Read Online season avatars 03 - chaos season by sandra ulbrich almazan - Free Book Online Page A

to address it. In fact, I was on my way to check on our…artifact expert right now. Ysabel, will you join me?”
    Gwen curtseyed again and departed with Ysabel before Lex could respond. He stared after her until she disappeared inside the Temple. Jenna bit her lip. Gwen was pretty, clever, nobly born, and wealthy in her own right. No one would be surprised that Lex courted Gwen instead of her.
    By the Four, why shouldn’t he court me? Even if I was born a farm girl, I’m an Avatar too. I’m just as pretty as Gwen—maybe prettier, since I’m taller and fill out my dress better. She smiled. Best of all, I have something Gwen doesn’t: Robbie. She beckoned Callie, who calmed the fussy baby as she waited in a corner, out of the sun.
    She approached Jenna, curtseyed awkwardly to Lex, and said, “Ava, did you need something?”
    “Yes, Callie. Your Highness, I’d like to introduce you to my son, Robbie.” She leaned closer to Lex and whispered, “Your son too.”
    His expression hardened for a moment before freezing. “You assured me last summer there would be no issue.”
    “I only said I had means to prevent bearing a child.” She tilted her head and looked him in the eye. “I chose not to use them.”
    “If this is true, then you’ve done something very foolish for a Season Avatar.”
    Faster than Jenna thought possible, Lex drew his dagger and sliced Robbie’s hand. Callie screamed. “Robbie!” Jenna sprang forward, wishing she had a fighting stick, or even a stalk from a deathbush. How was she supposed to protect her son when her magic wasn’t useful as a weapon?
    “By the Eagle, it’s true,” Lex said. He held his still-clean dagger up. “See, he’s unharmed.”
    Robbie let out a wail, then stopped as he saw the dagger. With big eyes, he reached for it. All fingers were still attached, and his skin wasn’t marked. No sign of blood or a cut. Chuckling, Lex returned the dagger to its sheath.
    “This is the Allweapon, War’s own weapon, Ava,” he said. “Unlike your Four, War selects His Avatars from the Fip royal family. His weapon will not harm a possible future War Avatar.”
    Jenna grabbed her son from the nursemaid and inspected his hands. His nails were a bit long, but he didn’t bear any new scratches. Her heart still raced with fear, and she put some venom in her voice as she said, “I’d have thought a god’s weapon would be …longer.”
    Lex gave her a cool look. “It changes into whatever type of weapon is needed for battle. For daily use, I most often carry it as a dagger, but I’ve also used it as a sword or battleaxe. I’ve shown War pistols and rifles, but He has not seen fit to change His weapon into that form yet.” He studied Robbie. “Perhaps someday this child will use it as such.”
    “Robbie?” How could Lex even think of a helpless little child going to war?
    “Isn’t that what you had in mind when you seduced me back in your little town—or something even higher? My brother will not appreciate this complication to the succession, even if I’m sixth in the line for the throne and this child was born out of wedlock.”
    Jenna’s cheeks warmed. “Robbie is listed in the Hall of Records as the son of my absent husband, Thomas t’Reve.” A pity she couldn’t update the record to indicate Robbie’s real father. Imagine him someday sitting on the throne! Even if it never happened, he had so much more waiting for him than Thomas’s old general store back in Bull Rock.
    Lex crossed his arms and stared down at her. “If the succession fails, War could use that false record to create civil war here, something I’m sure you Season Avatars don’t want.” His mouth hardened. “If you weren’t an Avatar, it would be easy to make that child—disappear.”
    “Disappear!” All the heat of Summer pulsed through her veins. “You so much as trim this child’s hair with your dagger, and I’ll plant a score of acorns in you and feed them on your