Read Online Ember by Tess Williams - Free Book Online

artisans. It has long been considered
the simplest of spells for either class, often used as a test to
see if one is adept in magic.’
    I closed the book and leaned back into the
study couch.
    When Ikovos had dropped me off earlier, I
began reading one of the glowing tomes. So far I'd concluded that this illumination spell was the same one Ikovos had cast on
his hand . . . the one I'd been attempting.
    The easiest spell and I can't do it at
all.
    Ikovos and Jaden's earlier reactions all fit
into place. I wasn't a magic user. I felt a tinge of sadness for a
moment, but soon pushed it aside.
    There are other things I can do. I'll just
have to be better at them.
    My head fell to the pillow.
    Maybe tomorrow I'll start in combat
training.
    I fell asleep wondering if I'd wake up back
in my bed at home, like the past two days had just been a dream . .
. if I'd ever be able to go back to the way things were if it
was.
    *
    I woke up and this time there was no one
knocking at the door. As far as I could tell the room had been
undisturbed through the night, so I tried to close my eyes and fall
back asleep.
    No luck.
    I got up, got dressed, and tied my hair into
a tight braid thingy. Destined to fall out due to a lack of
hair-ties.
    I went back into the main room and stood
strumming my fingers together. What to do, what to do. . .
.
    Breakfast came to mind. Probably because I
hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon. The only problem was
breakfast was far away, most likely somewhere I wasn't supposed to
go alone.
    I strummed my fingers again and a picture of
a steaming mug of coffee beside a hot muffin popped into my
head.
    Seconds later I was at the door, peering down
the hall to make sure it was clear.
    It was, so I tip-toed to my right towards
what I remembered was the first doorway leading to the kitchen.
    Everything was dead quiet. Outside it was
bright, some time past dawn. I was choosing between two possible
paths when suddenly I heard a door close ahead of me.
    “I heard Demian got rid of another
challenger,” said a voice down the hall.
    “Yeah, big surprise,” came another. They were
close. “The way he takes care of them, he'll wipe out the Meoden
for us.”
    I backed against the wall and pulled my hood
over my head.
    They walked into the room without seeing me,
and continued talking to the other end, I was too nervous to notice
what about. When they disappeared out of view I let out a huge sigh
and popped into the next hallway.
    Uh oh . . . .
    Groups of boys were moving up and down
through the halls. I just stood there, frozen, as they brushed by,
my panicked face hidden under my hood. It took me a while to
realize no one was even noticing me. This made me think of my
sister.
    She always used to tell me that people didn't
pay half as much attention to me as I worried they did. Whenever I
doubted her she would do something crazy to prove herself right.
Like break out into song with dozens of people around . . . it
never worked, everyone would notice her.
    I smiled inwardly at the memory, still more
than subtly aware that I was surrounded by people.
    In actuality I guess they didn’t look too
much different than me. Most were wearing robes. More than a couple
at my same height. The ages seemed to range from about eight to
twenty, with less on the higher end.
    Taking a deep breath, I resumed walking down
the hall, attempting to act casual until I found my way to the
high-ceilinged, hundred cove, bed chamber. And on into the
kitchen.
    The large cafeteria was bustling with
activity. The tables were dotted here and there with groups of
boys. The middles of which held trays of pastries, fruit, and meat.
I saw the coffeepot on top of the bar lined with people, no shot at
a drink there.
    I began to scan the crowd for a familiar
face, when suddenly a tray was dropped into my hands. I looked up
to see it had been given to me by a woman.
    “Hi,” she said in a pleasant voice. “You must
be Eve.”
    She was beautiful. Curly,