Fearless The King Series Book One - By Tawdra Kandle Page 0,139

want.

Ever observant, Michael rescued me. “Mom, do you need to put Tas and me to work? What can we do?”

“Not a thing right now. Turkey’s in the oven, potatoes are boiling away… everything else is ready and waiting. In a little while you can send Tasmyn in to help us finish up.” Marly sank into a kitchen chair and waved a hand at us. “Gram and I are going to sit down and have a rest here for a bit. Why don’t you three go for a walk or something? Give Tas and Lela a chance to get acquainted.”

I knew we all saw through Marly’s shrewd manipulation, but despite that, we filed obediently out of the kitchen and onto the deck. Once there, Lela turned to Michael.

“I can stay here. I don’t need to tag along with you. It’s okay.”

Michael opened his mouth to protest, but I spoke first. “Lela, I would really like the chance to talk to you, to know you. I know this whole situation is new, but it would be wonderful if we could be friends.” I knew I was blushing again; stepping out of my comfort zone to make a speech like that was still difficult for me.

Lela’s face was inscrutable, and I carefully blocked her thoughts, purposefully concentrating on Michael’s mind to avoid hearing Lela.

Finally she nodded. “Okay. Let’s sit out here. It’s warm enough today in the sun.”

Michael pulled me into the double glider with him, and Lela curled into a nearby chair. We were all quiet, and over the thought buzz coming from inside the house, I could hear birds calling to one another. Michael used the hand he held to tug me closer so that our bodies were fused at one side. He swung one arm around me, and I nestled my head into the crook between his neck and shoulder.

I knew he was making a statement here, presenting his sister with a unified front. It was a “love me, love Tasmyn” gesture, which I appreciated in one sense; but in another, the last thing I wanted to do was purposely provoke Lela.

She was gazing at me steadily, without either antagonism or warmth. I was working hard to keep up my mental wall, since I knew that at least part of Lela’s uncertainty arose from her distrust of my abilities.

“Do you hear… everything?”

Her question was so soft that I might have missed it. I smiled to assure her that I didn’t mind answering.

“If I opened myself up, relaxed, yes, I’d be able to hear just about everything. I might not understand it all because it would be like hearing everyone in a crowd talking at once.”

“What do you mean, if you opened yourself up?”

I shifted slightly in the swing, so that my back lay against Michael. He slid his arm down and linked his two hands around my waist. That core part of me that still wondered at the miracle of Michael and his love for me sighed in contentment. I tried to bring my focus back to Lela’s question.

“I have the capacity to block most of it. At least, I used to be able to do it. It’s not easy. It would be like you trying not to hear anything that I’m saying right now. You could do it; you could focus really hard on not listening to me, and you probably would miss most of what I say. But it takes lots of practice and concentration to block thoughts on a regular basis.

“I could do it more easily, before I met Michael. But it’s much harder now.”

“How come? I mean, I know my brother complicates things—” she saucily stuck out her tongue at Michael, “—but why particularly with this?”

I was relieved to see that Lela seemed to be coming to terms with me and with my abilities. Michael was unruffled. He tightened his grip around me, and I felt his lips brush my hair. My sister’s such a brat, I heard him think affectionately. But she’s coming around.

“I don’t know that it’s all Michael’s doing. The main difference is that I never had friends, never had anyone other than my parents close to me. Now that I do have these relationships… well, it’s the most wonderful thing in the world, but it does mean I can’t focus all the time.”

It was Lela’s turn to look at me with sympathy. “Why didn’t you have friends?”

“For the very reasons I just explained. I had to focus on not hearing thoughts, which