House Of Gods 9 - Samantha Snow Page 0,25

capable of doing something unfathomable. It could take magic from others.

Granted, he hadn’t tested the device on an actual person yet, but in theory, he expected it to work. He had only a few more small adjustments to make, and then it would be ready to try out. Rolf had asked the girl with the rainwater jar if he could try out one of his new inventions on her. Being that everyone knew him to be one of the most kind and responsible boys in the city, she naively thought she had nothing to fear by agreeing. Rolf hadn’t quite figured out a way that the machine could be used to give the magic back to its owner yet, but he was sure he could rewire it in reverse to do so, and he wouldn’t attempt trying it on her until he had it all worked out.

When he heard a knock at the door of the building, he quickly stowed the small device back underneath the floorboard and secured the board closed before going to answer whoever was at the door.

“Lopt,” he said, surprised.

Lopt didn’t usually visit him here. He had always told Rolf that it was important for a growing young man to have his own space, and so he respected his privacy, maybe a little too much.

“I have something for you,” Lopt smiled. “May I come in?”

Rolf swung the door open wide for him. “Of course.”

There wasn’t much inside the building except for a table and a few chairs and Rolf’s wooden training sword that leaned up against the wall. Lopt eyed the sword, and his smile grew bigger.

“For you,” he said as he drew a long and shining steel sword from the sheath at his waist.

It wasn’t his own sword that he pulled out; in fact, Rolf didn’t even see the sword Lopt normally had on him. Instead, it was a brand new, beautiful work of metal craftsmanship. Rolf reached out and took the sword. Its weight was much heavier than the wood training sword he was used to holding. It would take some getting used to in order to be able to wield this weapon with as much lightness and grace. He gave it a few wide swings and twirls in the space around him. It whirred as it sliced through the air and gleamed against the light. He loved it immediately.

“Why are you giving me this?” he asked Lopt. It wasn’t that he didn’t feel grateful; he was just stunned and confused as to why he was being gifted such a fine thing when there was no pressing threat to use it against, and it was not his birthday.

“I am giving it to you because you have earned it,” Lopt said. He went to sit down at the table, and Rolf joined him, setting the magnificent sword onto the surface of the table between them. “I know that it can be hard listening to the tales of your sister and the story of her fate. But you have a story and a fate, too, and I know that you will find out what it is. Whatever your destiny is to become, I know that it will be great.”

“It is only because of you that I have learned the things I have,” Rolf said as his way of thanking Lopt for all that he had taught him during his formative years.

Lopt looked thoughtfully at the boy. “I missed these years with my own son. He was aged from an infant into an adult before my eyes. But I got to have those years with you, Rolf. You have been like a son to me, and I have enjoyed every minute of it.” Lopt stood up from the table and put his hand on Rolf’s shoulder. “I’m proud of you,” he said before he left.

Rolf had been planning to work on his device more that night, but instead, he carried both of his swords back into the palace and went to bed.

Since Tara and Tannin were nearing adulthood, it was decided that they should be allowed to meet for a few short occasions in order to familiarize themselves with each other before a greater length of time was spent together. The first time they had been put together was the day after Tannin’s seventeenth birthday. Brenna had gone to the forest to collect Tara, and the two of them had traveled to Hel to meet with Helia and Matt, and Tannin of course. Cai had wanted to