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Back Given
Chapters (49)
  1. Given
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Dedication
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. Acknowledgments
  44. About the Author
  45. Copyright
  46. About the Publisher
  47. Backad 1
  48. Backad 2
  49. Backad 3

“I have to be going. I must sort out my accommodation for the year.”

“Well, then let’s meet again,” Weysh said quickly. “How about at the library tomorrow evening? Six o’clock?”

“Perhaps,” she said, then suddenly the markings on her legs glowed a brilliant blue-white and she took off, darting away with all the speed of a startled fawn. Weysh hung his head and sighed; things had been going so well! But not all was lost. She didn’t say she wouldn’t meet him tomorrow.

He grunted in irritation. Why was he doing this? He was a dragon; there was no shortage of women vying for his attention. And what of Carmenna? He loved her well enough, and she didn’t put him through these humiliating paces. She was sweet and kind, and didn’t deserve the pain he was causing her. Besides, it was clear Yenni Ajani was thoroughly unimpressed by him, so he should have some dignity and leave her be, Given or no.

But he knew he wouldn’t, not with the scent of her still clinging to the bench, making his head swim. He let out a bitter chuckle. Byen knew him well. He’d always had a soft spot for the darker-skinned women of the Islands. The ones who had given him his first kiss and more.

So he knew he would find himself at the library tomorrow evening, waiting until the lanterns ran low.

9

Yenni made a slow circle, assessing herself in her long looking glass. She was dressed in the academy’s special school clothes, a uniform it was called. Mothers and Fathers but these Creshens like to drown themselves in clothing. On her legs she wore tight, uncomfortable gray leggings, and over that a long white shirt that went almost to her knees called a tunic, and over that a thick green shirt with no arms called a vest, and then tall shoes like fisherwomen wore, though admittedly much nicer. The Creshens called them boots, and hers were made of some kind of animal hide and dyed a forest green to match the vest. Finally, over everything else, she wore a long green contraption the Creshens called a mage’s coat. It had a big, loose hood and a belt at the waist. Her braids had gone fuzzy so she freed her hair from them and it made a halo around her head.

She glanced around her suite, her home for the next year. After a cramped and noisy night in the academy’s guest lodging, she’d firmly decided it was worth the money to have the best rooms she could get, so along with her tuition she had paid for accommodation at a women’s residence called Riverbank Chambers.