Candace Sams by The Gazing Globe

Author:The Gazing Globe
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-02-10T14:48:12+00:00

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Afton turned from her position behind a tree and ambled back to the house. She’d only come out to the garden to guard Blain in case his enemy showed up. It hadn’t been her intention to eavesdrop on the lovers’ breakup.

It seemed Blain was beginning to understand the serious consequences of his parents’ desertion from the Order. That it had been forced didn’t mitigate the results. They’d had to leave friends, family and all they cherished behind. Now, Blain had to give up a relationship from the outside world. Freyja’s horrible work would last a long, bitter time. Her maliciousness seemed to circle back and encompass them all.

Tears stung Afton’s eyes. They were for Blain and herself. She had secretly hoped there could be something between them, but as far as Blain was concerned, she was nothing but the sweet virginal assistant tagging along with Shayla. His words in the garden had made that quite clear. She was just a friend. Moreover, she was one of the unexpected complications in his life. She wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand and made a resolution to give up on whatever feelings might have been between them. Even if Blain had felt differently toward her, there were other complications he didn’t know about.

Though traditions of the Order had never been explained, he would come to learn certain differences which would keep them apart. Though Blain was a blend, it was obvious he was very powerful. His size, musculature and physical appearance marked him as warrior class, which put him out of her league. Because she hadn’t mastered the very basics of Druid powers, she was relegated to eventually handfast with someone of her own gatherer class.

Most members of the Order still clung to the belief that the strongest men and women should pair. This was an ancient holdover from a need to survive. All the Sorceress had done was make it possible for any warrior to mingle their blood with anyone else who was a warrior. No one had said anything about gatherer classes mixing with warrior classes. Though she was certain Shayla would permit it, the rest of the Order still insisted on mating with the strongest. Therefore, warrior men only chose warrior women and visa versa. This was the way things had been for thousands of years. Only a man whose meager powers matched her own would ever approach Afton. It simply wasn’t socially acceptable to do otherwise.

Summoning a vision circle was a great accomplishment, and she was proud of herself for having done such a thing. But it was the basics that mattered to the Order. Conjuring fire and the other elements of wind, water and earth had to be demonstrated on a daily basis Over and over. These were the skills that would protect a family, not one outstanding display of magic that couldn’t be used for defense. And she’d only been able to do what she had because of Blain. He had been her motivation.

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