A Baron of Bonds (Conduit of Light #2)

12. Saelyn

Chapter 12

Saelyn

I was fourteen, and I was clever.

I had already devoured all of the books I could get my hands on about magic and had found scraps of writings and scrolls in places where I was not supposed to be.

My mother was busy with her duties and I didn’t mind her absence so much now that I could practice magic on my own.

I missed Thevin that winter, partially because he had become more interesting in the last few years and partially because I couldn’t wait to show him all the different magic I could perform.

I pulled my cloak closer to my cheeks and whispered to the frost-bitten leaves of a fern that had so stubbornly stayed green since winter’s arrival. My magic swirled from my hands, melting the ice and righting the tips of the verdant blades. I giggled, delighted in my power.

“Saelyn, where did you learn to do that?”

I jumped at Pah-Pah’s voice behind me. “I?—”

“You know you are not to get ahead of your studies, child, and your mother will be very cross when she learns that you have defied her wishes yet again .” He shook his head and held out a hand to help me up from the snowy ground.

I frowned, angry that he had discovered me practicing my power. I did not like how closely I was watched these days and resented that my mother felt it needed to be done.

She was right, though. I cared little for her rules and did not understand their necessity. I was growing into a young woman now, and I deserved to be treated with the proper amount of respect and space.

I sighed and kept my hands where they lie in my lap, muttering, “ Revertayden en tepiore. ”

I watched as the leaves of the fern reversed to ice again and Pah-Pah’s steps flowed backward.

I did my best to look at him innocently as he smiled at me, approaching again, but for him, what would be the first time.

“Saelyn, I’m glad I found you. It’s freezing out in the cold, child. Come, your mother is asking for you to join her for lunch.”

Pah-Pah held out a hand encased in a warm, wool glove for me to take.

Yes, I was too clever and powerful by half, and my own mother didn’t know the whole of it.

I turned back to look at the frost-bitten leaves of the fern, already plotting to come back and try again.

The sun was setting and the glow shone bright off the patches of snow. I grinned, but continued forward as my name filtered through the blistery wind.