Dead Letter Read Online Free

to
understand that no one else knew any better. The elders argued
their opinions with the professors and deans and there was never a
satisfactory conclusion. In a guild with a penchant for merciless
critique, no single mind among the Order presented a clear and
faultless theory.
    While
the elders of the Order argued over reasons, the Guildmaster moved
for action, raising a magical shield to cocoon the entire city in
safety. His mastery of the arcane was beyond anything the Order had
known since Calim himself. If one sorcerer could wield such power,
to protect every citizen from dragon attack, surely a novice could
help protect the people from themselves. It was a noble thought and
Kettna was glad of the moral drapery to screen out the glare of her
self-serving motivations. She’d help the city folk because they
needed it, not because she wanted to.
    The
sorceress beside Kettna gripped the seat with white knuckles and
forced a nervous smile.
    “ Scared of the water?” asked Kettna.
    “ No, just the way it moves. I’d be happier to swim.” The woman
removed her blue cowl and took a few deep breaths, staring toward
the city docks. This adept had distracted Kettna before in the
Great Library, drawing her attention from one tome or another. She
had only met the adept’s eyes once, but such a woman was not one to
be forgotten. The sorceress possessed the whimsical, poetic beauty
reserved for an artist’s muse. Full lips, satin skin and wavy, ash
blonde hair. An allure that stole your gaze from a distance and
turned it away up close, for fear of staring too long.
    Kettna found herself doing just that. “Have you tried
using Grall’s Easer ?” she asked, drawn to help her fellow guilder.
    “ I’ve no turmeric? You?”
    “ Ginger will do well enough.” Kettna offered her a pouch from
her component belt.
    “ Really? I’m not much for substitution. Follow the recipe, as
they say.”
    “ Shall I? You look a little off focus.”
    “ Please. If you don’t mind.” The woman’s complexion paled with
each roll and pitch of the boat.
    It was a
simple cantrip, known by any midwife worth her silver. While the
Order’s approved spell books insisted on powdered turmeric, hedge
witches and village clerics used ginger to the same effect. It was
cheaper and more readily available than turmeric and Kettna found
the energetic variance negligible for the spell’s application.
While summoning a connection to the weave, Kettna dipped her thumb
into the small pouch of powdered ginger and took hold of the
adept’s wrist, massaging between the ulna and radius. Once her
connection felt stable her own body sympathised with rising nausea.
The novice released the spell with a string of focus words and
images, ingrained through study and experimentation. The weave
yielded and a rush of magic flowed through Kettna with its euphoric
caress. A glowing wave rolled up the adept’s arm and broke in a
rose-bloom of colour upon her cheeks. “Oh, that is much better.
Thank you, Novice … Kettna isn’t it?”
    Of
course she knew. Everyone on the island knew Novice Kettna, for one
reason or another. If it were the right reason, it was because of
her work in the Great Library, or because she was the daughter of
the Archmagus. The wrong reasons were her deplorable standing with
practical magic and her scandal with Rix.
    Kettna
refused to be put in the negative light. “That’s me. I’ve seen you
amongst the shelves on occasion.”
    “ I’ve heard you spend a good deal of time at the library. Is
that guild charity or dedication? You’re the daughter of the
Archmagus, aren’t you.”
    “ I am that.” And there it was. Categorised and pegged in a
moment. Kettna regretted calming the nausea. The conversation had
nowhere to go from here and the woman had far too much to
say.
    “ I voted for her, you know. You’re lucky to have her as your
mother. Brilliant woman. I bet she has taught you so
much.”
    Her
mother taught many gems, such as there