Excantation
Page 23
Aisling caught my arm and snuggled me in, leaning down to whisper in my ear. “Your clan leader is incredibly lovely. Is he single?”
I blinked at her. Uhhh…wow, really? “Yes, he is.”
She cast a quick glance at him, a very subtle movement, before whispering again, “Do you know if he’s one of those who don’t like to date from other races?”
“I have no clue about his love life.” Nor did I want to. “But if you try flirting, I think he’d be flattered even if he isn’t interested. Mitsuki-sama’s pretty easygoing by nature.”
“Then I’ll try it at the opening ceremony.” She gave a decisive nod.
That was today, even though the Hub had technically been in operation for two weeks now. We had a few clans in bad areas who’d needed an immediate way out, so the Hub had opened to accommodate their travel. We’d seriously built that thing just in the nick of time. We’d have lost two full clans to natural disasters if we’d been even a week later. I was never so glad I’d made that call to quarters and asked for help.
I saw the light at the end of the tunnel—no joke intended there—and did speed up the last several feet so I could finally step into the building I had poured both time and sanity into for months.
My first good view of it was breathtaking.
I couldn’t see the main tower from here, the one that housed the giant Alder Tree, but the terminal we walked into had arched ceilings high overhead, tall enough to accommodate even a giant. It wasn’t plain glass, either, but stained glass in a bright display of colors. I understood that each terminal had its own theme, to help differentiate them for travelers. Our terminal displayed the solar system stretched out overhead. The planets and constellations were bright against an inky backdrop of dark glass. It was beautifully crafted, and the sun overhead filtered through it to send rays of color all along the white tiles.
“Oh!” Nana gasped audibly. “Oh, look at it, how pretty it turned out. I saw the designs, but the real version is so much better.”
“It’s splendid,” Mitsuki agreed, craning his head to take it all in. “And so comfortable and inviting. I thought the original Hub welcoming, but I do believe you’ve outstripped it.”
I grinned at him. “That’s high praise, Mitsuki-sama, and I’ll take it. We were all very focused on making sure that everyone was comfortable coming through here. Traveling is tiring even at the best of times.”
“That is true,” he allowed. “But this is a haven for the weary.”
“It is very kind of you to say so.” James approached with a wide smile, his hand extended. “Mitsuki-sama, welcome.”
“Thank you, James. I am in awe of your work. I am now glad I agreed to my Imagineers aiding you.”
James grinned at him and shot me a wink. “Not as much as I am. I’m stealing them away for just one more thing. Reagan, Zoya, if you don’t mind coming with me? We want to do a group photo in the central plaza. You too, Julia.”
I knew they’d planned to do a group photo and display it in the central waiting room, along with the story of how we’d built it all. A way of preserving the history. After all we went through to excavate the history of the first Hub, none of us wanted to risk a repeat.
We all followed him to the central area at the base of the main tower. We’d kept the design of the twisting curve, a homage to the original tower, but this one was much wider at the base to withstand the wind pressure at the top. It had also been built of reinforced steel. Absolutely no one wanted to take chances with that tower. It was beautiful, a white spire against a clear blue sky.
I pulled out my phone and snapped a picture of it so I could remember this moment better. Memories sometimes faded, and I didn’t want this to be one of them.
One hundred twenty-six of us had built the Hub or been involved in its construction somehow, and that was a lot of people to fit in a camera’s frame. We had to do eight rows and scrunch up a lot before we could all fit. I got sandwiched between my grandmother and Jackson, and let me just say, it was a good thing we all loved each other.
Agna came for the opening, which was only fair, considering how much her support made all of this possible, and she somehow got volunteered to take the picture. “Serious!”
We all smiled and gave her a serious pose.
“Cheesy!”
At that I laughed and gave the two people near me rabbit ears with my fingers.
She took that picture too and then threw both of her tiny arms up in a sign of victory. “We did it, people!”
There was a lot of clapping, whistling, and overall cheering. I saw a few people with tears in their eyes, and everyone hugged. Jackson immediately turned to me and caught me up in a fierce hug, which I readily returned.
“Good job,” he told me.
“Dude, you were the one who mostly designed this place! I should be saying that to you.”
“But without you, we’d never have pulled it off. You were the initial drive that motivated us. Not to mention, half the terminals wouldn’t even be active right now without you. Your platforms were half the work to make this place really function.”
“He’s right there,” Nana observed over my shoulder. “I want a hug too, Jackson.”
Jackson readily released me and gave her a hug too. They’d become pretty good friends after working alongside each other for months.
Pulling back, Nana asked mock-seriously, “Now the question is, how are you two going to top this?”
Jackson blinked at her, more than a little startled. “Are we going to top this?”
“You’re young,” Nana pointed out, and oh, she teased him so hard. “Surely this isn’t going to be the greatest accomplishment of your lifetime?”
I snorted. This woman, seriously. “I’m sure we’ll find more trouble to get into soon enough, Nana.”
Eyes laughing with impish delight, she agreed blandly, “I’m sure you will.”
I looked around me once again, at this beautiful building, and considered the journey it took to reach this moment. This amazing, euphoric moment. It hadn’t been easy, not at all. Worth it, though. I might not ever be able to top this achievement. This might be the greatest thing I’d ever do in my lifetime. And you know, if that was the case, that would be alright. Because the Hub not only granted freedom but saved lives, and that filled me with satisfaction.
Even if I could never top this, though, I’d sure have fun trying. Because Nana was right. I had my entire life stretching out in front of me, with all the wonders of magic at my fingertips. My life could be anything I imagined it to be.
And my imagination had no limits.
RUSSIAN
Da - yes
Devushka - girl
Durochka – silly, stupid child (female form)
Horosho - good
Njet – no
MAGICAL RACES
A comprehensive list of the magical races referenced in this book is available on Honor’s website at www.honorraconteur.com.
Other books by Honor Raconteur
Published by Raconteur House
♫ Available in Audiobook! ♫
THE ADVENT MAGE CYCLE
Jaunten ♫
Magus ♫
Advent ♫
Balancer ♫
ADVENT MAGE NOVELS
Advent Mage Compendium
The Dragon’s Mage ♫
The Lost Mage
WARLORDS (ADVENT MAGE)
Warlords Rising
Warlords Ascending
Warlords Reigning
THE ARTIFACTOR SERIES
The Child Prince ♫
The Dreamer’s Curse ♫
The Scofflaw Magician♫
The Canard Case♫
The Fae Artifactor
THE CASE FILES OF HENRI DAVENFORTH
Magic and the Shinigami Detective
Charms and Death and Explosions (oh my)
Magic Outside the Box
Three Charms for Murder
DEEPWOODS SAGA
Deepwoods♫
Blackstone
Fallen Ward
Origins
FAMILIAR AND THE MAGE
The Human Familiar
The Void Mage
Remnants
Echoes
GÆLDORCRÆFT FORCES
Call to Quarters
IMAGINEERS
Imagineer
Excantation
KINGMAKERS
Arrows of Change ♫
Arrows of Promise
Arrows of Revolution
KINGSLAYER
Kingslayer ♫
Sovran at War ♫
SINGLE TITLES
Special Forces 01
Midnight Quest
THE TOMES OF KALERIA
Tomes Apprentice
First of Tomes
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Honor Raconteur is a sucker for a good fantasy. Despite reading it for decades now, she’s never grown tired of the magical world. She likely never will. In between writing books, she trains and plays with her dogs, eats far too much chocolate, and attempts insane things like aerial dance.
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