Seasons of Sorcery by Jennifer Estep Grace Draven Amanda Bouchet Jeffe Kennedy

Author:Jennifer Estep, Grace Draven, Amanda Bouchet, Jeffe Kennedy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Anthology
Publisher: Jennifer Estep, Grace Draven, Amanda Bouchet, Jeffe Kennedy
Published: 2018-11-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter One

“Rain? Are you awake?”

Rain cracked open her eyes at the sound of Daric’s deep voice. Her lungs squeezed with joy and relief that he was home safely from his latest trip up and down the slippery Axton Peaks, although she simply mumbled something that sounded like No while her heart settled into a normal beat.

Daric slipped into her room anyway and stretched out beside her on the high bed. He was lying down but hardly still. Her prince was a constant explosion of motion, going everywhere as if his heels were on fire.

And he called her the storm.

“Happy birthday!” Daric turned onto his side, beaming at her.

“I’m sleeping.” Rain refused to open her eyes enough to do more than watch him through her lashes. The day her adoptive parents had chosen as her birthday was a terrible day. It was the first morning of spring, and another long season of nothing. “But welcome home,” she said with a budding smile.

“You’re not sleeping. You’re talking to me.”

She huffed, unable to fault his logic. “We’re not children anymore. You do know that it’s highly inappropriate for you to charge into my bedroom like this? Especially at the crack of dawn.”

“The crack of dawn?” Daric scoffed. “That was at least three minutes ago.”

“You’re impossible.” Sighing, Rain resigned herself to facing the day—this day when everyone still hoped she’d do something amazing and wonderful, even though they’d stopped expecting it a long time ago.

At least Daric was back, which made it all more bearable.

She stretched the sleep from her limbs and opened her eyes, allowing herself to really look at him. Her chest knotted with the usual mix of elation, misery, and longing. His face was weathered from his latest journey, maybe even a little sun-scorched, and his blue eyes stood out with brilliance against his tanned skin. His dark hair had grown, now tumbling over his forehead in a way that made her want to smooth it between her fingers and brush it back. And his smile…

Rain’s pulse sped up again. His smile was the same as always: warm and devastating.

“Did everything go well?” she asked.

Daric nodded. “The last two towns in the dry-belt now have their full supply of ice blocks. I inspected the containers, and they’re all in good shape. It won’t water their fields, but it’ll give the townsfolk what they need to survive the upcoming season.”

Several years ago, Daric had conceived of a plan to provide extra water for the towns around Leathen with the fewest natural depressions to collect rainwater and snowmelt from the winter. Under his direction, villagers had built huge watertight basins to hold blocks of ice that Daric and a team of soldiers regularly cut from the mountain lakes in winter. Each journey meant a difficult climb into the Axton Peaks, a long week of perilous work, and a treacherous descent with heavy sleds stacked with ice. While the weather was still cold enough to transport the frozen water, Daric brought it to the towns that needed it the most.

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