Paladin's Prize (Age of Heroes, Book 1) by Gaelen Foley Read Free Book Online

feet idly in the water. Then she nodded at the hill behind her. “He donated this acreage and the building to the church. Wanted to make sure I’d have a decent place to live so far from home.”
    “It’s beautiful here.”
    “It is. Father had his best elven architect draw up the plans for the pavilion. It does rather miss the whole point of a vow of poverty, though, doesn’t it?” she added in ironic amusement. “Not that I’m complaining. My superiors said it was all right.” She shrugged. “I have it all to myself for now. But it will remain for whoever the Bastion sends next, once my assignment here is over.”
    “What exactly do you do out here all day?”
    “Local healer.” She leaned back idly, bracing her hands behind her. “I grow my garden. I cater to the fairies when I must and pray the hours—for people who play fast and loose with their lives,” she added pointedly, splashing at him with a little kick.
    “Well, thank you for the prayers,” said the great soldier, splashing her back. “Still, if you’re from town and used to all that bustle and noise, don’t you find it dull out here? Seems like it could get a little lonely.”
    “Not at all. It’s peaceful,” she said. Even if he was right, she was not about to admit something as personal as that to a naked man. “Believe me, I’m more than happy here. It’s better than the life my parents would have chosen for me if I’d hadn’t pledged a few years’ service to the Daughters of the Rose and had stayed in town instead. Talk about boring!”
    “Why? What did they have in mind for you?”
    “Oh, the usual fare. Advantageous marriage, trying to get appointed as a lady-in-waiting at the court. That sort of thing.” She gave him a dull stare and shook her head. “Frankly, I’d rather pull some beggar’s rotten tooth out of his head than spend a day making sure the train of some royal woman’s gown is in place.”
    Thaydor let out a bark of laughter, a merry twinkle in his eyes. “Pull a beggar’s tooth, eh?”
    “My parents mean well. Truly. They are just very caught up in the cares of this world. My father ever builds his fortune, and my mother’s greatest wish is to enhance our family’s social status.” She paused a beat. “Why am I telling you all this?”
    He ignored the question, smiling at her as if he knew the reason: that, yes, very well, she was often lonely out here, and longed for some other, educated person to talk to.
    His blue eyes twinkled. “I have to say, you do sound like a bit of a mismatch to your clan. Maybe someone left you in a basket on their doorstep as a baby. Have you asked?”
    She couldn’t help laughing. “It would explain a lot. I should show you my mother’s last letter, reproaching me once again for not becoming one of the temple priestesses in the city so I could wear the golden gowns and the jeweled headdress on the high holidays.”
    He chuckled as he washed himself. “So that’s the way of it, then.”
    “You should’ve heard our arguments when I told her I wanted to join the Daughters for a while before settling down. Lots of girls from fashionable families do as much!”
    “That’s true,” he said. “It’s not like the old days when girls weren’t allowed to do anything.”
    She nodded emphatically. “For me, this was a natural fit. I’ve always had spiritual inclinations, but when I discovered I had some healing ability, too, I wanted to go to university at the Bastion to develop it. Thankfully, my father gave me his permission.”
    “Your mother finally gave in?”
    “Begrudgingly.” Wrynne did an arch imitation of the bejeweled baroness. “‘I suppose it is customary for a genteel family to pledge a son or daughter to the church, if they have an extra one to spare.’ Thank goodness I’m the spare. There are four of us—I’m the second child. Boy, girl, boy, girl.” She caught herself. “Here I am, boring you to death when you just barely survived last