Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Kerrigan groaned. “I don’t want to know.”
“Well, it’s not a wedding invitation, mind you. I am still waiting for that.”
If it were up to Kerrigan, there would be no invitations. But Kerrigan had been pretending that marrying March wasn’t the last thing in the world she wanted to do. Audria knew she wasn’t thrilled, but Fordham was gone. Even she seemed to have moved on.
“I’m sure they’ll go out soon,” she said.
They headed into a history lesson with Mistress Movanna and took their seats. Roake hadn’t arrived yet, and Movanna was buried beneath a mound of dusty texts. Kerrigan didn’t want to be having this conversation with Audria right now. As close as they had become in the last year, she was still Bryonican nobility to her core.
“You know what this is. It’s a party invitation at the House of Medallion Row estate, Kerrigan.”
She sighed. “Yes, March is hosting an election event for me.”
“That’s nice of him.”
Kerrigan cut her a look. “Is that what you really think?”
“Well, I think he’s trying to get in your good graces. Which, I admit, are hard to come by. You are naturally reticent toward everyone.”
“It’s almost like I have a reason to be that way.”
Audria’s face softened. “That’s true. I didn’t mean it the way that it sounded.”
“It’s fine.” She waved her off just as Roake entered the room.
He slumped into a seat and yawned. His eyes drooped. “Morning,” he grumbled.
“Why are you always so tired?” Audria asked.
“Master Gavilin has me working through the magic regulation laws from sunup to sundown. Have any questions about thousand-year-old regulatory law? I can probably help you now. It’s a lot to cram in.”
Audria laughed. “Well, at least you’re succeeding in your apprenticeship. My healing is as abysmal as ever.”
They looked to Kerrigan, and she shrugged. “My apprenticeship has been primarily theoretical so far. I’ve been reading governmental texts, taking long walks to discuss them, and sort of arguing with Master Bastian.”
“Arguing with him?” Audria asked in surprise.
“Not in a bad way. He encourages me to debate with him the benefit and consequence to everything I’ve read about. He doesn’t let me be satisfied with the official answer. He wants me to stretch my brain to think for myself.”
Roake snorted. “As if you don’t already.”
Kerrigan grinned. “Well, he’s making me better at it at least. I’ve never had a teacher quite like him. Everything is up for debate. I never really know what he actually believes. We go around in circles until my head spins.”
“Sounds manipulative,” Audria said.
“Well, I suppose it could be. I find it fascinating.”
Mistress Movanna appeared from behind the stacks. She blinked behind enormous spectacles. “Oh, hello there. You’re here for a lesson today?”
Roake snorted and threw his head back, ready to sleep through the class. Movanna was scatterbrained at best. She found anything after the Great War, a thousand years ago, to be too modern for her. Kerrigan liked her eccentricity.
“Yes, Mistress Movanna,” Kerrigan said.
“Where were we in our discussions exactly?” she said, rifling through her paperwork. “Ah, the Irena Bargain.”
“Again?” Audria groaned.
The Irena Bargain was the foundation for the formation of the Society. Historically, the tale was told that a great Fae maiden had gone into the heart of the beast to slay the great dragon Ferrinix but made a different call. Instead of killing him, she bonded with the dragon and became the first dragon rider. After that, the Fae and the dragons agreed to work together, so long as the bonding remained. The twelve tribes had put forth representatives to start the Society and maintain the peace between the tribes and the dragons from then on.
Of course, realistically, there were hundreds of Fae tribes, and very little was actually known about Irena and the first dragon bonding. The bargain she had made was lost to legend. Though it was Movanna’s main focus of study.
Kerrigan raised her hand, and Movanna blinked at her.
“Mistress Kerrigan?”
“I know we were going to discuss Irena,” she said, “but could we talk about magical artifacts instead?”
Movanna tilted her head. “Magical artifacts?”
“Yes. I wasn’t sure how much you knew about them. We’ve come up against them in battle, and I believe we’d all be better off, having a more thorough understanding about them.”
Roake sat up in his chair, suddenly interested. Audria shot her a surprised look but then nodded her agreement.
“Well,” Movanna said, her gazing shifting to the door and then back to her students, “we don’t typically discuss the illegal.”
“I understand, but we need to know more to do our jobs.”
Movanna slammed the giant book she had been reading closed. She grunted something unintelligible and then disappeared through the back door. Audria and Kerrigan shared a glance in confusion.
Then, Movanna returned, dropping a manuscript onto the desk. “Aha, I knew I had it.” She waved a hand to clear the dust and then leafed through the document. “You want to know more about magical artifacts? Well, let’s begin at the beginning. Tell me what you already know of them.”