Free Borrowed Magic by Shari Lambert Page A

me he’d been murdered by
Kern. That must have been terrible for you.”
    Something about his voice sounded wrong, but
since he’d also put a “comforting” hand on her elbow, causing her
shoulder to scream in pain, she wasn’t sure she was thinking
clearly. She started walking again, not even waiting to see if
Teige followed.
    “Lord Teige, what’s taken you so long?”
    Too late, Maren realized Teige had directed
their path to a group of ladies and young noblemen gathered in a
small courtyard.
    “I’m so sorry.” Teige took Kira’s hand and
bowed over it. “I ran into Lady Maren and lost track of time.”
    Kira frowned, which was
just ridiculous. It’s not like Maren wanted to be there. She’d much
rather turn around and leave, but her shoulder was beginning to
hurt to the point of nausea, and she needed to sit down for a few
minutes. She slipped through the crowd to an empty seat by Lady
Surrey, one of the only ladies who was actually kind. Perhaps
because she wasn’t pretty enough to be competition for Kira.
Perhaps because her father was a very minor lord without enough
power to make her a threat to anyone.
    “Maren, are you all right?” Surrey asked.
“You don’t look well.”
    “I think I’m just tired,” she lied.
    “Perfectly understandable,” Surrey said.
Then she glanced towards the rest of the group and scowled. “Does
Kira have to monopolize all the men? She already hovers over Lord
Philip. Does she have to take Lord Teige, too?”
    Maren actually laughed at that. “You’re
talking about Kira. Of course she does.”
    “Well, I think one of them should be smart
enough to choose you,” Surrey said. “You’re First Lady, not to
mention much prettier than Kira.”
    “That’s kind of you to say.”
    “It’s true,” Surry insisted. “That’s one of
the reasons she hates you so much. All the boys were in love with
her when we were growing up. Until our presentation, when you came
into the picture. We’d all heard your name from the boys who were
in your father’s class, but since you didn’t socialize with us, no
one really knew you. That year, every single boy who’d had a crush
on her now had a crush on you.” She giggled. “It provided the rest
of us with some overdue satisfaction.”
    Maren just stared. “But they weren’t all
interested in me.”
    “Oh, yes, they were. I’ll never forget the
first time I really saw you. You walked into the presentation ball
in that dress of cream colored silk with your hair loose around
your shoulders. It was as if you’d just stepped out of a dream. I
was standing right next to Lord Kaleb who actually stopped mid
sentence when he saw you.” She smiled at the memory. “He made some
comment under his breath that I couldn’t hear, but I didn’t miss
Philip’s reaction. He was angrier than I’d ever seen him and warned
Kaleb he’d better watch himself.”
    Maren blinked. “But…but none of them ever
even asked me to dance more than was polite. None of them did
anything.”
    “Because it was obvious to everyone that you
only had eyes for Philip. And him for you. Which, I can assure you,
made Kira as mad as I’ve ever seen her. Despite how they treat you
now, and despite their petty jealousy, every single girl in that
room loved you that night – just for putting Kira in her
place.”
    Maren knew Kira’s animosity towards her was
because of Philip. She wasn’t sure she realized how deep it
went.
    Kira was certainly the center of attention
now, like a flower with bees hovering for a taste. Maren wanted
none of it. She was tired, she was in pain, and she was worried.
She watched the others, who were all captivated by Teige. It was
something she’d noticed a lot over the past few weeks. He asked the
questions. He told stories that had everyone laughing so hard their
stomachs hurt. It was as if he’d always been a part of the castle
life. Even Daric and Adare, when they were present, were drawn in,
perfectly happy to take a