Witch Fall by Amber Argyle

Author:Amber Argyle [Amber Argyle]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Teen Paranormal
Amazon: B00H9MJL48
Goodreads: 15829923
Publisher: Starling Publishing
Published: 2013-12-30T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Lilette had the kind of beauty that men went to war over. Sometimes I hated her for it. ~Jolin

Lilette and her group were ushered into a raised pavilion. Climbing vines clung to the trellis and made a roof of leaves. Enormous potted plants were everywhere. Some held trees loaded with ripe fruit. Other pots overflowed with flowers that perfumed the air with their heady fragrance. Some pots held different kinds of herbs lined up in neat rows. In the background was singing. Not the dark, sharp-edged songs that turned Lilette’s stomach, but the gentle, growing songs that made the very air throb with life.

Keepers and guardians milled about, but they stopped what they were doing as Lilette and the rest of her group walked in. How ragged we must look, she thought. There had been no privacy aboard the ship, but she’d managed to wash her tunic and trousers and to scrub herself with a rag dampened with seawater. Without a comb, she’d simply run her fingers through her hair and braided it in the traditional fashion of the women of her village.

They approached the center of the enormous pavilion. Sitting on marble chairs on a dais were four women surrounded by people—it was clearly some kind of meeting. The man who’d fetched Lilette and the others from the ship approached a desk off to the side and spoke to half a dozen women in simple gray dresses with matching veils covering their hair.

Jolin leaned close and whispered to Lilette, “Each Head represents one of the elements. The redhead, Garen, is Head of Plants. The older woman, Brine, is Head of Water. Tawny is the dark one with the cropped hair—she’s Head of Earth. And the young one is Merlay, Head of Light.”

Merlay. She was the one Sash had said to trust. Lilette would have to speak with her when the council ended.

The women looked nothing like each other—old and young, light and dark—but despite their differences in appearance, they all wore the same mantle of authority. Lilette counted a dozen guardians stationed around the pavilion, their gazes wary.

One of the veiled women rose and went to whisper in Brine’s ear. The older woman clapped her hands. “Everyone out.”

“Who are the women with the veils?” Lilette quietly asked Jolin.

“They’re wastrels—servants of the keepers.”

The term was vaguely familiar, and the associations Lilette had were not positive.

Brine inclined her frothy gray head. “We’ll keep this short, as we are all very busy with the situation in Harshen. I recognize you, Guardian, though I don’t recall your name.”

Geth half bowed. “I am Geth, second to Leader Gyn.”

“I’m assuming Gyn is dead?” Brine asked, then scrawled something on a parchment a wastrel held for her.

“I believe so,” Geth responded.

Brine waved the wastrel off. “Most unfortunate. He was a good guardian.” She removed some of her own parchment and took out a quill. “We already know much of what has passed in Harshen. We simply need you to fill in the gaps.” Geth nodded. “How many of you returned?” Brine asked.

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.