Blade And Rose, Tome 1: Blade & Rose

CHAPTER 1

Out the fifth-story window, or not at all.

It was her only chance to sneak out unnoticed. Rielle sprang from the bed and grabbed a coat, white wool with the master mage’s four-bar chevron, and fastened the double rows of buttons from neck to hip.

Gloves next. No glow of spellcasting to give her away. She slipped her hands into the wool-lined leather and flexed her fingers. A new pair. The heat of her pyromancy last mission had ruined the previous set.

With a flick of her wrist, she extinguished the fireplace and every candle in the room, willing the flames away until only darkness and the faint glow of the gibbous moon remained.

She tossed her braid over her shoulder and opened the window latch. Her boot perched on the sill, she peered at the ground. Dark. Quiet. Empty.

Farther from the Tower, torches illuminated the walls of the inner bailey, dotted the outer bailey and the gates. Beyond them, white pines challenged the midnight sky, their peaks silvered by the moon. The forest—that was her destination.

If a guard on wall duty looked at the Tower of Magic instead of out at the gates and the surrounding wilds... Well, a mage jumping out her fifth-story window would not go unreported.

And yet, Olivia’s silence—and the capital’s—went ignored. On her desk was Olivia’s latest letter, which she’d read a dozen times already and replied to three weeks ago.

No response.

She’d told the Tower’s Proctor, asked about the capital… Nothing. Either no one knew, or no one cared. She curled a fist.

Tonight, she’d get her answer.

She tapped the window frame.

An early autumn wind riffled her coat. She shivered, eyeing the five-story drop as she climbed onto the sill.

If she got caught, she’d never see anything but the inside of a dungeon ever again, and Brennan—well, a werewolf was the kind of monster thought to exist only in fairy tales. The kind of monster that incited mobs bearing torches and pitchforks. And yet—

With a curl of her index and middle fingers, she called an updraft strong enough to catch her and held it. This better work.

She jumped.

The spelled wind pushed against her boots, her coat, her, as she descended, the force strong enough to keep her from breaking upon the rough white-marble courtyard.

Suspended just above the ground, she uncurled her fingers, dispelling the aeromancy.

Her boots clicked upon the courtyard’s flagstones. She caught her breath. Divine be praised.

Briefly closing her eyes, she chanced an inward glance. Her anima’s inner luminosity remained bright. As long as she kept her spellcasting limited to her innate elemental magic, she probably wouldn’t need to find another mage for resonance later.

In the shadows, she crept to the eastern edge of the white stone inner wall, watching for patrolling guards on the battlements. Thankfully, they guarded against intruders and not escapees, but tonight, they were nowhere to be seen. Slacking off?

She shrugged. No matter. If they weren’t here, her escape would be all the easier. In the cover of the inner wall, she sidled against it until she reached a stack of hay bales.

Scanning the battlements for patrols, she climbed over the sweet-smelling hay, prickly even through her gloves. Near the top, she stilled, holding her breath.

Not a single guard.

Something wasn’t right.