“The count might not have been able to fully control the eye, but he had used it for over a decade so he was skilled.” The grand mistress shook her head. “The assassin had no other malefic or majestic?”
“He didn’t even have a spare exotic from what I could see. I suppose he might have had something before he acquired the eye but he doesn’t seem to have it on him now.”
“I’ll have Wulfsun talk to Devol and see if he can get any more details.” Nauru looked at the wall as if she were looking at someone through it. “Tell me, what do you think of the boy?”
Vaust leaned back and looked at the flowers. “He’s earnest, certainly skilled with a sword, and adept at Mana arts.”
“You know what I am asking.” Nauru showed the first hint of annoyance. “Do you believe he is his son?”
“Of course,” he stated calmly. “Why else would he have the other half of Chroma? And it’s not like he would be able to use it otherwise.”
“And in the field…did it resonate?” She turned to him, her gaze intent.
“It did some rather impressive things if that is what you are asking.” He shrugged and continued. “He certainly doesn’t have a hold of it yet—not like its power is easy to define. In fact, it might be worse if we try to explain it to him.”
“I am aware of that.” She sighed. “To think he did so much to try to keep him away from this life.”
“That did not go as well as he probably hoped,” Vaust said thoughtfully. “It is not in our hands, though. He told me last night that he has decided to become a Templar.”
Her eyes widened. “He did?”
The mori nodded and pointed in the direction in which the training area would be. “He’s probably telling Wulfsun right now and asking if he’ll be his mentor. He wanted to get everything in place before he asked you.” He watched her curiously. “I told him I couldn’t think of any reason why you would deny him entry, especially after such a good performance on the mission.”
Nauru looked away with a sigh. “Do you think he’ll be upset?”
“He never said anything to us about stopping his son should he find his way here,” Vaust pointed out. “Only that he wanted him to have a choice.”
“True.” Nauru nodded, thinking back. “I don’t think I’ve seen him in almost ten years. I don’t know where he is or if he’s even in this realm right now.”
“We’ll have to get a message to him,” the mori said quietly. “I’m sure he’ll want to know about this development. But he may still keep to himself. Ever since he went on his quest, he’s mostly been a loner.”
“Do you think Devol will find out?” she asked.
“I think everyone seems to be on the same page about keeping it quiet. I don’t know about his parents—or the people who he thinks are his parents. They may be compelled to tell him the truth given this development.”
“Most likely. It would be better to hear it from them than from us.” She sighed, pushed to a seated position, and ran her hands over the dark-blue sheets. “Although I may be a little hesitant, I do feel a sense of joy.”
“Oh?” he murmured. “About what?”
“We have three young recruits now,” she said. “Jazai may whine but if he truly did not like it here, he would go to be with his father. Asla arrived due to unfortunate circumstances, but I have seen her come back to life slowly, especially during her week training with the other two. And now we have the son of the astral wanderer.” She laughed softly. “I respect our order and care for everyone here, but it has been a while since we’ve had a new light for our path.”
He smiled and nodded as he closed his eyes. “Agreed. Hopefully, they don’t get into too much trouble.”
“Yes, about that,” Nauru began and looked at him with a twinkle of an idea in her eyes. “Given what happened during the mission, I would say it probably scales up to a red- or black-marked mission, wouldn’t you agree?”
The mori’s eyes jerked open and he straightened quickly and leaned closer to her. “Wait, what are you suggesting?”
“Well, they certainly are remarkable young Magi,” she said calmly. “I believe that if they could succeed on a couple more missions like that, red at worst, that would qualify them, no?”
“Qualify?” he asked before realization struck and he pushed out of the chair. “Wait, you don’t mean…”
“Why not? It is up to them, but I think they would do well in the Oblivion Trials.”
Vaust’s face wrinkled as he scowled in frustration. “How are you this insane and our leader?”
Nauru laughed. “That doesn’t sound like a nice thing to say to your leader at all.”
The two began to converse, the mori more heatedly as the night stretched on. Above them, amongst the garden of flowers in the grand mistress’ bedroom, a small cluster of bloodflowers began to bloom.
Bloodflowers Bloom
The story continues with Bloodflowers Bloom, coming May 7, 2021.
Pre-order now to have your copy delivered as soon as the book is published!
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
March 25, 2021
Thank you for reading through this story to the author notes in back!
For those who know nothing about me, here is the ‘introductory message’ (I’ll add more after this part).
A Bit About Me
I wrote my first book Death Becomes Her (The Kurtherian Gambit) in September/October of 2015 and released it November 2, 2015. I wrote and released the next two books that same month and had three released by the end of November 2015.
So, just at five years ago.
Since then, I’ve written, collaborated, concepted, and/or created hundreds more in all sorts of genres.
My most successful genre is still my first, Paranormal Sci-Fi, followed quickly by Urban Fantasy. I have
