An Unexpected Apprentice Read Online Free Page A

with us,” Jole said cheerfully. Ronardo let out an explosive breath as if Jole or Nole had elbowed him in the stomach. “Our way lies with hers almost all the way back.”
    “But—” Ronardo said. He was interrupted by the sound of the mayor clearing his throat.
    The Bywell brothers winked at her in unison. “We’ll see you later, lass.” They dragged Ronardo off with them. The others retired to their family benches as the elders stared at them with impatience.
    Tildi shook her head. She had been grateful for the expressions of sympathy, but she wasn’t a fool. It occurred to her that the young men weren’t so innocent of purpose as they appeared. Gorten, for one, had
danced with her at meetings only when the pattern put them together temporarily. Otherwise he preferred the company of Shanee or Rowan, both plump, fair-haired, and blue-eyed, whereas Tildi looked like every Summerbee in the family tree, small and lightly built, with light brown hair and big, round, brown eyes. No, she understood their motive.
    As the eldest male, the big farm had belonged to Gosto absolutely with his brothers as his tenants. Under normal circumstances, if something happened to him, the valuable Summerbee property would pass to the next brother in line. The elders could also decide to divide the property among one or more of the brothers. Now that they were all gone, the property was a single lump, and a desirable one, which would now go to whichever lucky man Tildi chose to marry. She nodded grimly to herself. Most of her visitors had been landless second sons whose prospects suddenly ascended from tenant or journeyman to landowner. Her authority over the land owned for hundreds of years was temporary until a male with the right to give orders could be put in charge of it. Mirrin would be its steward until then.
    There had been some mixing and playful wooing in the past, but none considered serious since neither they nor she were considered of an age to marry, but now that she was the sole survivor of her family they wanted to declare their interest. Tildi felt alarm rising at the prospect. Must she choose a husband tonight? The possibility existed, since the land must be farmed. As an orphan she was under the direct authority of the mayor and the council of elders—their protection, they called it. She had no right to refuse if they demanded she marry. Names and faces spun through Tildi’s mind. Who among her male peers could she stand to live with from that moment on for the rest of her life? And not just her own age group was keen for such a prize: she observed a few of the tradesmen who owned no land eying her with interest. Horrors! She wasn’t ready to make a decision like that so swiftly. By no means was she ready to settle down. She had dreams—many of which had flown away with her brothers.
    At that sober realization, she sat back with her hands in her lap. How her world had changed in just a few hours. Her mind whirled, trying to make sense out of the chaos. She needed time!
    “Sit down, everyone. Let’s not make matters wait. Sit down!” Mayor Jurney shook the gold chain of office that lay on his shoulders. During the majority of his hours not devoted to council activities, Edyard Jurney
was a physician. He was a thin, stooped man, with prodigious black brows that overhung observant, dark eyes. As a doctor he was dry in manner, not unpleasant to deal with, but demanding. If one was his patient, one didn’t dare not get well. He had brought back so many oldsters from the brink of death he was considered a miracle worker by some (others, particularly relatives cheated for a time out of expected inheritances, whispered darkly of sorcery). Therefore, when he was elected mayor, few disagreed. And, to be fair, as acrimonious as politics got, his rivals for the office had little to complain about. Few of his pronouncements proved to be ill thought-out.
    Like the best of his profession he had little imagination, which meant