16. Theon

Theon and Luka leave a meeting when the Source bond warns Theon that Tessa is running. They collide with Axel, who explains Metias and Pavil arrived claiming Valter sent them, so he told Tessa to escape down the balcony and run while he stalled them.

Following Kacela’s tracking howl through a garden split by a fresh crevice littered with golden residue and swords, Theon reaches the stables. Inside Eyal’s stall, he finds Tessa shaking and scraped, with Eyal’s head in her lap. Theon wraps her in his jacket as she insists she wasn’t fleeing him but the Legacy agents.

When Theon moves to take her to his rooms, Tessa panics about being locked in the dark, and the bond strains as if rejecting her. At Luka’s urging, Theon Entrances her to confirm contact: both Metias and Pavil touched her, likely amplifying terror. Luka advises space to let their magic fade; Theon agrees despite anger and vows the agents are his to punish.

Back in Theon’s rooms, they discuss Valter’s likely orchestration while Axel reports Kacela improbably escaped her kennel and was smeared with gold like blood. As Tessa calms at a distance, Theon approaches, learns she sprained her ankle in the trellis jump, and uses his shadows to partially heal it, then assesses and plans to clean her cuts.

Theon prepares a bath and, after assuring food is coming, gives Tessa the option of privacy. She hesitates and asks him to stay, as the looming requirement to attend Valter’s dinner underscores Theon’s need to confront his father—and the unsettling realization that Tessa’s greatest fears are now linked to him through the bond.