Disciple of War Disciple of War (Art of the Adept #4) - Michael G. Manning Page 0,75

of the credit.

Chapter 21

Laina spent the rest of the week with them rather than stay alone in her family’s (now rebuilt) city house. Despite her claims of extreme business Will’s sister did take time to come and observe some of his training sessions, though she didn’t comment or participate. Ostensibly it was so that she could visit with Janice, but Will suspected it was more to satisfy her curiosity regarding his doings.

The next two weeks after she left passed without incident while Will’s trainees continued to improve. Most of them could now keep two spells prepared, and a few, including both Burke Leighton and Emory Tallowen, had managed three. The two young men were from vastly different social classes, but they were developing a grudging respect for one another despite their differences.

His personal efforts showed results in both the variety of spells he had committed to memory as well as his ability to hit targets at long range with the light-darts. He still couldn’t reflex cast either the iron-body spell or the light-darts spell, but oddly he had become capable of reflex casting Selene’s Solution. That blew his theory about the primary factor being time since learning the spell. He had known and been using many other spells before mastering that one. Again, he was left shaking his head at the seeming randomness of it all.

The end of the year arrived, bringing with it the end of the school semester and the Winter Ball. Will and Selene attended, as was expected, and this year he was able to spend more time dancing and enjoying the company of both his sisters and a variety of other acquaintances he'd made since moving to the capital and joining high society.

Selene’s magical issues hadn’t changed. She seemed to have fully adapted to the third-order compression, but she still didn’t absorb enough excess turyn to enable her to cast spells without rendering herself virtually helpless. Will didn’t mention, it and whenever Selene did bring it up he told her he was sure things would resolve themselves over time, but he was growing more worried by the day. When he pestered Arrogan about it, the old man simply pointed out that at the very least she would live as long as he did.

Once the new year had arrived, the military preparations were getting closer to done, and Will knew that soon he would be leaving. Since he was no longer attending classes, he and Selene took the opportunity to visit his family in Barrowden. Will had seen them once, during the vampire incidents, but this was Selene’s first visit since their marriage, so she was visibly worried when they exited their carriage at Will’s old home.

It wasn’t his mother’s home anymore, though. Erisa’s brother, his uncle Johnathan, had converted it into a workplace, keeping only a small area to sleep in. The rest of the building now held tools and supplies for his trade—building wagons. The broad-shouldered man stood on the front porch now, watching Will and Selene climb down from the carriage. Unbidden, the image of Arrogan standing in the same place came to Will’s mind. It was the exact spot that the old man had made his final stand.

He shook his head to clear it, then glanced at Selene. Back in the capital, the proper protocol would have been for him to offer her his arm and escort her to the house, where they could make formal introductions.

Fortunately, Selene was a social chameleon, having spent years pretending to be one of the masses under various disguises. Rather than stand out, she had chosen a well-made but modest dress with simple floral embroidery at the hem, neck, and sleeves. Unlike her former common guises, her current attire did nothing to hide her royal station, but neither did it flaunt it. Today she was a very ordinary princess, the sort almost anyone could feel comfortable talking with.

Ordinary, my ass! thought Will. Dressing down seemed to produce the opposite effect, at least in his opinion. Rather than have her honest features overshadowed by jewelry and ornamentation, Selene made up the difference by radiating a calm confidence that seemed to brighten the colors of the world around her. Then again, that could just be my personal bias talking, he reminded himself.

Suddenly self-conscious in front of his uncle, Will glanced down. He was dressed to match, in a well-made but understated tunic of red-dyed wool. In his peasant’s eye, he looked ridiculously wealthy, but the effect was ruined by