AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Julita’s voice goes quiet.That’s very kind of you to offer. I’ll have to think about it. Mostly I wanted to be such a good countess my parents couldn’t possibly wish Borys had stuck around instead.She lets out a dry laugh.
The apprehension about the unknown tasks ahead is starting to get to me. I pace the room a little, taking in the twelve rings of the midnight bell, and wander out to the stable again.
I’m tempted to take Toast out for a ride into the woods—the conspirators never said the fifty paces had to be human—but I’m not sure I want to find out what might happen to him if they object.
I rub his neck and call him a good boy, and drink in the comforting stable scents until my restlessness drives me onward.
I can’t stay out in the open in the outer courtyard without the patrolling guards noticing me, so I duck into the shadows at the edge of the hunting woods. Setting my feet carefully so I don’t make any noise, I slink between the trees off the path.
I don’t come across any trace of the scourge sorcerers’ presence. How far ahead of me do they come into the woods themselves?
Or do they have some magical means of arriving here, the way we can use the enchanted cords to jump between the college and the palace?
A niggling tug of my own magic reminds me thatitcould expose any figures lurking in the shadows if I let it. I grimace at the sensation.
At the single peal marking the first hour of the morning, I square my shoulders and set off toward the fifty-pace meeting spot.
Like before, I’m met with silence. I stand still and calm, taking in the breeze and the warble of swaying leaves, on the alert for any sign of supernatural power.
The conspirators can’t know about my sensitivity to other people’s magic any more than Benedikt does. I do have a few aspects of my unwanted abilities that I can draw on without doing any harm.
Abruptly, the voice—which may or may not be the same voice as last time—wavers around me again. “Ivy of Nikodi, you fulfilled your first task. All of us who are committed to a better world thank you.”
“I thank you for the opportunity to work toward that better world too,” I say, the false gratitude sour on my tongue. “Is there more that I can help with?”
If they could get on with the part where they fill me in on their plans, I’d be truly grateful.
But we wouldn’t be in this predicament if the scourge sorcerers were that carefree.
“There will be more opportunities,” the voice says. “Tonight, we want to see how much restoring the All-Giver to these realms means to you.”
So they aren’t delusional enough to believe the All-Giver never left. They just think they can bring the Great God back?
I guess that’s some kind of delusion too.
I give a slight bow. “I can’t think of much I wouldn’t do.” As long as the All-Giver dispatches all the sorcerers and their sick tactics without harming the rest of us. Which, granted, isn’t a sure thing, so we’d better be able to take these psychopaths down ourselves first.
The voice shifts as if changing direction in its rippling path around me. “We must return to the old ways from when the Great God watched over us. We’ve distanced ourselves too much from where we came from. Can you tap into the roots of humanity, Ivy?”
A shiver travels up my spine. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“We’re all animals at heart. We’re born wild, meant to revel in sky, sea, and earth by immersing ourselves in them, not holding ourselves apart. Too many have forgotten the essence of our nature.”
Born wild.What was it Wendos talked about? He mentioned “the Order of the Wild” as if that was the name of the group he was allied with.
Julita hums.This does remind me a little of some of the things Borys used to say. Mingling blood with the earth because it all comes from the same place and things along that line.
I nod as if I agree with what the speaker said. “We’ve cut ourselves off from our origins. I can see what you mean. Everyone’s so concerned with making rules and keeping peace.”
“Good. Then you understand. Now embrace that thought. Get down on your hands and knees.”
My muscles tense against the command, but I force myself to kneel, my skirt fanned beneath me. As I set my hands on the hard-packed dirt of the riding path, I wish I’d changed into my combat training clothes for this secret rendezvous.
The scent of the earth fills my nose, pungent and loamy. There is something a little exhilarating about getting down in the dirt, shedding expectations of proper posture and noble elegance.
“Now run,” the voice says.
My head jerks around—aimlessly, since I have no idea where the speaker is. “What?”
