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Just when Shallan fell into despair, at the realization her plan was going to fail her brothers were doomed, her family was doomed-
Her sins would bring down her brothers-
The belongingspren appeared, as if her despair wasn't really enough.
Thankfully, it appeared when Jasnah turned her back on her, otherwise it would have been patently awkward.
Shallan nearly didn't register the landing of the belongingspren on a particularly outstretched part of her havah, but it was impossible to miss the white glow of the belongingspren.
She widened her eyes as it landed on her havah, and quickly snatched it and stuffed it inside her pocket.
Storms.
Was...
Was her soulmate...
Jasnah Kholin?
Jasnah, storming, Kholin.
The princess of Alethkar. The sister to the king of Alethkar.
The most renowned scholar in all of Roshar.
Storms.
Shallan blinked her eyes before moving away.
At night that day, when she made up her mind to write a persuasion letter, that was when she decided to ponder on this whole soulmate business.
Because if she had thought about it before, there wasn't any way she could have at least tried in going through with this desperate plan.
But why was she the soulmate of Jasnah Kholin?
Was it the Almighty's sick, twisted idea of making the two people destined for each other a pair of the would be robber peasant girl and a princess?
It didn't make any storming sense.
Curiously enough, Jasnah herself had never expressed her opinion on soulmates in any of the books she had written.
It must be some joke. Storms, Shallan had even laughed upon seeing the belongingspren, outlined in green.
At least it hadn't been violet. That would have been a royally disastrous joke and would have been also rather unfunny.
Jasnah didn't seem the kind to be swayed by sentiment. The belongingspren was impossible to miss. It attuned to all the senses- you could smell it, see it (obviously), touch it, taste it even (Shallan tried it. It tasted sweet in a sickening way), hear it if you had missed it. It apparently sounded like the chime of a gently rung bell. Or so romance books spoke, anyway.
Shallan sighed.
Considering it was the woman who rejected her as a ward and thoroughly humiliated her, not to mention, this was the same woman Shallan was planning to rob from.
So. Nope. No soulmate for Shallan Davar.
That's fine. I don't deserve one anyway.
The thought threatened to shed tears and Shallan shook her head.
"Ivory, what does this really mean?" Jasnah found herself asking, a day long after she had accepted Shallan Davar as her ward.
Ivory frowned at the innocent green spren that resembled a flower petal.
Fortunately, it was not violet. That was a relief in itself.
"Jasnah...these spren haven't been seen since the Oathpact no longer is. These spren died after the Recreance. Only in recent years did these become as they are." Ivory explained, his voice confused.
Jasnah nodded. "Yes, but what do they signify?"
Ivory looked contemplative. "They are marks. Marks that have become, if two flames of life brighten on meeting."
Jasnah pursed her lips. "From Shadesmar."
"Yes. A flame will brighten with another if they know. Know that they will brighten each other for posterity."
Jasnah frowned, pondering on Ivory's words.
So somehow....their flames of life in Shadesmar were sentient enough to send spren to their world.
Some innate sense, perhaps, within themselves. Or perhaps the old folklore of belongingspren was true after all...
"These paired belongingspren...one part completes the other to form part of a single spren. The same spren that makes up the entirety of our essences in Shadesmar." Jasnah said, tapping on the table.
Even the explanation was complicated to understand. She would have to read more on it.
"Exactly. But these spren can be reborn and make up another soul."
Jasnah nodded at Ivory's simple conjecture. "So bonds can be repeated across generations?"
"Across epochs, even."
The implications of this were great. Promising. Jasnah would have to look on it.
And the implications of her being bonded to Shallan Davar.
Jasnah had no idea how to bring this up with her ward. Perhaps on a day when Shallan was comfortable with the topic.
Or...she could ask Shallan to research these on the side. No doubt the girl was terrified and confused. She would have to be eased on the topic.
Nevertheless, this was more of a hands on confrontation.
Jasnah would have to make sure to confront the topic safely.