A Tale of Magic... Read Online Free PDF Page B

livelihood came from taxpayers, it was considered distasteful for the Evergreens to enjoy any “extravagances.” And since the Justice valued nothing more than his good reputation, he deprived his family of “extravagances” whenever and wherever possible.
    All the Evergreens’ belongings, from their clothes to their furniture, were hand-me-downs from friends and neighbors. None of their drapes had the same pattern, their dishes and silverware came from different sets, and every chair had been made by a different carpenter. Even the wallpaper had been peeled off the walls of other houses and was a chaotic mix of different designs. Their property was large enough to employ a staff of twenty, but Justice Evergreen believed servants and farmhands were “the most extravagant of extravagances,” so Brystal and her mother were forced to complete all the yard work and household chores by themselves.
    “Stir the porridge while I make the eggs,” Mrs. Evergreen ordered Brystal when she finally arrived in the kitchen. “But don’t overstir them this time—your father hates soggy oats!”
    Brystal tied an apron over her school uniform and took the wooden spoon from her mother. She was at the stove for less than a minute when a panicked voice called to them from the next room.
    “Moooother! Come quick! It’s an emergency!”
    “What’s the matter, Barrie?”
    “One of my buttons has popped off my robe!”
    “Oh, for the king’s sake,” Mrs. Evergreen muttered under her breath. “Brystal, go help your brother with his button. And make it fast.”
    Brystal retrieved a sewing kit and hurried into the sitting room beside the kitchen. To her surprise, she found her seventeen-year-old brother seated on the floor. His eyes were closed and he rocked back and forth while clutching a stack of notecards. Barrie Evergreen was a thin young man with messy brown hair and had been wide-eyed and nervous since the day he was born—but today, he was exceptionally nervous.
    “Barrie?” Brystal addressed him softly. “Mother sent me to fix your button. Can you take a break from studying or should I come back later?”
    “No, now is fine,” Barrie said. “I can practice while you sew.”
    He got to his feet and handed his sister the detached button. Like all students at the Chariot Hills University of Law, Barrie wore a long gray robe and a square black hat. As Brystal threaded a needle and stitched the button back onto his collar, Barrie glanced down at the prompt on his first notecard. He fiddled with the other buttons of his uniform while he concentrated, and Brystal slapped his hand away before he caused more damage.
    “The Purification Act of 342… the Purification Act of 342…,” Barrie read to himself. “That was when King Champion VIII charged the troll community with vulgarity and banished their species from the Southern Kingdom.”
    Satisfied with his answer, Barrie flipped the first notecard over and read the correct answer written on the back. Unfortunately, he was wrong, and reacted with a long, defeated moan. Brystal couldn’t help but smile at her brother’s frustration—he reminded her of a puppy chasing its own tail.
    “This isn’t funny, Brystal!” Barrie said. “I’m going to fail my examination!”
    “Oh, Barrie, calm down.” She laughed. “You’re not going to fail. You’ve been studying the law your entire life!”
    “That’s why it’ll be so humiliating! If I don’t pass the examination today, then I won’t graduate from the university! If I don’t graduate from the university, then I won’t become a Deputy Justice! If I don’t become a Deputy Justice, then I won’t become a Justice like Father! And if I don’t become a Justice, I’ll never become a High Justice!”
    Like all the men in the Evergreen family before him, Barrie was studying to become a Justice in the Southern Kingdom’s court system. He had attended the Chariot Hills University of Law since he was six years old,