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Getman’s voice was thick with contempt "You may dress like a boy all you like You probably enjoy it! But you will never be the ood as him Why the old man chose you…I have never understood It should have been me I should have been chosen Not you"
Lia wrestled with her anger and the oath she had taken She could hardly speak through her fury "Do not touch that boy," she warned
"Or what? Are you going to stopI have ever done I know he hates ht as well leave now I cannot stand another year in this place"
"You have no idea what you are saying," Lia replied, trying to calirl’s hand and started to pull her ahen Getrabbed a fistful of her clothes at the shoulder, ready to yank her back and insult her again In grabbing her gown, he also seized her chaen
The Mediu ice and fire that stunned her with its intensity and fury To Get bolt His eyes ith shock, his fingers paralyzed by the feeling blazing through hie and heavy collided with him, he stumbled few steps backwards, his hand as red as if he had pressed it against the inner wall of the forge It was the Medium that had struck him, not Lia She had not called it to bear at all She had not suht about it All she had done was cool her teaped at her
Lia sly "Do not touch me," she said
After Whitsunday each year, the learners returned with their families back to the manors and castles they came from Teachers who had not seen their families for the duration of the year abandoned the Abbey for a brief season The cloister was locked and secured The wretcheds kept working, but had more time to enjoy without the constant fuss of learners With the Queen Dowager gone like a ind as well, it was quieter on the grounds A new routine would begin The end of the season was a quiet time, one that Lia usually relished
Colvin’s departure crushed her istful memories
Before he had returned, there were places she could go that would rerounds where Maderos’ lair existed, for exao to those places and re him there But since he had stayed at Muirwood, it felt as if his footprints were everywhere – in the grass, near the h the Cider Orchard Especially the orchard It pained her to walk there now, re the look on his face when he had rejected her The memories surprised her with their vividness and the intensity of feelings
He was gone and he would never return Did she truly believe it? That they would never see each other again? The Alder and had asked her to stay close to the grounds in case the Queen Dowager returned She did not know if they were still surrounded or not – their ene in the woods She wanted to investigate but would not disobey the Aldermaston
At least once a day she had to endure the presence of the Earl of Dieyre He was so different than Colvin Talkative, witty, shallow – intense She took hirateful, yet always pressed her to go further froht wise She refused and he relented – but he still pushed her He knew the sport and enjoyed the kills But she did not trust him For some reason the Aldermaston had let him stay
At dusk on the third day after Whitsunday, Lia checked the perirounds as she usually did, always on the look for the sign of trespassers She had passed the grounds on the far side of the fish pond and worked her way around to the far side of the Cider Orchard The light was beginning to fail, but she saw the rass first before she noticed the bootprints
Lia froze, staring at the ground Instinctively, she reached for her gladius and drew it She approached the telltale signs There was noquickly and deliberately up the hillside and into the orchard Her heart ith uncertainty The prints were fresh
She stooped, tracing the edge of the print with her finger, her sword hand ready What to do? She could go straight to the Aldermaston But he would have her track the prints Why the orchard? Was so the trail, following the steps into the Cider Orchard, listening to the wind rustling the branches and leaves It was silent No thrashing of li apples shaken loose fro each step soft and deliberate She s there would be soer How had the intruder ht her deeper into the orchard until his voice ca her