Read Online Hidden Ability (Book 1) by Aldus Baker - Free Book Online

private garden and closes the weathered wooden door behind her. Her mother is fond of spending early mornings tending her plants. The odors of earth and foliage hang in the still air and birds call to each other from perches in the crowns of small delicately trimmed trees. The feeling of a slower pace and more peaceful atmosphere impresses itself upon Darla. She wishes that she had time to enjoy it.
    “Mother?” she calls out into the general green before her.
    “Darla?” says Lady Shara from off to Darla’s right.
    “I need to speak to you privately, otherwise I would not intrude on your early morning,” says Darla as she follows the graveled path toward her mother.
    “Intrude on my morning?” says her mother somewhere just ahead.
    “Well, this is your sanctuary it seems. So peaceful, so...”
    “Alone?” says Lady Shara as she rounds a bend and comes face to face with Darla.
    “Private.”
    “Like your study?” says Lady Shara with a smile.
    “I think I will tell you why I am here before I am forced to admit to all my secrets,” says Darla.
    “Indeed, what else are you keeping from me?” teases Shara.
    “It is well timed that you would ask as only this morning a messenger delivered a proposal. A proposal of marriage.” The word marriage is difficult for Darla to say.
    “Ah, I had been expecting that,” says Lady Shara with all amusement gone from her words.
    “You expected it? Really?” asks Darla with her voice rising higher on each syllable.
    “No one wants to offer an alliance if they are certain they will be denied. Ahead of any proposal come hints and open ended questions asked in the most polite and gentle ways. Tell me now, have you read it?”
    “I only just did before coming to find you,” says Darla.
    “You seem very calm. I was expecting more excitement at the very least. Of course you are quite level headed and it makes sense to weigh the matter carefully. But, you are so serene.”
    “What about you, mother?” says Darla “You are taking this very well. No jitters. No protests.”
    “I have been through this before, dear.”
    “All the more reason I would expect a stronger reaction.”
    Lady Shara makes a small dismissive wave of her hand and says, “You are my third daughter. After Guri and especially after Aena, I feel well prepared.”
    “Oh. Oh no,” says Darla in a small voice. “You think this is a proposal for my hand.”
    “Well of course. Who else...” Shara’s confidence fades with her words. “No,” she says echoing Darla’s shocked whisper. And then louder, “No.” And finally quite loud, “No! It can’t be!” Shara looks quickly about as if checking that she and Darla are truly alone. Then she puts her hands tightly together in front of her and raises them in a beseeching manner before saying the anxious words, “Tell me. Tell me who?”
    Darla understands the question and replies, “Lord Brace.” She is curious to see how Shara reacts. Her mother looks thoughtful.
    “Kenth?” asks Shara after a pause.
    “Yes, Lord Kenth Brace,” assures Darla.
    “I am so off my footing that I worried it might be Regnus.”
    “Oh my,” says Darla with a giggle. “That would be a surprise.”
    As an aside Lady Shara says “Thank Providence for small favors at least.” And then speaking directly to Darla again, “It is a surprise just the same. Everyone knows I’m married.”
    Darla considers her words carefully, “It has been almost five years. And, you and Lord Brace do enjoy each other’s company.”
    Shara crosses her arms and looks down with a sigh. “I know it’s been years,” she says. “At first I could think of nothing but the loss of your father. It was the first thing I thought of each mourning and the last each night. It came unbidden to my mind and heart every moment. Now, the pain is less and I find entire days go by before I think about my dear Hallis. It made me feel guilty at first. As if I could forget him. As if he never were.”