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I swallow a lump welling in my throat and take my position in front of her, head bowed. Her hand touches my forehead and I hear the words, followed by a burst of white light.
I feel weightless, like I’m floating. I look at my arms and see silvery incantations manifest.
I’m…I’m air. I’m ether!
“You may rise,” the maven mother says.
I look up at her smiling down at me.
“Did you know?”
She shrugs. “I had a hunch, and I’m rarely wrong about such things.”
My eyes shift over to Avery. The maven mother winks at me. “I knew that, too. Now, run along.”
Dazed, I make my way over to the others who’ve found themselves strong in ether. Arianna welcomes me with a bright smile. The runes lining her skin make her look angelic, and I can’t help but wonder how I appear, my once red hair now silver.
“It’s good to have you as a sister,” she says.
“Same…though I can’t say I expected it.”
“The path for some isn’t as easy as it is for others, but we all get to where we’re supposed to be.”
Am I supposed to be here? The maven mother thinks so.
A strange feeling of fulfillment lets me know I’m exactly where I was meant to be. I’m ether, bone and blood.
We watch in wonder as the rest of the girls are sorted, concluding the Witching Tribunal. Then we’re ushered into a larger room where the wardens await us for tethering.
A magi without a warden is a dangerous thing.
Unlike magi, who are female, wardens are wholly male. They experience the same elements as magi, though differently, and serve to control a magi’s power.
I’ve long wondered, as the others have, about the tethering ceremony that is about to take place. Some see it as a blessing; others, a curse.
If you refuse the bond, you’ll be imprisoned and possibly rendered, the maven mother had said at least once a day for as long as she could remember.
Having your magic rendered, or stripped from you, is a ghastly thing, and some do not survive it.
It seems so cruel that we do not get to choose our wardens, but the mavens insist that it’s for the best. Somehow, the maven mother knows exactly who to bind, taking several factors into account, such as: strengths in various elements, temperament, and personal history.
Mavens pluck us from our groups, bringing us to our intended, and when it’s finally my turn, I’m shocked by who they place in front of me.
This can’t be. It’s simply not possible.
“Hello, Nadine. You look good in ether,” a familiar voice rumbles.
Dumbfounded, I blurt, “Blane?”, unable to believe what my eyes are telling me.
Which is that I’m about to be tethered to my best friend’s intended.
Chapter2
NADINE
No-no—no!
This can’t be real.
