L. J. Amber

TEWWBAD Chapter 54

CHAPTER 54 – The Substance of Change

After the apprentices had finished their lesson – ending by meditating on a pointedly realistic hallucination of a lavender shrub, Almon sitting with them to maintain it against their disbelief – they went back to Celaena’s home. Since the key insights of the day were light on magical theory, Saphienne suggested they take the opportunity to review all they had learned so far, and to hypothesise what they might be t...

TEWWBAD Chapter 53

CHAPTER 53 – Illusory Progression

On the fifth morning of her introductory lessons, Saphienne was surprised to find her mother awake, bathed, and dressed when she descended the stairs. Pausing halfway down, hand on the railing, she eyed her mother with suspicion; the elf sat on the couch, clutching a glass in her right hand, while her left held a sheet of paper — trembling.

Her mother’s coat was spread across the cushion next to her.

“Going for sup...

TEWWBAD Chapter 52

CHAPTER 52 – All Related in Time

“Choice,” Iolas said, quite timidly. “We haven’t really considered choice.”

Sat beside him in their classroom, Saphienne was given pause by the hesitation she read in Iolas, who seemed less unsure of his answer to their master than intimidated by whatever it portended.

“I see your father has forewarned you, Iolas.” The wizard gave the boy a bright smile; his lax posture made it unclear whether or not he appr...

TEWWBAD Chapter 51

CHAPTER 51 – What Is and Isn’t

Rain was lightly falling when Saphienne emerged from her family home — and she nearly walked right into Iolas and Celaena, where they were huddled on the doorstep under his umbrella.

Before she could say anything, both of her friends sighed in relief; Iolas offered Saphienne a weary smile as his anxiety lifted. “So, he didn’t end your apprenticeship.”

With a glance down at her robes, she nodded. “I had to work h...

TEWWBAD Chapter 50

CHAPTER 50 – To Live in Denial

They wandered the shore of the lake for an hour, Iolas listening as Saphienne recounted – in exacting detail – almost everything she had done to prevent their master from learning the truth. She omitted her last conversation with Taerelle, seeing no reason to worry him; and if the senior apprentice had betrayed her trust, Iolas would find out about it soon enough.

He spoke little, asking only a few careful questions....

TEWWBAD Chapter 49

CHAPTER 49 – Icons of Devotion

Sleep refreshed Saphienne, so much so that she woke up alert and angry. Quite why she was irate was a mystery to her as she lay comfortably in bed, last night’s dreams elusive, but when she stretched and faced the morning light she immediately found an excuse to show her irritation.

Peacock squawked and beat his wings as she threw open the window, nearly falling from where he was sunning himself.

“Again?” She...

TEWWBAD Chapter 48

CHAPTER 48 – Here Be Dragons

In contrast with her journey to the shrine, Saphienne thought about very little on her way back to the village. Her head ached and her limbs felt weighed down by gold, though her weariness didn’t impede her from enjoying the twilight hour, the scent of drying earth and springtime, floral fragrances more distinct than usual. She wasn’t experiencing the same saturation of sensation that the mushrooms had endowed: she simply noticed mor...

TEWWBAD Chapter 47

CHAPTER 47 – To Take Arms

When Saphienne finally resurfaced, she felt warm and caring hands tracing gently across her brow. She lay wherever she was and let herself be soothed, aware that aches and pains awaited her once the moment was passed.

Eventually, curiosity made her eyelids peel back. She was in a dark place, and could barely discern the horns of the woman petting her, finding it difficult to focus her eyes by the light of the smouldering fire. She tri...

TEWWBAD Chapter 46

CHAPTER 46 – All Ecstasies

Whereas the priest and the spirit had wandered away from Saphienne amicably, with ease befitting a close friendship, when they concluded their conference a change came over their demeanour. Nelathiel moved with vigorous, hulking purpose, the honed angles of her body further emphasised when she slipped one arm loose from her robes to expose the prominent muscles of her shoulder. Holly kept pace with her through slower, longer strides, swayi...

TEWWBAD Chapter 45

CHAPTER 45 – The Bones of Her World

Within the grassy grounds of the shrine to Our Lord of the Endless Hunt, Saphienne sat before the sacred icon in sudden dread. She dared not show her concern to the priest, however, and slipped back into the same posture of deceit as she had adopted throughout the rest of the morning.

Her voice was calm and light when she asked, “Why is it necessary to invoke a spirit before you teach me? Is it symbolism, or is there a pra...

TEWWBAD Chapter 44

CHAPTER 44 – Suspended in Prelude

Here, now, we climb toward the mysteries that have been conspicuous by their absence in this tale. You are not an elf, and so you have assumed much about the elves of the woodlands — as was intended by the one who penned this account.

Me? No. I am but the story’s teller. What little authorship I have over her saga is apparent through its telling.

Just as you have assumed much about elves of her kind, when you entered...

TEWWBAD Chapter 43

CHAPTER 43 – Managed Perceptions

Morning sunlight cheerfully shone down through the trees, its warmth incongruous with the sudden chill Saphienne felt as Taerelle stepped toward her.

The senior apprentice’s voice was crisp. “…Give me one good reason not to walk back up there, and tell our master that it really is your blood all over the ground. And it better be a very good reason, Saphienne.”

Success had been so close… but the...

TEWWBAD Chapter 42

CHAPTER 42 – Entwined by Blood

“…To the letter, Saphienne.” Almon tapped lightly on her head with his staff. “Not merely the letter: you must follow every instruction as you genuinely believe it is intended, as completely and utterly as you know how.”

Standing before her teacher at the bottom of the slope, Saphienne tried very hard to smother her smile as she promised her obedience. Taerelle, Rydel, and Peacock had worn him down – mostly P...

TEWWBAD Chapter 41

CHAPTER 41 – Entwined by Choice

Whereas Hyacinth had previously infused Saphienne with false calm, now the possessing spirit imparted rising panic — the snow that glittered above her field growing thicker on the stirring breeze. “The wizard must not determine that a spirit staged the scene!” Her tone grew worried. “Saphienne: you must be the one to act.”

Stepping back from the encroaching cold, Saphienne forced herself to sit down o...

Surprise! All paying patrons get 2 extra chapters.

Hello everyone,

By now you may have noticed that paying patrons all have three new chapters to read today, instead of only one. That's because I've listened to my readers' feedback, and increased the read ahead of all tiers by two chapters.

Same price, no extra charge. Hope you enjoy!

If my number of patrons unexpectedly explodes within the next week, and the read-ahead would increase again, I reserve the right to hold off for a week or two — so I can give more ch...

TEWWBAD Chapter 40

CHAPTER 40 – Her Necessary Intervention

Saphienne had no doubt: she was in trouble.

She sat – now pretending to meditate – in the parlour with the two senior apprentices, thinking through the ramifications of what was unfolding. Almon had been instructed by the Luminary Vale to investigate the clearing where she had freed the apostate spirit. Assuming that the spirits of the woodland had not lied, then one of the High Masters of the Luminary Vale already k...

TEWWBAD Chapter 39

CHAPTER 39 – Portents Unveiled in Black

For the second time in the same day, Saphienne was woken by her window rattling.

She yawned as she sat up, ears sweeping down and not quite rising to their usual height in her tiredness. Her eyes were slow to focus in the dawn light, and she wiped the sleep from them as she stumbled from bed and crossed over to her window, struggling to pull herself together. “Faylar… couldn’t you have knocked on–”

But Fa...

TEWWBAD Chapter 38

CHAPTER 38 – Darkling Rambling

Without the stability that Hyacinth had provided, Saphienne immediately felt the tumultuous emotions within herself growing in passion and volume — anger and fear and fathomless grief surging through her veins. She cried quiet tears, though they were not unnoticed by her friends, and Faylar took her arm and rubbed her upper back as he led her away from the bloodied mud where she had almost died.

She went tamely. There was no fi...

TEWWBAD Chapter 37

CHAPTER 37 – A Field With the Sun in Her Eyes

At the boundary between Saphienne and the spirit, where Saphienne stood on the steps of her mind’s library and the spirit upon a field of flowers beneath flurrying snow, what had began as parlay became a confrontation.

Saphienne narrowed her eyes. “You’re lying to me.”

No sooner had she made the accusation than the spirit threw up her arms.

“Why would I lie to you? And I swore–”

“T...

TEWWBAD Chapter 36

CHAPTER 36 – The First Brush of Spring

Despite the story of what had once been her favourite book, and despite the events that had soured her love for it, Saphienne had never actually seen the sea. When the spirit took her hand – grasping her fingers with cool petals – she lacked the experience of what Celaena had described, and so the sensation of the spirit entering her body and mind was different. Where Celaena had envisioned rolling waves against a shore, Saphienne felt only...

TEWWBAD Chapter 35

CHAPTER 35 – Those Whom the Gods …

Saphienne knew she was dying.

The branches that skewered her in place prevented her from falling down, and the terrible pain of their slow writhing kept her from passing out. She could feel them growing, new tendrils budding off to burrow beneath her traumatised skin — which had gone numb beneath her sweat. Every breath she took hurt; every heartbeat forced her blood out from the tight seals between wood and wounds.

TEWWBAD Chapter 34

CHAPTER 34 – Where Spirits Fear to Tread

You see her more clearly, now.

Not all of her: much of Saphienne had not yet come to be as she stood by that window in Celaena’s sitting room, arguing with Iolas, and Faylar, and Laewyn. She had not yet learned to truly temper her impulses, nor gained the wisdom to know what was achievable and what was folly. Her intellect was profound, yes, but although she had read a very great deal on many subjects, she knew almost...

TEWWBAD Chapter 33

CHAPTER 33 – Sharp Recollections

The rain began again as they settled down to talk, drumming against the windows of Celaena’s sitting room in a cold, clear wash. Celaena mentioned she felt chilly — which prompted Laewyn to fuss over her, fetching a pair of thick slippers and a thicker blanket from the bedroom before heading off to make warm tea. Swaddled in the blanket, she shuffled over to the comfortable couch and sat in the middle, Faylar lounging against the...