Sketch protégé brought from the East (4)
I believe the answer is:
draw
'sketch' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'protege brought from the east' is the wordplay.
'protege' becomes 'ward' (both can mean a child in someone's care).
'brought from the east' shows that the letters should be reversed in order (letters written right to left or east to west).
'ward' back-to-front is 'DRAW'.
(Other definitions for draw that I've seen before include "Make representation" , "Tie - attract" , "Sketch - tie" , "Finish level" , "Depict - raffle" .)