Nyx POV
The walk back to my parents' house was somehow worse than the walk to the Council grounds.
At least before, we'd had the tension of the unknown—what the Council would decide, what punishment they'd deliver, whether I'd even be allowed to leave. Now we had certainty, and certainty was a special kind of torture.
Kael Stormborn was moving into my family's home.
The boy who'd broken my heart would be sleeping under the same roof.
The person's whose destiny I took would be spending every waking hour teaching me everything he knew.
And neither of us had any choice in the matter.
'This is going well,' I thought bitterly.
'Could be worse,' Frost offered from her place in my mind. 'He could still be dead.'
'Sometimes I'm not sure that wouldn't have been simpler.'
I felt her amusement ripple through our bond. 'Simple is overrated, child. Growth comes from complication.'
"Your family is going to love this," Kael said suddenly, breaking the silence we'd maintained since leaving the Council hall.
I glanced at him. He was walking carefully, still favoring his injured side, his face pale with effort despite his attempts to hide it.
"My family will be fine," I said. Though honestly, I had no idea how they'd react. Finn would probably try to throw Kael out bodily. My mother would fuss and worry. My father would go very quiet and very thoughtful.
"Your brother wants to kill me."
"Can you blame him?"
Through the bond, I felt Kael's wince emotional. "No. I suppose I can't."
We walked a few more steps in silence.
"I meant what I said," he continued quietly. "At the house. About being sorry. About wishing you'd let me die. I didn't—" He stopped, struggling with words. "I was angry and hurting and I took it out on you. You saved my life. I should have started with thank you."
The apology caught me off guard.
"You're welcome," I said, because what else could I say? "And I'm sorry too. For binding you without consent. For tethering you to someone you don't want to be tethered to. For—" I gestured vaguely at the space between us. "All of this."
"Stop apologizing for saving my life." His voice had an edge to it. "You made a choice in an impossible situation. I'm alive because of you. Whatever complications that creates, we'll deal with them."
We.
The word felt strange. It was an acknowledgment that we were in this together now, whether we liked it or not.
"The Council wants us to start training tomorrow at dawn," I said, changing the subject. "But you can barely walk. Your wounds—"
"Will heal." He was already shaking his head. "I've had worse."
"When? When have you had worse than being torn apart by rogue wolves?"
"Combat training," he said simply. "My instructors believed in learning through experience. Broken bones teach you not to leave your guard open. Dislocated shoulders teach you proper defensive positioning. Pain is the best instructor."
I stared at him. "That's horrifying."
"That's preparation." Through the bond, I could feel the determination and eagerness he felt when training. He was probably replaying the memories. "The point is, I've trained through worse injuries than this. We can start tomorrow."
"The point is, you shouldn't have to." I stopped walking, forcing him to stop too. "Kael, you almost died yesterday. You're still healing. It's okay to take time—"
"We don't have time." His voice went hard. "The Council said the seals on the Void are failing faster than expected. Every day I spend recovering is a day you're not learning what you need to know. We start tomorrow."
"I don't think anything will happen if we skip a day. The council will not even notice. Let's just skip tomorrow so you can recuperate."
"You underrate the council's influence. Nothing is hidden to them. Besides, you need to be prepared because no one knows the hour or the day the destruction will start. We start at dawn."
The determination in his voice was absolute. Through the bond, I felt the fear driving it. Fear of failure. Of not being enough. Of letting the world down again.
"Fine," I said. "Tomorrow at dawn. But if you collapse from pushing yourself too hard, I'm telling Finn he has permission to say I told you so."
The corner of Kael's mouth twitched. Not quite a smile, but close.
We started walking again.
***************************************************************
My family was waiting when we arrived back at the house.
All three of them stood in the kitchen like they'd been frozen there since we left—my mother at the table, my father by the window, Finn leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. They all looked up when the door opened.
"Well?" my mother asked immediately. "What happened? What did they say?"
I took a breath. "Kael is going to train me. Everything he learned over the past twenty years, he's teaching me. Combat, strategy, magic control—all of it."
"That's… good?" My father's tone made it a question.
"And," I continued, "because the life-bond won't tolerate distance yet, he's going to be staying here. With us. Starting tonight."
The silence was deafening.
Finn pushed off the wall. "Absolutely not."
"Finn—"
"No." His voice was flat, final. "He doesn't get to move into our home. Not after what he did to you. Not after this morning—"
"I don't want to be here any more than you want me here," Kael said quietly. "But we don't have a choice. The bond won't allow separation, and the training needs to happen. I can sleep in the barn if—"
"We don't have a barn," I said.
"The training yard, then. Or outside. I don't need—"
"You'll stay in Mara's old room," my mother interrupted. All eyes turned to her. She was looking at Kael with an expression I couldn't quite read. "Our older daughter's room. She moved to the capital three years ago. The space is empty."
"Mother—" Finn started.
"He saved our daughter's life by not dying," she said firmly. "And now he's going to teach her how to survive what's coming. The least we can do is give him a proper room." She turned to Kael. "But you will treat my daughter with respect under this roof. You will treat all of us with respect. And if I hear one word…one single word that makes her uncomfortable or upset, you will find yourself sleeping outside regardless of bonds or prophecies. Understood?"
Kael nodded slowly. "Understood. Thank you, Mrs. North."
"Elara," she corrected. "If you're living here, you'll use our names. I'm Elara, that's Garrett—" she gestured to my father, who nodded stiffly "—and you already know Finn."
"Who still thinks this is a terrible idea," Finn muttered.
"Noted." My mother turned back to the stove. "I'm making stew. You'll both eat, then Nyx will show you to your room. Training starts tomorrow?"
"Dawn," I confirmed.
"Then you'll need rest. Both of you." She ladled stew into bowls with efficient movements. "Sit. Eat. We can discuss the details after."
It wasn't really a suggestion.