Read Online Gravity's Revenge by A.E. Marling - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: A.E. Marling
Ads: Link
showed Minna on the Skyway when she had dropped the fennec. Hiresha idly watched the scene play out while wishing enchantresses could better protect themselves from falling. Only spellswords could activate enchantments such as Lightening to stop a descent. Hiresha could save herself using her innovations in impact enchantment, a field of study by no means in the endorsed curriculum.
“We were so worried for Lord Black Toes,” the reflection said.
“I forbid you from calling the fennec by that name. His paws are white, besides.” Hiresha touched the amethyst bracelet on her wrist, the stones a match for those on the fennec’s collar. A warmth of thankfulness filled her that her magic had saved the fennec’s life. Yesterday’s one redeeming moment.
With a wave of Hiresha’s hand, a mirror displayed the Recurve Tower . Hiresha had no intention of stinting on her nightly contribution to empowering the Academy. A stream of jewels embodying her magic descended from the skylight to sink into the mirror’s glass and be absorbed by the building.
“Tonight I’ll give my dream tithe a hundred times over, in case the enchantments are in some manner weakening.”
“We can’t imagine why,” the reflection said. “Everyone else should be doing their part like always.”
“And the Academy keystones should overcompensate in the event of any temporary shortage of magic.”
“Chancellor Oily Locks won’t like us saying there’s anything wrong with the keystones.”
“Not when they are her responsibility, no.” Hiresha had to admit, Tethiel’s meddling seemed more likely than any failure on the Academy’s part.
Thinking of the Lord of the Feast made Hiresha consider the girl she had invited onto the plateau that day. Two mirrors displayed Minna. In one glass she covered her birthmark with a hand after Janny had taken away her veil. In the other, Minna stood without a mark or stain on her face, holding her hand mirror, grinning with the power of Feasting inside her.
Hiresha floated in her dream, and her hair bobbed around her as if she were underwater. Even so, she felt heavy with worry.
“I do enough wrong by condoning one Feaster’s visit to the Academy. Minna cannot stay here. Her presence alone will scare enchantresses from their sleep.”
“We can’t expel her.” The reflection clapped her hands against her chest. “Janny’s heart would break.”
“Shove the girl off a cliff,” a third voice said. Ten shards of black sapphire clicked against the inside of a mirror. They were the nails of a woman whose graceful hands were studded with jewels of purple and green to the point they looked colorfully scaled. “She needs to die. The maid will cry but won’t blame you for what looks like an accident.”
The yellow-gowned reflection shied away, refusing to look at the other woman in the mirror. Hiresha faced her. The enchantress rubbed her gloved hands together, feeling the garnets imbedded in her own fingers. She had shown great restraint with her jewel piercings compared to this third woman. The lady looked like Hiresha, except more beautiful, her smile so wide and sharp that it threatened to split open her exquisite face with gashes from chin to ears.
“Even more ruthless than usual,” Hiresha said. “I would think that you’d preserve a modicum of regard for a sister Feaster.”
Hiresha resented the elegant and deadly intruder, the essence of Feasting magic that had snuck into her consciousness and plundered a piece of her mind.
The black-clawed lady in the mirror said, “Feasters have no true sisters. Only competitors.”
“I should murder someone so like yourself?”
The Feaster gave the enchantress a pitying smile, the same an adult might give a child who was worried a cloud would fall from the sky and smother her. “You care for Minna because you think she’s like you. Flawed. Teeming with Feasting magic—”
“I have never once—”
“—but she is weak. When you begin
“We were so worried for Lord Black Toes,” the reflection said.
“I forbid you from calling the fennec by that name. His paws are white, besides.” Hiresha touched the amethyst bracelet on her wrist, the stones a match for those on the fennec’s collar. A warmth of thankfulness filled her that her magic had saved the fennec’s life. Yesterday’s one redeeming moment.
With a wave of Hiresha’s hand, a mirror displayed the Recurve Tower . Hiresha had no intention of stinting on her nightly contribution to empowering the Academy. A stream of jewels embodying her magic descended from the skylight to sink into the mirror’s glass and be absorbed by the building.
“Tonight I’ll give my dream tithe a hundred times over, in case the enchantments are in some manner weakening.”
“We can’t imagine why,” the reflection said. “Everyone else should be doing their part like always.”
“And the Academy keystones should overcompensate in the event of any temporary shortage of magic.”
“Chancellor Oily Locks won’t like us saying there’s anything wrong with the keystones.”
“Not when they are her responsibility, no.” Hiresha had to admit, Tethiel’s meddling seemed more likely than any failure on the Academy’s part.
Thinking of the Lord of the Feast made Hiresha consider the girl she had invited onto the plateau that day. Two mirrors displayed Minna. In one glass she covered her birthmark with a hand after Janny had taken away her veil. In the other, Minna stood without a mark or stain on her face, holding her hand mirror, grinning with the power of Feasting inside her.
Hiresha floated in her dream, and her hair bobbed around her as if she were underwater. Even so, she felt heavy with worry.
“I do enough wrong by condoning one Feaster’s visit to the Academy. Minna cannot stay here. Her presence alone will scare enchantresses from their sleep.”
“We can’t expel her.” The reflection clapped her hands against her chest. “Janny’s heart would break.”
“Shove the girl off a cliff,” a third voice said. Ten shards of black sapphire clicked against the inside of a mirror. They were the nails of a woman whose graceful hands were studded with jewels of purple and green to the point they looked colorfully scaled. “She needs to die. The maid will cry but won’t blame you for what looks like an accident.”
The yellow-gowned reflection shied away, refusing to look at the other woman in the mirror. Hiresha faced her. The enchantress rubbed her gloved hands together, feeling the garnets imbedded in her own fingers. She had shown great restraint with her jewel piercings compared to this third woman. The lady looked like Hiresha, except more beautiful, her smile so wide and sharp that it threatened to split open her exquisite face with gashes from chin to ears.
“Even more ruthless than usual,” Hiresha said. “I would think that you’d preserve a modicum of regard for a sister Feaster.”
Hiresha resented the elegant and deadly intruder, the essence of Feasting magic that had snuck into her consciousness and plundered a piece of her mind.
The black-clawed lady in the mirror said, “Feasters have no true sisters. Only competitors.”
“I should murder someone so like yourself?”
The Feaster gave the enchantress a pitying smile, the same an adult might give a child who was worried a cloud would fall from the sky and smother her. “You care for Minna because you think she’s like you. Flawed. Teeming with Feasting magic—”
“I have never once—”
“—but she is weak. When you begin
Similar Books
