The Bonds of Blood by Travis Simmons

Author:Travis Simmons
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: angels, fantasy, magic, sword and sorcery, dark fantasy, demons, epic fantasy, high fantasy, the bonds of blood, the revenant wyrd saga, travis simmons

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Jovian was silent as he followed Angelica and the others through the winding gardens surrounding Rosalee’s house. They turned left onto the alley beyond her front gate and proceeded to walk to the outskirts of town. A lull in conversation followed them all as they went along their way, but Jovian was certain that most of them were not thinking as he was, rather were focused instead on the coming ritual. Jovian was not big on group ceremonies; he found them too rehearsed, too planned.

The day was winding down even more now, and the sun had completely set, leaving the air stifling and dark. As he walked, his mind was absorbed with the mysterious disappearances of Astanel and Amber, assuming there to be some sort of connection there. He was convinced, no matter what Grace said, that something worse than slave trade was going on. However, the crone was convinced that it was not the work of the Grigori.

Jovian had to agree. He did not think that the appearance of the Grigori again would be so subtle, as insignificant as the abduction of two citizens of the Holy Realm.

He wondered why Grace got so worked up over his mention of the Grigori. Jovian understood that she had been alive when the world split, but why had she become so furious with him at the mention of the Grigori? Every time the topic of the Splitting of the World was brought up, she assumed an odd disposition, as if something dreadful had transpired with her then and she refused to recount it.

Suddenly he came to an abrupt stop moments before slamming into Angelica. He came up on his tiptoes and made a slight hissing noise, which earned him a scowl and a jab in the ribs from Angelica.

Craning his head, Jovian could see men dressed in light blue robes up ahead, moving a smoking container around each person in turn. From the smell of the smoke wafting his way, Jovian figured this was the ceremonial white sage smudging to cleanse each parishioner of impurities.

The line inched forward as the two men with the smoking censers parted to let each freshly cleansed person through. Jovian noticed that there were more men standing beyond the first two who would help each person take a place in the field before the altar.

As the men’s faces came into view, Jovian thought he recognized the one with a head revealing the beginnings of black stubble. He remembered that men often shaved their heads when they were undertaking their vows to the Goddess before training to become a votary. Seeing how he didn’t know any aspiring clergyman, Jovian figured it was just a figment of his imagination, so he waited patiently as the line slowly progressed forward.

Finally it was his turn to be smudged, and Jovian raised his arms out to the side at chest level. He closed his eyes, not due to reverence, but instead to the fact that every time he kept his eyes open while being smudged he got smoke in them.

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.