Read The Schism (The Broken Prism Book 4) for Free Online Page A

Edgar, our family accountant,” Magdalene gestured towards the man, pausing long enough to thank the kitchen staff who brought their food in.
    Wow, my guess wasn’t far off after all.
    “Hello, nice to meet you,” Hayden responded reflexively, which caused Lorn to barely suppress an eye-roll. He would normally have shot Lorn a nasty look, but realized that Mrs. Trout was scrutinizing his use of the tableware to see how much he remembered from the night before. Determined not to embarrass himself, Hayden dedicated his entire focus to making sure he used the correct utensils for each item and refrained from any horrible breaches in etiquette while they ate. It seemed to come naturally to Oliver and Lorn, who moved seamlessly from one dish to the next without any conscious effort from years of practice.
    “Oliver, when you’ve finished eating I want you at the training grounds warming up,” Magdalene addressed her oldest son as soon as she set down her fork (the last of three). “I’ll be out shortly to duel you. In the meantime, give Lorn some practice in the hand-to-hand arena; his sweeping kicks still need considerable work.”
    Lorn scowled at the remnants of his meal and said, “I’m just not as good at fighting without magic as you and Oliver.”
    “No, you aren’t,” his mother admitted without apology. “However, that’s no reason to stop trying. With effort, you can and will improve to the best of your ability, and those skills will serve you well if and when you actually need them.”
    Lorn’s ears turned red in embarrassment, but all he said was, “I know. I’ll go get changed.” And he slid from his seat and walked off with as much dignity as he could muster.
    Hayden still wasn’t entirely used to the blunt honesty that Magdalene Trout treated her children to, and had mixed feelings about whether it was a good approach to parenting or not. On the one hand, he found it refreshing to know that she wasn’t sugar-coating her words or treating them like children, but on the other hand he could see where it must be daunting for Oliver and Lorn to have to fight for every scrap of approval from their own mother.
    He was still thinking about it when she addressed him.
    “You made a few minor mistakes during the meal, but nothing terribly important.” She nodded to Edgar as though to say, See, he’s teachable. “We’ll go over your errors in more detail during lunch,” she assured him. “I don’t want to bombard you with information too early in the day, especially right before your meeting with Edgar.”
    Hayden suppressed a grimace at the thought of that, since the last time he met with accountants it had led to expulsion from Mizzenwald and a list of crimes as long as his arm that he was to be arrested for. Then again, those had been the High Mayor’s own Fias, and Edgar didn’t appear as arrogant as any of them, so maybe he would be alright to work with…
    “What are we meeting about?” Hayden asked with interest as Edgar rose to his feet and motioned for him to follow. Mrs. Trout followed a few paces behind them in silence.
    “I’m told you have some legal woes and need to be trained up as quickly as possible in order to get your estate back,” he replied smoothly, turning in to the library and taking a seat on one of three armchairs that was set up around a mahogany end-table, which was stacked depressingly-high with books.
    “I’m going to have to do my own accounting for this?” Hayden grimaced at the thought. However much he had improved last year, he still hated math.
    Edgar smirked and pulled his glasses onto his face, peering at Hayden over the top of them.
    “I’m actually an attorney, who happens to have enough accounting certifications to claim the title when in mixed company.” He shrugged at Hayden’s surprise. “People are usually much more willing to speak candidly around a banker than they are a lawyer, so it’s useful to be able to switch titles depending on my