"Hey." Kael's voice dropped. The sharp edges that he wore like armor retracted and what was left was the version of him that only she got to see. The one that sat underneath the sarcasm and the genius and the reputation for breaking things. "Look at me."
She turned her head.
"Solveil already bonded with your light. On Diplomat Row. Before any of this happened. Maddox was there. Half the leadership of two continents watched Landon Solveil heal you on the goddamn cobblestones and bond with you. That connection existed before you ever set foot in his kingdom."
Her brows pulled together. "I don't understand."
"The mark on your neck." He tilted his chin toward the trinity pattern glowing faintly on the left side of her throat. "That mark has been updating itself since the beginning. Every matebond adds a layer. Gold for Maddox. Silver for Nicholas. White for Solveil."
"White," she repeated.
