The Schism (The Broken Prism Book 4) Read Online Free

floors. The space was large enough to allow for couches to be placed on either side at strategic intervals, and still allow room for four or five people to walk side-by-side without running into each other. Portraits lined the walls on both sides—likely of the Trout ancestors—and housekeepers casually walked in and out of rooms attached to the main corridor as they went about their work.
    “Stop gawking like a tourist and act as though you have some sense of pride and entitlement,” Magdalene chivvied him quietly.
    Hayden bristled at the unsolicited advice and said, “I don’t suppose I can get the lessons I need without all the snide commentary?”
    Mrs. Trout spared him another glance as she led him down the corridor and said, “This is all part of the lessons you need in order to win your case with the Council of Mages. You will need to look and act like the scion of a Great House if you want to be taken seriously, otherwise they will bully you and steamroll over your childish protests without blinking.”
    Surprised by her candor, Hayden asked, “But Oliver said that the law is on my side.”
    “Why in the world do you think that matters?” She shook her head as though the very idea was ridiculous. “Do you really think that being right is enough?” She answered her own question. “It’s only the first step—albeit an important one. You’ll be receiving a crash-course in estate and inheritance laws so that you will understand your rights, because anything you can’t prove you’re entitled to, you can be talked out of.”
    “So you’re telling me that the Council of Mages is in the business of cheating people who aren’t smart enough or old enough to know how to defend themselves,” Hayden said bluntly, as they turned in to a library that was nearly as large as the one at Mizzenwald.
    “The Council’s business is to do what is best for mage-kind. If they believe that using your money enables them to do that, then that is what they will do, up and until the point that you are able to convince them to stop.”
    Hayden frowned and said, “I’m surprised you’re admitting how immoral the Council is…seeing as how you’re on it, and pretty high-ranking from what I can tell.”
    Magdalene stopped walking and turned to face him.
    “What fool told you that the law is concerned with morality? The law deals in justice for the wronged, and promises only equal treatment to all people, which means that anyone who can do the research to argue their case is entitled to present it and win if their argument is valid. The law cares nothing for morality.”
    That was a new and somewhat alarming take on things. Hayden had never given it too much thought before, but had always imagined that things were very simple: right or wrong, good or bad. It hadn’t really occurred to him that one could be right and still lose.
    Mentally shifting his perspective to absorb this new information, he asked, “If it’s in the Council’s best interest to keep my money and my house, then they can’t be happy with you telling me all of these things and helping foil their plans.”
    She narrowed her eyebrows and replied, “I wasn’t planning on discussing my involvement in your case with my colleagues, and nor should you—unless you want to make a permanent enemy of the Trouts.” There was nothing threatening in her tone, but Hayden could read the intent plainly enough.
    “Ah, so this is all a big secret?”
    “Yes. You were never here, as far as anyone else is concerned. My staff are loyal and will not speak of this outside of the gates.”
    Hayden nodded in understanding, and was about to ask why they were still standing in the library when Oliver and Lorn approached them from the other side of the room.
    He prepared himself for snide insults out of sheer habit, though when Oliver came close enough he simply offered his hand and said, “Welcome to our home, Hayden. I hope you find it to your liking,” as though they