The Keyholder of Time (The Tempus Guild Series Book 1) by Charity F Nelson

Author:Charity F Nelson [Nelson, Charity F]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-09T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“Drat!” Enna winced and watched as a bubble of blood bloomed on the tip of her thumb from the needle she had poised between her fingers. She’d been attempting to stitch an edge on the evergreen silk gown for weeks and was nearly finished. “This dress will be the death of me, I’m sure of it.”

I snorted and continued flipping through the pages of a musty-smelling book I’d pulled off the shelf nearby. We sat in the common room on the third floor, which was typically reserved for students to relax during off hours, but the room was practically empty. Classes were dismissed for the next week as the final night of La Aestas approached, and the institution wouldn’t pick up again until the start of fall.

It would be the first time in all my life that I wasn’t spending the longest day of the year with Sam on the beach, watching the waves and talking about anything that came to mind until dawn broke through the night sky. I touched the pearl bracelet around my wrist, thinking about him for about the hundredth time since I’d sent him that letter. I still hadn’t heard anything from him or Pa.

“You remind me of my sisters.” I closed the book and tossed it on the table behind me. “Always worried about their appearance.”

Enna made a face at me as she sucked the blood off the end of her thumb and got back to the tedious work. “Do they not celebrate La Aestas where you come from?”

“They do,” I said as I got up from the chair and skimmed my finger over the spines of the books on the shelf. “But it’s more than a celebration. Instead of frilly dresses and music, we gather by the sea’s edge, build roaring fires, offer animal sacrifices to the goddess of the Sea and Rain, and pray for her continued replenishment of life in the water. After we kill the animals, we paint our cheeks with their blood.”

I looked over my shoulder to see that Enna’s freckled face had paled as she stared at me, her hands still. “Do you really?” she asked in a whisper, as if afraid others would overhear.

“No.” I laughed and pulled another book off the shelf at random. “I imagine it's much the same as it is here. Dresses and dancing. But I never much cared for that.”

“That’s not difficult to guess.” Enna looked me up and down with a knowing smile.

Ada had continued to bless me with more pairs of leggings, breeches, and tunics. It was all I wore unless Sorcha requested, or rather insisted, that I wear a dress. But typically, that was only for special occasions. She somehow always knew when they would occur and would send me a note with a new gown to wear the day of. Only once did I appease her, and that was because the elder Lord Blacklock was in attendance. I didn’t want to give him more reason to shame me, although I didn’t know why I cared so much.

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