Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 540(@250wpm)___ 450(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 540(@250wpm)___ 450(@300wpm)
“But there’s a dead man in guild territory. It’s not right to just say nothing at all. He’s not the first one to be murdered, you know.”
“Oh, I know. I’ve felt them both.” My dry sarcasm carries in the small room. At my feet, a cat with long fur rubs against my legs.
“Of course. I’m sorry. I’d forgotten.” My friend seems chagrined. She drums an ink-stained finger on her lip, thinking. “Perhaps I’ll steer Hawk toward that area and we can accidentally run across the dead man so he can be identified and removed.”
“Aspeth, please….”
“I won’t say anything about you, Gwenna. I promise.” She pushes her glasses up her nose, the lenses making her blinking grotesquely exaggerated. “Anyway, you should call me Sparrow. No one calls me Aspeth anymore except for Hawk.”
I’m still not used to her guild name. She’s been in my life since I was a girl, and she’ll always be Aspeth to me. I know the name means a lot to her, though. “Sparrow. Apologies.” Her wide smile is like sunlight coming through the clouds. “And you asked about my symptoms…?”
“I did!” She poises the quill over the paper again, readying herself.
For the next while, I tell her in great detail what it feels like to sense a nearby dead body. I don’t know if it’s because my sheltered life as a maid back in Honori Hold never allowed me to brush with death, or if there’s some sort of latent magic in the very soil here in Vastwarren City that activated this whole “death sensing” power. Vastwarren was built upon the bones of an ancient civilization full of magic, so it’d stand to reason that magic permeates the very air here. I describe to her the sensations, the feeling of dread, and even the vague “memories” that drift into my mind about the dead person.
She’s most interested in the physical sensations, making little exclaiming noises as she writes. “It sounds dreadful.”
“It doesn’t feel good, no.”
“How did you manage to stay there so long? Feeling all of that? How did you not run from the building?”
My face feels suddenly hot. “I, um, found a way to distract myself.”
She nods, continuing to scribble away. “A distraction to minimize the physical reaction is good. What did you do specifically?”
There is no way in goddess Hannai’s green earth I’m going to tell her what I did specifically. “Pain. Bit my lip, stabbed my fingernail into my hand, things like that.”
Aspeth—no, Sparrow—keeps writing. “And did you have to reach a certain pain threshold? Were there certain applications of pain that were more useful than others? Perhaps we can narrow down what brings effectiveness in case this occurs again—”
“Just pain,” I say, blushing. “I wasn’t too focused on what kind or how much. There was a lot going on.”
“Hmm.” She doesn’t seem convinced. “Perhaps other stimuli might be listed in the archives. Things like smells, or perhaps even certain visuals. I’m not certain how much the records here go into mancers, but I’ll see what I can find. Give me a few weeks to see what I can dig through.”
“I don’t want to be a bother.”
“You’re no bother. You’re my best friend.” Sparrow beams at me. “Give me time to work on this and I’ll see what I can find out.”
“No rush. I’m not going anywhere,” I joke. It’s true, though. I’ve got one month left before recruitment day, and I’ll be damned if I give up my chance to become a fledgling again. I’m not spending the rest of my life cleaning windows and tossing chamber pots. I’m not.
My friend looks up, and then her countenance changes to a soft delight as she slides her notes underneath a blank sheet. “Oh! Hawk! I didn’t realize you were coming by, darling.”
Uh-oh. I jump to my feet, anxious as the big russet Taurian strides into the cramped quarters. “Master Hawk! Hello.”
He gives me a distracted smile. “Gwenna. Good to see you.”
Is it? He doesn’t know why I’m here yet. I watch nervously as he moves to Sparrow’s side and presses a kiss atop her head. She leans into him, her mien one of pure contentment. They look good together. Hawk is large and forbidding, while Sparrow is softer. Gentler. She reaches up and nudges the golden ring through his nose, and they share a secretive smile.
It’s time for me to leave. These quarters are far too close for me to stay comfortably with a pair of starry-eyed newlyweds. Even though my friend initially married the big Taurian for practical purposes, it didn’t take long before they were both in love. Good for them, but I’m not jealous. The last thing I need is a man dragging me down. My ambitions don’t include relationships, not right now. I want to join the guild, become an artificer, and make some real coin.