Rogue Powers Read Online Free PDF

Politics wasn’t Lydia’s style. “Come on! Let’s go gratify your recruit fixation, so we can then go out to the marketplace!”
    “You’re on!” Giggling, Belle once more grabbed Lydia’s hand, pulling her back inside the castle.
     
    ***
     
    Deliberately forcing himself to relax, Anson stood at the end of the line of recruits drawn up before the royal Throne. Though several dignitaries and princes stood off to the side, including Tenen, the monarch himself had yet to make an appearance.
    Again, he wondered if the smart move was immediate flight. Even now a posse of Demons might be closing in on the Throne Hall to arrest him.
    But there had been twenty recruits in that room. The Demon woman might not even be aware of exactly which leg she’d brushed up against. Who knows? With Tenen’s sudden appearance and fortuitous interference, she might not even be sure herself exactly what had happened.
    Or, perhaps the cleaning woman might have be severely burned, possibly even unable to make a cogent report? There were simply too many variables.
    No, it wasn’t time to run. Not yet, anyway.
    Gritting his back teeth, Anson tried not to fidget in his heavy red tunic, fervently hoping the King’s tardiness wasn’t somehow related to him.
     
    ***
     
    It took only a few minutes for Lydia and Belle to reach the center of the castle. Without breaking stride, they quickly walked by several Royal Guardsmen sentries posted along the passageway. This was the very route used by the King himself when entering the Throne Hall, and was closed to all but royals and Guard members.
    However, about a dozen steps from the doorway leading into the Hall itself, Lydia was struck by an unusual presence. There was someone, an empowered person, inside the Hall whom she’d never felt before. Anxiously she tugged on her friend’s sleeve.
    “Belle!” she whispered, “Are there any royal cousins we’ve not met?”
    “What are you talking about?” Reluctantly coming to a halt, Belle turned back. “Who haven’t we met?”
    “I don’t know. Someone who lives somewhere else?”
    “Lydia, all the royals live here!” Stamping her foot in ill-disguised frustration, Belle gestured ahead. “Come on! The King’s not here yet, and we can still slip inside.”
    Of course, there were those others, the men and women with power who pretended to be servants and such. Lydia wasn’t supposed to know who they were, but she’d picked them all out as well.
    But this new person was both very distinct and extremely subtle. One with great power who didn’t want to be known for who he was.
    Sighing in frustration, Belle turned and flounced her way into the brightly lit Throne Hall. Taking a deep breath, Lydia followed.
     
    ***
     
    At first, Anson was only idly aware of the two girls darting into the crowded Hall, quickly sliding down to positions along the side wall where they could watch the ceremony.
    A few moments later, though, he sensed the presence of a very powerful telepath. Someone was delicately sweeping the room, lightly brushing up against the minds of everyone present.
    It would take tremendous skill, and considerable confidence, to undertake such a search among a room liberally sprinkled with empowered royals. Anyone might detect and become offended by such trespass, the telepathic equivalent of inappropriately touching someone’s body in public. Yet this new person was obviously used to such things, knowing their own abilities were equal to the task.
    This must be a Demon, and a mighty one at that, sent to pick him out from among the twenty recruits. And yet...there was no malevolence to this unfamiliar touch. In fact, it was young and feminine, entirely gentle, and more curious than anything else.
    Fighting back yet another urge to break ranks and bolt from the Throne Hall, Anson somehow managed to remain still as this new, bold aura softly brushed against his own tightly suppressed mental emanations.
    There. A mental gasp of surprise