The Chosen by K. J. Nessly Page B

faced several barriers when she started here. By entering the school at the age of eleven she was already seriously behind and had to work extremely hard to catch up to her class, and since she had never really used her powers before she had to work with a special mentor to speed up her development.”
    David didn’t believe that. It was unheard of for gifted children to avoid using their powers. Many couldn’t learn to control their gifts until attending the school. Even more dangerous, the urges all Guardians faced to use their power could kill them if ignored. “That’s impossible,” he said flatly.
    “That’s what so intriguing,” Jasse told him. “I’ve witnessed it myself. Kathryn can go weeks and months, possibly even years, without using her power.”
    “But why wouldn’t she use it?” David asked, his mind reeling with this new revelation.
    Jasse’s expression darkened. “When she was a slave, her mistress told her horror stories about people who had powers like hers. She told Kathryn that the soldiers would take her away and do awful things to her if they ever found out.”
    “And she believed them?”
    Jasse looked at David. “She was only six years old when she discovered her powers. Someone so young and scared is an easy target for lies and deception. We also suspect that she was beaten anytime she attempted to use her gifts”
    David looked at the ground, struggling to contain the distaste that had risen like bile in his throat. He looked back at Jasse, “How could people treat a child like that?”
    “I don’t know,” Jasse admitted. “If you had seen her your heart would have broken for her—so small and scared.”
    “But she’s better now, right? She’s been here for five years, surely that’s enough time for her to get over the lies.”
    “The lies, yes. But that kind of conditioning doesn’t always disappear. She may no longer be fearful over the use of her abilities, but for her, using them is an anathema,” Jasse confessed. “She will always carry the physical scars of her enslavement, but I thought she was past the emotional and mental trauma that had accompanied it.”
    David felt his heart sinking. “She isn’t?”
    “She claims she is, but I don’t believe it.” Jasse looked up at the sky, and then looked into the water. “She’s afraid of being placed in a family.”
    David couldn’t believe what he was hearing; trainees usually looked forward to being placed, feared being not placed. “She’s afraid of being placed into a family?” he echoed.
    Jasse nodded. “All her childhood she never had a family who loved her or cared for her. By the time…” he paused ever-so-slightly before continuing, “we found her she was afraid of making strong bonds with other people.”
    “But she has made friends, right?”
    “She has three.”
    “Only three?”
    “Yes, that is why I’m telling you this; going from three to fourteen in one sudden move is going to overwhelm her.”
    “But surely she knows that once you’ve been placed in a family you never get pulled from it?”
    “Her mind knows, but her heart refuses to let the mind debate the matter.”
    “Does she know she’s been placed?” David asked cautiously.
    Jasse shook his head. “No. I was going to tell her yesterday but I had to focus on the trusting problem.”
    Dave let out a breath. “Thank you for telling me this. It will make it much easier to understand.”
    Jasse turned to look at him. “Oh, there’s more you should know.”
    “More?”
    “This isn’t sad it’s more—intriguing.”
    David waited for Jasse to continue.
    “Remember how I told you that both my friend and Mora sensed something different about the child?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well they were right and it’s the main reason she was admitted late. You actually came pretty close when you asked me if she had an unknown gift,” Jasse paused, trying to figure out how to word his next bit of information, finally he said, “She has