Magical Gift by C.L. Carhart

Author:C.L. Carhart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: billionaire romance, castles, clean romance, coming of age fantasy, elemental magic, forbidden love, new adult paranormal romance, novella, romantic fantasy, soul mate romance, strong female lead, suspense, true love, witches
ISBN: 9781954807341
Publisher: C.L. Carhart
Published: 2024-07-30T04:00:00+00:00

***

It seemed like hours later when I approached my assigned seat in a vast hall lined with white-draped dining tables. The musicians from the chamber orchestra had stationed themselves beside the hall’s entrance, a pleasant number by Pachelbel weaving amid countless conversations. Each rectangular table held exactly thirty seats, and there were fourteen tables lined up with a carpeted aisle between them. My feet moved of their own accord, veering me toward the tighter aisle beside the row of windows that overlooked an outdoor display of glass sculptures.

I could not hold my head high and march down the carpeted aisle like the Teuton princess I was not. Not when I just found out I must sit at Table Five, Place Nine. One insignificant table among thirteen others. Not privileged to join those at the smaller, more regal table upon the low landing at the far end of the hall. Sylvia Ensminger was not worthy to sit at the Heydt table.

The place I had sat since I first attended this particular ball at age twelve. Until tonight, I had always earned a seat beside Siegfried. His trusted friend and confidante. Eldest daughter of the Keyholder of Wels. A worthy partner.

Not tonight.

Prisca had fairly dragged me back into my spirit form so I could take her to where she would meet her trusted friend and confidante after dinner. In the thick of things, I managed to ask her for a bit of clarification regarding Knight Wechmar, his daughter-in-law, and his ill-fated granddaughter. What little information she shared did not assuage the anxiety clawing my heart to pieces.

Why did the Wechmar maiden decide to come to a masquerade ball in the middle of nowhere in search of a rich Teuton husband? Most of the attendees were outsiders; she would have had better luck at the Taubenball in Nürnberg. “Oh, she didn’t go to last year’s Taubenball because her mother says everyone who goes to those is broke. The next one’s four years out, anyway.”

How did the Wechmar family find out about tonight’s event? The matronly water witch seemed unimpressed by the Heydt castle’s remote location. “You can blame my brother for that. He met Knight Wechmar last month while he handled our family’s affairs in Regensburg. Then he got introduced to the granddaughter. He invited her here in hopes of rescuing her from a political marriage.”

Prisca had wrinkled her nose and grumbled about how terrible it would be to marry into the oil industry. I abandoned her spirit in the screened porch without warning, leaping back to my body while my mind worked to grasp Siegfried’s true motives. It made sense to sympathize with a young, pure-blooded witch about to be forced into an unbalanced relationship. Especially if the oil barons pimped out their wives. Siegfried once told me that such crimes were common among wealthy outsiders. The Heydt family refused to play that game.

But did Siegfried know the maiden’s mother expected him to propose to her tonight? The water witch seemed completely convinced when she rehearsed her tale in the conservatory.

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