Frey Read Online Free PDF Page A

and then
whipped back toward her with shock and anger. Her eyes lit with
anticipation. Did she want me to fight back? I had never even talked back to
Fannie. I didn’t have the size to fight her, let alone the magic.
And she was conniving. When I’d first come to live with her she had
sent me to council repeatedly, complaining of my behavior. I had
undergone hours of “evaluations” under the scrutiny of council
members. Exams and trials and endless questions. Black blots on
parchment that made abstract shapes. “What do you see, Elfreda?” I
knew what they wanted to hear–butterfly and flower species. But I
was so resentful toward Fannie for putting me there, I usually saw
a black blob of death consuming her. “A Monarch,” I’d
say.
    She looked past me for an instant at the few
inches of open floor, and I took the opportunity to bolt past her
down the hall, straight out the door at full speed. I ran from the
house ignoring the paths; other elves would be no help to me. I
kept running until I was certain she wasn’t coming, and then I
collapsed at the edge of a meadow. I dropped my face into my hands
and considered weeping.
    “ Freya?” a soft voice
asked.
    I looked up, startled. Chevelle stood just in
front of me. He dropped to his knees and reached out to touch the
mark across my cheek. I turned my head to hide the evidence and his
hand became a cradle on the side of my face.
     
     

     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter Four
    Flame
     
    “ Freya,” he repeated in a
softer, soothing voice as he lifted my face. He appeared to have
real concern as he glanced from what I was sure was now a welt to
my eyes and I struggled to keep the tears that were welling up from
falling. I’d not had a caring touch or this kind of regard from
anyone for so long I didn’t know how to react.
    “ You’ll need to learn
protection spells.”
    “ I… I can’t…”
    “ We won’t tell Francine or
the council,” he promised, and I didn’t miss that he’d used
Fannie’s real name. Then, softer, “We won’t even tell
Junnie.”
    I didn’t understand. “I mean I can’t do
magic… just useless stuff… light candles…”
    “ Then we start with
fire.”
    He lowered his hand to mine and stood,
pulling me up and toward the center of the clearing. When we'd
distanced ourselves from the tree line, he abruptly stopped and
turned back to me, still holding my right hand. My eyes followed
his as he looked down at our clasped hands and a cool blue flame
lit on my right sleeve.
    Immediately, my other hand jerked up to
extinguish it. Chevelle took the hand to keep me from smacking at
the flame, which had already disappeared. “No,” he said, “use the
magic. Feel it.”
    I nodded and he returned his
gaze to our hands, now both connected, as a spark lit at the hem of
my left sleeve and slowly worked its way up my arm. I wanted the fire off my
arm, needed it put out now . When I concentrated on that, the
flame flickered. It flared again and Chevelle squeezed my hands;
I had to be able to
do this. I focused hard at the base of the flame as it wavered and
then fell back toward the hem where it finally choked off. I
glanced up at Chevelle. He looked pleased.
    “ Again,” he said as he
stepped back and released my hands.
    A circle of fire grew in
front of me where our hands had been. It was blocking my view of
Chevelle, I tried to see through it and then it was gone. He was
further back now; he raised his right hand and a stream of fire
followed it and then curved in my direction. I was afraid I
wouldn’t be able to extinguish it before it was to me but my feet
were frozen in place. What was the old saying? Fight fire with fire . I flung my arm
toward the incoming stream of flames and a tongue of fire akin to a
dragon’s shot out and collided with it. I was shocked. I'd only
used my fire to light candles and lanterns, I had no idea I could
produce such a vicious plume of flames. I looked at Chevelle.
“Yes,” he exalted.
    He