The Guardians: Book One of the Restoration Series Read Online Free

got up from the table, and walked out the back door. He walked among the trees on the back half of the estate. The sound of the wind blowing through the trees was calming. He stopped and sat on a bench, thinking. If he obeyed his grandfather, then he would not get to do what he had chosen. Elven youths were allowed to choose what they wanted to do. If their decisions were not to their parents liking, then their inheritance could be transferred to another sibling. But they were not restrained from following their chosen path. Flare was not due to inherit anything; therefore there was no reason for him to be denied his wish. But that was exactly what had happened; his grandfather had deliberately refused his choice. Not only that, but Flare suspected that he would be forcibly stopped if it came to that. If he decided to run, he doubted seriously that he would get very far. The elven guard knew the forest paths much better than he did, and they had outposts all throughout the forest. They would be able to catch him without any problems. If he was going to run, then he needed a way to get a head start. With this simple thought, a plan began to take shape.
    Flare paced the woods all night long. He planned each step of his escape, and then he took the time to rethink each step, re-examining it to make sure that he had not missed anything.
    He returned to the house early the next morning, just in time to bathe and eat breakfast. He quickly got ready and left for the palace. Even though he had planned, and re-planned, this part of his escape, the anxiety was eating at him. He had never lied to his grandfather before, and he was afraid that he wouldn't be very convincing. Would his lie be that obvious? Could he manage the deception?
    After a brisk walk to the palace, he stopped on the palace steps to compose himself. Since he had gotten to the palace a few minutes early, he sat on the steps and went over his plan one more time. Lost in his thoughts, he barely noticed the early morning chill. After reassuring himself that there were no obvious problems with his lie, he got up and entered the palace.
    At this time of the day, there were very few people about. A young elf was busy sweeping the floor, and nobody else was in sight, except the guards who were always there.
    Flare walked toward the courtyard, and concentrated on keeping his story straight. Entering, he noticed two things immediately. The first thing he noticed was that the courtyard was all but deserted. The second thing was that Prince Yolstice was standing to the right of the king. He had not planned on the presence of his uncle. He had hoped to be able to manipulate his grandfather, but Yolstice would only complicate matters. He took a deep breath, and walked to the steps of the dais.
    “Flare, you’re a few minutes early. That’s good. Promptness is a good virtue.” The king said quietly, his expression was stern, foreboding. He kept his eyes down.
    “Have you reconsidered your conversation from yesterday?” Prince Yolstice asked, his arms across his chest.
    “Yes, I have.” Flare said, refusing to even look at his uncle.
    “You have!?” Exclaimed the prince, and the king raised his eyes to meet Flare's.
    Flare had expected to surprise the king, but he had evidently caught both of them off guard. “Yes grandfather, I will do as you wish and become either a magician or a teacher. And, I would like to apologize to you for the incident that occurred yesterday at lunch.” He then deliberately dropped his eyes.
    The king’s face was beaming, “Good, I don’t like arguing with family. I’m glad you have agreed with my wishes.”
    Yolstice had recovered from his initial surprise, “I’m glad you’ve changed your mind. I guess we can arrange for you to leave this afternoon. I’ll make the arr...”
    “Uh, grandfather.” He had to speak up to interrupt his uncle, “I had hoped that since I’m entering an academy soon, that I could go on a hunting trip. It