Season of Sacrifice (Blood of Azure Book 1) Jonathan Michael (red novels .txt) 📖

has guided me here. We were just on our way to go visit Master Stormwood. Oh…excuse my manners. This is Sto… I mean…a new student, Elder. Elder Alderock. I’m showing him around the campus. Helping him get familiar with his new surroundings and introducing him to a few of his new instructors. You were on our list to visit today.”

“Is that so? It is a pleasure to meet you, Elder.”

With a gloved hand, he shakes mine. A firm grip, but why the gloves in this heat?

“Master Slate Sephyre, the flight master. I assume since I was on your list, you’ll be attending my class?”

“Uh…yeah.”

Astor nudges me.

“I mean, yes, sir.”

“Are you familiar with aeronautics, Elder?”

“No, sir. I’m not.”

He ponders for a moment with his hand under his chin, looking me up and down. I’m sure it’s because he thinks me a half-wit for not knowing what aeronautics is or…he recognizes me. I clench my fists and tap my heel on the ground, trying to patiently wait for his scrutiny to go away.

“Tall, thin frame,” he speaks up. “If your legs can handle it, you’ll do great on a raptor. I recommend studying before you arrive. So you’re elevated to the level of your peers. I’m sure our lovely Astor here has you up to speed, but if not, you can obtain the proper scrolls through any of the Academy scribes. I’m easy. My minimum expectation is that you can tell me what aeronautics is on your first day.”

“Yes, sir.”

Master Sephyre beams his brilliant ivories at me then turns to Astor. While doing so, his hair flips over his shoulder in an arrogant and boisterous manner that makes me want to hit him again. That emotion flees when his swooshing hair reveals a missing ear. A small portion of it remains, but a mere nub of cartilage. The scars on his face and the missing ear spark an uneasy feeling within me. The amount of effort this fellow goes through to appear glamorous, yet he has so many imperfections. I don’t know what it is exactly, but something is off. I wonder if I know him from father’s days in Parliament. He says he’s easy, but I presume this is not one of the courses I’m going to catch a southernly wind and breeze through.

“Thank you, Master Sephyre, for taking the time to introduce yourself to Elder.” She beams her own gleeful smile in return.

“Oh, I think it is you who should be thanked, Miss Greyheart. You’re the one who spreads smiles to all in your proximity and who has brightened my day to the fullest. It was my pleasure.” He gently grabs her hand and kisses it.

Every part of me wants to pummel him into the ground with that hollow act of kissing her hand. What is he trying to tell her?

“Thank you, sir,” I interrupt. “I’ll be sure to find out what an air knot is before my first lesson tomorrow.”

He nods his farewell to me and smiles at the girl before continuing with his day. I get a swift smack in the back of my head right after Master Sephyre has fled the proximity of Astor’s beauty and my thin frame. Asshole.

“What…” I yell in surprise.

“My apologies. I spent too much time in the woods with that miscreant, Ellia. I think she may have rubbed off on me a bit, and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you, but air knots? What was that? You should’ve kept your mouth shut. Now he thinks you’re an imbecile.”

“I am an imbecile when it comes to aeronautics. And he’s an asshole.”

“He is not.”

“Says you.”

“You are going to need more fine-tuning than I thought.” She flips her hair, turns, and stamps away without waiting for me.

I follow close behind, not paying much mind to my surroundings. Not intentionally, it’s just that the sway of her hips entrances me like embers rising from a flame, snowflakes floating in the sky, or the current of a stream flowing by. There are some things in this world that are hard to peel your eyes away from.

We pass through campus to the building most familiar to me within the capital. The Redwood Chamber. It’s where my father used to meet with the other members of Parliament. I’ve been here many a time. Astor climbs the stone steps to the building, but I pause at the bottom, looking up at the structure. It’s a cold, grey building, not much different than those on campus. But this one gives me chills. And there’s the ironwood door. Recovered from our near-fatal escape four seasons ago. Jaymes destroyed that door with the touch of her hand. An ironwood door, the strongest organic material known. And she degenerated it. It’s clicking now. Why the Taoiseach is after her, and her alone. It’s her destructive power. He doesn’t care about me or how our parents died. All this time, I thought it was about the false allegations against Arden and Shae McLarin conspiring toward genocidal warfare. And maybe that’s how it started, but after four seasons, he no longer cares about that. He’s after Jaymes and what she’s capable of. Seeing that stout door guarding the chamber which houses the leaders of our realm has brought certainty to the situation. Her life is in more danger than I ever imagined. The Taoiseach will never stop hunting her. She’s not safe in any corner of this realm. Goose was right. We cannot continue running. The only way I can protect Jay is by ridding this realm of its tyrant. And he may very well be just on the other side of that door.

“Are you coming?” Damn, she’s beautiful. How can I not follow her?

I climb the stairs. Astor smiles upon my approach, and it wipes away my concerns for the moment. Guards stand on either side