Reign of Shadows by Deborah Chester Read Free Book Online Page B

witnessed it practiced in
your home. You have enjoyed the advantages of private tutors. You have never
known want or lack. Is this true?”
    Caelan
shifted uneasily. He wasn’t enjoying this. “It’s true, Elder Sobna.”
    Harmony
and perfection, he thought bitterly. Yes ... if he made no noise, asked no
questions, never ran or leaped or stretched, never sought independence, never
searched for different answers. Private tutors like jailers, droning on and on,
holding accounts like money changers, running to share the results with Beva,
telling, tattling fools. No, Caelan had never known any lack at home, unless to
crave love and understanding was a lack.
    He
could feel his emotions churning up, stinging his eyes. Furiously he held them
back.
    “Why
did you run away?”
    Caelan
lifted his chin. He didn’t answer.
    “Have
we mistreated you here, Novice Caelan?”
    Caelan
opened his mouth, then checked the hot words on his tongue.
    When
he said nothing, the Elder’s gaze moved sharply to his. “Did you fail again to
hear my question?”
    “No,
I heard it,” Caelan said.
    “Then
give me your reply. Have we mistreated you here?”
    Caelan
set his jaw. There was no going back now. “I think so.”
    “You think so. You are not sure?”
    Damn
him. Caelan flushed. “I’m sure,” he said curtly.
    “Please
go on.”
    “You
know,” Caelan said, struggling against his anger. “You probably have it on a
list.”
    “You
are impertinent, Novice Caelan. I am waiting for a reply to my question.”
    “Why?”
Caelan burst out. “You know the answer. What I say isn’t going to make any
difference. You already have your mind made up.”
    The
Elder’s face might have been carved from stone.
    “Ah,
so you have the ability to read minds, Novice Caelan. Interesting. What other
talents do you possess?”
    Seething
at his cool mockery, Caelan glared at him and said nothing.
    “Your
failure to answer my question indicates you have no answer. Therefore, I can
only conclude that you do not truly believe we have mistreated you.”
    “You
want to see my bruises?” Caelan retorted.
    The
Elder raised his brows. “You have been disciplined, Novice Caelan, when you
transgressed. You have been placed under a discipline conducive to study, no
doubt for the first time in your life. You have fought that, as many wild or
untamed creatures must fight at first. But neither have you learned.”
    Caelan
glared at the floor, his ears roaring against this lecture he didn’t want to
hear.
    “We
are tolerant here,” the Elder went on, “but tolerance has limits. Because of
your father, we were willing to continue our efforts to train you, even
allowing you to remain in the novice class for an unprecedented third term if
necessary.”
    Caelan
looked up in dismay. He should have known they wouldn’t kick him out. His anger
welled up anew. “I’ll run away again.”
    “It
will not be necessary.”
    Caelan
caught his breath in hope.
    “Boyish
pranks and rebelliousness are an annoyance, nothing more. Endangering the
entire hold is something else entirely.”
    Caelan
thought about the destroyed warding key and dropped his gaze. He hadn’t meant
to put anyone in danger.
    “How
did you remove it?”
    Caelan
frowned and said nothing.
    The
Elder rose to his feet. “How?” he demanded.
    “I—I
just took it off.”
    A
look of alarm crossed the Elder’s face, then was gone. His eyes were bleak. “Impossible.”
    Caelan
shrugged. “Then believe what you want.”
    The
door behind him opened, and the proctors glided inside. Glancing at them,
Caelan shifted uneasily on his feet. He didn’t like the idea of them standing
behind him, and both held truth-lights in their hands.
    “How
did you remove the warding key?” the Elder asked again.
    There
was something awful in his tone, something that compelled Caelan to answer.
Casting a resentful glance at the proctors, he scowled and tucked his hands
inside his sleeves. “I entered severance and