Chapter71: Bound

*Maerilee* There’s no time to think, no time to question or wonder if this is right or fair. No matter what happens after, we have to act now. We rush through the halls with Mother at the front guiding us, our footsteps echoing against the stone as if the castle itself is awake and holding its breath. I can feel my Four are at my side. River is like a storm held tight in a bottle, broody and dangerous. Brook’s quiet strength pulses at my back, steady and sure. Permiton moves with the purpose of an ancient wisdom. Akin is unbelievably alive again, raw and radiant. I think of Seraphira’s Four again. The vision of them I saw what feels like just moments ago. They became a singularity, a functioning group rather than five individuals. If we have any hope of re-erecting the barrier, that is what we must become. And this binding ceremony will be the final piece to make that happen. We burst into the throne room, where everything is still, despite the war waging outside. We have a little time