Christina Bauer [Bauer - Cradled

First Published by Monster House Books, LLC in 2018

Monster House Books, LLC

1660 Soliders Field Road Suite 200

Brighton, MA 02135

www.bauersbooks.com

ISBN 9781945723315

Copyright 2018 by Monster House Books LLC

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

For The Teachers Of The Special Needs Program At Coutryside Elementary, Who Work Real Magick Every Day

Taptaptap

Someone was wearing out their knuckles on my bedroom door. Yanking my covers over my head, I tried blocking out the sound. It didnt work.

Taptaptap

I stifled a groan. Most days, Id say this about my life: Its good to be the queen. Sadly, today wasnt one of those days. Last night, Id asked the castle servants not to disturb me until dawn. Now I lay in bed, trying to rest, and yet?

Taptaptap

Whoever it was, they werent giving up.

I opened my eyes a crack, finding myself alone in bed. My husband wasnt here, but that was no surprise. Rowan knew I wanted to sleep in, so hed slipped off a while ago. As for my bedchamber, the place looked as it always did. The red stone walls were lined with tapestries of animals being magickally brought to life by mages. My own spell books lay in neat piles on a nearby table.

Peering through the chambers window holes, the outside world looked dark. Definitely not morning. There could only be one explanation; the staff must have missed my orders to sleep in.

Please return later, I called. At dawn.

A muffled voice echoed through the closed door. Its long past dawn. The sun came up more than twelve hours ago.

The speaker was Jicho, my little brother in law. Are you toying with me? Jicho loved his practical jokes.

Not at all. Its nine oclock at night. The Fete of the Family has already started. Rowans been there for hours.

Sitting up, I carefully scanned the view from my window. Sure enough, the moon peeped over the sill.

Whoa.

That was unexpected, not to mention concerning. Rowans people were Creation Casters, mages who gained magick from life. Id been trained as a Necromancer, so my mage powers were drawn from the echoes of existence in bones. Together, wed been ruling both classes of magick users for a year now, and Id learned one thing early on.

Creation Casters loved their festivals. A lot.

Rowan and I tried to attend as many celebrations as passible, and Fete of the Family was one of the biggest. Not one that I wanted to miss. After pushing off my covers, I set my bare feet on the cold marble floor. Ill join you soon.

In this case, soon meant after I had a warm bath and some hot food. Caster parties lasted all night. No doubt, there was still plenty of time to join the fun.

No, you need to hurry. Jicho lowered his voice to a hush. Ive had a vision.

My breath caught. Although he was only ten years old, Jicho was a powerful Seer who often had painfully accurate visions of the future. That said, he was also a mischievous imp. For instance, last week Jicho claimed he had a vision that the castle would implode if he had to do his lessons.

Needless to say, Jicho still finished his lessons; the castle did not implode.

I stood up, pulled on a cloak, and opened the door. Jicho stood in the outer hallway, all tanned skin, gangly limbs and knobby knees in his toga-style Seer robes. His head was shaved in the style for Seer mages. By contrast, I was tall and slender with pale skin and long dark hair.

Jicho didnt look up as I motioned him inside. Interesting. When it came to Jicho, lack of eye contact was a classic but common sign.

The boy might be up something.

Why dont you come in and explain about your vision? I asked.

Uh, no. Jicho kicked at the floor with his sandal. I need to get back to the party. He kept avoiding my line of sight. That settled it.

The boy was definitely up to something.

I folded my arms over my chest. Tell me about this vision of yours first.

It wasnt exactly a vision. Now Jicho stared at the vaulted ceiling as if the cobwebs were beyond fascinating.

A chill crawled up my neck. Not exactly a vision? That could only mean one thing. I set my fists on my hips. Have you been playing in gateways again?

Gateways were arches of stone that magickally connected our world to other realms. Rowan and I were unusual in that we could share our Creation Caster and Necromancer magick, combining it into hybrid power. By mixing our energies, we gave all our spells an extra boost. Hybrid magick meant that my husband and I had enough energy to open gateways. For a while, we were the only mages who could.

Until Jicho.

As the boy grew, Jicho was turning into a Seer who wielded unbelievable levels of magick. About a month ago, he figured out how to open gateways. Not good.

Jicho shot me a gap-toothed smile. Did I open a gateway? Depends on how you define gateways.

His big grin always made me melt a little. That said, I worked hard to keep my features stern. Playing around with gateways was serious stuff.

Dont try to charm your way out of this one. I wagged my finger at him. Answer my question. This new vision of yoursdid you get it from a gateway, yes or no?

Yes, but only a little bit? Jicho blinked his big green eyes at me while holding his thumb and forefinger an inch apart. He had long lashes, just like Rowan. It was getting harder not to visibly melt under his charm.

Even so, I kept up my serious stare. You know its forbidden to open random gateways. I shook my head. You could let in any kind of monster or disease. Even worse, you could get stuck in another world and then, how would we find you?

Jicho puffed out his lower lip. But I only peep into the gateways; I dont go inside them. Plus, gateways show me totally different futures than my visions do. Its really important that I learn how to use them.

No gateways, Jicho.

Well, I already saw this vision in the gateway. His voice lowered to a hush. Something big is coming.

I lifted my brows. Something big? The last time Jicho used those words, he went on to predict a massive Tsunami along our southern coast. Thanks to his warning, we were able to evacuate the local population. Even so, it was an incredibly close call. If we hadnt acted quickly to transport everyone inland, thousands would have died.

I used Jichos own words back at him. Define big.

Im not sure. Jicho waved his hands around. The vision is a little foggy. But I see warriors with strange helmetsAnd theyre definitely at the Fete of the Family.

My skin prickled over with gooseflesh. Unknown warriors? Rowan and I had heard no reports of insurrection, so that left only one power with enough resources to mount an army against us. The Royals. But that was unlikely; wed recently signed a treaty with them. In exchange for us mages providing magickal services, the Royals promised to protect us if we were ever attacked. The fact that the Royals were the only ones with enough resources to attack us wasnt necessarily spelled out in the treaty, but we all knew why we were signing it.