Read Online Chosen (9781742844657) by Shayla Morgansen - Free Book Online Page B

very sudden.’
    Renatus’s smile vanished.
    â€˜How did the girl survive?’
    â€˜You’ll have to ask her when she arrives.’
    â€˜Don’t, Renatus,’ Lady Miranda said. ‘Don’t bring that up for her.’
    The young sorcerer didn’t answer. His fine features smoothed into an expressionless, impassive visage. It was clear that he wouldn’t say anything else on the topic. It was rare for him to speak as much as he had today. He lazily flicked his fingers through the air.
    The door opened, and Lord Gawain and Lady Miranda turned. Renatus didn’t move. Still staring at the distant gate, he muttered, ‘Your tea.’
    A woman of about fifty awkwardly bustled into the study, carrying an elegant silver tray, upon which was a complete silver tea set.
    â€˜Good afternoon,’ Lord Gawain said to her. Renatus’s manor was also home to a staff of servants, and this one, he recognised as Fionnuala. The housekeeper smiled quickly, laid the tray on the oak desk, and hurried out. The woman had once disliked Lord Gawain, maintaining a grudge for decisions he’d made to protect Renatus, but in recent years she’d come to forgive him, he suspected, for his part in securing a place on the White Elm for her beloved master. Lady Miranda stared after her, mildly surprised.
    â€˜Fionnuala’s family has worked for mine for eight generations,’ Renatus explained before she could comment. ‘I have a staff of fifteen.’
    Lady Miranda nodded and fell silent while Lord Gawain poured the tea. Like many other councillors on the White Elm, she carried a barely-disguised fear and mistrust of Renatus. It was not baseless, but it was not substantiated by any real proof, either. The Morrissey family, from which Renatus came, had been known to the White Elm for generations as trouble. Though no charges had ever been made, rumours had always suggested that the family possessed all manner of dark objects, practised ancient branches of forbidden magic and were connected to various shady people and dealings. Dozens of inquiries and searches had turned up zero evidence, so the family’s reputation was built entirely on hearsay and intuition, but that didn’t stop people from believing.
    Renatus, for his part, had never seemed bothered by the negative attention. Doubtless he was well-accustomed to it, although the reactions of others always disappointed Lord Gawain. Where was the necessity for quick, rash judgements? Even the council’s newest recruits, who were very close in age to Renatus, avoided him.
    Aubrey, Teresa and Jadon had been brought on in the unstable weeks following Lisandro’s disappearance with Jackson and Peter. It had been a difficult process. Possibly because of the situation surrounding Lisandro, most of the young people approached by the White Elm had refused to apply for the positions, leaving only a very small pool of applicants. Teresa, a talented healer and illusionist, and Jadon, a quick-thinking twenty-year-old with an unexpectedly wide knowledge of spell casting, had been obvious choices. The good name of Aubrey’s family line and his gifts of Crafting (bending magic – a skill the White Elm had lost with Crafters Lisandro and Jackson) had secured his position. They were all brilliant, in their own ways, but all young, all idealistic. Jadon was overeager and reckless, but willing to act when it was necessary. Teresa was patient and sweet, but lacked the initiative to fight, as the council all knew they might soon be forced to do. Aubrey was compassionate and good but remained unable to comprehend the difference between what was good for the people and what was good for the person.
    In short, none of them quite lived up to the man whose betrayal had led to their employment.
    Still leaning against his desk, Renatus straightened abruptly, his gaze focussed on the gate.
    â€˜What is it?’ Lady Miranda asked, accepting her