-eyed me. “No, thank you.”

I stared down at her, letting her see how serious I was. My Soul Tie would never go hungry again. She’d never have to choose between rest and food. She’d never have to exhaust herself to the point that she could be hurt.

I refused to think about the fact that she’d gotten lucky.

The stairs to the dormitories were steep, and if she’d fallen wrong, my mate could’ve been dead within hours of me meeting her.

Braxus howled somewhere in the building where he was keeping watch, affected by my devastation at just the thought.

Taking her chin in my fingers, I tilted her face up so I could see those pretty midnight-blue eyes. “I wasn’t offering, Avalon. You better get used to seeing my face, because I’m going to be your shadow for as long as I live and breathe.”

Shaking her head, she just blinked up at me. “I don’t understand.”

I resisted the urge to lean down and rub my face along hers, marking her as mine in the way of beasts. “I know.”

We were almost to the healers when she gasped, grabbing at her neck. “Oh no.”

Terror made my heart thunder in my chest. Fuck . Was she more injured than I’d first thought? Had I let her wander the halls with a broken neck? “What is it? Where does it hurt?”

She patted at the hood of her long jacket. “Is it okay?” Her voice shook lightly.

Looking into the deep hood, I saw a stolt, curled up in a ball. Poking him gently, I let out a relieved sigh when he blinked one eye open. Are you injured? I asked him mentally. The ability to speak to animals was the generally accepted power of our Line.

He showed me an image of him leaping off her shoulder as she fell, then hiding in her hood as she was scooped up by the guy from the Twelfth Line.

Name? I asked, and he showed me a picture of a purple flower, a bird known for making a distinctive “ep ep ep” noise and the ocean.

Your name is Ep-Ocean?

He bared its teeth at me. Okay, not Ep-Ocean. He showed me an image of a seed in the grass.

Oh, Ep-sea.

He licked my fingers happily, then went back to sleep. He’ddefinitely chosen Avalon as its person.

“The stolt is fine. He abandoned you as you fell and climbed back into your jacket afterwards. His name is Epsy, apparently.”

She grinned at me. “Like the epsirialle flowers.” Ah, those were what the purple flowers were. Maybe she’d named the little beast.

“I didn’t realize you had an animal companion. Do you have Third Line genes somewhere in your family history?” It would explain the instant Soul Tie.

She shook her head. “Oh, he’s not mine. I just found him. I thought he belonged to one of you?”

I laughed, scratching the little stolt’s head.

“I know every animal companion in my Line, and he’s not one of ours.

” Grabbing her hand again and tugging gently, I continued down the hall.

“He’s yours now. He claimed you. It happens like that sometimes, that instant connection.

” I sounded intense, even to my own ears, but was saved by further questions by our arrival at the healer’s rooms. “Let’s go in and get you checked out. ”