Page 85 of A Baron of Bonds
Sighing, I let my focus settle back on my book.
Beauty in Magic: A Guide to an Effortless Appearanceby Olyviah Destyn.
Whomever this author was, she had probably been gorgeous and wrote an entire book about it.
Inside were enchantments to make your fingernails grow long and strong, potions one could brew for shinier hair. I flipped through the pages eagerly, wondering if this beautiful woman had ever had to even deal with blazing red sores on her face.
“Demarcess:to fade or wither. This enhancement can be used to subdue any type of imperfection on the skin. Use it wisely, however, as the spell can also wither your current state of being if you are not properly trained yet in your magical focus.”
I scoffed, sure but also slightly unsure if that last part applied to me.
I set the book down on the bench and held the hand mirror up to my face. Of course, I had come prepared. It was one of my greater qualities.
I breathed heavily, focusing on the raging red of my chin and stated confidently, “Demarcess.”
The pockmark recessed immediately, fading to what looked more like a budding freckle on my chin.
Also, my heart slowed, and I felt my chest deflate.
Dammit.
The nerves and excitement I had felt moments before were nowhere to be found as I squinted at myself in a strange sense of confusion, my head swimming with murky waters.
Great. I guess I didn’t have the proper training to avoid this part of the spell after all.
I grimaced, trying to focus as I moved time. “Revertayden en tepiore.”The seconds ticked backward, my chin once again marked and painful.
I didn’t like moving time. When I had first discovered the spell by piecing together words of magic, I had used it often. I liked playing with the space between truth in its purest form and reversing it, winding the seconds back, changing a small piece of the world in my small, little way.
As I grew older, I understood what I played with. I understood that what I had done was discover a way to manipulate the truth into whatever I wanted it to become. I was very powerful, and that must remain a secret for as long as I could manage. My desire to see Thevin again without a marred face, however, was enough to convince me that moving time—just this once—wouldn’t hurt anyone. I picked up the mirror again, but technically for the first time, and spoke the spell. This time, I understood that my focus needed to be more intentional on exactly what I wished to do.
The mark left my chin, and I took a few seconds more to just hold onto the spell, refusing to let it wither my mind as well.
Grinning with a clear face, I closed the book and patted its surface, hearing itthwipback to its proper place on the shelf behind me.
Realizing I was hungry, I casually walked down the steps into the courtyard. I admired a patch of lavender which was humming due to the visiting swarm of fluffy, striped bees and slowly made my way up the marble stairs to Viridis’s portal.
The whisper of my name caught my attention from the tips of the birch trees that swayed, and I narrowed my eyes, wondering why it had followed me here. I usually didn’t hear it for years at a time, but now it breathed twice so close to turning seventeen?
I shook my head and ignored it again, stepping into the portal and away from the mystery that had surrounded me since I was seven years old.
Chapter 41
Karus
The minutes passedby as everyone gathered themselves.
Madame Zoreyah’s newborn began to cry on the muri’s back, and the black creature stalked over carefully.
The Prince slumped against the wall with his arms folded across his chest as the Queen spoke quietly to him.
I wondered briefly if I had been too hard on him. Not just on his body, but emotionally as well when I had slammed him against the wall.
In truth, I had hardly registered it was a choice I made. No one would be touching Rev if I was there to stop it, regardless of if Rev could handle it himself.
Lanna left my hands and shyly asked to pet the muri who purred loudly at Zoreyah’s feet while she fed her infant.
“Such an interesting display of power, Karus of Felgren.” Lady Lamoral walked gracefully to us, her long silk gown accentuating her eyes in a cornflower blue rimmed with white fur. “Tell me Karus, do you desire power? If the Blightress gave you hers, did she also give you her ambitions in this world?”
