Call of Kythshire (Keepers of the Wellsprings Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

the small circular mirror on the wall, turning my head and pulling the yellow fabric of my nightgown from my neck. The scar from Dacva’s attack yesterday is nearly gone now, healed by my mother’s magic on the field. I rub my finger across it and I can barely feel it at all. I push my knotted hair away from my face and the tapping comes again from the other side of the mirror.
    The row of houses that makes up the front side of the guild hall are directly connected by several secret little trapdoors.  Some are close to the floor and large enough to crawl through, but the one that connects my room to Mya and Elliot’s house is a tiny circular hatch disguised as a mirror. I lift the latch and pull it open and the reflection of my sleepy blue eyes is instantly replaced by a pair of hazel ones, pressed right up against the opening. I yelp and jump back.
    “Rian! I wish you wouldn’t!”
    “Got you,” he says, chuckling. “Really, who else were you expecting?” Admittedly, he’s right. Our morning ritual of meeting at the hatch has been going on every day since we were tall enough to reach the latch on tiptoes. He steps away from the wall and pulls on a long vest which hangs from his lanky frame, and when he turns back again I stare. Just peeking out behind the laces of his shirt, right over his heart, is a swirling black design almost like a tattoo. Mage Mark. He cinches the lacing at his collar quickly to hide it, but it’s too late.
    “What did you do, Rian?” I ask in a hushed tone, stepping closer to the hatch. Mage Mark is a blemish that comes as a result of chaotic magic. I’ve been told outside of Cerion, more ruthless Mages wear the marks proudly, and some have dabbled so much into the arcane arts their entire bodies are covered with the swirling blue-black lines. Here within Cerion, though, anyone bearing the Mark is considered dangerous, unpredictable, and untrustworthy. Rian ties the sash of his blue vest and rakes a hand through his hair.
    “I got a little carried away yesterday in Rumination. Viala was showing me something.” He leans against the wall and smiles sheepishly. “Master Gaethon was furious, you should have seen.”
    “I can imagine.” I lean, too, so if the wall wasn’t there, we’d be shoulder to shoulder. “What did he do?”
    “Well, first he tore me out.” Rian closes his eyes and presses his fingertips to his brow. I’m fairly unfamiliar with the concept, but I do know being torn out of a deep meditation can be jarring, depending on how deeply the Mage has gone in. It’s best to transition slowly, to allow your mind to acclimate. My mother has told me this. The meditations she uses for Calm are similar to a Mage’s rumination, but more pure. I don’t really understand it, or care to, but being torn out definitely hurts.
    “Ow.” I wince. Rian nods.
    “Then he swore me to Silence for the night.”
    “That’s why you were so quiet at dinner,” I remember the previous evening, when he barely spoke a word through the heated discussion at the table.
    “Mhmm,” he shrugs. “Not quiet enough. According to Master Gaethon, I’ve earned myself another day of it.” His voice changes to a deep impersonation of Uncle as he scolds me through the hatch. “To think about your indiscretions.”
    “We shouldn’t be talking then,” I say, and reach to slide the mirror closed. Rian rests his hand on the sill to stop me. “Really, Rian. If he catches you, it’ll be a week before we can talk again.” He may be my uncle, but he scares me.
    “I’m sure he has better things to do than spy into my bedroom and stop me from talking to you,” he scowls. “Besides, don’t you want to hear what happened after you left last night?” I pause. I know the conversation would have shifted to other topics after I left. Interesting topics. I wonder if they ever came to a decision about Dacva. Perhaps they started planning for the upcoming quest. But a sworn silence is important. Rian is