“You didn’t have to dress so nicely,” Cyra told them when Lien brought them to the dinning hall. “This is just an everyday dinner.”

“The Spirits can be like parents sometimes,” Senar explained with a smile. “We weren’t planning on dressing this way, but Nymbs and Eovfi had other ideas.”

Vell and Senar sat with the king and queen. The prince sat beside his mother in a highchair as she fed him his dinner also. Arin, Lien, and Ryo sat at their own table with Braith. Vell was a bit startled, knowing that noble parents didn’t often raise their children themselves, feeding and caring for them. When she asked about it, Cyra smiled.

“I may be royal,” she replied, “but I was raised as a commoner and so shall my children.”

Vell understood what she meant. In this way the child was fully aware of their parents’ attitude towards them. They knew what was expected of them and for what reason. The child also had more respect for all that lived around him. For the prince to be raised this way might make him a better leader, so Vell thought.

“Have you two been on any other adventures like this?” Asward asked curiously, breaking her thoughts.

Vell smiled. “Last year was nothing like this, but it was quite an adventure. We met on the way to Jatin. Realizing that we’d both experienced the same call for help from the Temple, we started traveling together. When we arrived at the Temple we learned that the evil that was pulled from the Witches was being contained in a vase within the Temple since it cannot be destroyed. Someone had put a crack in the vase to release the evil and Senar and I had to ask the Spirits to repair it and collect the leaked evil.” Senar nodded in agreement as she spoke.

“That sounds impressive,” Cyra told them, looking stunned. “Now, does being a Speaker make you part of the Temple?”

“Well,” she began, “both yes and no. When I was Blessed I took the Sisterhood color, but in order to be a Sister I’d need to have been educated in the Temple and I wasn’t.”

“The same goes for me,” Senar explained. “I’m a part of the Brotherhood, but I’m not a Brother.”

“What do you mean you took their color?” the queen asked.

Vell smiled. “I never used to look like this until the night I asked for the Witches to be stopped. I had dark blond hair and pale green eyes. I went into the Hall of the Spirits in an old brown dress and a bandage around my neck. When I came out I had pale gold eyes and light blond hair, a scar where the wound on my neck had been, and I was wearing this.” She moved to imply the gown.

“Amazing,” Cyra said quietly. “And what about you, Senar?” she asked after a moment.

“My hair was pale blond and I had hazel eyes,” he began with a smile. “When I entered the Hall I was wearing an old torn shirt and pants. I left with midnight blue eyes and hair, though the hair looks black most of the time. I was also wearing this robe.”

Asward leaned closer to him. “Your hair is blue!” His expression made both Speakers laugh.

“So Vell,” began Cyra after they had relaxed, “you told us what your larger pendant meant, but what is the smaller one for, if you don’t mind my asking?”

Vell looked questionably at Senar.

He shrugged. “It’s hard to explain,” he said, “but we’ll do our best.”

They both held their Ties side-by-side. Cyra and Asward looked at them curiously.

“I see it,” Asward stated. “You each have a smaller copy of the other’s larger one.”

Vell nodded. “It’s the Eternal Bond, a bond that can exist only between two Speakers.”

“It can never be weakened, only strengthened,” Senar continued. “The Bond only holds true friendship or love. Ours formed between us last year after we saved the Temple.”

“So which does it hold for you?” the queen ventured.

Both Vell and Senar blushed. “Love,” Senar said quietly.

Cyra smiled. “I had thought so. I trust you found where I left your packs.”

Vell’s blush deepened and she covered her face with one hand. “They were just inside my door.”

Senar groaned. “And I thought it was bad that Kali and Roel saw the Bond form.”

“Don’t worry,” Cyra said, squeezing Vell’s shoulder, “we’re all still like that. I’m sure Lien and Arin will tell you the same.”

Taking a deep breath, Vell changed the subject. “When do we start training?”

The queen smiled. “Tomorrow after breakfast.”

As Lien took them back to their rooms later Vell and Senar tried to memorize how to get to the dinning hall themselves. Both of them knew they wouldn’t be able to remember it by the next morning.

When they made it to their rooms, Senar went in his own door and Vell went in hers. The sun had just set so she went to work lighting a few candles. She wasn’t tired yet and she wanted to talk to one of the Spirits before she went to bed. Before she could ask for any of the Spirits, however, Senar changed her plans.

He came in through the adjoining door looking thoughtful and nervous. He was once again wearing a tunic and breeches, not his robe. “Vell,” he said quietly, “I need to tell you something.”

Vell looked at him, slightly concerned. “What is it?”

He swallowed. “You and I are more alike than you realize.”

She looked at him curiously. “How so?”

“You’re the first one to hear this story or see this,” he told her seriously. “Not even my father knows.” He pulled his shirt off so that she could see his chest and abdomen. He pointed to something with one hand.

Vell had to move closer to see what he was pointing out to her. When she realized what it was she gasped. A pale golden-colored scar hooked from his left shoulder down the center of his body. The skin half an inch to either side of the scar lacked the dark hair that was now forming on his chest.

“The High Spiritess,” she whispered.

Senar nodded. “You can touch it if you want.”

Gently, she followed the path of the scar with her finger. She could feel the power that had healed him. Her finger stopped when she came to where the top of his pants was. “Is it larger?” she asked in an amazed whisper.

He nodded again. “Just a bit. Luckily for me it’s not too much longer.”

“What happened?” she asked him quietly, taking her hand from his abdomen.

“On my way to the Temple to be Blessed three years ago, I had an encounter with the sorcerer who created the fire,” he explained almost in a whisper. “He told me I deserved to die for what I’d done. I didn’t know what to do and he knew that. He cut me with his sword, saying that my pain would last four days and so would my life. By the time I made it to Jatin on the fourth day I could hardly stay on Kintec; I fell off him at the ferry. Alander managed to help me onboard and took me to the Temple. Roelandi already knew why I was there. I was blood-soaked and smelled like death, but he carried me to the Hall doors. Somehow I managed to open them myself, then I collapsed on the floor just inside.”

He paused and pulled his shirt back on. “I must have been unconscious because I woke up to Luttuv’s healing. I thanked her so many times that she finally ordered me to stop. That was when Epofsuk Blessed me.”

Vell looked at him in awe. “You were lucky,” she whispered. “Why am I the only one you’ve told?”

“Honestly,” he began, “my father’s a lot like yours. If he had known that this sorcerer had come after me, he’d never have let me out of his sight. I couldn’t tell Nitessa either because she’d tell Father. She’s exactly like most people’s sisters; she can keep her own secrets, just not her brother’s.”

Vell smiled. “Did this sorcerer have a name?” she asked.

“Orlan,” he replied.

She nodded. “I’ll ask Arin if he’s ever heard of him.” She saw the concern on his face. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell him what you did.”

“Thanks,” Senar replied quietly.

Vell hugged him. “Thank you for telling me.”

He nodded and returned the hug. As she was letting him go, his deeply loving kiss stopped her. She held him tightly as weakness filled her legs and her heart raced. It was a minute before he ended the kiss.

“I’m proud of you, Peridot,” he whispered after a moment.

“What for?” she asked quietly.

“The way you told about what you did,” he replied. “I wish I could do that.”

“Why don’t you?” She had been wanting to ask him this for a while.

“I’m afraid to,” Senar admitted reluctantly. “I don’t want all the fuss over it. I want to know that I saved everyone without having them thank me.”

“I wanted that, too,” Vell explained, “but I knew I’d feel terrible staying here for any amount of time with them not knowing. Arin and Ryo would know, but it would be hard on them to keep quiet about what happened.”

“It’s different for you,” he pointed out, “you know people here and I don’t.”

“You do now,” she argued.

“But they don’t know that I did what I did,” he replied.

“What will you do if they ask why you were Blessed?” she questioned.

He shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

Vell accepted that reluctantly and rested her head against his shoulder. He brushed his hand through her hair a couple of times and she smiled. “It’s been a long day,” she said quietly and he nodded. Completely relaxed now, Vell felt herself drifting off.

It was a few minutes before Senar realized she was asleep. Shaking his head, he picked her up and laid her in her bed. He kissed her forehead, then went around and put out the candles. Whispering a good-night he went into his own room, leaving the door slightly ajar behind him.

Vell smiled to herself, only half asleep.