“Splendid,” Lucenna groused as she moved on to another green patch.
“If you want it, I’ll trade it for a kiss.”
“Attempt it, and no amount of clovers will protect you.”
Klyde’s laughter resonated across the field.
Zev canted his head as Rawn picked up another set of feathers to fletch. “You haven’t told us much about your family.”
“I regret to say I left the day after my son was born. My wife, however, was the grace that changed my life.” He glanced at his other gold ring, the one that Aerina put on his finger the day they were wed. “I am alive today because of her … and I am sorry to have been parted from her for so long.”
How much his life had changed since he accepted that mission. Where would he be now if he had turned it down?
“I am sure she is eagerly waiting for your return,” Zev said. “How did you come to meet her?”
“It’s a long story…”
Dyna returned to sit on her bed mat beside them with a huff. “I give up,” she sighed.
“Already?” Zev asked with a chuckle.
“It’s too dark to see now. Perhaps in the morning … oh, look!” Dyna exclaimed. “You have a bit of luck, Lord Norrlen.”
Nestled within the tuft of grass by his boot was a small stem with four heart-shaped leaves. “It appears I have.” He plucked the clover and handed it to her. “Take it.”
“I can’t. It belongs to the one who found it.” She placed it inside of a small leather pouch no bigger than two inches and fastened it to the inside of his tunic with a pin. “There. Four-leaf clovers have magic of their own. It will provide protection against any spells cast against you.”
“I remember,” Rawn murmured, pressing his hand over it. If only he had had a bit of luck when he had needed it.
Twenty-Five YearsAgo
When he had enteredthe throne room, Rawn dropped to one knee and bowed. He took a shallow breath to calm his hammering heart, his hands trembling. Not once had he been in the presence of the king before today, now he was only a few feet away from him.
King Leif’s calm voice drifted over him. “Please rise.”
Rawn stood, but kept his head lowered. He had too much reverence for the King of Greenwood to meet his eyes, but Leif wasn’t having it.
“There is no law against meeting my gaze. I must look upon the one I am entrusting with this very important mission for the crown.”
Mission?
Rawn took a breath and looked up.
His previous teacher, Magi Master Eldred Lothiriel, was present along with his father. Eldred’s silver hair caught the sunlight streaming in through the windows behind the grand throne. He stood silently in robes the color of lichen, white staff in hand. Sylar’s father offered him a kind nod.
Rawn’s father, however, stood tall and commanding in his green armor veined in silver. The General’s harsh eyes fell on him from his post at the foot of the stairs. Only disapproval swam in his gaze. Rawn could sense his father didn’t think he was right for this mission, so why had the king called him here?
Then Rawn met King Leif’s steel-gray eyes. His long ash blond hair was braided at his temples, a circlet of gold and silver adorning his forehead. He appeared young, though he was a few hundred years old. He wore light gray robes trimmed with gold, the long sleeves coming to a tapered end on his middle fingers.
“Before I tell why I have called you here, Rawn Norrlen, I must ask for your sworn oath of secrecy,” the king said.
Rawn immediately gave it. “Of course, sire. Before the eyes of the God of Urn, I swear no word of this day will ever be spoken to another.”
The king nodded. “You know the history of my family and the blood spilled for the throne. There are yet those who seek to replace me, and now a reason has surfaced.”
Rawn had heard the rumors about the queen having not yet borne an heir for Greenwood. It put into question Leif’s reign. His relatives were circling, their fingers itching to snatch the crown.
“It may soon come to light that the one who cannot produce an heir is I…” King Leif said, and Rawn stilled. “Some time ago, the last king of Red Highland placed a curse upon the males of my family, and now that curse has fallen upon me. I am unable to continue my line. However, I am not the last of House Silva, and many know it. I have reason to believe my sister is now in danger.”
