The Chosen Read Online Free PDF Page A

prepare and serve the food.
    Upon entering the kitchen, Kathryn learned that the manor had guests for dinner, which explained her mistress’s need to look her best.
    “I swear,” the kitchen maid whispered to the cook, “the guests ar e wizard s .” The whole room gasped with the exception of Kathryn who didn’t have a clue as to what a wizard was.
    “Oh, rubbish!” The chef called to the huddled maids. “Wizards ain’t been seen in thousands of years. Left with the Elves, they did. Now stop yacking and git yer serving done!”
    Before the kitchen gossip could begin and Kathryn could learn what a wizard was, the head manservant entered and announced it was time to serve the feast.
    “Kathryn!” The cook bellowed at the small girl.
    Immediately Kathryn made her way forward and stood before the cook, waiting patiently for her assignment.
    “You look like a village beggar,” she sniffed. Moving to the largest linen closet she reached inside and pulled out an overgown that would adequately cover the child and yet would still be large enough to hide her malnourished frame. “Put this on,” she ordered.
    Immediately Kathryn obeyed and stood quietly while the chef tucked the material in several places. Finally the woman seemed satisfied with the way the fabric lay and reached across the counter to where several pitchers sat.
    “You’re in charge of the wine.” The plump woman handed her a pitcher, and leaned down. “Make sure you give them enough,” she hissed.
    Kathryn nodded and hurried out the door. She hadn’t even taken five steps into the great hall when she caught her first glance of the manor’s guests. She froze, and panic threatened to settle in.
    There, seated at the table with the Lord and Lady, were the four outcasts from the forest. A poke in her back jolted her feet back into motion. Making her way to the table, she began automatically pouring the wine. The Lord and Lady of Blackwood Manor were in lighthearted conversation with their guests prompting Kathryn to wonder if her mistress knew who exactly it was she was entertaining for dinner.
    Throughout the entire meal Kathryn kept her eyes on the floor, hoping against all hope that the strange lady wouldn’t recognize her. Unfortunately, all of the guests seemed to take some notice of her, despite her desperate attempts to blend into the background throughout the whole meal. It was the woman who scared Kathryn the most. Throughout the whole meal the dark haired lady kept one eye on Kathryn.
    Kathryn was struggling with what to do. If the outcasts were as dangerous as Lady Blackwood had told her, then her mistress deserved to know who she was entertaining. But to expose such a thing would reveal Kathryn’s own secrets.  Finally Kathryn decided to leave everything alone. Perhaps there was a chance she had been wrong in the forest and these people weren’t outcasts. She didn’t want to risk losing her small freedom of the forest or the calming power of the water. She would remain silent—as always—she could only pray that the guests would remain silent about what they had seen in the forest.
    After the meal was over the privileged retired to a different room and the servants cleaned up the mess. Kathryn felt the guests’ eyes on her as they retired to the sitting room, and knew that they were going to ask about her. Her only hope was that the Blackwoods would conduct themselves as they had in the past with other guests; speaking mainly of themselves, their estate, and their ancestors…leaving very little room for their guests to comment themselves.
    For the next three radians she was constantly glancing down the hall where her mistress and her guests had gone. Worry making the time feel three times longer than it actually was.
    Kathryn’s last job was to wash the floor, a chore she looked forward to with great apprehension as the scabs from the last time still hadn’t completely healed and her neck was only just regaining its full range