Gloria Oliver by Cross-Eyed Dragon Troubles Read Free Book Online Page A

Just as all the other children in Queegam, she’d known her whole life that sooner or later she would be apprenticed. She just never thought it would be so hard … Or that she’d miss home so much…
    Shaking herself out of her growing sadness, she made the bed then quickly took a bath. Once she’d gotten dressed it was twelve after six. She wanted to go down to breakfast early, but this was too early.
    She eyed the blank papers and quills at her desk and thought of starting a letter to her parents then put the idea aside, not wanting to run the risk of calling up more tears, especially since she was supposed to attend a meeting with the Administrator this morning.
    At six thirty, the globes in her room turned on. Already slightly startled by the unexpected event, she started when someone knocked hard on her door. “Time to rise!”
    Talia rushed to her door, but when she opened it no one was there. She looked down the hall and spotted a watcher knocking on a door three down from hers and calling out it was time to rise. The watcher then moved on to the next one.
    Since the whole school was being awakened, she decided it would be all right for her to go downstairs.
    Stepping out into the hall and closing the door to her room, she headed for the nearest set of stairs. She got a couple of surprised looks from some of the watchers she passed along the way, but they said nothing so she went on.
    The dining hall was empty when she arrived, but the sounds of voices and the rattle of pots and pans echoed softly through the room from an open kitchen door. The smell of baking bread teased her nostrils.
    She glanced around and then drifted closer to the Administrator’s table. She decided on the one closest to it, hoping this time she might be able to catch a glimpse of the woman before she met her later this morning. The strange way in which Mandee spoke of her had made her a bit more nervous about the coming meeting than she might have been otherwise.
    As Talia waited for Mandee and the others to appear, a lone person came into the room from the door leading out into the garden. As she wondered what they’d been doing out there so early in the morning, she realized she knew this person—it was Kel. The squire spotted her at about the same time and waved a greeting to her as he walked toward the open kitchen door. She tentatively waved back.
    People were pouring into the dining hall in earnest by the time she saw him come back out of the kitchen.
    He held a large basket of fruit in one hand and a filled plate in the other. She was a little surprised as she saw him walk over to the Administrator’s table and take a seat at the far end. Kel set his things down and started eating, seemingly paying attention to nothing or anyone. She frowned.
    “What are you looking at?”
    She almost jumped out of her seat at Mandee’s soft question. She’d been paying so much attention to Kel she didn’t hear her come up. “Ah, nothing.” She looked away at the slight lie. “Good morning.”
    “Morning.” Mandee sat down next to her. “You sure got here early. I way overslept on my first day.”
    She grinned.
    “I—I guess I’m just used to it. We got up early at home everyday.”
    “Not me. At least, not when I could get away with it.” Her grin grew into a mischievous smile.
    Yllin and a few of the others Talia met the day before joined them. Greetings were passed all around.
    As the watchers started serving breakfast, she noticed Kel finishing his. Though some teachers now populated the table, he didn’t speak to them other than to trade pleasantries. As soon as he was done, he got up, picked up his basket of fruit and left the dining hall the same way he’d come in.
    “There goes the useless one.”
    Talia snapped to look behind her. The table next to theirs was filled with mostly older-looking students.
    A couple of them were chuckling as they stared in Kel’s direction, but she couldn’t tell who’d voiced the comment.