Free Chosen (9781742844657) by Shayla Morgansen

tea from Lord Gawain. Renatus was silent and still for a long moment, and Lord Gawain followed his gaze. A car had pulled up outside the gates and a dark-haired girl climbed out, closing her door.
    â€˜Nothing,’ was all Renatus said, and he sat down at his desk and pulled a stack of paperwork towards himself. Clearly the conversation was over.

I got out of Angela’s car, apprehensive. She unloaded my bags from the back seat as I walked towards the Academy. Beyond the intricate, wrought iron gates stood a massive, stone structure, less a house than a mansion. It had at least four storeys, and looked to be the sort of place that had ‘wings’, like a hospital. A cobblestone path led from the distant, grand front doors directly to the gates, built slightly winding to complement the gently sloping, emerald-green hill the building was set upon.
    Directly behind the gate stood two men, one Asian and one Caucasian, and a woman dressed in royal purple robes. I didn’t recognise any of them, although if I’d read the newsletter back when they included photos, I might have. I forced a smile. They all smiled back genuinely. More confident, I walked to the gate.
    â€˜Hi,’ I said uselessly.
    â€˜Hello, Aristea,’ the Caucasian man said. I didn’t ask how he knew my name. His accent was Welsh, and his hair was blonde. ‘I’m Glen. This is Susannah and Tian.’
    â€˜Your key will open the gate,’ Susannah said. For a moment I stood silently, and then remembered my key, hanging on a silver chain around my neck. I unclasped the chain at the back and looked for the lock. My little key fitted perfectly. The lock clinked when I turned the key, and Glen pushed open the gates.
    â€˜Good afternoon, Aristea. Before you go up to the school, we need to do a few tests, if you don’t mind,’ Susannah said. She was in her forties, with wavy brown hair and a kind, round face. I could tell from the way she talked that she was from somewhere in America. She sounded like someone out of a movie.
    Securing the chain around my neck again, I glanced back at Angela. She smiled at me, showing no signs of unease, so I nodded at the White Elm representatives.
    Glen, smiling, touched my temple and said, ‘Just relax, don’t worry about me. Susannah will ask you a few questions.’
    â€˜Okay,’ I said nervously, turning to the American.
    â€˜So, Aristea; you have been aware of magic your whole life. Have you ever displaced before?’ Susannah asked pleasantly. I began to answer when I felt Glen’s satiny presence slip into my mind. He was probing my thoughts. I ignored him.
    â€˜No,’ I told Susannah.
    â€˜Can you scry?’
    â€˜No.’
    â€˜Have you ever healed another person’s injury?’
    â€˜No.’ I was starting to feel a bit useless.
    â€˜That’s okay. You’ll learn it all here. Now, I want you to think back through your childhood. People you’ve known, people you’ve loved, people you met in passing…Your parents, your siblings, your friends, your parents’ friends…’
    Faces from my memory popped to the forefront of my mind, and Glen scrolled through them. I did my best not to fight him. I knew which face he was looking for, and I’d never seen it, so I needed to give him a chance to realise that. I focused on Susannah’s words.
    â€˜Neighbours, cousins, maybe someone you met on holidays?’
    More faces, none of consequence, I was sure. I’d led a remarkably dull life for an orphaned witch.
    â€˜Your siblings’ school friends…’
    Aidan and Angela, only a year apart, had shared many friends, while I, the much younger baby sister, had followed them around like a little puppy. They and their friends had always put up with me and let me play, and Aidan had always stuck up for me when a friend had complained about my poor catching, my misunderstanding of the rules or my