Soul Bound

Chapter 11

"Thank you!" Relieved, I jumped out of my seat. "I'll see you all bright and early tomorrow."

Having no context other than watching me leave, Annalyse and Grayson thought the meeting was done and made movements to leave. Except Jacob caught his partner before he could sneak off to discuss the plan further. Annalyse, squeezing my arm, hurried through the hall before Jacob could call her back too. Once we rounded the corner, she released a heavy sigh.

"I love my job, but I hate meetings," she groaned, rolling her eyes for emphasis. Not that she needed to make it more clear how much she detested them. "It's not like we're going to the Desert Lands or anything. We're going to the safest city in the world. How much prep do we need?"

"He's not usually this anal?" I asked, curious. Jacob was always one for details whenever we planned anything. Before we left for our hunts, he triple checked I had everything I needed.

"No. But I guess he just wants to make sure you're safe. I understand." She gave me a soft smile; her eyes gleamed in adirmation at the thought of him protecting me. "He's a good brother. . . I think. I don't have any siblings; I don't know what makes a good sibling."

I shrugged, opening our door for her. "He's pretty good as far as brothers go. So, tell me something," I said as I crossed the room for my dresser, "how did you two meet? Grayson said you trained together?"

She smiled at the memory, changing into her night gown as she thought about it. "Before we get to that, you need a little more background. It might surprise you to know that I didn't start my career as a Dragon Knight. I used to be a singer."

I was completely thrown off by that, trying to imagine her doing anything else. It was difficult. The way she moved seemed effortless. How she interacted with all the other Knights, it was like it was what she was born to be one.

She chuckled at my surprise. "I know, shocker, the Commander's daughter didn't want to be a Dragon Knight. She trained me to become a Knight since I could walk, but it was never my passion. When I was old enough to join, I left home to sing instead. We didn't talk for years." She shook her head incredulously. "The world has a funny way of coming full circle."

I sat more comfortably on my bed, holding a pillow in my lap, and listened to her tale. . .

°•° °•°

Annalyse had gained quite the reputation in Central Aboria. She traveled from bar to tavern, singing for whoever would take her. Before she knew it, barkeepers were seeking her out to come sing for them.

It was a dream come true--and she had no one the share it with. Her mother was a workaholic, who shut her out of her life the moment Anna told her she wasn't going to sign up to become a Dragon Knight on her eighteenth birthday. She had no friends, because up until that point, Kira Hargin had trained her day in and day out to become an efficient monster-slaying machine.

Despite her mother's shortcomings, Anna should probably thank her. If it weren't for her, she wouldn't have needed a creative outlet. If it hadn't been for the many lonely nights and painful lessons, her songs wouldn't have been so heartfelt and relatable. If she hadn't taught her how to keep her cool when her nerves were at their highest, she wouldn't have been able to sing in front of so many crowds, to bare her heart out to them without a worry what they thought of her.

She was on her way to her biggest gig yet--she'd been asked to sing at a lord's wedding!--when she overheard something she couldn't ignore. She was in Hillfar, a city accompanied by Fort Yarran, where, you could imagine, soldiers were quite prevalent. A group passed her in shining armour, on their way towards a bar; she barely heard them over the clips and clops of horses' hooves on the cobblestone.