“The queen will care for your sister, and you’ll save her future if you succeed in this quest. Isn’t that more important?” Pallan’s cruelty drips from every word of what’s clearly a trap. How could Kaelen say no to that?
I’m suddenly alight with fierce desperation to force this king, who plays with others’ lives, to take hold of the amulet and see what happens tohim. As soon as the thought forms, though, I recoil from it. This entire turn of events is impossible while also starkly, painfully real, but I can’t let it turn me into someone I’ve never been—someone who wishes harm on others.
Beside me, the prince bows. “As you say, Your Majesty. I agree and obey.”
If I hadn’t seen his expression before, I’d almost believe the facade of humility.
Maybe.
“I don’t agree!” Trick, still in chains, yells from the side of the room.
The king holds up a hand when the guards next to Trick raise their fists to beat him. “Although the agreement of a petty thief is of no concern to me, I’m inclined not to send you on this quest if you … disagree.”
Trick falls to the floor, bowing. “Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you. I’ll do anything—”
The king’s lip curls, and he points at Neville, then Trick.
“Sergeant. Kill him.”
FirstPrinciple of Magic: Harm none.
Second Principle of Magic: A sorcerer may disregard the First Principle if such harm would bring a higher good to the whole of Altarra.
—Declaration of Laws, Sorcerers’ Guild, Fifth Age
CHAPTER FIVE
When the Air Touched, Kaelen, and a soldier herd me out of the room, Trick is still pleading not to die. I want to scream at everyone. I want to rush to my friend. I want to wake up and realize that all of this has been a bad dream.
I do none of that, because the soldier and the prince walk very close to me, probably to stop me from escaping.
“Aren’t you afraid to be this near the amulet?”
The sorcerer flinches at the bitterness in my tone but answers calmly. “No need. It’s beneath your dress for now. When we arrive at my rooms, I’ll ward it in multiple ways so you can bear it with relative safety to yourself and those around you.”
I don’t have the fortitude to scoff at “relative safety.”
When we turn into a side corridor, the soldier leaves us. We continue in silence, and I’m constantly aware of the weight of the murderous amulet around my neck.
“They probably won’t kill him,” the prince finally says indifferently. “Your friend.”
“Probably?”
“We’ll need him. As the king said: a backup nobody.”
The cruelty in his words shocks me into snapping back at him. “Oh. Well, certainly people’s lives should depend on what royaltyneeds.”
I don’t know who I think I am, to talk to a prince like this, but I’mso far past the limit of what I can bear today, I’m almost numb. Even to fear.
The prince says nothing, but his face turns to stone.
“He’s my only friend. Unlike you, I haven’t been raised with friends around every corner.” I instantly regret my words when I remember he was so young when he lost everything.
He grimaces. “The people of this court jockey for position and play the game of honors and privilege with every waking breath. The queen has some small affection for me and loves my sister like a daughter, so the courtiers treat me with care and false attention. The second that changes, they’ll be on me like ravens on carrion.”
When the sorcerer glances back at us, she nods. “It’s mostly the same for me. A few people here have genuine respect for magic, but mostly, I’m feared or despised. Too many believe that sorcerers should be the targets of bounty hunters, like they are in Khyrrus.”
I knew that. Those same bounty hunters target those of us with Gray Mind, too. Rich aristocrats who want a perpetual indentured servant or a captive sorcerer pay handsomely.
