Read Online Beyond the Boundary Stones (The Chronicles of Tevenar Book 3) by Angela Holder - Free Book Online

things there that would fascinate me, though they seem commonplace to you. Your animals, for instance.” She turned her gaze on Sar, who blinked his long lashes at her. “They’re clearly more than ordinary beasts.”
    “Well, yeah.” Josiah glanced anxiously at Elkan, but his master was deeply absorbed in conversation with Yerenna. Josiah was acutely aware of the need to keep the Matriarch from learning too much about Tevenar, for fear she’d use the information against them. But she was going to find out about the familiars eventually—they couldn’t use the Mother’s power on her regularly without her observing the most important parts. It couldn’t hurt to make sure she knew the truth from the beginning, or at least as much as anyone who wasn’t a wizard was allowed to know. That way she wouldn’t jump to any false conclusions that might put Sar and Tobi in danger. “They’re Mother-touched.”
    Her brow creased. “What does that mean?”
    Josiah warmed to the subject. It was fun to play the master for a change. “See this mark? Sar, show her.”
    Sar angled his body so the Matriarch could see the right side of his chest, where a small white oval the size and shape of a fingerprint marked his fur. “That’s where the Mother touched him, either before he was born or right after. All familiars have one, although sometimes they’re dark and sometimes light, whatever contrasts with their natural coloring. That’s how we know they can become familiars. Tobi’s is in her ear. N—”
    Josiah!
    At Sar’s sharp warning, Josiah transformed the word into a cough. Dear Mother, he’d been about to mention Nina! He really had to be more careful.
    The Matriarch raised her eyebrows in polite concern. He waved his hand and shook his head. “I’m fine. Sorry. Anyway, what I was saying is that, um, n… nobody knows why the Mother chooses a particular animal to touch. The parents of familiars, and their offspring, too, are usually ordinary animals.” He scratched around Sar’s ears the way the donkey liked.
    Her voice stayed pleasantly interested, but relaxed, as if she was making idle conversation to while away the time. “What changes when the Mother touches them, besides their markings?”
    Josiah couldn’t see any danger in telling her. “They become much smarter, as smart as people. And they become able to bond with a wizard.”
    “How does that happen?”
    Again Josiah thought hard about his answer, but couldn’t see any harm in letting her know. “There’s a ceremony every Springtide. All the fourth year apprentices are paired with a familiar. Your master cuts your hand and your familiar’s paw or whatever, and you touch each other so your blood mixes.” It didn’t always happen exactly that way—it hadn’t for Josiah—but he thought it wiser to keep his explanation simple. “Then somehow you’re standing before the Mother, and she asks if you’re willing to serve her as a wizard. If you say yes, you’re bonded, and after that you can use the Mother’s power. As long as you’re actually touching your familiar, of course.” That was the public explanation. Only wizards were allowed to know the full truth—that the familiar, not the wizard, controlled the Mother’s power.
    “Amazing.” The Matriarch studied Sar intently. “That’s not how it worked for the wizards of ancient Miarban, was it?”
    “Not until Gurion Thricebound. Before him, people were wizards by themselves, if they were born that way because their parents were. But they did evil things with the Mother’s power, so she took it away from them.”
    “So the Keepers tell us. My ancestors were wizards.” The Matriarch looked off into the distance, her expression nearly as hungry as when she’d spoken of a child.
    Josiah shifted uncomfortably. “Um, yeah. Anyway, Gurion asked the Mother to give the wizards their powers back, but she didn’t want to risk people misusing them again. So she made it so we had to bond