The Legendborn Cycle, #3
Oathbound
by Tracy Deonn
Contents
Chapter 42
Overview
Masked warlocks invade Bree and Nick’s room through a hidden passage and try to abduct Bree, but the two Scions defeat them while struggling to keep their identities concealed. The attack proves that someone is actively moving against Bree and may be testing or exposing her before communion.
Afterward, Nick’s concern for Bree deepens into a revealing conversation about his Lancelot gift: he can see and sometimes unmake magical constructs. When Erebus calls Bree’s bloodmark, Bree finally trusts Nick with the truth that Erebus Varelian is the Shadow King.
Summary
During a stormy night, Bree and Nick wake to scratching behind the bedroom wall. A hidden panel bursts open, and four masked warlocks enter through a secret passage. Their pact magic makes their bodies monstrous, and the attack quickly reveals their goal is not simply to hurt Bree and Nick but to drag Bree away.
Bree fights two warlocks at once, using Arthur’s strength, root-forged daggers, and Erebus’s harsh training to stay alive. After a tail strike cuts Bree’s arm, the attackers restrain Bree and begin carrying Bree toward the passage, but Bree stops resisting long enough to create leverage, breaks free, knocks one warlock out, and sends another fleeing. Meanwhile, Nick defeats his two opponents with effortless precision, revealing how far beyond ordinary fighters he is.
After the fight, Nick notices a faint, temporary magic in the warlocks that is not pact magic, though it fades before Nick can identify it. Nick and Bree drag the unconscious attackers into the hidden corridor and leave the bodies on a landing, then return to the room and block the panel with a chair. Nick argues that whoever sent the warlocks may have wanted to abduct Bree or provoke Bree and Nick into exposing their true identities before communion.
Nick tends to Bree’s injury and reassures Bree that Bree fought well. When Bree asks about Nick’s childhood fights with Sel, Nick admits Sel hurt Nick but implies the worst injuries came from someone else. Nick then insists on keeping watch because Sel, as Bree’s Kingsmage, would never forgive Nick for sleeping after an attempted kidnapping of Arthur’s Scion.
The next morning, Bree wakes with Nick asleep beside Bree, his hand on Bree’s hip. Nick is embarrassed and worried that Sel would condemn the lapse, while Bree is amused and reassures Nick that both of them needed rest. The intimate moment turns tense when Nick says the closeness is risky, but before Bree can press him, Erebus calls Bree’s bloodmark and red branches flare beneath Bree’s shirt.
Nick studies the bloodmark with Lancelot’s inherited enhanced vision, explaining that Nick can see the inner workings of magic and sometimes unmake constructs. Nick reveals this is how Nick deforged Bree’s rootcraft so easily, and Nick is troubled that the Shadow King can mark and summon Bree at will. Moved by Nick’s clarity and anger on Bree’s behalf, Bree finally tells Nick the secret: Erebus Varelian is the Shadow King in disguise.
Who Appears
- Bree MatthewsArthur’s Scion; fights off abductors, processes Nick’s closeness, and reveals Erebus’s true identity.
- Nick DavisLancelot’s Scion; defeats warlocks, protects Bree, and reveals his ability to see magical construction.
- Erebus VarelianShadow King in disguise; calls Bree’s bloodmark and remains a coercive magical presence.
- Masked warlocksPact-magic attackers who invade through a hidden passage and attempt to abduct Bree.
- Selwyn KaneAbsent Kingsmage whose protectiveness shapes Nick’s vigilance and anxiety about guarding Bree.