Read The Silver Dwarf (Royal Institute of Magic, Book 4) for Free Online Page B

pie away. Would he start a fight in such a public place?
    Aaron spread his arms as he approached, as if he was expecting a hug, not a thump to the face.
    “So, how was it?” he asked with a smile. His voice was unusually loud – was he trying to be overheard? “It blows that Taecia battleground away, doesn’t it?
I’m almost regretting letting you guys train there.”
    William frowned at him. “We didn’t train there. Your elf wouldn’t let us past the front gate.”
    Aaron’s jaw dropped quite spectacularly. “What? Are you serious? I sent a message to him the moment you guys left.”
    Aaron was a good actor. He was really good. Those around listening were left in no doubt that Aaron was genuinely shocked. Ben even suspected one or two of
his own team members believed him, though William wasn’t among them. But Ben could see Will was in a spot. If he challenged Aaron now, it would look all
wrong. Will hesitated, unsure how to respond, and Aaron pressed on.
    “I’m going to personally make sure the front gate is open tonight,” he said. His eyes narrowed, as if he were genuinely angry, and he clenched his fist.
“Don’t worry about that elf – he won’t be there.”
    *
    Aaron was right. That night, when they travelled again to the D’Gayle mansion, the elf was nowhere to be seen and the front gate was unlocked.
    “We’re in!” Simon said, licking his lips and rubbing his hands.
    As they walked round the side of the building, Ben spotted several golf buggies, similar to the one the elf had driven them in the last time. Charlie,
whose memory and sense of direction equated to an inbuilt satnav, directed them through the formal landscape and into the gentle rolling hills. Eventually
the winding path opened up into a large valley, and Ben saw an arch ahead, engraved with the words “ D’Gayle Stadium”. The buggies passed through the
arch, and then came to a stop.
    The stadium was just as Ben remembered it – huge, imposing, and dug deep into the valley, with sloped seating running all around the battleground.
    There was just one problem.
    “I can’t hardly see a thing,” Charlie said, squinting. “Shouldn’t there be some magic lights or something?”
    “Yes, there should,” William said.
    They walked down the centre aisle until they reached the battleground. Without any natural light, Ben could make out only shadows. He walked forwards and
nearly fell into a tunnel that was concealed in the grass.
    “Should we go back to the house and tell them to fire up the lighting system?” Natalie asked.
    “No,” William said. “That would take too long, and they would just ignore us.”
    “Why?” Natalie asked. “How can they expect us to train here without light?”
    “They don’t,” William said. Ben couldn’t see his face clearly, but he could guess as to the expression.
    It slowly dawned on the rest of the group what was going on.
    “He’s done it again, hasn’t he,” Natalie said. “Tricked us.”
    “Not only that,” Lisa added. “He’s wasting our time. We didn’t train yesterday, and now we can’t train again today.”
    Ben heard a clap – possibly William slapping his fist into his hand.
    “Yes, we can,” William said firmly. “We train here.”
    “What, in the near darkness?” Lisa asked. “That’s a bit dangerous, isn’t it?”
    “We have no choice,” William said. He raised his voice. “Form a line, now!”
    They tried valiantly to train for half an hour, using their spellshooters for lights, but it was difficult. After several awkward falls – Charlie falling
down a tunnel and Lydia running headlong into a tree – William finally called it a day.
    They headed back home bruised and more than a little deflated.
    *
    “I don’t believe it!”
    Aaron slammed a hand on the table, during lunch the following morning. He had made the same play – coming in late and walking straight over to their table,
making sure everyone was watching. If anything, he looked more