Summoning and Sacrifice by Nathan Hartle

Author:Nathan Hartle [Nathan Hartle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Moon River Media LLC
Published: 2023-02-18T00:00:00+00:00

10

Brin

Resting his head on the pillow, Brin sniffed the incense drifting through the window from the street below and tried to exude leisurely confidence he no longer felt.

The Temple parade would be tramping down the avenue, muscling through the crowds celebrating on every corner. The Nights of Sorrow had ended. In a few weeks, the Days of Blooming would begin in grand style with the crusade’s departure from Ronia.

At this moment, the parade’s marchers would be scooping warm ashes from buckets and casting them on passersby. A few would contain hot embers, lighting up the evening.

That image struck him when Sylvana placed her hand flat on his bare stomach. “I never thought I’d have to compete for your attention with a flock like that.”

He started to see her standing over him. He had thought she was across the room. She smiled at this small conquest and added, “Join them if you want.”

Curling his lip in mock disdain, he searched for a joke worthy of his old self—the self who had existed before mysterious attackers nearly killed him. “March to a temple to say my prayers? If the Countess says anything like that again, I may reconsider our friendship.”

She offered a mild laugh, watching him intently. If he kept avoiding her gaze, she might realize how afraid of her he’d become. She had sent those men to attack the temple, meaning she might have expected Brin to die in the attack. Brin had only risked coming here because those men—her friends—could likely reach him wherever he was.

He turned his head and confronted the stunning intensity of her eyes. They mixed blue and green in a shade previously unknown to him, and her graying hair only made them more surprising.

As he had feared, her eyes pinned him, and she noticed his vulnerability. “‘Reconsider,’ will you? A fabulous thought. I’ll make those decisions, love, though not with my words.” Moments after greeting him at the front door of her tall, lavish row house, she had undressed, and she had been naked since.

Brin found his cup on the bedside table and sipped. He hadn’t bothered to ask what was in it. Sylvana entertained guests with a procession of unfailingly fine beverages, and she had pushed this one at him eagerly. Its elusive sweetness kept promising perfection if he tasted a little more.

While swallowing, he devised a flirtatious comment—the kind that, before the attack, would have come to him naturally. “I prefer the celebrations you host, Countess. Most of all, the ones where I’m your only guest.”

She was smoking something mysterious in her favorite pipe, setting it to smolder on a table between drags. She exhaled strong spice. “Are you sure? Something is troubling you. Maybe an evening of groveling and self-loathing with your Temple brothers is what you need.”

He laughed to hide his embarrassment at his transparency. He used to feel in control of their conversations, or at least like an equal, but no more. Since the attack, he had ignored her repeated invitations to meet.

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