Vines of Promise and Deceit by Melanie Cellier

Author:Melanie Cellier [Cellier, Melanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Luminant Publications
Published: 2022-02-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Cadence

The next morning we boarded the barges earlier than the day before, everyone putting on a show of bravery, despite the palpable tension in the air. Gia herded both Karielle and me onto the front barge with her, although I noticed Bryce had lost his enthusiasm to be included with the royals, disappearing off toward the apprentice’s barge instead.

“Don’t worry,” Karielle said when she saw me watching his retreating back. “I don’t get seasick.”

“That’s one blessing at least,” Augusta muttered as she skirted around us and onto the barge.

According to Gia, Augusta had been largely responsible for keeping our barge together through the beating it received, her power proving remarkably effective despite the age of the wood used in the vessel’s construction. Some of the other barges hadn’t made it through in such solid shape, and emergency repair works had been completed overnight.

Augusta looked just as spry as usual, however, and at least a decade younger than what must be her true age. With a grin, the other girls and I followed her on board. We didn’t join her in the cabin, however, this time taking up positions in the prow instead of the stern.

I drank in the uninterrupted view of the river ahead, the sun sparkling off the moving water. The way it foamed and flowed over the hull was mesmerizing, and I had to fight the desire to dive in and swim in the cool blue, as I had done so many times in Lake Aterra growing up. As the sun grew warmer, the water only looked more and more inviting, the color a beautiful contrast to the deep green of the forest along the eastern shore.

Zeke and Nikolas joined us, and as the hours passed without incident, we all increasingly relaxed. From time to time, Zeke would shoot a questioning look at me, but I could detect no rise in the almost negligible levels of tainted power around us.

Each time I nodded back at Zeke reassuringly, he looked a little more relieved. And the gaps between his silent questions grew larger.

“Isn’t that fresh wind just delicious?” Gia turned her face into it and closed her eyes.

“Thus speaks the elements apprentice,” Zeke said. “Personally, I’d like a chance to stop and explore that forest.”

I’d noticed his gaze glued to the eastern bank instead of looking ahead—an understandable focus for a plants mage, given the unexplored tangle of greenery on that side. Karielle nodded enthusiastically, in complete agreement, and even Nikolas couldn’t entirely hide his interest.

After Airlie disappeared, Nikolas had refused to allow Augusta to activate his plants seed. Apparently, he had told his parents that having been promised an elements influence, he intended to have it from one elements mage or another.

Perhaps sick of fighting with their children—or else distracted by the other crises of the moment—they relented. One of the librarians had unearthed an ancient exception that allowed royal children to be activated by a member of their family but trained within the Guild. So Evermund had agreed to activate Nikolas as long as his training happened under the Master of Plants.

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