I waited for three heartbeats, then four, before . . .there. A shimmering of gold, a spark of light. Ellowyn’s smile crested wide on her face, her eyes brimming with emotion. She turned her joy-filled gaze to mine and thanked me.
I shrugged. “I’m not done yet,” I said, my tongue and mouth like sand.
It was a trick of the light. That’s all.
I didn’t want to think of what the alternative would mean.
My hands shook as I quickly etched the other two runes on each bracelet before binding the wound on my arm and pocketing both the shackles and my knife.
Ellowyn sat on the couch, actively rubbing her now exposed wrists.
“It feels strange,” she admitted. “But a good kind of strange. A hope-filled strange.”
My smile was strained as my brain moved a mile a minute.
I need to get back to my room. Need to document this. Ineedto visit the Academy library.
I left Ellowyn with a quick hug and a promise to visit soon before I escaped her room as quickly as possible.
What is Lord d’Refan playing at?
Chapter 29
Rohak
Iwatched from the staircase as Faylinn flew across the hallway from Ellowyn’s room into the sanctuary of her own. Her curly hair was slightly askew, her eyes unseeing but troubled as she mumbled to herself. I was too far away to pick up the words, but it was evident something was greatly troubling my Faylinn.
To be the one she fled to with her thoughts again.
I sighed deeply before running a palm down my face.
I’d spent six months in Hestin coming to terms with not only Faylinn’s role here in Vespera, but my own shortcomings. I had no one to blame but myself for Faylinn’s current treatment of me—I’d pushed her away, sneered in disgust as she saved her friend and ex-lover, and banished her from my side when all she wanted was to stay and help.
I fucked up.
And I continued to fuck up by not swallowing my pride and begging for her forgiveness.
I’d returned to Vespera weeks ago and still hadn’t found the courage to apologize. Instead, I avoided every building she frequented, choosing to barricade myself in my office in theAcademy and bury my nose in hundreds of missives. Originally, I tried to work in my office in the administration building, but that effort was futile; her memory coated every inch of that space. I could still smell her—a mix of eucalyptus and parchment—if I closed my eyes and concentrated. Unfortunately for me, that provided too much distraction and caused my dick to half-harden in my pants each time I thought of her.
Between my distractive thoughts and the occasional interruption from both Art and Gene as they finished the Charise prototype—a weapon that used basic runes and crystals to aim a Mage’s magic with pinpoint accuracy, or so they said—it became clear that my office in the Academy was the only place I’d find solitude.
So that was where I retreated.
But I combed through my paperwork quickly—too quickly—and now I had no excuse to sleep at the Academy any longer.
My magic was restless, searching for a way out. I needed to release it soon, or I felt like it would consume me. Even now, as I swept down the manor’s staircase and into the Vesperan night toward the Academy’s training grounds, I could feel it pushing against my ironclad control.
I’d overused my magic while in Hestin, but there was no other choice; rebel attacks were constant and unpredictable, and I’d been given an impossible job with a ridiculously small task force. We all overdrew to some extent, and most of the Mages that stayed with me to secure the territory were now on leave, recovering from the elongated mission.
Not me, though. It seemed the well of power was vast, much deeper than any other Mage I’d come across. Instead, my magic simply hungered formore, and I burned through crystals without compunction.
But that was no longer an option—with the collapse of the Crystal Mines in the north, our access to crystals was largelyreduced. It wouldn’t be long before hundreds of Mages fell ill with Mage Sickness. To prevent others from suffering that fate—especially the lower classes that would have little access to the crystals they needed—I continued to take my previous allotment of four crystals, even though I could easily store and pull from seven or eight at this point without feeling the effects.
I rubbed my temples, an insistent throbbing taking residence in my skull, as the early spring wind bit at my exposed skin. I greedily sucked in breaths of fresh air, relishing in the sting of chilly air as it filled my lungs. The days were warming, but the nights still felt like winter. This was the portion of spring that I enjoyed most, and needing to release my power gave me the excuse to simply take a moment to breathe.
The square was empty this late at night, and I crossed the expansive grey stone without a thought or worry to the Academy, a black visage looming in the deep night.
It was a formidable structure, and I could see why Faylinn was fearful of it when we first arrived from Isrun all those months ago.
