The Castrofax Read Free Page B

she said, all trace
of trembling emotion lost.
    “Well I hope you enjoy Mage history. Because
the frightening woman with the eagle stare informed me I am to be
studied by you.”
    “Is that all she told you? She told me she
will send for a dancing instructor since I now have a partner. It
is a shame you are not a Water Mage. It is said they are the most
graceful.”
    Gabriel pointed a finger on the armrest in
protest. “I do not dance.”
    She gave a childish laugh. “You will.” He
would have argued but once again she was thoroughly in charge of
the conversation. Instead he leaned forward and lifted his teacup
from its saucer with a look of acquiescence. “Though, you may not
have the chance. Mother sent me away for fear I would be killed. I
might have been followed, and you would no longer have a dance
partner.”
    He stared at her befuddled. “That is a bleak
attitude to have. You are safe here. There are two Classed Mages
and I am not untrained myself. Are these dark thoughts something I
will have to deal with for the next ten years, or is this a
fleeting feeling?”
    For a second the stern façade cracked with a
snicker, and he saw her eyes sparkle. It seemed Balien had left out
details about his younger sister. For a moment she appeared as the
ten year old girl she was, not the royalty she had been shaped
into. “I would like to see you plucked from your life and do
better.”
    Feeling accomplishment in breaking her mask,
he smiled and nodded. “I doubt I could.”

Chapter 2
    Robyn was not a girl to be trifled with or
underestimated, though most people insisted on doing so because of
her youth. Her tutors always treated her with a certain delicacy
that taught her to despise them. It was no different in Urima
Manor. It was not long before she learned Gabriel’s hiding places
and vanished into the woodwork to avoid her lessons.
    They usually sent Gabriel from his training
to find her, but she was getting more stealthy and quieter as the
weeks progressed until finally, Gabriel could not find her. She
grinned as she watched his bemused face search the dark corners. It
was only after he passed her that she stretched a hand out from
behind the marble statue and rapped his shoulder.
    “You missed me.”
    He turned his surprised face to see her in
the shadows. “Impressive. As reward for your winning, I will not
tell them where I found you.” With a firm hand he guided her back
to her studies in the library. “You’re more like your brother than
he let on,” he whispered before closing the oak door.
    During her lessons of socialism,
equalization, commerce, industry, needlepoint and party-giving,
Robyn watched through the windows as the Mages practiced. Of the
three Mages, Dagan moved with the most experience, though he was
younger than Cordis. He was an interesting study since his motions
were deliberate and connected. Though Robyn could see nothing of
these patterns they spoke of, something only Mages could
see, she saw the outcome of sprouted trees or crumpled rocks and
bent branches. Cordis was amusing to watch, for he was serious when
laying patterns, a character trait much unlike his usually jovial
self. Gabriel seemed to be a mix of the two. Amusing in
conversation, he became serious and fluid as he moved his hands to
lay unseen threads, shifting his whole body in a dance only Mages
understood. Sometimes they stomped their feet and shards of stone
or clumps of dirt shot from beneath them. On other occasions they
would throw out their hands and snap their wrists to create an
explosion of blossoms from the poor tortured cherry trees. It was
frightfully entertaining.
    “Robyn, you are not listening,” Professor
Magin stated one afternoon as they sat in the library. The sun
painted yellow squares on the dark wood behind the Professor as she
sat with a book in her hands. “Child, I expect you to listen when I
lecture.”
    “But I do not care about castles outside my
kingdom,” Robyn replied with a weary