movement drew Sidra’s attention. The woman lifted her head, scrutinizing Veronyka, seeking her intent and measuring her level of threat. When Sidra’s gaze latched onto Veronyka’s face, Veronyka seized the opportunity and locked eyes with her.
The channel between them opened immediately—albeit a bit clumsily; Veronyka’s attempts at shadow magic were as unskilled as they had ever been. But she was determined, and she held her breath as she slid into Sidra’s mind.
She wasn’t digging for information or trying to take control; no, she was seeking Val.
It didn’t take long. Val’s magic was there—Veronyka could taste the iron tang of it and smell the smoky residue like the dying remnants of a banked fire—but Val herself wasn’t present. She wasn’t actively in Sidra’s mind…. Rather, she’d left an imprint of herself, a marker… an access point…
A door.
Veronyka studied it, tried to follow the line of magic where it led like a thread to Val’s own mind, but it was clear that while it looked like a bond, this connection was something flimsier. Something temporary and one-sided. Even though Veronyka’s bond with Tristan was something he wasn’t initially aware of, it ran both ways, and there was a piece of him in her mind the same way there was a piece of her in his.
Was there more than one kind of bond? Val might have put a part of herself in Sidra’s mind, but Veronyka doubted very much that there was a part of Sidra inside Val. Besides, bonds were based in love and trust and mutual affection…. Whatever this was, it wasn’t that.
It was shocking to realize that despite everything, what Veronyka and Val had was indeed a bond. That those elements existed between them.
Or at least they had.
Before Veronyka could dwell on that, she sensed Val’s presence… not in her own mind, but in Sidra’s. Veronyka drew back as much as she could but didn’t let go of her connection entirely. A second later she understood that Val was summoning Sidra. Without a clue what she was doing, Veronyka took that temporary door in Sidra’s mind—wide open and waiting—and slammed it shut.
Sidra wavered, blinking as the command in her mind was abruptly cut off. Yes, Veronyka had closed the door—but Val would just open it again. The question was: Could Veronyka destroy the door entirely?
The sound of agitated footsteps echoed up from the stairwell; Val was coming. Veronyka released her hold on Sidra, who lurched into a standing position, staggering slightly.
Val marched into the room. “Sidra?” she barked, and the woman stood to attention.
It was a testament to Val’s arrogance that she didn’t even consider that Veronyka might have something to do with Sidra’s sudden resistance. She simply scowled at the woman, then jerked her chin toward the stairwell behind her. Sidra obeyed at once.
Veronyka picked up her bowl and started shoveling the cold oats into her mouth without tasting them.
“Are you bonded to her, then?” she asked. She didn’t have time to figure this out, and she thought the suddenness of the question might catch Val off guard and trick her into talking.
“Bonded?” Val asked with a derisive snort. “With Sidra of the Stellan Plains? Don’t be absurd.”
Veronyka nodded at the door, where Sidra had disappeared. “Then how—”
“Ah, xe Nyka—you’ve never understood the complexities of shadow magic. The potential. A bond is an exchange born of equals and cannot exist where there is not trust and respect.” She paused, and her expression closed somewhat as she realized she’d admitted to having such a relationship with Veronyka. “A bind, though… that is a much more useful thing.”
“What’s a bind?” Veronyka asked innocently, playing to Val’s arrogance and belief in her superiority. Apparently the thing she’d just discovered in Sidra’s mind had a name. A thought occurred to Veronyka; if Val had been using binds on her patrol during the war, that would explain why both Sidra and Doriyan had done whatever she asked without question. Dying likely broke Val’s hold on Doriyan, and he didn’t like what he’d woken up to. Sidra had maintained her loyalty, and no doubt Val had reinserted her bind on the woman without much difficulty. Doriyan, however, might have fought against it.
“Something you’d never have the guts to implement,” Val answered. “A bind is control and influence. It makes true allies of those who would merely be your followers.”
“But doesn’t that make you vulnerable? Having bonds with so many—”
“It’s a bind, not a bond, and you don’t just put them into anyone. It takes time,