Renegade Wizards Read Online Free Page B

pressed, all Amma Batros would say to Tythonnia was, “Answer truthfully and don’t be scared. You’ll do well.” With that, she left her student.
    Then a servant had come to fetch Par-Salian to a private meeting. The servant told them they would be summoned in turn. That had been two hours earlier.
    Tythonnia sat on the rearmost red bench, feeling the muscles slowly knot their way up her back. Ladonna lay on one of the white benches, facing the ceiling and playing with the jewelry on her fingers. The red wizard envied that small streak of rebelliousness in her compatriot. Still, she wished Ladonna were a bit chattier, but the other woman tended to answer questions with silence and an air of scrutiny. Tythonnia gave up any hope of being cordial and, instead, watchedthe servants sweep the hall.
    Ladonna sighed again, and Tythonnia could bite her lip no more.
    “For the love of the three moons!” Tythonnia snapped. “You’re bored. I get it! You’re not alone here, you know.”
    The black-robed woman turned her head toward Tythonnia. A single brow levitated high above Ladonna’s eye and a smirk snaked across her lips. “All right,” Ladonna said, never losing her mischievous look. She pivoted and sat up in one supple motion. “How do we amuse ourselves, Red Robe?” she asked as she sauntered over to Tythonnia’s bench.
    “Tythonnia.”
    “I know.” Ladonna went quiet a moment. “The renegade—”
    “Virgil?”
    “Him,” Ladonna said. “He mentioned Berthal. Wasn’t he a member of
your
order?”
    Tythonnia nodded. “Yes … before my time.”
    “What happened to him?” Ladonna asked. She smiled, eager for the gossip.
    “I—I don’t know,” Tythonnia admitted. “We aren’t taught much about them. The renegades, I mean.”
    Ladonna’s expression returned to boredom. “Pity,” she said. She swiveled about on the bench again and lay back down, dropping her head on Tythonnia’s lap.
    Tythonnia blushed; Ladonna’s familiarity and little regard for respectable distance caught her tongue-tied.
    “Wake me up when something interesting happens,” Ladonna said, closing her eyes.
    “All—all right,” Tythonnia said when she really wanted to say, “Get off of me, please.” She looked at the servants to see if any of them were watching with disapproval. Dutiful to the last, however, nobody was paying them any heed. Still, Tythonnia wasn’t sure what to do, especially with her hands. And she couldn’t stop glancing at Ladonna’s face, withits alabaster skin, pale and blemish free. Her lips were full and her cheeks soft and graceful. Again, she found herself admiring another woman’s beauty, admiring those qualities she felt were lacking in her own features. Somehow, staring at Ladonna’s beauty put her at rest, the exhale after tension-filled days.
    Ladonna’s eyes opened suddenly, and Tythonnia quickly looked away.
    “Got you,” Ladonna whispered.
    “I was—”
    “Don’t be embarrassed,” Ladonna said, sitting up. “You wouldn’t be the first woman who was attracted to me.”
    Tythonnia’s eyes went wide, a million panicked responses perched on her lips. Ladonna smiled at Tythonnia’s terror-filled expression.
    “I’m not …” Tythonnia said, unable to say the words. “I’m not like that.”
    Ladonna shrugged. “Like what, hmm?”
    “Like
that,”
Tythonnia whispered. She looked around, fearful someone was watching them. Again, the servants were lost in their duties.
    “It’s all right. Don’t fret,” Ladonna said.
    “But I’m not.”
    “Well, if you … insist.” Ladonna was already looking elsewhere, following the clop of footsteps heading toward them. The servant who had escorted Par-Salian away had returned.
    “My turn yet?” Ladonna asked.
    The servant nodded. “Yes, mistress. You are to follow me.”
    “Where’s Par-Salian?” Tythonnia asked.
    “Preparing, mistress,” the servant said before walking away.
    Ladonna shrugged and followed. She spun about