wield is only half as strong as it could be if you were joined.”
Liam leaned closer to the queen and dropped his eyes. “I don’t know what to do,” he admitted. “Usually, I know exactly how to proceed. But with her…” He drew in a breath. “I’m terrified I’m going to mess it up.” Liam had to swallow a lot of pride in order to make the admission to Kairi, but he understood, from everything he’d learned over the past couple of weeks, just how important the soul bonded were. Not to mention, what would happen to Gabby if he didn’t share his soul with hers? The thought of her going dark nearly drove him to his knees. Despite the walls he knew she put up with her tough-girl persona, he could see the vulnerability in her eyes. Liam wanted to take that look and replace it with something else. He wanted to offer her the security she seemed to require.
“You don't have to worry about messing it up,” Kairi said. “You are meant for each other. She is yours and you are hers. That doesn’t mean you won’t have to work for it. All relationships take effort, whether they are soul mates or not. You have to give more of yourself than you take of her. Be willing to do that and be willing to compromise. These things will help. And be prepared to fight for your relationship when it comes under attack, because it will.”
Liam nodded. “Thank you.”
“It is I and the other royals who need to thank each of you. You will be putting your lives on the line for millions of people who you do not know and who will most likely never know that you did it.”
Liam shrugged. “What’s life without a little risk?”
She smiled at him and then walked back to the center of the room.
Liam's eyes went back to Gabby. His heart beat a little faster when he saw she was staring at him. He winked at her, partly because he didn’t know what else to do and partly because he couldn’t help himself. Her face reddened, but whether from anger or embarrassment, Liam wasn’t sure. He didn’t know her well enough to tell the difference. Yet. But he would. Soon, he would know her very well.
Gabby kept her face firmly focused on whomever it was that seemed to have the floor. At the moment, the fire king, Aviur had stepped forward. He looked around the room, seeming to scrutinize the faces of everyone present. She could see the flames in his eyes, but they appeared muted, like a fire that had a screen pulled across the front of it. She couldn’t imagine the weight that he and the other royal elementals must bear on their shoulders.
“Because time is of the essence, you will not meet the rest of your teams until you arrive at your assignments. These will include not only the professors but also warriors assigned to assist the student groups,” Aviur explained. “Some of you—Liam, Ra, Elias, and Aston—will be able to offer some instruction on utilizing your different elemental powers in tandem. And the experienced warriors will have much to offer and teach. Unfortunately, this will be on-the-job training.”
“That’s actually not a bad thing, sir,” Aston said. “Statistically speaking, people who learn their skills on the job perform much better than those who simply learned from a classroom setting or a theory method. So, you are actually giving us a leg up on our fellow students.”
“Then I suppose we are progressive in that sense,” Aviur said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Some of these warriors are bonded pairs and will be able to explain more about the bond,” Aviur continued. He looked at Ra and Shelly. “There’s a fire soul-bonded couple you two will work with, Lawson and Cara.
“Cara offers her power and assistance to her mate. She is able to pour her power into him so if he’s running low, she can keep him from getting weak. They will be able to explain more about how their bond works to Ra and Shelly.”
“Why does that information matter to us? I’m not a fire elementalist,” Shelly said. “I’m just a human with a little underworld soul-bonding going on.”
Aviur smiled at her. “For the moment. But believe it or not, I have a little magic of my own that I am able to share with you.”
Her eyes widened and her mouth formed an O.
Gabby’s attention, along with