"A conduit." The words left him with more certainty than he'd felt in a long time. "The castle is using me to channel the magic for the binding.
His fingers tightened around the stone. It was hot now, almost too hot to hold, but he didn't let go. The power coursed through him like molten metal, finding pathways his body had never known existed. His senses expanded in ways he couldn't fully process. He could smell the ice in the air, taste the mineral richness of the soil beneath the snow. And the castle—its presence was no longer distant. It was in his bones, humming in time with his pulse. Isolde pulled back slightly, searching his face. "You're not scared."
