Everly~
I need you to understand that every decision I make has your best interests at heart. I would never put you in danger."
Realizing how difficult it must have been for Ronan to hear me question his character at every turn, I softened my expression and nodded.
"Trusting you was difficult for me. But it isn't now."
My words of affirmation put a small smile on Ronan's face, an expression I still wasn't used to seeing.
"There's just so much I don't understand." I admitted.
"I'll tell you anything. Everything. What do you want to know?"
My mind was flooded with confusion. It was difficult to decide on a single question, so I started from the beginning, hoping to make sense of it all.
"You said you had been searching for me. How long?"
"A little over a year."
I felt my breath catch and my lips part in shock.
"You started to send random images through the bond. Intense emotions and small whispered words. I told Kaes of your existence and he immediately agreed to help me. He tracked you."
I knew it. My sense of being hunted by a necromancer wasn't totally off.
"When I was captured and brought to camp...was that your doing?" I asked cautiously.
"Yes and no. Kaes had narrowed the search to a small area, and I sent a group of warriors there to retrieve any nymph they could find and bring them back to camp."
That's why the wraiths were so close to our village.
"When my warriors encountered a rebel force from your village, and Talon was injured, I saw him. I saw images of him bleeding in the snow as if I were witnessing it all through your eyes."
"You asked me to help him." I added, recalling the event in my head.
Ronan nodded, remembering what he had seen through my eyes.
"I knew he wouldn't harm you because I'd given him strict orders not to."
Slowly processing Ronan's words, I started to put the pieces together.
"Did Talon know that I was your mate when he brought me to camp?"
Ronan shook his head. "No."
"But you knew I had been with Talon because you'd seen his face through my eyes in a moment of panic. That's why you demanded that Talon show you the nymph he'd taken from my village."
"Yes." Ronan confirmed.
"Why did he lie?"
The smallest smile curled the corner of Ronan's mouth.
"He had heard Kaes and I discussing you and thought my intentions were to offer you as a sacrifice to Kaes. Seeing as he owed you his life, Talon concealed you and offered me another."
I recalled the blonde nymph who had thrown herself at Ronan, swallowing the unfiltered anger that now accompanied that memory for some reason.
"Did you truly believe that nymph was your mate?"
Hanging his head for a brief second, Ronan wrestled with his answer.
"I didn't know and had to find out. When she saw that bracelet on her wrist..."
He paused as if his emotions were too big and new to handle.
"...but when she joined us at the feast, I felt nothing. It was defeating and frustrating to say the least."
"And you felt something when I joined you?" I already knew the answer but I wanted to hear him say it.
"I could feel you instantly. Like pulses of energy radiating toward me without an origin. Every moment I spent with you only confirmed my suspicions."
A warm smile spread across my face.
"Several times during the feast when I became uncomfortable or scared, I felt a wave of comfort wash over me from within. Was that you?"
Nodding his head slowly, there seemed to be sorrow in Ronan's eyes.
"I couldn't hear you or read you. But I could feel your fear. I could feel your heartache. And while I couldn't speak to you, I hoped that if your emotion could reach me that mine could reach you in return."
"It did." I confirmed with a smile, placing my hand on top of his.
My mind was still racing with questions as I continued to relive the events of the past week.
"Why did Kaes expose me? Why did he tell the camp of my gifts?"
Pushing out a hard sigh, this seemed to be the part that Ronan enjoyed the least.
"We needed you to be highly ranked for the sacrament, so you'd be offered in the third and final drawing."
"Why?"
Ronan shifted his weight uncomfortably as we sat together on the forest floor.
"Because Kaes and I had tampered with the cauldron."
My eyes narrowed and I tilted my head to the side in confusion.
"That morning, Kaes and Talon had filled the third and final cauldron with my crest...only my crest so that I could claim you for the sacrament and reveal myself to you as your mate."
Dropping my brows I searched for an explanation as to why Thaddeus' crest had been drawn instead.
"But..."
"I know." Ronan growled. "Thaddeus got wind of our plan and somehow realized that you were my mate. He was my second in command but hated the position. Always competing with me in some way, despising the fact that I was preferred by King Ragnar. He replaced my crests with his own out of spite."
Shock and horror plagued my face and I felt anger start to bubble within me.
"How do you know all of this?" I asked.
"Kaes."
I forgot that Keas freely roamed the thoughts of others, taking what he needed without permission.
"Kaes said that Thaddeus' only objective was to bed you in front of me. To take my mate on the arena floor and force me to watch."
The muscles in Ronan's chiseled jaw ticked and jumped beneath his skin as he clenched his teeth.
"I was seconds away from tearing Thaddeus limb from limb, but you beat me to it."
A sudden wave of satisfaction washed over me and I took in a deep breath as I reveled in my dark accomplishment.
"Does anyone else know? About us?"
"Thaddeus was the only other soul who knew, outside of Talon and Kaes. And our secret died along with him."
The word secret jumped out at me and I quickly addressed it.
"Why is it important that our connection remain a secret?"
Ronan's expression hardened and I felt him take hold of my hand.
"I have many enemies, Everly. Enemies who would use you in order to harm me. I'm not sure I'm ready for that. I will be, but not yet."
I respected his answer and nodded, giving his hand a gentle squeeze in return.
"I trust you." I said with a smile and while Ronan didn't say anything, I felt a deep sense of relief radiate through the bond.
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