Magic Awakens by Lucia Ashta

Author:Lucia Ashta
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub

Escaping Reality

Marcelo had ordered me to gather only the essentials and throw them in a bag. But this was not an easy request for a young woman of the nobility. I had so many extraneous things and garments that in the end I couldn’t decide what was important and what wasn’t.

My mind was racing ahead of itself in anguish and concern for Maggie so that I couldn’t concentrate. In the end, I grabbed only two dresses and my hair and toothbrush, threw them in my small leather bag, and closed it up. I pulled on my winter coat, wrapped a scarf around my throat, and went to find Marcelo.

But I didn’t need to find him. He found me. In fact, he ran right into me, dropping his two bags. He didn’t hesitate or take time to recover from the impact. He snatched his bags up in one hand, grabbed me with the other, and ushered us out the back door, toward the stables.

He half pushed me as I kept looking over my shoulder. I wanted to say goodbye to Maggie. I hadn’t thought I wouldn’t get the chance to hug my friend before we left.

I felt responsible for her well-being. Winston was coming for me. If I’d accepted my parents’ wedding arrangements, Maggie wouldn’t be in harm’s way.

“Move it, Clara. There’s no time for farewells,” Marcelo said, correctly interpreting my backward glances. As if to make his point, the sound of horses reached us. It wasn’t loud yet, but the ground beneath us vibrated. They would be upon us before we could get away without being seen.

Marcelo didn’t have to tell me what the sounds meant or insist on the renewed urgency of our departure. I broke into a run before he did.

“Sir, I prepared your horse and another for the lady as ya wish,” Thomas yelled out. He was standing at the ready, holding two horses by their bridals at the stable entrance. They were saddled to ride.

Marcelo flicked an efficient glance at me while we took the last running steps to reach Thomas. “Can you ride?”

“Of course I can.”

“Do you ride well?”

“Very.”

Winston and his men were racing down the drive now. The driveway was lengthy, but it wouldn’t be long before they reached us.

Marcelo started to hook one of his bags on the side of the saddle but then thought better of it. They were loaded with his books and would slow us down.

“Leave your bag,” Marcelo told me.

I dropped it immediately.

“I’ll send word of where you can send them,” Marcelo told Thomas.

“Go now, Sir” Thomas said. “They’re already here.”

With a glance at me, Marcelo set his horse at a trot. We couldn’t race right past Winston and his troop, not with Maggie and Thomas remaining behind.

I edged my horse right next to Marcelo’s. Whatever he did, I’d imitate, and I had the feeling whatever he did would be sudden and unexpected. I was alert, all my senses heightened by threat and fear.

Maggie was at the lake house’s front door.

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