The Castrofax Read Free

precious
cargo falling to her death because you can’t keep your feet
grounded.”
    “Trees, perhaps?” Gabriel posed.
    “Try not to push your luck.”
    The girl chuckled. “My brother has told me
much of you, though I expected you to be shorter.”
    “You are as short as he described.”
    Cordis gave him a wide-eyed look, but she
laughed and extended her hand. “Please, call me Robyn.”
    He took her hand and held it, not sure what
to do until Cordis made a motion. “I am Gabriel,” he said and
stooped to put a kiss on her knuckles.
    “Are you a Mage as well?” she asked as he
released her hand. She had a unique way of speaking as if she had
control of the conversation. Had he not known her age and seen the
childish face, he would have suspected she was much older.
    “No, I have not yet tested for my Class. I
will in another five years.”
    She nodded. “At twenty years of age? Yes, I
remember the little I have learned of Mage culture. I should like
to understand it better.”
    “In ten years you will be as learned as if
you were a Mage yourself,” Cordis chortled. “We must get you
settled; you’ve been on the road too long. Lady Beatrice, Professor
Magin, will you join us?” he asked Robyn’s companions and led the
way into the house.
    Gabriel lingered with Dagan and absently
watched the unloading. “Ten years,” he whispered. “Will she stay
here the entire time?”
    “As long as we can keep her safe, she will,”
Dagan answered with a low stern voice. “Though, I am concerned.
Lailee is pregnant with our second, and I must return to Castle
Jaden in time for the birth. I plan to stay for a few months, so we
will be short a Mage here. However, I want you to consider
furthering your training in Castle Jaden and return with me. You
are showing great potential in Earth, and there are better teachers
in Jaden that can do more for you than I. If you choose to leave,
you would be gone nearly a year—provided you do not come into
another Element. It would be a great advantage in attaining a high
Class if you train earlier than age sixteen.”
    Gabriel flicked his eyes to the main door
searching for his father. “I am needed here.”
    “They need a trained Mage, and while you know
many patterns, you do not yet bestow the strength to handle the
bigger ones. Castle Jaden will increase your endurance and your
ability. The sooner you go, the sooner you return as a force to
truly protect if needed.”
    Gabriel bit his upper lip and gazed through
the door at the faint outlines of servants milling forth. “Balien
would be most cross if I endangered his sister.” He sighed as he
debated inwardly until finally raising his eyes. “I will go with
you.”
    Dagan nodded. “I will make arrangements. We
will leave at the end of the month.”
    He strode off into the manor, and Gabriel
followed. The maw of the manor drew him in. Inside the dark gray
stone and warm polished wood were almost kin to him and the smell
of books and tapestries their essence. The atrium echoed with
far-off voices, the sounds of creaking leather from chest handles,
and the scuff of boots on carpet mingling together. Gabriel’s room
resided in the right wing, but the new sounds came from the left,
so he shouldered a bundle from the large pile of luggage at the
door and made his way upward.
    While long, Urima Manor was not unusually
tall. The first floor held the entertaining rooms, the second
sleeping chambers, the third bore servant’s quarters, and the twin
parapets made up the forth level of look-out rooms. It was shaped
like a boxy “S”, with the courtyard in the front and a magnificent
garden in the back. Cordis tended to all the plants and had a
special love of everything growing.
    Urima Manor had been his father’s since
Gabriel’s birth, and Gabriel had known no other home. It was a
remote place outside Hollow Downs and many days’ ride from the
capital, which made it ideal for privacy. The closest neighbors
were ten miles