The bond hurt now.
Not constantly—if it did, Maelis would have broken already—but in flashes that stole her breath and left her hands trembling long after the sensation passed. It no longer rested quietly in her chest like it had in the beginning. It pulled. Twisted. Tightened when she least expected it.
She had felt bonds before. True ones. False ones.
This was neither.
It was something caught between realities, stretched thin by emotion it had never been designed to carry.
Maelis stood alone at the edge of the forest, bare feet sinking into damp earth as she pressed her palms against the trunk of an old pine. The bark bit into her skin, grounding her just enough to keep the world from tilting.
You are losing control.
The voice came without warning.
Maelis stiffened, breath hitchi
