Chapter 62-Not like you

Chapter 62: 62-Not like you

"How?"

That was the first question to pop into Maisa’s head. She hadn’t told anyone about it, and the princess had forbidden the mention of the bond.

However, Luan was Lumi’s sister and close with Addessa. It wasn’t uncalled for that one of them trusted him with the truth.

"Long story," Luan cut it short. He sat against the stone wall several feet away, deliberately leaving distance between them. "I found out after Varitreya saved you that day."

Maisa hesitated. Indeed, when Varitreya saved her, ut had been a strange move for the princess to make. The others might not have been intrigued to get to the bottom of things, but it didn’t mean that everyone was ignorant.

"How did you find out?"

"I heard Varitreya talking about it, and then I found that book in the library and got enlightened," His eyes became serious. "It was about the true heart sire bond."

Maisa’s heart skipped. "The true heart?" It sounded like a title to a romantic novel, but with regards to her, she had a bad feeling about it.

Luan nodded. "And I think I know what’s happening to you. It is written in the book on the pages about rejection."

He explained what he’d learned in detail. The true heart wasn’t simply another mate in a multi-mate bond. It was the rarest bond of all, one that hasnt been seen in centuries.

The true heart vampire is the centre of the bond. The heart from which the bond drew its stability and her mates are the veins and arteries that support the heart and help it function.

It says that when one of the bonded vampires reject or distance themselves from the true heart, the bond didn’t simply accept the separation and move on.

It fought back, reacted violently, and warned the true heart of its missing piece. The warning didn’t stop until the true heart made peace and drew close to the bonded mate.

"Based on the fight earlier at the bus and how you are reacting now. I take it that the bond doesn’t want Varitreya and Addessa moving away from you," Luan said. "Your bond is trying to pull them back, and since they are resisting. You are feeling the pain."

Maisa looked down at her hands. They were slightly red and shaking from fear. She processed the information Luan dumped on her and felt like fate was truly unfair to her.

"The fire... was Addessa," she swallowed. "And the earth?... Varitreya."

The realization made her heart ache. The suffering she was enduring is because the two noble were putting a distance between her and themselves.

She thought back to the scene at the bus when Varitreya and Addessa put her in her place. Since the strange reactions started, she hadn’t once thought that little argument was responsible.

"The bond is using their elements to show you its displeasure," Luan stated what had now become obvious.

"So I am suffering because of them?"

"Apparently." Luan’s expression tightened. "That’s what the book suggested. When the true heart is distressed because a bonded mate is pulling away, the bond can manifest the elemental connection of that mate through the true heart."

Maisa stared at him. His words landed hader against her heart than she’d care for. "That’s why I’m burning things."

"Yes, you are reaching to Addessa’s fire. The deeper the rejection, the more intense the reaction," Luan said, "seeing as how you can still keep it under wraps, I’m guessing they aren’t that pissed off."

"And vomiting soil?" Maisa asked, hearing nothing else that Luan said.

"Likely the earth connection that represents Varitreya. The princess’s mastery of earth manipulation is the best in the whole academy."

She looked horrified. "Why does it hurt so much?"

"Because you’re not supposed to have those elements," he paused. "You’re a redblood, and your body is fighting the elements, rejecting it because they shouldn’t be in your body."

Maisa’s fingers curled. Her anger boiled under the surface. The unfairness of her situation was sinking deep in her soul.

"Then why is my body doing this?"

"Because you’re the true heart and whether you like it or not, whether you accept it or not... your life is tied to them, and while joys and sorrows are naturally shared, they don’t suffer the consequences of the bond breaking or rejection... you do."

The words echoed. Maisa’s hand instinctively went to her chest, burning with bitterness. The flower-shaped mark pulsed again. She could almost feel two distant presences through it.

Addessa was cold, angry, and hurt while Varitreya was calm like a still river. She remembered the bus and the scene that unfolded; Varitreya’s cold voice and Addessa’s hateful words and her heart clenched. "So they’re suffering too?"

Luan shook his head. "Not like you."

Maisa’s expression fell. "What do you mean?"

"The book was clear about that. The true heart carries the deepest consequences when a mate rejects the bond or her. You suffer the hardest when they pull away," he explained again since Maisa had been too lost in her head to hear him the first time.

"So they’re fine?" Her voice sounded high-pitched even though she tried to control it.

Her pulse was racing, and her heart throbbed at the ridiculous rules that came with the bond. If possible, she would love to return the bond back to wherever it came from or trade away being the centre of the bond.

"They feel your pain... by some measure but not fully," Luan’s voice softened. "But that’s different. They experience the discomfort of the bond. You experience the rejection, which hurts more and has visible physical consequences."

Maisa stared at him. Something bitter rose inside her again. She wanted to turn back her blood and be a human Everheart again for just one minute and beat the life out of Varitreya and Addessa just to even the score. But unfortunately, she couldn’t, and whether as a vampire of human, they were way more powerful than her.

"That’s not fair," she mumbled weakly.

"No, but such is your fate, and since the bond can’t be broken..."

"They were the ones who pulled away," Maisa said, unintentionally interrupting him

"I know that, the bond knows that, but it’s your duty to keep them close to you so whether it was intentional or not, you’re suffering for it."

"They were the ones who rejected me," she cried, barely hearing the reasonable explanation that Luan offered to help her process the pain easily. "Then why am I the one vomiting blood and soil?" Her voice cracked. "Why am I the one burning? Why am I the one hurting?"

Luan had no immediate answer. He, too, was new to the multi-mate thing. What he knew was based on what he read, nothing more.

Maisa laughed bitterly through her tears. "I didn’t ask for this," she whispered.

She felt as though life was determined to serve her a bad hand no matter where she goes.

"I didn’t ask to be turned... I didn’t ask to be their mate..." she sobbed and pressed her hands against her chest. "And somehow I’m the one paying for everything."

Luan watched helplessly. For the first time, he felt sympathy for a redblood.

Maisa’s stomach twisted again. Her eyes widened as she got hit by another wave. She covered her mouth. "No..."

She barely turned away before another violent wave overtook her.

Luan immediately stood. "Maisa..."

"Don’t come closer!"

He stopped. She fell to her knees, coughing and trembling as another mixture of blood and earth spilt from her mouth.

Her tears fell silently onto the stone, and beneath her clothing, the white and black petals of her bond flickered weakly.

Somewhere far away, two vampires felt that flicker and neither of them understood yet how much pain their distance was causing the girl at the centre of their fate.