Read Online Shade of Destiny (The Foreseeing) by Shannon M Yarnold - Free Book Online Page A

rarely ventured inside. She ran over and over why the Master should want her in his chamber before the gathering. If he wanted to display her he could simply call for her once the festivities had begun. Something was different tonight and Wynn's heart launched itself into her throat every time she thought of it. She was not naïve, seventeen summers working and living in Oprend Manor had forced her to grow up exponentially in some aspects of life. She was wary of any man; the stories of rape were common in the Manor. Nearly every maid had some experience of the brutality of men. But in other aspects she was still a child, she had no confidence in herself, a lifetime of orders and belittlement had seen to that and she still viewed the world – late at night – with optimism. Life could not be as painful and aching as it seemed to her at Oprend Manor.
         Wynn fetched a rag from her apron pocket, flicking it to remove the leftover dust a little harder than was needed, knowing her actions were heightened by her dark mood, but not caring, and made her way to the library. It was larger than the kitchen and her room combined with rows and rows of bookshelves stalking their way along the room, lit by the sunlight which flooded in through the windows overhead. Wynn soon fell into a rhythm of cleaning each shelf on each bookcase, and moving on; the monotony of the task lulling her and she found herself humming a song cook had sung to her as a child.
         It was a while before she realised and forced herself to stop abruptly. Singing and humming, even whistling, was forbidden in Woodstone, for they increased moral and Lord Oprend wanted his inhabitants as disconsolate as possible. Every year they had celebrated the New Year with a celebration, Wynn knew this from speaking to the other maids and from the dream she had each night, for that time at least the inhabitants could relax and enjoy themselves. It was another thing the Master had taken away from the town, another thing Wynn had never experienced. Checking she really was alone once more, Wynn begun humming again, enjoying the fleeting feeling of freedom it gave her by disobeying the Master. And yet she still had time to think, humming and cleaning required no more effort than breathing to Wynn and so her mind wandered.
         Ever since she could remember she had wished her mother would come for her. Not the mother she saw in her dreams each night, but a rich, influential mother that would sweep into the Manor and whisk her away, away from the pain of life as a maid. That kind of mother would be the only answer to her prayers. The mother she saw each night was someone she could not relate to, she had never known her, or loved her, she was a figment of her imagination, who for some reason she could not explain, visited her each and every night. Whom could she turn to for guidance? Cook was the only motherly figure she had ever known, but no matter how affectionate Cook was, even she would not be able to comfort Wynn if she came to her, complaining of a strange reoccurring dream.
         Sighing Wynn moved on from the dead end which was her dream, she would never find an answer and was only tormenting herself. Instead she found herself once again wishing to run from everything. Away from the Manor, away from Woodstone and the vile men that inhabited it; but her wishes always came tumbling down before they had ever truly formed in her mind. She had never left Woodstone, and had never deemed it possible, for why bother when only death and deportation waited? Wynn could feel in her bones something was meant for her, something more than dusting and cleaning. She was meant to be happy, and under the Master’s rule she would never experience that.
         The thought of leaving caused a range of emotions, but most urgently fear. The lands were vast and unknown. Tales of mysterious creatures in fog ridden swamps and magical lands never seen before with the human eye