Page 110 of A Baron of Bonds
She added, “Ilyenna and Talon are well so far. I checked on both of them already this morning.”
“Lia,” I chuckled, “I don’t know what we’d do without you.”
She kept at her work and responded under her breath, “No one ever does, love.”
I took the tray and left as a few more of the staff passed through the dining hall, confident in the knowledge that I was doing whatever I could to keep my people safe, and knowing it was time to enter Heimlen’s study.
Chapter 48
Karus
“The four women who first trained with Baron Adaynth became the first mentors of the conduits he would produce, and it is said that most of them would continue on to become the first in lineage as the rulers of the isle.
The medicus conduit becoming the first Lady of the Spire, mentoring future healers. The first iumenta conduit becoming the Madame of the Mountains, raising livestock and connecting with animals of the region. And finally, the first Queen of Hyrithia is said to have been an agricola conduit and no doubt the reason Hyrithia is known for its finely grown grains and fruit trees.
It is unknown what happened to the first lapis conduit. Some sources say she ended up in the Hallow Marshes, her ability to find precious stone leading to the first discovery of rhyzolm.”
I flipped backto the cover of the book.To Train a Conduit: A History of the Conduit Trialsby Thalia Lighton. The book had been one of the three Revich had brought to me in the bath. One was about fishing, one a romance that tied music and magic, and this book, which was currently the most intriguing.
I flipped through the rest of the pages quickly, scanning for any sign of the Blightress. Already there had been more in this book about the first Baron, Baron Adaynth, than I had ever been able to find in Viridis.
If nothing else, I figured this book would be useful in my own preparation for the trials. I continued from my place.
“This tale would fit neatly into the story of the first four trained conduits by Baron Adaynth, but this author wonders, how often is history molded to fit neatly into a box that we all can wrap our heads around? Which of these stories are true, and which were created out of convenience, allowing the following generations the ability to hold onto something that cannot hurt them? Something that is easy to believe and accept with no doubts crossing their minds as they go on with their lives, raising their children, working in their towns, unaware that what they have been told may not be the truth—or at least not the whole of it.”
I shivered despite the warmth of the bath. Everything I’d learned about the Blightress had been exactly this. Her truth, regardless of how much I hated it, was not what we were told as children.
Her wrath was not born from wrath itself as we all were led to believe. She’d told me as much, and I closed my eyes, thinking of some of the last words she’d said to me:You are ever much a part of me as you are to the woman who bore you or the woman who raised you, Karus, and one day, you will be ready to truly listen.
I wondered if what really mattered was where I had come from or who I would become. The woman I’d meet by the end of my life, a woman so changed by then, would I recognize myselfnow? Or would I look back at this woman and all she was, wondering which turns I had taken to become so changed.
The truth of my future would remain undiscovered until I lived it. I knew that. But what I didn’t know, what I couldn’t deem to understand, was how much the woman I was now held the direction of my fate. If I hadn’t gone down that tunnel, if I had said no, refusing to follow the Blightress, would my future already be set on a different path?
And could the paths of our lives detour before finding themselves right back to where they had originally led?
Some things in life were certain.
My hatred for Heimlen and the path he had chosen was heavy in my chest each day I woke, and yet, I knew full well that some part of me was thankful.
If he had not taken me, if he had not found Rev and given him the task to find the most powerful channeler on the isle, would our paths have ever crossed?
I liked to believe they would. I liked to believe our lifelines had been linked the moment I had come into this world and that we would have found each other, regardless of the circumstances of our lives.
I chose to believe it.
I chose to believe some things were certain.
“This is Baron Revich.”
His voice echoed through the washing room and tendrils of his magic floated toward me like smoke of an extinguished flame.
Startled, I looked for him, realizing quickly he was somehow amplifying his voice. I closed the book, setting it aside and rose from the bath, grabbing my towel and hurrying to the wardrobe to dress.
I donned my channeler skirts, white linen shirt and green vest, taking care to prepare my undergarments for my bleeding.
I braided my hair quickly down my back as the last of Revich’s announcement faded from the room.
We had so much to do.
