Elysa Sparrow: Elysa Sparrow, #1

By Eesha Samantray

ELYSA SPARROW is a girl trapped in a marriage. She lives in a world where people with magic are hunted. It's her luck that she turns out to be one of them. And it doesn't help that her husband is one of the hunters.

 

But she is a bit relieved to be free.

 

**BOOK ONE**

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eesha Samantray
• Release date: Aug 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201783006

Book preview

Chapter 1: My Client

The one thing I liked was my job.

I was an interior designer, designing houses for my wealthy clients. And the best thing was, rich people don’t have that much taste, so I decided for them.

My new client was a woman in her twenties. She had recently married and bought a house to celebrate this special occasion. I had only met her once, but she seemed friendly enough and considerably more likable than most of my other clients.

It was a sunny day, which was very unusual for Darkville, because of its tendency to always be cold and dark out. I walked to the mansion, not wanting to take a cab.

Darkville was not very nice, even if you disregard the fact that the government hunts people with magic and burns them. The people were slimy and rude, and practically half of them supported the executions.

Of course, I can’t speak of all of them.

I squinted at the mansion. It was big (as a manor is and should be), not as significant as Vale’s, but I doubted she or her family were one of the best Gifted killers. The mansion was blue and red, which I wouldn’t have chosen. From behind a wall, I could catch a glance at a large pool.

I pressed the button near the gate. BEEP! A voice boomed from a speaker, ’Hello, what are your intentions?’

That must seem like a weird way to start a conversation, but I’ve been to enough rich folk houses to say it’s a lifestyle. ‘Hi, I’m Elysa Sparrow. Mrs. Beautille had called me for an appointment-’

‘Ahh, Mrs. Sparrow.’ Realization dawned on the woman speaking. ‘Mrs. Beautille had mentioned you for her daily schedule. Come in. Ring the doorbell, and the servant will answer.’

BUZZ! The gate opened, and I walked in. A vast garden was before me, and I could see the pool I’d seen earlier. I could identify most of the flowers, as it was one of my hobbies and Vale had a garden.

It took a few minutes to reach the mansion. I pressed the doorbell. RING! And a woman in her twenties answered. She wore a maids uniform and had blonde hair and brown eyes. ‘Good morning, Mrs. Sparrow! Mrs. Beautille will be-’

‘I’m here!’ I had a tiny peek inside, and on the stairwell was Mrs. Beautille. She wore a blue dress which, in my opinion, had too many sequins. The maids tied her curled black hair tightly in a fairy bun. She smiled at me with her warm brown eyes. ‘Hello, Mrs-’ 

‘Please, as I told last time, call me Elysa,’ I requested, then looked at the servant. ‘You too, Ms-?’

‘Jane,’ she blushed. I thought she was pretty when she did so.

‘Bea?’ a voice came from inside.

‘Coming, darling, Elysa is here,’ Mrs. Beautille answered and looked at me.’Oh, I’m so rude! Come in, honey. Jane, go get some tea.’

The inside was the same as the outside; blue and red. They sat in the living room on emerald couches.

‘Why do you like interior designing, Elysa? If I may ask.’, inquired James, Mrs. Beautille’s husband. He was a tall man with broad shoulders and grey streaks in his hair. He was middle-aged, but I wasn’t surprised by the age difference; many young women married older men.

I knew it was just small talk before business, but I still blushed. I put my cup down. ‘Well, I always wanted to do that, and my mother always said that it was annoying, me changing everything in the house every month.’ My mouth went dry as I talked about my mother. I always ignored thinking about her, and it made her sad.

‘Your husband makes plenty of money doing what he does,’ continued James.

‘Vale,’ I tried to sound loving, ‘is a very good man, but I like to make my own money.’

Jane smiled as she cleaned the stains of tea from the table. ‘What do you do, Mr. Beautille?’

James was astonished to see his name spoken that way. Usually, the men take their last names; if the women want to, they can too. ‘I- I am a lawyer.’

I wondered if he does cases of the Gifted.

‘Well,’ Mrs. Beautille put down her cup of tea. ‘Enough talking. Let’s talk about business.’

Mrs. Beautille was a lovely woman.  She always let me tell my opinions, and she politely stated hers. Soon, I started to feel bad for her. She was definitely in love with her husband, but James was not. He kept staring at Jane and me, and he made remarks about Jane and me, and his wife seemed uncomfortable. So whenever it happened, I sent her out of the room for something such as water.

It didn’t help he was insulting and didn’t let Mrs. Beautille make her own decisions.

‘Honey,’ I finally said. ‘If you like the teal, we can make it work with black.’

James looked furious. ‘I said no,’ he looked at his wife. ‘And my wife says it too, doesn’t she?’

I raised my eyebrows. Mrs. Beautille was trembling. ‘I like the teal-’

As I saw him grab her hand firmly, I watched, shocked. Mrs. Beautille was unsuccessfully hiding her whimpers. ‘Doesn’t she?’

I wanted to kick him. It was the exact repetition of my marriage. It was one more second till he slapped his wife, and I didn’t want it to happen to Mrs. Beautille.

But what could I do? Divorce was forbidden, and she was stuck, like me.

‘I think it would be better if James decided,’ Mrs. Beautille purred, and James let his grip go with a satisfied smirk.

I got up. ‘I think it would be better to continue this tomorrow. Alone, Mrs. Beautille.’

‘Why?’ James also got up, and I didn’t miss his staring at me behind.

‘I’m tired,’ I explained.

‘I am, too,’ said Mrs. Beautille quickly. ‘Perhaps, we should-’

‘Quiet,’ ordered James, and she fell silent.

‘Let her speak.’ My anger burst and I bit my lip. I knew it wouldn’t end well.

James laughed. I resisted the urge to punch him. ‘I’m surprised Vale doesn’t teach you this. She doesn’t know jack shit, and I must help her.’

I was considering punching him. How could he mention my marriage? How dare he talk this way about Mrs. Beautille. ‘My marriage is none of your business.’

‘Honey-’ started Mrs. Beautille anxiously.

‘I said, QUIET!’ he shouted.

‘DON’T TALK TO HER LIKE THAT’  I shouted back.

James looked dead angry. I thought that he would slap either his wife or me, and he had the face of Vale before he did something to me.

But I never knew what he did.

The glass wall burst. We bent down in shock. I looked at it and saw a green object that looked like a shell, and it was ticking. ‘GRENADE!’

Fire engulfed everything around me.

I blacked out.

My last thought was:

‘Finally.’

Chapter 2: Gifted

Iwoke up in a hospital .

I was in a thin white bed with light blue covers. Next to me was a nightstand where someone had placed a cactus and mirror. A beige armchair was three feet away, and two white chairs were next to it.

I looked at the mirror on the nightstand. My face was delicate except for some bruises, and my silver hair was like a bird’s nest. My icy blue eyes stared at me. I looked at my arms. Thin tubes were attached to me, and red blood flowed from a machine to them.

I was going to shout when two doctors came into the room. Well, I learned not to call them doctors. They were more like aids. One was a man with soft purple eyes and short, dark hair, and the other was a dark-skinned woman with green eyes and red hair.

The first assistant said, ‘Zaden! She’s awake!’

‘I know, Raina!’ Zaden replied.

‘Where’s the doctor?’ I asked, annoyed that these two were the ones tending to me, even though they were my age. 

Raina looked annoyed. ‘This is a college hospital. They let us help. And we’ve been here for years, mind you-’

I cut her off. ‘What happened?’

Zaden and Raina exchanged glances. ‘There was a fire.’

’I know that.’ I rolled my eyes.

’Yes,’ said Zaden patiently.

’What happened to the others?’

Raina looked sympathetic. ‘I’m sorry, but nobody made it.’

A sharp hit of pain. I thought of Mrs. Beatille and Jane. I didn’t care for James, but more servants were in the mansion. ‘O-Only me?’

Zaden nodded sadly, then sat down on one of the chairs. Rianna followed. ‘I’m sorry, but we have more news.’

My heart was beating fast. There couldn’t be more bad news. ’What is it?’

’It’s your condition-’

’Wh-what’s