Read Online The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah) by Mackenzie Morgan - Free Book Online
Authors: Mackenzie Morgan
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say that that kid has to go to the most expensive school around, even if it bankrupts you. No. Do not go along with that. You can find some other kid to adopt.”
“She does have a point,” Mr. Livingston said.
Pallor nodded. He was tempted to say that he’d pay for the school himself, but he remembered Mr. Blalock’s advice and kept his mouth shut. “Well, we can work on some kind of agreement along those lines at a later date.” Then he stood up and thanked them for taking the time to talk to him.
Mr. Livingston escorted him to the front door, and as Pallor was leaving, he asked, “Do you have any idea when you can let us know something? It’ll take me a while to get Mandy acclimated to the idea of giving up her exercise room for a nursery, but I don’t want to get into that argument unless it’s a sure thing.”
“Sometime next month someone will let you know one way or the other,” Pallor said, although he was tempted to tell the man that he wasn’t going to have to get into any arguments with his wife, at least not over Badec’s son.
~ ~ ~ ~
On Friday morning, September 12, Pallor caught a flight from Los Angeles to Seattle, and by late afternoon, was back in his office. He had planned to spend the rest of the day going through his notes and writing up a coherent report on each of the six couples, but he was just too tired and depressed.
He decided to take a nap and tackle the reports later. After all, he didn’t have to be at Kalen’s until dinnertime on Saturday, and that was twenty-four hours away.
Chapter 4
Plans and Preparation
Kalen spent Saturday morning cleaning and freshening three of the guest rooms at the Gate House. While he worked, he reminisced about his three hundred years as Keeper of the Gate and the changes he’d seen, as well as the changes his father had seen before him.
The Gate House was probably the oldest building on Terah, and as far as Kalen knew, it had always been run by a dwarf. It had been built by the same group of sorcerers, elves, dwarves, and dragons who had designed and built the two Gates Between the Worlds.
Both gates consisted of an inner circle of bluestones and an outer ring of sarsen stones. After all of the stones were set in place, the dragons fired the rings, creating an intense field of magical energy. Any sorcerer or magical being who entered the circle of stones could tap into that power to gain access to the stream of energy that flows between Earth and Terah, and use that stream to travel from one world to the other. On Earth the gate was known as Stonehenge.
For centuries, magical beings traveled freely between the two worlds and the Gate House on Terah was like a busy passport control office, and the Gate Keeper was primarily responsible for registering arrivals and departures and playing host to any overnight guests. The Gate House itself was a grand mansion surrounded by beautiful gardens with a full staff of housekeepers, cooks, grooms, and groundskeepers to see to the comfort of the guests.
But eventually magic became synonymous with evil on Earth and magical creatures as well as sorcerers were hunted and killed. The gate became an avenue of escape, and the Gate House became a temporary refuge for those seeking asylum on Terah. More and more magic was erased from Earth and the existence of the magical creatures became the substance of legends and fairy tales.
Although the gate on Terah was maintained in good working order, the gate on Earth quickly deteriorated after the exodus of magical creatures, so the Council of Sorcerers, in conjunction with the dragons, elves, and dwarves, made four keys that would open the energy flow from anywhere on either world. All the key holder had to do was concentrate on his destination and turn the key. One of the keys was given to the Master Sorcerer, a second to the dragons, a third to the dwarves, and the elves had the fourth key. Years later, as a safety measure, the
“She does have a point,” Mr. Livingston said.
Pallor nodded. He was tempted to say that he’d pay for the school himself, but he remembered Mr. Blalock’s advice and kept his mouth shut. “Well, we can work on some kind of agreement along those lines at a later date.” Then he stood up and thanked them for taking the time to talk to him.
Mr. Livingston escorted him to the front door, and as Pallor was leaving, he asked, “Do you have any idea when you can let us know something? It’ll take me a while to get Mandy acclimated to the idea of giving up her exercise room for a nursery, but I don’t want to get into that argument unless it’s a sure thing.”
“Sometime next month someone will let you know one way or the other,” Pallor said, although he was tempted to tell the man that he wasn’t going to have to get into any arguments with his wife, at least not over Badec’s son.
~ ~ ~ ~
On Friday morning, September 12, Pallor caught a flight from Los Angeles to Seattle, and by late afternoon, was back in his office. He had planned to spend the rest of the day going through his notes and writing up a coherent report on each of the six couples, but he was just too tired and depressed.
He decided to take a nap and tackle the reports later. After all, he didn’t have to be at Kalen’s until dinnertime on Saturday, and that was twenty-four hours away.
Chapter 4
Plans and Preparation
Kalen spent Saturday morning cleaning and freshening three of the guest rooms at the Gate House. While he worked, he reminisced about his three hundred years as Keeper of the Gate and the changes he’d seen, as well as the changes his father had seen before him.
The Gate House was probably the oldest building on Terah, and as far as Kalen knew, it had always been run by a dwarf. It had been built by the same group of sorcerers, elves, dwarves, and dragons who had designed and built the two Gates Between the Worlds.
Both gates consisted of an inner circle of bluestones and an outer ring of sarsen stones. After all of the stones were set in place, the dragons fired the rings, creating an intense field of magical energy. Any sorcerer or magical being who entered the circle of stones could tap into that power to gain access to the stream of energy that flows between Earth and Terah, and use that stream to travel from one world to the other. On Earth the gate was known as Stonehenge.
For centuries, magical beings traveled freely between the two worlds and the Gate House on Terah was like a busy passport control office, and the Gate Keeper was primarily responsible for registering arrivals and departures and playing host to any overnight guests. The Gate House itself was a grand mansion surrounded by beautiful gardens with a full staff of housekeepers, cooks, grooms, and groundskeepers to see to the comfort of the guests.
But eventually magic became synonymous with evil on Earth and magical creatures as well as sorcerers were hunted and killed. The gate became an avenue of escape, and the Gate House became a temporary refuge for those seeking asylum on Terah. More and more magic was erased from Earth and the existence of the magical creatures became the substance of legends and fairy tales.
Although the gate on Terah was maintained in good working order, the gate on Earth quickly deteriorated after the exodus of magical creatures, so the Council of Sorcerers, in conjunction with the dragons, elves, and dwarves, made four keys that would open the energy flow from anywhere on either world. All the key holder had to do was concentrate on his destination and turn the key. One of the keys was given to the Master Sorcerer, a second to the dragons, a third to the dwarves, and the elves had the fourth key. Years later, as a safety measure, the
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