Free Whirl (Ondine Quartet Book 1) by Emma Raveling Page A

have been good at his job, but at this
point even his offer to help seemed useless.
    I snorted. "I doubt you'll be able to change
this. Not unless you can flip Haverleau inside out and convince
everyone to radically change their narrow-minded views."
    His gaze was speculative. "You never know, sondaleur . If there's one thing I've learned over the years,
it's that the smallest ripples have the power to create a tidal
wave."
    "Kendra?" Chloe's voice called down the
hallway.
    "Thanks anyway, Jeeves," I said and he gave a
gentle laugh at my shortened nickname. "Maybe next time I can ask
you to help me with something not so impossible."
    He gave a slight, old-fashioned bow that
would have looked funny if he hadn't done it so gracefully.
    "Of course." He grinned and it made his
distinguished face look a bit roguish. "Just for the record,
though. I believe nothing is impossible."
    When I got back to the foyer, Chloe and
Aubrey stood under a large portrait of Rhian that hung on the wall
near the doors. I hadn't noticed it when we first arrived.
    "Are you okay?" Aubrey asked. "When you
didn't return, we thought maybe you'd left with Gabe. The rest of
them are staying to discuss business so the Governor said we should
head back."
    "I didn't want to sit there anymore," I
shrugged. "So I went exploring."
    Aubrey blinked and a small smile tugged at
Chloe's mouth. Marcella strode in, her eyes locking on to me.
    "Kendra? Can I speak to you for a
moment?"
    Chloe gave my arm a quick squeeze. "We'll
wait for you in the car."
    I nodded and as they walked out I studied the
imposing portrait of my grandmother. It must have been painted when
she first became Governor. A much younger Rhian gazed out at me,
her face smooth and unlined with hair the same raven black as
Marcella's. She almost looked beautiful, with refined patrician
features and creamy skin. Only the eyes remained the same as the
Rhian I knew now.
    Marcella stood next to me and I caught the
faintest scent of her perfume. It reminded me of fresh meadows
after a brief rainstorm. "That's the most recent portrait of her.
It was done a year ago."
    Startled, I looked back at the portrait. It
couldn't be. She couldn't have aged so much in one year. It was
like the difference between a thirty-year-old and a
sixty-five-year-old. Unless…
    "My mother was the one who knew Naida died,"
Marcella said, confirming my thoughts. "She woke in the middle of
the night and informed everyone of her passing. She knew the moment
it happened." She faced me, sadness etching tight lines between her
brows and around her mouth. "By the next morning, she'd aged to
what she looks like now. Her health has continued to decline."
    I tried to cover up my shock. It was one
thing to talk about it, but it was another thing to see actual
proof of what happened when the bonds between an ondine mother and
child were cut short.
    "I know you just got here," Marcella
continued. "And I know there are many things you didn't expect.
Your grandmother is not the easiest person to get along with. But I
want you to know that she did love your mother very much. The
ondine bond between mother and child is sacred."
    Hazel eyes, clear and unwavering, met mine
steadily. After a few moments, I gave a short nod of
acknowledgement.
    "Good." Her voice was a bit gruff. She turned
to head back to the dining room. "I'll see you soon."
    I stood there for a few more minutes, staring
at Rhian's portrait. It made her seem imposing and larger than
life, a figure who radiated power and iron strength.
    I pictured her waking in the middle of the
night, knowing without a doubt that her daughter was dead, far from
home.
    Regardless of how I felt about her, I
wouldn't wish that kind of grief on anyone.
     

 
     
    SEVEN
     
    The afternoon sun blazed in the cloudless sky. I made my way up the
dirt trail that wound through the woods on the western edge of the
Academy. The letter from the headmaster's office had arrived this
morning, informing me that I was