Bloodletting Part 1: The Affinities Cycle Book 1 Read Online Free

laughter.
    Elga, Leta’s white-haired older sister, pushed through the group. “You kids are always hungry.” She placed a freshly baked loaf of bread on the table. Flour dusted her lean form from head to toe. “You’re only getting out of dish duty because you’re leaving for Aldamere tomorrow.”
    “We’re not kids,” Laney said. “We’re going to be Arch—”
    Elga stuffed a piece of bread into her mouth, silencing the girl. It was bad luck to speak of such things before they came true.
    “You all go into the other room and we’ll fix you something.” Releasing her daughter’s hands, she nudged Halli towards the home’s interior. Tetra opened his mouth to ask what they would make, but Leta raised a hand and pointed at the other room.
    Tetra gave up and led the way into the dining room. Pavil and Malec earned a playful glare and the menacing shake of a knife from Elga as they each grabbed a hunk of bread on their way by.
    As the other six entered the other room, Tetra heard his mother. “Halli. Wait in here. I’d like some help, please.”
    Tetra shut the door to the dining room behind the group before his mom could conscript him, too. The long table in the dining room was polished from generations of use. An intricate carving of the Twelve Aspects creating the world decorated table’s center—a depiction often found on wall hangings in homes across the kingdom. Tetra had often studied the whorls of the wood with his eyes, tracing the way Vox met Europina and Agleiopan turned Magethia. Such carvings were rare, but the Bicks family’s centuries of public service had allowed them to collect artifacts of beauty and faith through their lineal journey.
    The etching depicted the Twelve Aspects of Magic and the Seven Races of Mortality. Despite generations of use, the table remained in perfect condition. Tetra had fond memories of winter solstices during which his father’s siblings had visited from the neighboring village of Kestalt. The long table had seemed crowded then, and grew more so as some brought expanding families of their own. His friends spread out around the table, taking their usual places and waiting for their promised sustenance.
    Laney looked longingly at the door. “Now I’m starving! How long?”
    Pavil grinned. “I could help you with that.”
    “Don’t even think it,” Laney scowled at Pavil. “The last time you did that, I wasn’t hungry for two days. Keep your Pathos to yourself.”
    The others laughed. Tetra wondered if they would be separated at the Academy. Their ages would make a difference, and they would probably be put in different classes, but he hoped they’d get to see one another often. Yet he worried they would be soon separated. Aldamere was a large city and the Academy had several thousand students—at least according to Granddad.
    Leta came through the door with Tetra’s twin following meekly. Halli looked abashed and wouldn’t make eye contact. His mother moved behind him and placed hands on the back of his shoulders. With a sinking feeling, Tetra realized why Halli looked guilty. Coolness rushed over his skin at his mother’s touch. Glaring at Halli, Tetra narrowed his eyes, ignoring their friends. “I’m fine, Mother, really …” His earlier sour mood flared up again.
    “Hush.” She continued delving his back. “It’s inflamed. We’ll have to ask your father what he thinks.”
    “I’m going,” Tetra curled his fingers into fists, pushing them against the table as his knuckles whitened.
    “Yes, well—” She began, her voice trying to gentle him.
    “I’m. Going.”
    The coolness fled as Leta released his shoulders and walked around the table to look him in the eye. “Speak to me like that again and the only place you’ll be going is into the kitchen to help with dishes.”
    Features softened alongside her tone as she spoke to him. “I know you want to prove yourself, but if your back is flaring up, we have to consider the strain. This