Centyr Dominance Read Online Free PDF Page A

more intelligent than she had initially assumed, and Moira began to divide her
     attention, using her magesight to study the girl who was forcing her to thoroughly
     reassess her opinion of her own chess skills.
    Back at home she normally couldn’t study people’s
     minds. Her father’s enchanted pendants effectively shielded the minds of
     everyone she had grown up around, so it was a relatively rare occasion for her
     to be able to watch the inner workings of other human beings.
    Laura’s aythar was normal in most regards, but the
     working of her mind was unusually sophisticated. Moira could readily see the
     damaged areas of her brain, but it was the undamaged portions that fascinated
     her. She couldn’t read the girl’s thoughts, not without more direct contact,
     but just by watching, she could tell that Laura’s mind was exceptionally capable.
    
     The peasant girl’s mind moved rapidly as she considered the chessboard,
     examining and discarding possibilities with brutal efficiency.
    She’s brilliant, noted
     Moira. I wonder if this is what Lady Rose’s mind looks like when she’s not
     wearing one of the pendants. She suppressed a sudden urge to reach out and
     touch the other girl more directly, mind to mind.
    That was something she was not supposed to do, her
     mother had warned her about it previously.
    Not her real mother, of course, but Moira Centyr, the
     shade left behind by her original mother, who had died over a thousand years
     past. She had cautioned her about such contact years ago, before she had been
     given a new body and become human.
    You must never allow yourself to touch the
     minds of normal humans, the Stone-Lady had warned her.
    “Why not?” she had asked. She had been only ten at
     the time.
    You are a Centyr mage. We perceive the
     mind in a different way.
    “But I talk to Dad and my brother that way all the
     time,” Moira had protested.
    They are wizards. Their minds are not so
     delicate.
    “And Mother and Father talk mind to mind sometimes…”
    Your father is not a Centyr. We must be
     more careful.
    Why? asked Moira
     silently.
    We can change things. We have a special
     affinity for the aythar of the mind, but without sufficient skill even the
     slightest touch could alter or damage a human’s mind.
    “Is that why everyone wears those necklaces Father
     makes?” she had asked.
    No. Your father made those for a
     different reason, but it is for the best that they wear them. In my day,
     Centyr children were kept away from non-mages until they were old enough to control
     their impulses.
    “I would never hurt someone,” she had insisted.
    Have you ever built a house of cards? the
     Stone-Lady had asked. What happens when your younger brother finds it? Now
     imagine if everyone’s mind were a complex house of cards, one touch can bring
     the entire thing tumbling down. That’s why young Centyr mages were kept
     isolated. Even after you are grown, you must avoid contact with normal minds.
     The tiniest mistake can destroy someone’s life, and if ever they suspect what
     you can do, they will fear you.
    “I should return,” said Sarah, breaking Moira’s train
     of thought.
    Her daughter shook her head negatively. She wanted to
     play more, and it was obvious that her new friend was willing to continue for a
     while.
    Sarah held her breath for a moment before answering,
     “Fine. Stay if you wish, but come in as soon as they get tired. I don’t want
     you making a nuisance of yourself.”
    Moira smiled at that, and Laura nodded in agreement.
     The two of them played for another couple of hours, while Gram and Chad both
     gave up and fell asleep. In all that time Moira never won a game, though she
     came close at one point when Sarah began to drowse.
    The other girl closed her eyes while Moira set up the
     pieces once more. When she finished she realized that Laura had fallen soundly
     asleep. Moira pushed the board aside and studied the other girl intently.