Page 135 of A Baron of Bonds
Chapter 57
Karus
“I’m not cutout for this,” Philius grumbled.
“You are. You just need more time,” I reminded him once again.
“Time won’t replace what isn’t there to begin with.”
I pursed my lips, a heavy sigh escaping me. It had been two more weeks of this resistance to everything Revich or I tried to teach my brother, and my patience with him was wearing thin.
After Viridis’s return, Revich had found him drunk in his room with one of his last bottles of wine he’d brought in that trunk.
And now, without the drink to nurse his trauma and insecurities, he was irritable, temperamental, and generally a pain to be around.
In fact, I seemed to be the only one who would tolerate his presence longer than ten minutes. Even his old guard found excuse after excuse to leave his side, often headed to the kitchens or to help Pompeii as he returned to his duties.
“You have channeler magic, Philius. Revich can feel it.”
He raised a brow and lowered his head, towering over me. I had always hated that no matter how much I grew, he alwaysgrew taller, even after I surpassed the height of most women I knew.
“Alright, listen. If you can do this one thing, I’ll…” I huffed a sigh. “I’ll take you to see the Blight.”
He grinned, turning around to his task again.
He’d been asking to see the Blight in Felgren since the lockdown on the Fortress had been lifted. I understood his curiosity, but kept putting it off, having seen enough for one lifetime.
“But we’re taking the Baron with us.”
He tilted his head back and groaned. “Why? You’re obviously more powerful than he is. I’m sure you can protect me, little sister.”
“I’ve had enough run-ins with the Blight to know not to underestimate it, nor its creator. And that’s another thing,”—I jabbed my finger in his shoulder—“when we go, you are not allowed to speak about anything. The Blightress can hear and see everything the Blight can. We go, we look, we leave. That’s it,big brother.”
He shrugged and nodded.
The Blightress had not called upon me to have our first fireside chat. I hoped it was because she was still suffering from the abomination we’d cleared in Viridis.
“I can’t get them to open,” he complained, gesturing to the gardenia bush he’d attempted to grow in the past week. Five other woody-stemmed bushes grew in a stately row, each one grown by the other channelers and each one in a state of white blooms, their scent heavy in the late-spring air.
Philius’s efforts, so far, had been in vain. His plant was yellowing at the leaves, and the buds were hardly more than the size of a pebble.
“We’re going to try something else, then.” I stepped up beside him as he looked longingly at the success of the others.
“Thank you,” he said, relieved.
“We’re going to try to summon your power straight from Felgren’s soil.” I knelt in my channeler clothing, light green skirts just warm enough for the season.
He gave a frustrated groan. “No, thank you.”
“Get down here!” I yanked on his black-veined hand, and he tumbled to his knees with a glare on his face.
Ignoring it, I continued, “I want you to put one hand on the bud, like this.” I gently lifted my hand to one of them, holding it up by the tips of my fingers. “And put the other in the earth, like this.” I showed him how to stretch his fingers into the soil. I expanding my own until they were flat, my knuckles and conduit ring covered in dirt.
He played along, following my orders.
“Floreyas,” I called to the bud. It grew in size before cracking and opening into an abundance of soft, silken white petals with a stark scent that hit my nose.
“Show off,” he mumbled, holding a bud of his own and repeating the magic enhancement.
