Page 63 of A Blightress of Wrath
Heopened it wide and asked, “Yes,MissSaelyn?”
“Wouldyou mind…”Ibit my lips together, remembering my goal here was to prove thatIwas no simple girl ofFelgren. “IfAmayais able, please ask her to come up as soon as possible.Ihave some…questions about your customs that she might be able to answer.”
Hisface lit in a brilliant grin, displaying a mouth of white teeth.Henodded again and said, “Butof course,MissSaelyn.I’llsend her right away.”
“Onlyif she’s free!”Iadded as he shut the door andIcrossed my arms, ready to write a list of whatIneeded to know in order to show myself just as capable as any other seventeen-year-old here.
Ipeeked into my room to confirm my suspicions thatThevinhad already fallen asleep.Hehad—completely knocked out from his “misadventure” across my bed.
Isat down near the tray of food, shoved a strawberry into my mouth, and began to write.
Chapter31
Thevin
Saelyn’ssnortinglaughter woke me in her bed.Ihadn’t meant to fall asleep right away, but apparentlyIdid, clothes intact.Istretched my arms over my head and searched for water.Aftergulping a full cup,Iran a hand through my hair and opened the door a sliver, trying to guess at whoSaewas laughing with in the main room.Iassumed it was a woman—someone with a low voice thatIdidn’t recognize as anyoneSaewould know in theSpire.
Iglanced back to the clock in the room and cursed.Theevening had already begun, andIwas never going to hear the end of my parent’s scolding ifIwasn’t dressed in time for dinner.Ientered the main room soundlessly, spyingSaesitting on the balcony while a servantIrecognized, but couldn’t remember the name of, shoved pins into her hair.
Thewoman was mid-sentence when she spotted me walking toward them.Acool smirk lifted over her mouth as she greeted me. “Hello, sir,Ihope you slept well.”
Saelynall but jumped out of her seat, the last few curls of her long, black hair bouncing over her shoulder as she darted across the room to me, grabbing my arms. “Youslept forthreehours!”Sheshook me slightly, her dark blue eyes lined in copper kohl.Thecolor somehow made her eyes look bluer, brighter, reminding me of the sea at the edge of theSpire’swhite stone cliffs.
“Ilove this,”Ibrushed my fingers just below her eye, careful to not disturb what the woman had artistically added.
Sae’ssmile widened and she raised her chin. “Thankyou.Amayais very talented.”
Imoved my hand up to touch the woven braid in her hair, thick and sparkling with silver pins in a crown over her head.Sheswatted my hand away, scolding, “You’llmess it up!”Grabbingmy shoulder, she turned me toward the door. “Youonly have an hour before dinner and the gathering after.Goget yourself together and run a comb through your hair.”Sheshoved me playfully, andIpretended to stumble across the room, hand over my heart in mock distress.
Ireached for the door but it opened for me, theBaronofFelgrensurprised to see me there.Shegave me a short-lived small smile, andIstepped aside for her to enter.
“Yourparents are waiting for you,” she said, jerking her head to the hallway where, indeed, both of my parents, already dressed for dinner, eyed me with a special disappointmentIknew well.
Isighed, gave one last smirk toSae, and closed the door behind me asIleft.
“Iassume you know what we have to say,” my father started, his arm around my mother’s waist as they headed to the door of the rooms we’d share.
“Ican guess,”Imuttered under my breath.
Theyopened the door and we stepped inside.Oneglance told me it was similar to the rooms we usually used in our short stints in theSpire, gathering new channelers for theBaronto train.
Itwould take months for us to find them.Sofew channelers had been born in the last two decades, and the rest were conscripted in the war already.
Ileaned against the door, my arms crossed, bracing myself for whatIwas about to hear.
Mymother poured a cup of tea at the sideboard, adding a little sugar before bringing it to me.Ithanked her and held it warm in my hands as she settled in next to my father on the coral couch in the center of the room.
Hegestured to the chair across from them and said, “Sit,Thevin.”
Reluctantly,Icrossed the room, bringing my much-needed tea with me.
OnceIwas settled, my father leaned forward, asking, “Areyou alright?”
Itook a quick sip of tea before answering, “I’mfine.”
“Ican’t believe you did that today,” he said, focusing his dark eyes on my face.
“Itwas just an accident.Iwas luckySaewas there to pull me out of the water and that conduit,Clairannia, was nearby to help me breathe again.YouknowI’vebeen through worse.”
