Page 4 of Pawns of Fate
“Could I see it?” Ava asked, curiosity plain on her face.
“Oh!” Rose paused. It was rude to ask someone to use their magic like a party trick, but perhaps Ava didn’t know. And truthfully, there wasn’t any harm in Rose using her aura. Her cousin could use his aura to manipulate emotions and consciousness in people and animals, even going so far as to make others fall asleep in the middle of a conversation. But all Rose could manage to do with it was soothe the emotions of other people, and Ava already seemed to have calmed down. If she’d really wanted to impress Ava, she would have used it when she first stumbled across her, but it wouldn’t hurt anything to show her.
“Can I use it on you?” Rose asked. “It will feel pleasant, like a warm hug from a loved one.”
“Certainly!”
Rose took Ava’s hands into her own. She focused on the energies around her, searching for her tether to the aural plane. The tips of her fingers tingled, then her senses shifted, allowing her to touch and see the life force surrounding every living creature in the garden.
Rose drew her focus inward. She needed to be fully aware of her own aura, her own life force, before she could manipulate Ava’s. But she was distracted by a human-sized, masculine-shaped energy that gave off small sparks. She hadn’t seen anything quite like it before, but Rose had to assume it was a mage with an affinity for elemental magic like fire, wind, or perhaps lightning. It had to be a lively element, given how kinetic and ever-changing the energy was. They were rapidly approaching her and Ava.
Rose regained her focus. Her fingertips now tingled as if she were sticking them too close to a fire, which meant her aura had manifested on the physical plane.
“You’re glowing! It’s pink!” Ava was delighted.
Rose focused on transferring soothing, calming, aural energy to Ava, whose positive energy wouldn’t need or feel very much. Still, Rose enjoyed using her magic in a way that made someone else happy.
“Oh, you were right,” Ava gushed. “It feels so nice, like I’m taking a relaxing bath! Thank you!”
Rose turned around as she untethered from the aural plane. The owner of the masculine, kinetic aura should be showing themselves soon.
“What are you doing?” a low voice inquired.
An aristocratic man with wavy silver hair approached the two women, directing his question at Ava. Rose couldn’t help but glance at his well-muscled figure and deep, blue eyes. Was this Ava’s husband, York?
“Nicholas, this is my friend Rose,” Ava announced cheerfully.
Rose didn’t take long to rack her brain and realize who ‘Nicholas’ was. Marquess Sharp had two sons. York, Ava’s husband, was the younger. If Rose remembered correctly, Nicholas was the older and, according to noble gossip, far more cunning of the two.
She understood now why his energy presented itself so kinetically on the aural plane. He was a lightning mage.
“I didn’t ask if she was your friend,” Nicholas replied curtly. “I asked her what exactly she was doing, using magic on a member of the Sharp family?”
Rose felt her jaw clench and pulse quicken as she realized the implications of his accusation. The scowl on his striking face told her Nicholas thought she’d been using her aura to control or harm Ava. He had no way to know that Rose didn’t have those capabilities. She needed to clear up the misunderstanding, but Ava jumped in before Rose could even gather her thoughts.
“I asked her to show me! Stop jumping to conclusions, Nicholas. No one was trying to hurt me,” Ava scolded her brother-in-law with no fear. Her blunt personality could come in handy after all, Rose realized.
Nicholas’s face softened. Rose breathed a sigh of relief, then stood up to introduce herself to this man who had already made her pulse race for more than one reason.
Chapter 2
NICHOLAS
Nicholas knew Rose was simply acquiescing to Ava’s ridiculous request. He’d been eavesdropping on their conversation for a while. He couldn’t help himself because he was surprised to find a noble lady treating Ava kindly. She always got into trouble at social events by forgetting or ignoring basic etiquette rules. Like the time she forgot to address Duke Talbot by the correct title. Or the time she’d eaten an entire bowl of chilled soup instead of using it as a palate cleanser. Or the time she’d fallen while wearing a heavy, expensive dress. Three servants had to help thepoor girl up. Nicholas blamed himself for that one. He should have thought about the training and practice that went into wearing a full ball gown before throwing one on Ava and expecting her to meet dozens of new people at a party.
His mother would have foreseen and prevented these disasters had she still been alive. But without her, Ava’s etiquette training fell to him, York, and their father.
York was never any help. In fact, his brother often caused more of a scene than Ava herself. His strengths were on the battlefield, not navigating noble society. So, whenever there were events where it was inappropriate to bring an etiquette tutor along, Nicholas felt obligated to educate and guide Ava on her journey to becoming a proper, noble lady.
When João told him about the situation with Tory Walton, Nicholas wished, not for the first or last time, that his mother was still alive. She would have loved Ava and been a much better guide for her than Nicholas.
He resolved to find Ava and calm her down before York could overreact. He had just spotted Ava when he noticed she was sitting with another noblewoman, and that woman was actually comforting her instead of making the situation worse. He was even more surprised to realize the woman was Rose Robson, Hector Robson’s adopted niece.
Rose handled Ava’s quirks with tact and poise, Nicholas had thought as he listened. Initially, he hadn’t planned to eavesdrop, but he’d just been so… impressed.
Then Ava rudely asked to see Rose’s aural magic, and Nicholas groaned internally. He jumped up to scold Ava butfound himself surprised again to see the two women surrounded by a charming pink aura.
“I’m sorry, Lord Sharp. I didn’t mean any harm,” Rose politely murmured as she curtseyed toward him. With her elegance and poise, she was the very picture of a lady. Her blue dress was simple, yet delicate, and her pink hair fell in wispy ringlets around her face. She used a well-manicured hand to tuck the hairs behind her ear in yet another elegant gesture, then looked up at him with soft eyes that matched both her hair and lips, which now curved into a gentle smile.
