I realized then, that his room was also set up for the honeymoon night. Fresh arrangements of flowers filled the room with fragrant smells; a bottle of champagne grew warm in a bucket of water, that at one time was ice. Two silken bathrobes hung from the bathroom door, one charcoal gray, the other a soft pink.
“Oops,” I mumbled aloud.
Kiran's bed was empty. Whatever business he needed to attend to was apparently lengthy. Or he just didn't want to be around me, which I was perfectly Ok with.
Suddenly my magic flared again, defensive and angry. I sat up straighter, trying to find the source of alarm, but the room remained still. Something tugged at the back of my neck. It was more a feeling than anything physical, but the irritation was there all the same.
I stood up and paced the length of the room, trying to find the source of the pain. When my magic flared for a third time and nothing in the room moved out of place, the thought dawned on me that Avalon was trying to get his magic back.
I sat back down on the edge of Kiran's bed and tried to relax. I couldn't physically give Avalon anything, the blood oath prevented me from helping at all and I could feel my promise with every attempt Avalon made.
My magic, pulsing defensively inside my blood refused by oath to be taken away. I reminded myself that if Avalon was capable of taking my magic that I was helpless to stop him. I worked to relax, worked to calm my frantic nerves and fighting magic.
I was on edge; everything about me was desperately working to keep what was mine. I leaned over, pulling my knees to my chest and rested my head on one of Kiran's pillows. I closed my eyes and focused on falling asleep instead of holding on to my magic.
Avalon pulled again, from an unknown distance and a small, almost unnoticeable amount of magic disappeared from my blood. I could not even fathom how hard Avalon was working to get even the most miniscule amount and claim it as his. He couldn't touch me, he didn't even know exactly where I was or what I was doing, and now with the oath, there was an extra set of protection.
I could not help Avalon, but I did not have to stop him either.
He worked further into the night, occasionally a little more would disappear from my blood and then my magic would struggle that much more to keep the rest. But, with every small amount Avalon claimed, the next amount would be just a tiny bit bigger.
Beads of sweat poured from my forehead, soaking Kiran's pillow and reminding me how difficult it was to do nothing. My shoulders shook with the concentrated effort for stillness and my neck ached from straining.
At some point, late into the night I started to feel Avalon again, I felt our connection and the bond that flowed between us as twins. Part of me was happy just for that, for the feeling that I wasn't completely isolated and that I could communicate with the outside. Part of me wanted to argue he had taken enough, that once the magic was divided, there was no need to drain the rest of me. Part of me argued that if I had magic, I could find a way to kill Lucan.
But the other side of me demanded reason, demanded that all of the magic be taken completely for the sake of my people and the downfall of the monarchy. The wiser side of me argued that even half of my magic would be enough to give Kiran true immortality and it would never be enough to destroy Lucan. And both of those scenarios were unacceptable. Either, Avalon would kill him alone, or together we would face him and together we would destroy him, but Kiran would have no share in our magic.
Eventually, through the darkest hours of the night, Avalon reached the halfway point of our transaction. I was a weak shell of buzzing energy and wavered near the brink of unconsciousness with the strained effort relaxing my magic took on my body.
Eden? Avalon spoke through our shared connection and his voice was soothing to my system.