Read Online To Kill a Wizard: Rose's Story (The Protectors of Tarak Book 1) by Lisa Morrow - Free Book Online

enjoying the immense tastes that flooded my sense. Candied yams, dumplings, chocolate cakes, and sweet fruits in honeyed sauce were just a few, and for a while there was no sound except the clatter of silverware. And then, the shard tingled again, and I abruptly stopped eating. My plate still overflowed with food, but if the women were right, we’d have plenty more meals like this one.
    I touched the necklace beneath my dress, wanting to reassure it, again. I’m still fine .
    It grew colder in a flash of annoyance.
    Releasing it, I turned back to the meal, trying to recapture my enthusiasm.
    But instead, I felt Clarissa’s gaze trained on me.
    I looked up, not willing to back down.
    “Are you afraid of me?” she asked, with barely concealed pleasure.
    Raising a brow, I tried to sound confident. “No, should I be?”
    She grinned. “If you’re smart.”
    “Clarissa,” Blair said, the word a warning.
    Looking up, I noticed the other girls watching our exchange.
    “I’m just teasing her,” the blonde said, itching beneath the leather bracelet on her wrist. “She just looks too tightly wound for a girl at a celebration.”
    Her words stung, even though I wished they didn’t.
    Bethenny laughed, adding to my embarrassment. “Ignore her. She’s not used to this kind of thing. No one really invited her to anything back in Duggery.”
    Interest flared in Clarissa’s eyes. “Why?”
    “Well,” Bethenny said, taking a large gulp from her goblet. “Just look at her.”
    My stomach dropped. This was the moment she ruined things for me here too, pointed out to the women how obviously I looked like our enemies.
    The blonde, however, simply frowned. “What do you mean?”
    “She looks like a Northerner, of course!”
    It seemed to take a painfully long time for Clarissa to answer. “That’s it?” She picked up her glass, annoyance in her tone. “I hoped it’d be more than some small town prejudice.”
    Silence followed her words.
    Sirena grinned and jostled me with her shoulder.
    Relief and surprise rushed through me, and I took another bite of my food, my appetite renewed.
    “There’s more.” Bethenny’s words were dark and full of hidden meanings. “Her family has secrets.”
    I froze, swallowing the hard lump of food in my mouth. Us? We didn’t have secrets. Of course, other than that my mother had become a Protector and no one had told me.
    “So what happens next?” Sirena rushed out, obviously trying to change the subject. “I mean when we start being, well, Protectors.”
    Blair sounded tired as she answered. “We unlock your powers and train you to use them. Depending what kinds you develop, you may stay in this castle, or get placed in one of the towns or cities in Tarak.”
    “Is the training hard?” Sirena asked, worry lacing the question as she took another slow drink of her wine.
    “No. It’s simply important. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses will allow you to… be successful in your new position.”
    Sirena nodded, then smiled hesitantly. “Did you know my great-grandmother, Delera? She became a Protector too.”
    Without missing a beat, Blair answered. “Of course. She is a very fine woman.”
    “Will I get to meet her?”
    Clarissa laughed. “Sooner than you think, I’m sure.”
    “Because of how long Protectors live,” Blair explained, glaring at the blonde, “many of you may very well meet relatives of yours. Some you might not even have known existed.”
    I hesitated. This was my chance. “Do you know my mother, Calyce?”
    The room fell silent.
     
     

Chapter Five
     
    Blair’s silver gaze pinned me to my chair. “Yes, but we shouldn’t spend your whole celebration discussing relatives who have joined The Order.”
    The conversation died on an awkwardly tense note, but the girls returned to their food and wine as if completely unaware of the unexplainable strain that lingered. Only Sirena sat quietly, stiffly, an expression of extreme discomfort on her face.
    I