White Hall (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 10) Read Online Free Page A

little positive emotion, Brenner hid little of the fact that he wasn’t overly happy with his role on this trip. A former sparring partner for the team from Windmeer led by her brother, the lone battle mage to join the wizards’ duels; Brenner had felt saddled with Katya and the leadership of their small group returning to Windmeer via White Hall, though it had been his decision to do that favor for Sebastian. The school was Katya’s final destination, since she was going to be a novice wizard training there; and he been asked to take her there, since the girl knew him as well as the two battle mages with them.
    Luckily for the air wizard, Darius had been available to come along as well. In fact, his presence was actually quite necessary since the high wizard’s magic held Katya’s burgeoning powers in check. It was a good thing for everyone around her since the girl’s strength in coercion magic was quite powerful and beyond her control in the least. Her emotions were tied to her magic and losing any control of those could mean turning people into a nearly zombie like state that the girl couldn’t direct with any skill at all. She was on the brink of becoming what most people feared with magic, a wilder.
    “We will need a room for the girl by herself and enough beds for seven men,” Darius stated.
    Katya was the only female and had been feeling singled out from that as much as her age for the last two days, though the others tried to treat her warmly. Still they were all at least twice the girl’s age, and knew little of how to deal with teenage girls, she thought.
    “No brother or father along this trip, young lady?” the man asked as his eyes strayed to a table with just two others sitting there. “Some people will say anything, even if they look completely different from each other.”
    The second statement was muttered, but the man wasn’t quiet enough and everyone near the counter easily heard the man’s snide comment obviously intended for the two in his sights.
    Katya looked at the two, who seemed to be earning the inn keeper’s judgment. Delanne, like the town of Mera nearest her home, held a tight moral code and inns didn’t rent rooms just so couples could sneak away to be together. Of course, they couldn’t exactly police every customer’s word and money spent was still money earned.
    Examining the pretty, little, blonde haired girl, who seemed close to Katya’s age, and the hulking dark haired giant beside her, she could see why he wouldn’t believe that they were siblings. Of course, the early teen didn’t notice any of the chemistry that usually gave away more amorous intentions either. Her brother, Sebastian, gave away those intentions with his healer girlfriend during their trip to Hala, even though both had tried to deny it at first.
    Darius was speaking with the man behind the counter and Katya’s attention returned to him as the inn keeper said, “We have a single room, but is she old enough to be trusted by herself?”
    Frowning at the man, Katya really wanted to ask if she looked like someone who couldn’t take care of herself; but it wasn’t exactly surprising either. She was just thirteen and didn’t look particularly old for her age, though the older boys in Mera had been interested in her looks for at least a year now when she visited the small town.
    “She will be fine,” Darius assured the man as the inn keeper placed three keys on the counter.
    “If you men don’t mind sharing beds, I have two rooms with two double beds in each. I can rent a few more, if you can’t get along,” he added with a sarcastic smile.
    “I’m sure we can survive,” Darius nodded taking two of the keys before passing the last to Brenner.
    Katya was led to her room by Darius, while he let his grandson Elias open the shared room for the men to stow their bags. The girl had a couple bags, though her brother had told her that she wouldn’t need a lot of clothes for White Hall. Once she was