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regret nothing,” Ilyan breathed as he pressed his forehead against mine.
    I pulled his magic into me in the stolen moment before Ilyan straightened, his back returning to its regal pose as he turned to face my father. “Sain, tell me. What I feel for your daughter, what I hope she feels for me—”
    “Do I have time to leave?” Thom interrupted, obviously sensing where the conversation was going. I smiled at his outburst, but didn’t look away from the depth of Ilyan’s eyes that had captured me. I didn’t want to.
    “How much has this connection influenced that?” Ilyan asked, his voice calm and strong, even though I could feel the worry behind it. My own apprehension grew, the question I hadn’t even thought to ask clenching my heart.
    I felt so comfortable with Ilyan; everything felt so right. I didn’t want to think of that being a forced reaction from our woven souls, that it wasn’t real.
    I knew I had felt the connection before. I had first recognized it when he lay unconscious in the cave, but it had grown since then. That alone promised me how real this was.
    “It is your souls that are fused, Ilyan. Not your hearts,” Sain said, his face breaking into a wide grin that flashed a million childhood memories into my eyes. “Your future together may be defined—your essence combined—but your emotions? Your love? That was there before any seal took place. Without love, you wouldn’t have willingly sacrificed yourself for her. Without love, her heart wouldn’t have called to you and given you a way to find her. It was always there. It always will be.”
    My heart relaxed as Ilyan’s did—mine in gratitude, his in eager anticipation.
    “What will this do when we perform the bonding ceremony? What might happen to us?” Ilyan asked smoothly, his choice of words a lightning bolt through my nerves.
    When.
    Ilyan spoke of something akin to marriage, and I fought the blush that threatened to cover my face.
    Sain bounced on his heels in eager anticipation, the bright-eyed look making me uncomfortable.
    “When?” Thom spat, his irritation growing as the same word gave him a completely different reaction. “Surely not right now. You’ll at least give me time to leave, right?” Thom growled, his scowl growing before he turned away to focus on the map in an obvious attempt to drown us out. I was surprised he had stuck around all this time.
    “I do not know, My Lord. As you said, this was only lore until now. You were lore, my dear child,” he said, his eyes darting to me as his voice echoed. “The treasured sight of a child who would come forth and save us all from the destruction that Edmund has brought.”
    “You should be more worried about what your fused souls are going to do to the sight,” Thom said loudly as he smacked the table in frustration, causing me to jump at the sound. “The Silnỳ will still be able to fight, right?”
    His desperate panic moved back into him again as he walked over to us, his hands deep in the pockets of his jeans. I had never seen him look so haggard, as though he was going to snap any minute.
    “I’m right here,” I mumbled, trying not to let my frustration bristle at being referred to like a dog that had been taught tricks.
    No one seemed to hear my quiet voice. Thom didn’t even look at me before Ilyan’s arm tightened me against him, his voice raising as he faced his brother.
    “The sight has shown she will fight, so she will fight. I believe in her ability to do so,” Ilyan said as he held me against him protectively.
    “Yeah, but did the sight say Ilyan was going to go off and fuse his soul to hers?” Thom asked as his hands jumped from his pockets, the movement so quick that I jerked in the expectation of being hit.
    I flinched like a wounded dog, the action making Thom’s eyes glare into me more. The fear that lived in him turned into disgust that made me feel worse, made my anxiety jolt.
    “No!” Thom snapped, his tirade continuing on as if