Branded Mage Read Online Free PDF Page B

warm hug, lingering just slightly longer than what he thought was comfortable.
    The sun was already sitting low on the horizon. He had spent much longer then he had intended at the school. The temptation to return to the palace, where he hoped the books the dean had promised waited on him, was great. The only thing that stopped him was Shariel.
    Making his way to his house by the market , a smile crept on his face. This was his first visit to town in a long time, and the familiar sights and sounds were like music to his ears. Stopping by a local bakery he picked up a few of Shariel’s favorite blueberry tarts.
    The magical lights of the house had already been turned on. Approaching slowly he could hear talking and laughing even from outside the house. At first he had worried how Shariel would handle taking care of herself, but the princess had promised that she was well taken care of in his ab sence.
    The door was unlocked so he opened it as carefully as possible, wanting to surprise her. Creeping through the house he followed the voices to the small dining room where he found Shariel talking and eating with two teenage. She had a large smile on her face and her dimples were showing brightly as she laughed.
    As he stepped through the door frame, the two teen girls noticed him and their expressions dropped. Shariel still laughing turned to see what the other girls were staring at and let out a high-pitched squeal that threatened to rupture his ear drums.
    She ran over and gave him a tight hug as the other two girls giggled. “Thad!” she shouted as she gave him another quick hug, then remembering her friends she blushed slightly. “This is my brother, the one I told you about.”
    After the excitement settled down , he joined the three girls for their evening meal. While he ate, Shariel filled him in on everything that he had missed including her birthday. She was doing good in school and many of her friends and even a few of the teachers checked up on her regularly to make sure she was doing ok. A few had even offered to open up their homes to her.
    “That is one of the reasons I’m here. I have talked to the queen and she has given permission for you to take residence in the p alace if you want.”
    Shariel’s face lit up for a brief moment , and then quickly took on a serious tone. Pulling a strand of her light blond hair she began chewing on it. “If I did that, it would be a lot harder for me to spend time with my friends. This is kind of our base, but we don’t do anything bad. You’re not mad are you?”
    Thad tried to hold back a laugh as Shariel raced through the reasons she wanted to stay. “Shariel if you want to stay here , that’s fine with me. I just wanted to give you the option. I would like it if you visited me from time to time though, and when I find a chance I’ll come over to see how you are doing. How does that sound?”
    “That sounds perfect.” Shariel said , her face taking on a dreamlike quality.
    He spent the rest of the evening talking with the girls. The girls each taking turns telling stories that involved some silly prank or antic by one of the others. Whenever Shariel was mentioned in one of the stories she would blush furiously, but the lighthearted tone of the evening kept him laughing and smiling late into the night.
    Shortly after the two teen girls left, Thad and Shariel agreed it was also time for Shariel to make her way up to her own room, leaving Thad sitting by the fire alone. Though it had only been a little over half a year since he had left, it felt like half a lifetime since he had been there.
    It had been a long bump y road to where he was now. One that nearly got him killed a few times due to his own stupidity. Looking back, not everything had worked out how he had wanted, but he wasn’t sure he would change anything. He reached up and rubbed the tattoo. Well, maybe a few things.
    Instead of trudging through the snow in the cold night air, Thad decided to spend a