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

decision has always been his.”
    ***

Chapter 4
    Tetra Bicks
    As the last rays of the sun found their way through the space between the boards of the shuttered windows, Tetra sat at the foot of his bed, disconsolate, the soft down of his blanket clutched in his hands. He dug his toes into the small-knotted rag rug at the foot of his bed while staring at his belongings. Everything for the journey and new Academy home sat packed and stacked by his door. A few meager trunks, packed to filling with the remains of his life here.
    After storming out of lunch and going to his room, he’d turned to packing on reflex, refusing to believe he might be forced to stay home. The smells and warmth of the Heart room left behind, the cold of the day had been waiting for him in his room. As he shoved rolled clothes and sundries into his trunks, he cleared his head of the heat of anger, though worry still raced through his mind. After years of hiding the pain his affinity caused, how could he have been found out the day before leaving? What had he done that was so careless?
    He spent most of the afternoon lying in bed, gazing at the ceiling and daydreaming about the Academy. Then he paced back and forth, constructing arguments to make his parents understand why he had to go. Staying in Jaegen wasn’t an option. His parents’ raised voices debated his future a couple rooms away, their tones increasingly anxious. The cold floorboards felt good against the soles of his feet.
    Stolen snatches of conversation floated through his room. He couldn’t help but overhear. It wasn’t like he was spying. Why did they talk about him being a soldier? If being a soldier meant he could use his affinity to serve the kingdom, then he’d embrace this fate. Why didn’t they understand? Why didn’t they realize he wanted this more than anything? He stared at his trunk, and then flopped back onto the bed.
    His parents fell silent and Tetra felt his heart quicken. What was their decision? Footsteps approached his door.
    “Tetra?” His father knocked gently. The door cracked open and Tetra sat up. “I thought you might be asleep.” Viktor entered, coming to sit on the bed beside Tetra. They remained silent for a moment while Viktor gathered his thoughts. Tetra feared breaking the silence, feared the words to come. Fighting the urge to nervously toy with the blanket, Tetra disciplined himself and placed his hands in his lap, waiting.
    “I spoke with your mother,” his father said.
    Tetra grimaced. “I heard.”
    His father put an arm around him. Tetra kept his back straight, waiting. “She loves you very much, you know. We both do.”
    “Is that why she’s going to keep me prisoner?” Frustrated tears burned the edges of Tetra’s eyes.
    His father frowned and looked at Tetra’s belongings. “You sure you’re not forgetting anything?”
    Tetra drew a sharp breath, finally daring to look at his father.
    “Things are expensive in Aldamere, three times what they are here.” Worry still creased Viktor’s face but Tetra saw the serious intent there. He wrapped arms around his father’s chest and hugged him tight. Viktor returned the embrace. “About your back, Tetra. There are some things you need to know.”
    “I’m sorry,” Tetra’s voice was muted, his face still buried in his father’s chest. He was hiding tears of relief. He spoke, the words rushing from him, “I should have …”
    “You haven’t hidden it as well as you think. Listen to your body, don’t push it too hard.”
    Tetra nodded.
    “There’s nothing we, or the healers in Aldamere, can do for you. You have to be careful. If you re-break your spine, you might never walk again.”
    Tetra pulled back, rubbing his cheeks, clearing away the tears. He looked his father in the eye. “I know. I’m careful.”
    Viktor studied his son’s face and then pointed back to Tetra’s trunks. “Be sure to double check everything. We’re going to miss you. Both of you. Write your