Call of Sunteri (Keepers of the Wellsprings Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

anyway, he’s too old. Mages start at six, like I did.”
    “How old are you, anyway?” Ruben asks me as he dunks his bread and pulls out a long, stretchy string of cheese from the pot.
    “I don’t know,” I say, shrugging.
    “You don’t know?” Lilen asks with disbelief.
    “You must be around my age. Twelve.” Saesa says.
    “Nobody ever kept track.” I mumble.
    “Didn’t you have birthdays?” Emme asks, wide-eyed.
    “Not really.” I look around at them and then down at my fine plate. They have no idea. “In the fields, we work. We work every day, all day. We work and we sleep. Picking, hauling, pulling, dumping. It never stops. You’re too tired for anything but bread and sleep. We don’t play. We don’t dance or celebrate birthdays. We work. We sleep.” I pluck at my shirt. “So you can wear your red.” The room falls into awkward silence. Finally, Rube speaks up.
    “Well, do you have hair yet?” he asks. Nessa covers her laugh.
    “Ruben!” Maisie gasps. “Where did you hear that?”
    “Raefe,” Ruben leans across the table. “He says you get hair on your chest when you’re thirteen. I’m going to have a beard. If you don’t have any, you’re probably twelve. Do you?” I shake my head.
    Nessa clears her throat, still quite amused.
    “I’ll see if I can set up an interview for you, Tib, if you’re certain,” she says. “Studying at the Academy is a hefty expense, but Master Rendin and I have an agreement. If you’re serious and he deems you suitable, I’m sure we can work something out.”
    I spend a few quiet days with Saesa, gathering information, paying a silver on her sword, following her around, before Master Rendin shows up for my interview. The Mage is warm to Nessa, and she doesn’t seem frightened of him at all. Not like I am. She welcomes him into the sitting room and offers him tea. It’s just us: Nessa, Master Rendin, and me. I have new clothes now. Not red. Green trousers. White shirt. Blue vest. I picked them out myself. I kept my boots, though. They’re good boots.
    I’m not sure why Nessa made such a fuss over my appearance, when Master Rendin doesn’t seem so concerned with his own at all. His hair is a great nest of white frizz that nearly covers his face. It doesn’t look like it has ever been combed. His white eyebrows are so long that they creep up and tangle into the nest, and his beard goes all the way to his belt where it’s caught in the clasp of it. He watches me with a twinkle in his eye as I take a seat across from him. I try not to shiver. He and Nessa make small talk until the tea comes. I’m glad. I don’t want to talk to him. After a while, though, he turns his attention to me.
    “Tib,” he says. “Nessa tells me you’re interested in an apprenticeship at the Academy.”
    No , I think to myself. I don’t want to do this.
    “Say yes, sir.”
    “Yes, sir. I am.” I mumble.
    “Delightful,” Master Rendin smiles at me. “And won’t you tell me why? What is it about magical studies that interests you?” There’s an awkward stretch of silence as I try to think of a reply. Nothing about magic interests me. It only brings destruction. Pain. Mages are wicked people. Selfish. Power hungry. Nessa reaches to pat my hand, which is clenched into a fist in my lap.
    “Don’t be shy, dear. You can speak freely to Master Rendin,” she says with an encouraging nod.
    I look across at the Mage. Maybe he isn’t so bad. He has none of the Mark that covered the Sorcerers who lured my sister away and later captured my family. He has a kindness about him. As I look at him, the space beside his right ear glitters. There’s a silent flare. A stream of light. He doesn’t seem to notice it, nor does Nessa. I shift in my seat and the answer comes to me.
    “I want to learn. I want to know things. So I can help people.” The beam of light pulses between his ear and the odd shimmer, and then it fades slowly away until it’s gone. I glance at Nessa, who