Mark of Blood and Alchemy by Evangeline Denmark

Author:Evangeline Denmark
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Blink
Published: 2015-08-31T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

4

Come.”

The word startled Olan out of sleep. Weakness covered him like a heavy blanket. He blinked. Was it day or night? He cringed and searched for Balthasar, but the alchemist did not stand over him with instrument in hand. Olan’s instruction in the secrets of alchemy, now written over his body in the form of countless cuts and punctures, dimmed his dreams of perfection. But he would not abandon hope of a remedy.

Auriana appeared in his vision. How long since he’d seen her? With a hollowing sensation in his gut, he remembered her face as she said, “Cassius is dead.” Was that yesterday? The day before? The boy who’d risked his life for Olan, the quiet adventurer, whose intent eyes and resourcefulness revealed an elevated mind, was gone.

“Olan, get up.” She yanked his arm, wrestling with his uncooperative frame.

He forced back the unfamiliar frailty and sat up, swinging his legs to the floor. A draining sensation slipped from the crown of his head to his feet. After a moment, the cabinet room swam into view. He’d fallen asleep on Balthasar’s table. The alchemist was absent, but the ampoules holding his elixirs, and Olan’s humours, bubbled over the coals—pale yellow, blood red, near transparent, and black as earth. He dragged his head away from the sight of his own simmering fluids.

Auriana pulled on his wrists. Though tall, her slender frame was no match for his hulking dead weight. He pushed off the table and stood.

“They’ve called an assembly.” Her voice trickled past the rushing in his ears. “They demanded Father attend and now they are questioning him. I’m afraid, Olan.”

The shake in her voice kindled Olan’s gut. Reserves of strength he’d thought empty poured through his body. He limped away from the table. “Where are they?”

“I’ll show you. Where is your crutch?”

“I can manage without it.”

She led him through the tunnels and passages that snaked through the mountain and the citadel. They stopped in an indentation, little more than a curve in the path. He searched for some hidden door in the wall and found only a panel the length of his foot. Auriana slid it aside and pressed her face to the opening. Carved scrollwork made a pattern over the hidden window—loops in the design formed perfect peepholes. The room beyond was circular, with seats rimming the walls in rows and an open space at the bottom that resembled a pit. From their vantage point, looking down into the chamber, they could see the gathered assembly. Two voices rose in heated argument. Balthasar stood facing a stooped man in the center of the room.

Auriana jerked her chin at her father’s accuser. “Uncle Adamarin.”

Among the faces—shades of brown, from golden to russet—Olan recognized Brother Montae and a handful of brothers with their silver-blue hoods. Another face caught his eye.

“Alaric? Alaric lives?”

Auriana pressed her lips together at the sight of her cousin. “For now. He has always been strong. Fierce. He’ll not go without a fight.”

But the young man bundled in furs and sagging in his chair appeared a casualty of war rather than a victor.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.