“Should I just let it go all at once?” she asked. “Or maybe ease into it, a little at a time?”
“Please do it at once,” he begged. “How will I know where that bit of my soul might lie?”
Crawling until he was directly in front of her, Kaevin knelt, taking her hands in his. This time, his touch bore his feelings.
“Share with me,” he said, lifting her fingers to his lips, his kiss so tender, it tore at her heart. “Please, as my soulmate... share it all.”
“Everything? The good and the bad?”
“Everything.”
Alora looked into the deep green pools of his eyes, through the bottomless depths, into his soul. She opened her empathy. Emotions and pain swirled together, unrestrained—a kaleidoscope of feelings.
A beautiful sight.
A lovely caress.
A scent of promise.
A whisper of hope.
A taste of rapture.
Soulmates!
Epilogue
Blaggard worried when he could not contact Vindrake following the attack in Glaenshire. Day after day, he waited until the appointed time, anxious to speak to Vindrake—to assure he still lived. Not only that he lived, but retained the power needed to defeat Graely BarManassae and give rise to the kingdom in which Blaggard was positioning himself as an influential leader.
Each time he attempted farsight speech with Vindrake, he was met with silence.
Until today.
Today, he’d heard Vindrake’s voice inside his head, ordering him to make contact at the customary time, two fingers after sunset, at which time Vindrake expected a full report. Relieved to know Vindrake was alive, Blaggard was nevertheless nervous that his account might not be satisfactory to the demanding Water Clan Leader. Blaggard reviewed the insights he’d gleaned. Kaevin remained in the other realm, recovering from injuries sustained in the Glaenshire battle. The expedition to Serenshire had been postponed. As to the mysterious appearance of new portals, Blaggard made casual inquiries around Laegenshire. Either no one knew the answers, or no one shared that knowledge.
r /> Of true import, Blaggard realized he had little to report, and he fretted about his deficit, scanning the few remaining sightstones still worn by his patrons. Unless Vindrake appreciated the proper way to season a stew, Blaggard might be in trouble.
Then fortune smiled on Blaggard in the form of a desperate warrior. Or perhaps fortune laughed at him.
“Please. You must send a message to Vindrake,” the green-eyed warrior begged him. “My sightstone was lost in the battle at Glaenshire, and I’ve no other way to contact him.”
“I’m a loyal Stone Clan citizen,” Blaggard replied, straight-faced. “I should have you put in chains for your treachery against Graely and Laegenshire.”
“If I’m to be chained, you’ll receive the same treatment.”
Clenching his fists, the young warrior’s muscles bulged, reducing Blaggard’s bravado by a considerable amount. Proving he had intelligence in addition to his gifting in strength, the warrior growled a warning. “Perhaps I’ll tell Chaleah to inquire about your travels and your recent visit to Vindrake’s caverns in Portshire.”
Blaggard’s blood froze in his veins.
Vindrake revealed my identity and our private dealings, with no thought to my peril. Now, I’m forced to pacify this hot-headed warrior, or risk discovery.
“No need to be cross. I had to confirm you were not some spy of Graely’s, did I not?” Blaggard motioned for him to follow into the back room, a safer place to converse should another citizen enter the shop. “What is this crucial message I must pass to Master Vindrake?”
“Inform him I struck a killing blow to Kaevin BarGraely during the battle. Deep in his gut. By all rights, he should be dead. I believe the other-world healer had a hand in saving Kaevin from certain death.”
“Perhaps your aim was not completely accurate.”
The warrior’s eyes narrowed as his hand lifted to rest on the hilt of his blade.