Chương 87: 087

Swallowing down the knot in my throat, I forced the words out.

"The woman who adopted me has the same mark," I said.

"But hers is for her husband." I rubbed the back of my neck.

"I… didn't think two marks could be identical." For a brief moment, a fragile thread of hope surfaced. Maybe I wasn't bound to Time. Maybe when Karma brought me here, she'd accidentally copied her own mark onto me somehow. It was thin, desperate, but it was something. Then Dura spoke.

"That's actually pretty common with dwarven soulbonds." The hope shattered instantly. She shrugged lightly.

"The marks don't change depending on the type of bond, romantic, parental, whatever. They just show who you're tied to." Fantastic. Another thought hit me and I grimaced.

"But I'm not a dwarf," I pointed out.

"And her husband isn't either." Dura didn't seem bothered by that at all.

"Then one of you probably has dwarf blood somewhere down the line," she said simply. Or it was some side effect of Karma dragging me across worlds. I dragged a hand down my face.

"Fuck." Dura frowned slightly but kept rubbing my back in slow, steady motions.

"I think I'm missing something," she admitted.

"Why are you stressed again? If the mark belongs to your adopted aman's husband…" She tilted her head.

"Wouldn't that just mean you're bound to your adan?" If only it were that simple. I leaned fully into her side, exhaustion suddenly settling into my bones.

"No," I said quietly.

"When they took me in, it was understood that I was her kid. Not his." And he had agreed to that, because of the child they'd lost. Because of the wound that loss had carved into him. Finding out I was suddenly, magically tied to him through something as sacred as a soulbond? Yeah. That was going to go over great.

"He's not going to be happy about this," I finished. I didn't know how he'd react, but somehow it was going to bite me in the ass. It always did. Dura's expression tightened with understanding.

"Ah," she said softly.

"Yeah… that's a rough situation." Then her face brightened slightly as a thought occurred to her.

"But hey, look at the upside," she said.

"It's not like you'll have to deal with him all the time, right?" Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. I just stared at her. Caught between laughing hysterically and just…being done. A deep, creeping exhaustion settled in my chest, hollowing me out from the inside. After a moment, her smile faltered. Slowly, she started putting the pieces together.

"…Unless," she said carefully, "we're traveling with him." I said nothing. She winced.

"It's Thomas, isn't it?" I nodded.

"Yeah," I muttered.

"It's Thomas." And I was absolutely, catastrophically screwed. Dura's grip tightened slightly, her grimace deepening.

"Alright," she said slowly.

"That definitely makes things more complicated. But it's manageable." She glanced toward the trees as she thought.

"He's gone this long without seeing it, so you just need to keep it hidden." I rubbed the bridge of my nose as a headache began to build.

"That might be harder than it sounds," I muttered.

"He'll probably help me redo the bandages at some point. Or want to check the injury." And the second he did, the secret would be out. Dura stared out across the river, silent for a moment as the gears in her head turned.

"Maybe…" she said slowly. A plan took shape with every word.

"We could wrap the mark separately. Give it its own bandage underneath the shoulder ones." It could work… But there was a problem.

"Wouldn't that look strange?" She shrugged.

"Not really. A lot of people cover their soulmarks. They're pretty personal, and Thomas seems like the type who'd respect that. I'll help you hide it too, where I can." The more I thought about it, the more sense it made. Relief washed through me, easing some of the tension knotting my chest. Crisis averted, for now at least.

"The help would be appreciated." I exhaled.

"Could you…" I trailed off. Dura nodded immediately, already undoing the bandages on my shoulder as she pulled a second roll of cloth from her pack.

"You got it," she said easily.

"Give me a second." The quiet that followed felt different this time. Comfortable. The tension from my little revelation trickled out of me at a drip, leaving my limbs loose and tired. As if I'd run a marathon. Given the entire clusterfuck of a day's events, maybe it wasn't that surprising… The river murmured nearby, a comforting background noise as Dura worked, her hands steady and practiced. When she finally tapped my shoulder to signal she was done, I rolled it carefully. The bandages held perfectly.

"Perfect," I said, genuinely relieved.

"Thanks." She shrugged the thanks off.

"Anytime." Her gaze slid to the river with a hum.

"Wasn't really paying attention before, but the view is pretty good." I hummed.

"I noticed, but was a bit distracted." Shifting to catch a whiff of myself, I grimaced.

"So… should we head back now, or do you want to get a bath?" I certainly smelled like I could use one. Though we'd have to redo my bandages afterward. Dura raised an eyebrow. A slow, mischievous grin spread across her face as she leaned forward slightly, just enough to make the movement deliberate.

"If that's a subtle attempt to watch me bathe," she said with a teasing lilt, "you could always just ask." Her chest pushed forward as she shifted, the invitation blatant.

"I'd be more than happy to put on a show." Heat flooded my face. I coughed, dragging my eyes away with considerable effort.

"That… wasn't my intention," I said quickly.

"And while I wouldn't exactly object, the others are expecting us back. Plus it'll be dark soon." And after nearly shitting my pants in panic twice in the past hour alone, I wasn't exactly in the right headspace to enjoy it… My traitorous body picked that exact moment to prove how little it cared about my 'headspace'. I shifted slightly, trying to hide the reaction. Unfortunately, the movement didn't escape Dura's notice. Her grin turned positively triumphant.

"You sure that's what you want?" she asked lightly. She didn't move closer, didn't push, but the invitation lingered in the air between us. For half a second, I considered it. She clearly didn't care about the scars, she was interested, and I'd have to be blind not to notice just how attractive she was. The worst of the jitters were fading now, the blood long washed away. I didn't feel quite steady yet, but this could be a great distraction. I drew in a breath.

Only for the bushes nearby to rustle, making my decision for me and replacing warmth with jagged alertness.