MALACHI II

I woke up before the sun set. I dressed quickly and headed to the kitchens. I knew she would be hungry when she woke up. I couldn’t stop the fluttering feeling in my stomach from the memory of last day. Our bonding had been nothing I expected. I heard stories of what would happen from many people before, but they were watered down versions of what it was like. I felt my hand absentmindedly go to my chest. She was bound to me for as long as our lives lasted now. She granted me blood, invigorating me and strengthening me, and I granted her immortality, letting her walk the earth as long as one could. I couldn’t hide the smile that crept onto my lips. I had never felt this way in my life.

I walked into the kitchen and saw Lunette already gathering a tray of tea and scones. Elisif’s favorite were the blueberry ones. She looked at me as I came over to start doing the same.

“Did you and the Princess. . . ?” my cousin trailed off, her eyebrow raising in a question.

“Elisif will find out in a bit,” I replied icily. I gathered the fresh tarts that were out to cool on a rack behind us.

“You have, I can already tell by the look on your face. Not even you can hide that glow,” she mocked.

I frowned at her. “Since you’ll surely tell Elisif, let her know she doesn’t need to take care of Iara this evening then.”

With that I pushed my way out the door. I brought the tray back to my room. I made sure she could reach it when she woke up and I left again. I would have liked to be there when she woke up, but I needed to go speak to my mother. If I didn’t tell her first thing, she would be quite cross with me.

I knocked on her doors and she answered almost immediately. She was half way through getting her hair braided, only her under layer dresses on. Her green eyes were lit with excitement. “Did you bond?” she asked excitedly.

I felt my face get hot and I nodded. She yanked me in and over to her working desk. It was where she did most of her enchantments. Father joined us after a moment as well.

“Since you’ve blood bonded, what do you plan to get her?” Father asked.

As a tradition, when someone bonds with a vampire they’re given extravagant gifts from the entire family. I didn’t know if this was true for every vampire family, but it was true for Bloodtides. It was to show the gratitude we had for their sacrifice. They were more than food to us. They were our permanent life partners. I remembered when Lunette bonded with Elisif, she was given many gifts. Elisif was granted a title of lady and was given the same duties as Lunette. They will be granted my uncle’s land in a few years. But giving those things to Elisif was easy. They were grand things she would have never been able to get otherwise. I hadn’t the first idea what to get Iara that she couldn't already get herself. “I’ll have to consider it,” I said lamely.

“Your mother gave me a painting studio when we bonded. What is Iara’s passion?” Father asked. Mother was a much better gift giver than me.

She came over to us and showed me two bracelets. They were made from silver, polished to a beautiful shine. Each of them had a single charm of a rose bud. It was a simple design but elegant. “What are these?” I looked back up at her.

“A human tradition is giving jewelry as a proposal of marriage. I thought it would be nice for you both to wear one,” Mother said.

“I had ordered them from my home kingdom,” Father said. “White silver mined from Harthmine.”

“And I enchanted them. I know she can feel emotion by touch, but it doesn't work over distance. With these, you will be able to send each other feelings if you will it. A way to communicate when you aren’t next to each other.” She turned one of the charms over to show the softly lit rune on the back. It glowed in the dim setting sunlight that trickled through the window. The magic in it made it spark like a small fire. “Try it,” she said, handing me one. “Think of what you want to send and picture the rune. I’ll tell you if you got it.”

I held the silver bracelet in my hand. I imagined the emotion that I felt the most right now. Happiness. I pictured the sharp lines of the rune and my Mother clapped. “There,” she smiled. “Can you feel mine?”

The same joy emanated from the metal in my hand. I nodded in amazement.

“Keep in mind what you might want to give her,” Father reminded me.

“Oh, also one more thing.” Mother grabbed my arm before I could leave. She stepped close and whispered into my ear. “Your father and I will be going west to Sherwoods. We are going to tell the kingdom that the Princess is here with us finally and we need to ask for companionship in case of conflict among our people.”

I looked at her, my face falling into shock. “Is it really that bad?”

“There have been many rumors that I don’t want to repeat. While we’re gone, please keep an eye on Jer. If anything happened to either of you, I don’t know what I would do,” she murmured.

“Also don’t forget the Blood Festival,” Father added.

I felt my shoulders slump. Equally bad news. If my parents were away that meant I would need to be hosting the festivities. I had to help my parents host last year to prepare me for this. It was awful, running around and making sure every cog was in place. It was the type of work I hated most. I would have to be out in the streets of Cerith, talking to so many people I couldn’t remember the names of. I have been dreading it almost all year. You don’t have as much fun at festivals if you watch everyone else enjoy everything instead. I sighed heavily and nodded. “I will be sure to start that then as well. Have you started any of the planning?”

Mother nodded and picked up a thick book full of loose parchment. I sighed and tucked it under my arm. “I will ensure everything runs smoothly in your absence,” I droned.

Mother gave me a stern look. “Try to inspire more confidence in me. We will be leaving in three days.”

I nodded and left before she could strap me with anything else I didn’t want. I knew if they were going to Sherwoods they would be gone for at least two weeks if not longer. I made my way back to my room. The sun had set and the stars shone outside. The moon was only a half.

When I entered my room I tossed the festival plans down on top of a pile of other work I needed to finish by the end of the week. It felt like no matter what I did, paperwork managed to pile up. I would just worry about it later. I went back into my room and sure enough, Iara was awake. She sat in the middle of the bed, blankets wrapped up around her like a cocoon. She had eaten a tart and grabbed the purple moon book I had given her before.

“Malachi,” she rasped. Her warm brown eyes met mine and I could have melted. They held all the care in the world for me. She looked so pale, no color in her cheeks.

“How are you feeling?” I asked her. I came to sit at the edge of the bed.

“I’m very tired,” she said. “And cold.”

I wrapped her blankets tighter around her. “You can sleep as long as you need to. When someone bonds, they’re granted as much time as they need to recover,” I told her.

“What about you?”

“It’s about you,” I said. I felt perfectly fine. Better than fine. I had no idea blood from a person would have given me so much energy. I wasn’t hungry for actual food and I felt like I could run laps around the palace. But Iara looked like she would fall over from the brush of a feather. Guilt wrapped around me like thorns.

She tugged at my arm and I couldn’t help but smile at her. I moved closer to her and wrapped my arms tightly around her. “My parents also gave us a gift.”

Iara pulled away to look at me. “Gift?” her eyes lit with excitement.

“It’s a tradition for vampires to give gifts to their bonded partners as thanks. Expect a lot of presents coming up.”

“Second birthday,” she smiled.

I laughed. “Yeah, second birthday.” I pulled the bracelets from my pocket and untangled them gently. Once they were separated, I held them up for her to see. She looked almost sad for a moment.

“Human marriage bracelets?” she asked.

I nodded and showed her the charm. “My mother enchanted it.” As I helped her put it on I explained the trigger to her. She smiled when she felt the soft warmth come up from her arm. She sent me the same warmth.

“Can we always wear it?” she asked, holding her hands against her chest.

“If you want to, yes.”

She let herself fall against me. I wrapped my arms tightly around her once again. I haven’t felt this happy in a long time. I knew things might be tough coming up, but at least at this moment, I was holding onto her and she was safe in my arms.