The Raging One by Lexy Wolfe

Author:Lexy Wolfe [Wolfe, Lexy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BHC Press
Published: 2017-02-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 41

AFTER having gone down several wrong corridors, Ash finally located Storm in a remote chamber of the catacomb of caverns, meditating on a large, flat rock, hands on her knees, eyes closed. He sat next to her without a word, just watching her thoughtfully in the glow of the small ball of magelight hovering overhead.

Her eyes remained shut, though the tension in her features eased slightly. "Your woman is going to squawk if she discovers you are purposefully seeking me out," Storm stated blandly.

Ash scowled. "She is not ‘my woman.’ She is only my student."

Opening her eyes, Storm cast a skeptical look at the man. "She would disagree." Ash grunted his opinion. Storm merely shrugged. "As you wish it."

"Why have you not paired with Radisen?" Ash asked bluntly, watching her profile. "He seems like a fine warrior. And he certainly seems to care about you."

"I am Githalin Swordanzen."

"So?"

Her lips curved into a smile. "I had heard stories of Northerner mating habits. Complex rituals of courtship and lifelong vows of love." She smirked. "We have idealistic stories of such things, but my people do not have time for these luxuries."

Ash frowned. "Luxuries?"

Green-gold eyes opened to regard Ash in silence before she spoke. "Desanti have no time for love as you Northerners talk of it. We must bear as many children as we can, and we need our children to be born strong so they may survive, so we choose our mates by their breeding potential, not for love. Parents often die before they see their children grown, so they are raised by the tribe together."

The mage considered. "You do not have orphans?" he stated more than asked, a vague hint of envy in his voice.

"We do not have a word that has the same meaning as your northern 'orphan.' We do have a word for children left without a tribe." She paused. "Cursed."

Ash blinked in surprise, envy fading. "That seems... extreme."

"When no one knows what caused a tribe to die, it is assumed that it was a disease that the children may still carry. Or that bad spirits follow them." She looked away with a pained expression. "They are left to die to keep their curse from infecting other tribes. It is not done lightly."

Ash fell silent, studying her again. He frowned as he noted the numbers of scars, new and old. "You push yourself too hard. You should allow yourself to heal before you—"

"A Swordanzen must answer all challenges when they are made, no matter their condition, mage. That is our way." Storm regarded him. "Swordanzen belong to all tribes and to none. Why have I not paired with Radisen? Would that I could survive all of the inevitable challenges and bear a child, my child would be cursed as I was because I would be dead long before they became an adult. I have no tribe who could claim it. And I told you once before. A Githalin Swordanzen cannot become Tyluri. I will be Githalin until death."

Ash was silent for a time.

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.