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

are talented enough to heal the fatal injuries. The healing trade has been steadily dwindling. So, I thought it important, not just for me but for society as a whole to take on this great task of healing without talent. And I hope to teach Survival Sciences at the Academy one day. Assuming the Taoiseach will approve, of course. I can’t let it start and stop with me. And you’re the next step in my cause. So, yes, you’re right. My actions are selfish.”

Guilt stabs at me from all directions. How could I possibly accuse her of fallacies? I’m ashamed. “I’m sorry about your father. I didn’t know.” I’m too familiar with her pain.

“I know you don’t mean harm. You have much reason to mistrust others, but that is not who I am. I am not here to mislead you, Stone. I am here to help improve your knowledge of the seasonal sciences, and yes, my actions are a bit selfish, but you will only gain from this as well. Trust me. I can help you with your studies.”

“Okay. I’ll put it behind me. You have my complete trust.” Her smile radiates through the room but simmers out rather quickly. Maybe her thoughts have turned back to her father. It is more than any youth should ever have to endure.

After putting my mistrust behind me, we restore the evening study session. Astor, now seated across from me, picks it back up right where we left off. I want to pound my head against the table. It’s too late in the evening to drown ourselves in the excitement of etiquette.

“‘One…’” She looks up from the text. I assume to make sure I’m focused. “‘…do not use your talent for your own personal gain at the expense of another sentient organism.’” She lowers the text. “Defiling another’s crops to promote a more bountiful harvest for yourself is an obvious example.” She goes back to it. “‘Two, do not use your talent on another individual without their consent. This applies to Lahyf only. Talents of all other races should never be used on a sentient organism. Exceptions to this will be covered in a different section of the text.’” Face buried, her eyes find mine over the top of the text. “This next one has a lot of grey areas. ‘Three, do not use your talent on yourself. This one is the hardest to regulate—'”

“Astor…can we move on to a different subject? I don’t know if I have the energy to endure this.”

She scowls at me and reaches for the spoon again. I pull my hands from the table.

“I thought you were all about love and caring?” I add.

“You’re correct. But don’t interrupt. That’s disrespectful. Love and caring aren’t consequences you’ll learn from.” A devious smile suddenly stretches across her face. “Okay then… Anytime you fail to have proper etiquette, you have to endure one of my healing experiments. You get to be my test subject.”

“Aren’t I already? I’m allowing you to be my tutor.” She frowns. It’s a cute frown, revealing dimples in her chin.

“Fine. First, you’ll get the lashing, then I get to experiment with my herbal medicines.”

“What? But…” I know it’s hopeless. She’s already decided. “…I don’t know how to control my healing.”

“You better learn, then. Let’s move on. You already understand what needs to be done of you, so from here on out, it’s discipline I will be teaching you. The next topic, Intro to Seasonal Science.” She doesn’t even take a breath. She jumps right into the next subject. “You’d be surprised how many men, women, and children there are in this world that know very little about the seasonal sciences and the talents they’re born with. Where they come from, what they can do, and how to use them to their fullest potential is all important information and not something to take for granted. It will take a lifetime to master your talent, and the only way to get there is by understanding the fundamentals. This is what we know of our enigmatic abilities…”

She carries on, explaining the four major principles of our talents, everything I’m already well aware of. I would not dare to interrupt her at this point, however.

“One, there are only four classifications of talents, which are Lahyf, Sprhowt, Dihkai, and Hiberneyt. You know these as a human’s race.

“Two, every human possesses the talent, and it is determined solely by the season that person is born within. If you are born in Spring, you’ll have the talents of the Lahyf; Summer and you’ll have that of the Sprhowt; Autumn—Dihkai; and Winter—Hiberneyt. Understood?” She pauses and her eyes narrow, ensuring I’m listening. I nod in response.

“Three, the classification of talents cannot be shared, inherited, or mixed with one another in any way. An individual is either one or the other, not a combination. The legend of the Graft simply isn’t true.” She pauses again. This time her mind wanders. She shakes her head as if it will dissolve her thoughts.

“Four, talents are something humans are born with. However, like any skillset, they require education and development to harness their true potential. This is why so many don’t take advantage of their talents. To put it simply, they have not been educated, so they don’t know any better. The mass population is ignorant of their true potential, which is why being taught at this facility is such a prestigious achievement. You ought to feel blessed, Stone.”

I raise my hand. “You don’t need to raise your hand to ask questions in a tutorial session,” she explains.

“I didn’t want to get a lashing,” I reply with a smug grin.

“Do not tantalize me. I will follow through with disciplinary action. Now, what is it?” she replies.

“I have just one question. Why do we have talent? I have never seen any other life form with the ability to