Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 128269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Early on, it had felt natural for Nikki to claim the small table to the right of Gunter’s desk. They’d then grabbed another more comfortable chair in which they could curl up while reading, and moved the old, hard chair to another part of the library. They’d also snagged a sweater off the back of Gunter’s chair and were using it as a cozy shawl or blanket when the library felt nippy in the mornings. It was a cheerful and cozy little nook.
Alric only lifted a questioning eyebrow at seeing Nikki ensconced there, but he didn’t say anything either. He looked rather preoccupied.
“Gunter, I—Oh! Lisette, I wasn’t expecting to find you in here.” Alric started as he came around the desk and spotted the head mage.
She rose to her feet smoothly, a pleasant smile lifting her lips. “Nikki and I were having a bit of a lesson today.”
“My apologies. I didn’t mean to disturb your lesson. I can take Gunter to my office and leave you to the lessons,” Alric suggested.
Nikki really disliked the idea of being alone with Lisette down here. On a list of to-dos, that one was on the Not-Happening. Nikki would prefer tossing a plasma grenade into a fuel storage facility before being one-on-one with any mage.
Lisette’s too-sharp eyes watched them, her expression softening into something he couldn’t quite name. She shook her head and said, “That’s not necessary, Hoheit. I think Nikki is more concerned with other matters today. We can do our lesson another time.”
She turned her attention to Nikki, her gentle smile remaining. “Why don’t you read the first couple of lessons? If you have any questions, we can try discussing them tomorrow.”
Nikki nodded, feeling as if they could suddenly breathe again. They held up the beginner’s spell book with one hand and smiled. “I’ll read the first three. I promise.”
Okay, she wasn’t that bad. They could at least try to make an effort if she was smart enough to see they didn’t want to be alone with her.
The mage’s smile warmed further, and she wished them a good day before breezing out of the library in a swirl of long, colorful skirts. She was off to do whatever the mages did in this giant castle. Something about making holistic beauty and health products. Which sounded mildly interesting, but not enough to draw them out of the library. Frankly, the idea of working magic with a room full of mages made Nikki’s skin break out in hives. They were perfectly content to stay right here reading their book.
“How can I help you, Hoheit?” Gunter asked. He pushed the book he’d been reading aside after slipping a bookmark between its worn pages. With his index fingers, he pushed his glasses farther up his nose. Nikki positively itched to snatch them away so they could clean the lenses. Even from a distance, Nikki could tell they’d gotten smudged again.
“I didn’t mean to disturb your research. I just wanted you to know that after some discussion with Rodrigo and the other kings, we’ve come up with another solution for potentially tracking the Jaeggi.”
Gunter sat up straighter with interest while Nikki sank deeper into the chair. Nikki hated to admit that part of them didn’t want the Jaeggi to be found. It was a very conflicting mix of emotions, as desire for safety head-butted with a need for revenge. The Jaeggi definitely deserved to be punished for all they’d done, but finding them meant fighting them. Nikki didn’t want to worry about Gunter and all the dragons at Burkhard being in danger. But they didn’t want the Jaeggi loose and creating more orphans like Nikki, either.
Nikki didn’t know how to resolve either of those feelings, so they put it aside for now, listening instead.
“Rodrigo has a team of dragons in his clan who are specially trained when it comes to tracking. Rodrigo is confident his tracker will be able to pick up the Jaeggi’s trail while avoiding the spells still blanketing the old compound.”
Gunter frowned, his arms crossing over his chest. “Would it be considered in poor taste if I inquire why the Valerii Clan has failed to locate new mages if they have a special team of trackers?”
Alric suddenly coughed, covering his mouth with his fist, but Nikki could see the twinkle of laughter in his eyes and the hint of a smile behind his hand. “I might have inquired the same thing of Rodrigo, and he was less than amused.” Alric cleared his throat and lowered his hand. “However, Rodrigo did inform me it is much harder to locate a mage when there is absolutely no trail to follow. The ice dragons have not located a mage in Brazil; they brought all their own to the region following the war. That being said, he’s confident his tracker will be able to locate the Jaeggi since we have several solid starting points to work from.”