Page 37 of The Chosen Two

“Joanna? Should I know who that is?” Then the memory hits me, and it takes everything in me not to slam on the brakes. “Um, Joanna, my predecessor?”

“Yes. You are in the rare, actually, unprecedented, situation where you have the opportunity to meet the previous Guardian. How can we pass that up?”

“You could have let me known ahead of time. I would have dressed more professionally or something.”

“Dress for the job you don’t want but were born into anyway?”

“Something like that. Hey, was that a joke?” I glance at him and see the hints of a smile on his lips.

“Maybe. Don’t get used to it. I’m not here to be funny.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. You’re not my friend. You’re my docent. I get it.”

“Yup. Plus, you’re in your gi. Doesn’t get much more ‘for the job’ than that.”

He has a point. The rest of the drive is quiet. Aside from his navigation, we don’t have much to say to each other. He’s made it clear that ours is only a working relationship, and even though I’m obviously not the kind of person who can compartmentalize that way, I’m trying really, really hard to respect the choice he’s apparently made.

After about an hour, we reach our destination: a sprawling blue Victorian farmhouse separated from the road by a manicured lawn that is bigger than my entire property. The white wraparound porch leads to a small screened-in gazebo at the corner on the far side of the facade, away from the driveway and garage, and off-set from the house enough to look out over the expansive fields in the back of the property.

I let out a low whistle. “Does being Guardian come with some kind of paycheck that you failed to mention? I just assumed since it’s my birthright and not really an option that it’s a free gig. But damn.”

George rolls his eyes. “Um, no. When the League of Docents came to the decision that Joanna was, well, to put it bluntly, surviving past the normal life expectancy of a Guardian, they realized they should take care of her. So, they bought her and Benjamin this farm. They figured that since it’s remote, they would be out of harm’s way, for the most part. That is, unless they need her to jump back into harm’s way.”

My eyes instinctively roll. “They sound charming, really. Can’t wait to meet these League guys. Who’s Benjamin?”

He waits until we’re both out of the car to answer casually. “Oh, uh, Benjamin is her docent…and her husband.”

I don’t have time to ask any of the many questions that little nugget brought to my mind because just then a woman, older than me but not by as many years as I’d expected, comes out of the red front door and down the first of the four front steps. She smiles to us and waves her hand, indicating for us to follow her to the gazebo. And we do.

It’s eerily quiet here. I’m not used to being so far from the sounds of traffic, or from neighbors fighting with one another, or from kids fighting with one another. The tranquility is kind of nice but more off-putting. I feel like I’ve entered one of those soundproofed rooms that no one can stand for more than a few minutes without losing their mind.

When we enter the gazebo, Joanna leans over a wrought iron and glass table and pours lemonade. She lifts a glass in each hand and brings them to us. “Well, hello there. You must be George. And you, you must be Miranda. It’s a true honor to meet you, dear.” After handing me the glass, she puts her hands on my arms, just below my shoulders, and closely inspects my face with a broad smile.

I smile back. Her eyes are warm glowing pools, even with all she must have seen in her life. Her skin has the sort of earthy look only earned by working in the sun for years. I suspect her dark grey hair once looked similar to mine, both in color and style. She wears it pulled back in a low braid, but the few flyaways tell me her hair’s natural state is frizzy curls, just like mine.

After a minute, she releases me and turns back to the table, pointing to the chairs surrounding it with an open hand as if she works at an amusement park and doesn’t want to take the chance of insulting someone with a true pointing gesture.

I force myself to speak as I take a seat. “Hi, Joanna. It’s really nice to meet you.”

She smiles and nods her head once slowly, proudly. Now that I’m here, it’s hard not to fangirl. George was right. One Guardian getting to meet another is unprecedented; I cannot waste this moment. I have to think of good questions and not to embarrass myself.

“So, how did you live so long? I mean, not that you’re old, because you’re not. I just mean, how did you keep from being killed at a young age? You know?”

Yeah, good one Miranda. Way to go.

In the chair to my left, George audibly groans from my ability to make quite that big an ass of myself. Joanna smiles sweetly, staring off into her fields and remembering back to the times my questions evoked.

“It wasn’t anything I did, to be honest. Things just kind of settled down around the time I was called up. I had a few years of hard work, and then, it just sort of fell off. And even the years I worked, I never had to deal with anything too big or dangerous. It’s like they all knew to stay hidden, or they were hibernating or something.”

I nod. “So, your docent never, oh, let’s just say, threw you into a maze with a minotaur, for example?”

She laughs deeply, straight from her soul. Her eyes crinkle at the corners. Then she claps her hands together and rests her thumbs against the dip in her upper lip as she regains her composure. “Oh, Benjamin sent me into all kinds of places with all kinds of creatures.” She leans toward me and stages a whisper. “And I’m including him amongst them!” Her tone tells me she’s joking, but also not. “But the creatures were all domesticated and threw only their species’ signature moves, so I had real life practice.”

“Oh, sure. Of course. Domesticated. Did Ben just pick them up at the local farm and horse show, or...?”

“Well, no. Back then, the League had all sorts of connections and resources. They basically had a whole catalog of domesticated creatures they could get their hands on fairly easily if a docent wanted to use one to train their Guardian.”

My brow furrows. “Were there more of us then?”

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