The Grave and the Gates by Jodie Seibert

Author:Jodie Seibert [Seibert, Jodie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781947104075
Publisher: Criss Cross Press
Published: 2019-06-18T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

For twelve days Galatea and Durward were sequestered underground, making more Golems.

Members of the Guard came, dozens at a time, to practice the illusion magic to make them real. And not only the Guard, but others: some new to magic, others old to magic, of all ages.

Galatea worked hard, with little rest and food. On the night of the twelfth day, she collapsed to the ground, stomach heaving, vision blurring.

“What is wrong?” she gasped, as Durward carried her over to a bench, laying her carefully on its surface. Closing her eyes as a wave of dizziness came over her, she leaned back against the wall behind it.

“Did your parents not tell you your magic has limits?”

“What do you mean?”

He huffed in exasperation. “We do not have unlimited magic. Otherwise Ghoul taking magic would not truly harm those to whom such a cruel thing was done.”

“I thought it was just because I have not slept very well.” Her words were little more than a rasp. “I have also had little to eat lately.”

The huff of exasperation became a full-throated groan. “That too! We all have our limits, be they physical or magical! And you have been pushing both to their furthest extremes.” He let out an expressive sigh that seemed to show both care and frustration at once. “Part of this is my fault. I have been busy with my own work, and not paying attention to yours. I guess I have been avoiding you, or, rather, avoiding my feelings about you. So I thought that by giving you some space I was giving myself some space to think. Clearly, it was a bad plan.”

Moving over to her side, he picked her up easily.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked. She was surprised by how weak her voice sounded, though she realized that she should not have been surprised.

“To your home to rest, of course.”

Somehow he carried her up all the stairs that led from the lower chamber of his home to the ground floor, and then out and across the village until she was at the new home she had been given. As soon as he laid her down, she felt her eyes go heavy.

But only when she blinked open her eyes did she realize she had slept. Groaning loudly, she drew in a breath of air. A tantalizing aroma tickled her nose with the promise of something very delicious.

She sat up to discover someone had covered her with a blanket. Yawning, she stretched out sore arms.

“You are just in time for my fruit bread,” Durward said.

Looking over, she saw that he was slicing off a thick slab of bread that was still steaming. Seeing that he was busy, she got up, folded the blanket, and went to use the clean room.

Once she was back in the main room, much relieved and refreshed, hands washed and dried, she sat down on a stool and focused on the plate before her.

“Is … is that butter on the bread?” Delight warmed her words, and he smiled back.

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.