The Heir of Exile by J. Houser

Author:J. Houser
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Painted Wings Publishing
Published: 2022-05-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

MARCUS WENT TO LEAH’S HOUSE the next day, because her mom had asked for Marcus to come over more often. Since Leah’s house was so much smaller than that of his grandparents, they did a lot more whispering and cuddling than having open discussions and kissing. Marcus let her know he’d confirmed with Jake that they’d repeat the phone exchange the next weekend. Jake wasn’t excited to be involved in keeping secrets, but he begrudgingly agreed to help his friends one more time.

“I’ll need to spend as much time as possible practicing trying to rift,” she said as they snuggled in her living room.

“Does that mean I won’t be seeing as much of you this week?” Marcus asked.

“I still have homework to do. And I’m pretty sure your place is a better option for concealing activity.” She smiled. “But if you want to go hang out with other friends, I get it. I’m sure it would be boring to watch me try to figure it out.”

He squeezed her hand. “We’ll see. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I like spending time with you.”

Her cheeks warmed. “Okay. How are we feeling about everything else?”

He rocked his head back and forth. “We’ll see about the rifting. The biggest thing other than that is making sure your mom lets you go. I think we can count on my dad understanding.” He scrunched his face. “At least I hope so. I really hope this works out. I’m getting pretty excited.”

“Me too. But I’m going to be relying on you to help make it look like I’m not a complete noob over there.” He’d explained the wedding would be taking place in Capital City in the Green Lands—neutral territory crawling with Seeders, Ivies, and Bomen from both nations.

He leaned closer, nuzzling her neck. “I’ve got your back.”

She giggled.

***

Leah loved learning her new abilities. Being able to sense the life in simple vegetation around her was nothing short of astounding. The evening before their second meetup with Kara, Leah and Marcus had an after-school picnic at a little park. With the area empty, Leah did some practicing. She almost wondered if she was at a level where she could attempt a tree rift, able to sense a balance in living things. Touching her vine to a rock still felt useless.

“Want to borrow this, m’lady?” Marcus handed her his jade anklet.

She smiled, taking it from him. “M’lady?”

He made a silly face.

She was about to put it around her wrist, then decided to try something different. “If the caves are jade-enhanced, maybe having it in contact with the rock is more helpful than in contact with my skin.” She wrapped the anklet around the rock she’d been practicing on, then extended a short tendril, trying to push her energy down the lower central channel in her mind. She physically and mentally poked at the rock. The rock blocked her energy, stubborn and immovable.

She sighed. This is a waste of time. If I knew the locations for tree rifting and how to get around.

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