Read Online Flora Segunda: Being the Magickal Mishaps of a Girl of Spirit, Her Glass-Gazing Sidekick, Two Ominous Butlers (One Blue), a House with Eleven Thousand Rooms, and a Red Dog (Magic Carpet Books) by Ysabeau S. Wilce - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Ysabeau S. Wilce
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sheets, fresh waffles, no more stable duty, clean towels, you wouldn’t have to clean the bathroom anymore, which I know you hate. No more dirty dishes or ancient leftover takeaway. Wouldn’t that be heavenly?” The runnels of silver in Valefor’s dark curls glittered. He wiggled a long finger enticingly at me. “And I can handle young Hotspur. I know where he lives. He’d be no trouble at all to me.”
I closed my eyes to Val’s enticements, which were mighty enticing. Clean rooms and no chores. Fluffy towels and yummy snacks. And Poppy, handled.
Val’s voice purred in my ear, deliciously. “In a little wink, I could have all those tamales made and your dress done. Your invitations sent and your speech written. Everything would be ready, and with no trouble to you. Everything in perfect order.”
It
was
a delicious thought, and the more I thought about it, the more delicious it became. Oh, how blissful it would be to have order in the House and things working as they should. Valefor could do all the work, and I could get all the credit, and Mamma would never be the wiser. Maybe Val
was
the power of our family; after all, didn’t everything start falling apart right when he was banished?
“But could you be restored, Valefor?”
“Of course. I am here, but weakened. Of course I could be made strong again.”
“What would it take?”
“Ayah so? It would be easy, Flora, I know it would,” Valefor said eagerly. “I mean, you want to be a ranger, right? I can taste it on your Anima. It’s your heart’s desire, your True Will, so what a place to start! Even Nini Mo would not have dared to jump in so quickly, but I know you can do it.”
“I’m not an adept, though. Surely I would have to be.”
“Well, Buck’s not an adept and she was able to banish me,” Valefor said. “Ayah, there’s skill, it’s true, but also the right Working.”
“I don’t know a Working that strong.”
“Not yet, that is. See, Flora, I am so kind and generous. I have a giftie for you, and one I think you will like real well. Look here—”
He reached up and plucked Something from Nothing, then offered that Something to me: a red book, small as a deck of cards, with a glittery soft cover trimmed in golden emboss and studded with small pearls. A gilt hasp kept the book closed, but the hasp opened easily when I tugged on it. I flipped to the title page.
The Eschatanomicon,
OR ,
Rangering for Everybody!
An Invaluable Collection of Eight Hundred
Practical Receipts, Sigils, and Instructs
FOR
Rangers, Adepts, Sorcerers, Mages, Bibliomantics,
Scouts, Hierophants, Gnostics, Chaoists, Priestesses, Sibyls,
Sages, Archons, Anthropagists, Avatars, Trackers,
and People Generally,
Containing a Rational Guide to
Evocation, Invocation, Augoeides, Smithing, Epiclesis,
Camping, Divination, Equipage, Retroactive Enchantment,
Mule Packing, Geas, Adoration, Cutting for Sign,
Bibliomancy, Transubstantiation, Hitches, Vortices,
Prophecy, Libel & Dreams, etc.
by
NYANA KEEGAN OV ADMOISH
"
Free the oppressed!”
Valefor said, “It’s a first edition. The later versions were expurgated, of course, which took all the fun out of them. But this one is intact, complete, and it’s terribly rare. It’s worth more than half the City, Flora. Don’t read it in the bath. And look—it’s signed.”
The frontispiece showed a sketch of Nini Mo in a coyote-skin cape, rifle in one hand, pen in the other, and there on the fly-leaf was a thick black scrawl. Her calligraphy was very hard to read; each letter looked like a spiky thistle, and some had very long tails, but her signature was unmistakable.
“What does the inscription say?” I asked.
Val squinted, then read: “‘To Little Tiny Doom and Fig. Dare, Win, or Disappear!’”
“Who is that? Little Tiny Doom? And Fig?”
“I have no idea; I don’t remember exactly where I got the book. But see, Flora
—The Eschatanomicon
contains everything you need to know about rangering, or
I closed my eyes to Val’s enticements, which were mighty enticing. Clean rooms and no chores. Fluffy towels and yummy snacks. And Poppy, handled.
Val’s voice purred in my ear, deliciously. “In a little wink, I could have all those tamales made and your dress done. Your invitations sent and your speech written. Everything would be ready, and with no trouble to you. Everything in perfect order.”
It
was
a delicious thought, and the more I thought about it, the more delicious it became. Oh, how blissful it would be to have order in the House and things working as they should. Valefor could do all the work, and I could get all the credit, and Mamma would never be the wiser. Maybe Val
was
the power of our family; after all, didn’t everything start falling apart right when he was banished?
“But could you be restored, Valefor?”
“Of course. I am here, but weakened. Of course I could be made strong again.”
“What would it take?”
“Ayah so? It would be easy, Flora, I know it would,” Valefor said eagerly. “I mean, you want to be a ranger, right? I can taste it on your Anima. It’s your heart’s desire, your True Will, so what a place to start! Even Nini Mo would not have dared to jump in so quickly, but I know you can do it.”
“I’m not an adept, though. Surely I would have to be.”
“Well, Buck’s not an adept and she was able to banish me,” Valefor said. “Ayah, there’s skill, it’s true, but also the right Working.”
“I don’t know a Working that strong.”
“Not yet, that is. See, Flora, I am so kind and generous. I have a giftie for you, and one I think you will like real well. Look here—”
He reached up and plucked Something from Nothing, then offered that Something to me: a red book, small as a deck of cards, with a glittery soft cover trimmed in golden emboss and studded with small pearls. A gilt hasp kept the book closed, but the hasp opened easily when I tugged on it. I flipped to the title page.
The Eschatanomicon,
OR ,
Rangering for Everybody!
An Invaluable Collection of Eight Hundred
Practical Receipts, Sigils, and Instructs
FOR
Rangers, Adepts, Sorcerers, Mages, Bibliomantics,
Scouts, Hierophants, Gnostics, Chaoists, Priestesses, Sibyls,
Sages, Archons, Anthropagists, Avatars, Trackers,
and People Generally,
Containing a Rational Guide to
Evocation, Invocation, Augoeides, Smithing, Epiclesis,
Camping, Divination, Equipage, Retroactive Enchantment,
Mule Packing, Geas, Adoration, Cutting for Sign,
Bibliomancy, Transubstantiation, Hitches, Vortices,
Prophecy, Libel & Dreams, etc.
by
NYANA KEEGAN OV ADMOISH
"
Free the oppressed!”
Valefor said, “It’s a first edition. The later versions were expurgated, of course, which took all the fun out of them. But this one is intact, complete, and it’s terribly rare. It’s worth more than half the City, Flora. Don’t read it in the bath. And look—it’s signed.”
The frontispiece showed a sketch of Nini Mo in a coyote-skin cape, rifle in one hand, pen in the other, and there on the fly-leaf was a thick black scrawl. Her calligraphy was very hard to read; each letter looked like a spiky thistle, and some had very long tails, but her signature was unmistakable.
“What does the inscription say?” I asked.
Val squinted, then read: “‘To Little Tiny Doom and Fig. Dare, Win, or Disappear!’”
“Who is that? Little Tiny Doom? And Fig?”
“I have no idea; I don’t remember exactly where I got the book. But see, Flora
—The Eschatanomicon
contains everything you need to know about rangering, or
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