by Lisa Dawn
“Then it’s a good thing he has Krystal to comfort him.”
“Charlotte, I think he likes you.”
My hand balled into a fist. The last thing I needed to hear on my birthday was that the man I was no longer marrying had had feelings for me. I had been trying so hard not to think about the way that he showed concern for my well-being after I got caught with the rune.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said through gritted teeth. “Our engagement was already called off.”
“Have you met anyone else out here? It would be so romantic to get swept away by a mysterious rogue.”
She still wasn’t getting the message. There was nothing interesting about going from riches to rags overnight. Maybe I needed to make myself more obvious. I picked up a broom from the corner and began sweeping the floor.
“What are you even doing here, Lily?” I asked, hardening my voice.
“I told you. I wanted to bring you your birthday present.”
“And now you have.”
“I know you miss your life at the castle, but isn’t this even more exciting?”
That was the last straw. She had no right to be jealous of me when she was still living in the lap of luxury.
“Get out,” I said in my most authoritative tone.
“What?” Lily asked innocently.
“You heard me. This is an establishment for people who are in need of lodging, not a theater troupe.”
I tried not to look at Lily as her lower lip quivered and her brown eyes grew bigger. She was too cute for her own good.
“If that’s really want you want.”
Another guest entered as Lily left in tears.
“What’s with her?” he asked.
I pushed back my regrets and plastered on my fake princess grin.
“Welcome to Edgar’s Inn. How may I help you?”
Chapter 15
Way to go, Charlotte. Lily’s never going to want to talk to you again. No one wants to celebrate the birthday of an innkeeper’s apprentice. You’re just a lousy thief who takes out all her frustrations on her friends. Krystal will make a better queen than you. It’s what everyone wants. Even Greta is happier with her. Today was never about you.
These thoughts plagued my mind as I sat on the rough wooden floor of Edgar’s supply room hugging my knees. My tears stained the pages of my new notebook while I thumbed through the blank pages, wondering what I would fill them with. I was too depressed to head back to my room.
“I didn’t realize working for me was that terrible.”
The sound of Edgar’s voice was oddly comforting in the otherwise empty room. It was just the motivation I needed to get up before I fell asleep on the floor.
“My apologies, Edgar. I shall be out of your hair immediately.”
“It’s a little late for that,” he said, gesturing to his bald scalp.
I laughed.
“Feeling homesick, are we?”
“How did you know?”
“You don’t work here for as long as I have without picking up a thing or two about travelers.”
I’m sure the truth rune didn’t hurt either.
“It’s just that,” I sighed, “today was my birthday…”
Edgar looked horrified.
“Why didn’t you tell me? I could have given you the day off. You should have been home, celebrating with your family, and…”
Realization clouded his face.
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
I shook my head.
“Think nothing of it.”
“Is there anything I can do to help you celebrate? Missy already went to bed, but perhaps we can see if there were any leftover desserts in the kitchen.”
I clutched my new notebook.
“Actually,” I said, “the best birthday present you can give me would be to teach me about the runes.”
Edgar looked around as though someone was watching us. He pulled out his rusty key and went to the back door to make sure it was locked.
“You know such talk is forbidden,” he whispered.
“I can’t help Klingland restore magic if I don’t understand how it works,” I said. “Besides, it’s still my birthday for a few more hours.”
I pouted my lips to give him my best Lily impression.
“Fine, but let’s not take all night. You still need to be ready for work in the morning.”
I attempted to mask my delight as I grabbed a quill and cracked open my notebook.
“First question. You wrote on one of your scrolls that touching a rune to metal can make it backfire. What did you mean by that?”
“It isn’t just metal, but that tends to be the biggest hazard,” explained Edgar. “As you should have figured out by now, runes respond to the energy wavelengths of their wielders. That’s why not everyone has the capacity to be a mage. Some people aren’t able to focus their own energy.”
That explained why Lily wasn’t able to control the truth rune. Her energy is all over the place. I wrote furiously in my notebook.
“However, people are not the only ones that have an energy wavelength. Other elements that can be channeled by the runes contain different energy patterns that could interfere with their magic. Fire or water are usually not a problem, as it is unlikely someone will be trying to control a rune while submerged in flames or water. Metal, on the other hand, is commonly used on jewelry or other surfaces, so to that can cause a problem if someone else touches the metal surface at the same time.”
I remembered how Krystal touched the gold chain I had wrapped around my rune when she activated it. I jotted this down in my notebook.
“So what you’re saying is that if someone were to use the rune on a piece of metal jewelry and another person touched a part of that jewelry, that person would gain control over the rune.”
“Precisely. In fact, it used to be a common practice for mages to wear their runes as jewelry in order to avoid losing them. In that situation, it is very important to remember this rule.”
“What are some other important hazards to keep in mind when using magic?”
“Have you noticed a sense of fatigue after using too much magic at once?” he asked.
“Now that you mention it, yes. Is there any way to mitigate that?”
“A good mage knows how to focus their energy entirely on the rune. If you let yourself get distracted by other thoughts, the rune will absorb those thoughts and create a sensation of weakness.”
“So the magic can only be wielded properly by a mage who is able to keep a clear head.”
“Precisely.”
“I see. Is there anything you can tell me about the symbols on the runes? Why do some of them look similar?”
I sketched the fire and water symbols in my notebook and showed them to him. The fire symbol looked like an inverted version of the water symbol. He nodded.
“So you’ve noticed,” he said. “Each rune has an equal and opposite power. You can see these opposites demonstrated by the mirrored symbols.”
“What’s the opposite of the truth rune’s power, then?” I asked.
Edgar grimaced.
“A very dangerous one. Mind control. A local merchant named Terrence used it to swindle many innocent people into giving him all their money for his half-rate merchandise.”
“Mind control? What does that one look like?”
“May I?”
Edgar gestured for my notebook. I handed it to him with the quill. He sketched a symbol that looked like an inverted truth rune.
“It was a dark red rune with this symbol on it,” he said.
“And someone in the village had it? Was it confiscated with the others?”
“Certainly. When Terrence lost his rune, he lost all his business too. People don’t like being swindled very much.”
“But that doesn’t make sense. It would have been stored with the others if that were the case.”
“Are you sure you didn’t overlook it?”
“I’ve been stu
dying these runes since I was a child. I memorized every one we had, even if I didn’t understand all of their powers. This mind control rune was definitely not among them.”
“If it wasn’t with the others, where did it go?” asked Edgar.
I closed my notebook and clutched it as if it were going to jump out of arms.
“I don’t know, but this could mean Klingland might be in even more danger than I thought.”
Chapter 16
Have I mentioned how much I hate cleaning the chamber pots? After Greta left, there was no one left to do it but me. Edgar apologized profusely for needing to entrust me with the task. I reminded myself that this was still better than being executed or imprisoned. At least I still had responsibilities.
I pushed open the back door of the inn and held my breath as I emptied the pot in an abandoned alleyway. Someone was heading this way. Who would want to go back here? The stench should have been enough to scare anyone away. As he came closer, a pang of recognition stabbed me like a knife. What could Prince Braydon want with me now?
I was overwhelmed with a different kind of shame from what I felt when I was caught with the jewel. I didn’t want him to see me like this. Braydon stood before me in a modest doublet looking as if he was ready for a riding lesson while I wiped my hands on my filthy apron. It was too much. I swallowed my pride and looked him in the eyes.
“Hello, Braydon. Are you unhappy with your accommodations at the castle?”
“It’s nice to see you again too.”
Maybe execution would have been less humiliating. I lifted the chamber pot and pushed open the back door to the inn, hoping he wouldn’t follow me. No such luck. He held the door open and stepped in behind me.
“I’m very busy right now,” I said.
“I know you have every reason not to trust me.”
“Don’t you have a wedding to be preparing for?”
“First I need to get the bride.”
“Then you’d better head back before it gets too dark.”
“I took a lot of risks coming here.”
I placed the chamber pot on a shelf. He closed the door behind us. I couldn’t imagine why he would still want to talk to me right now. This was no place for a prince or a princess. If what Krystal said about him was true, he was leading her on. I doubted she even knew he was here. Lily must have told him where to find me. She never could resist a good story.
“Guests aren’t allowed in this room.”
“You might feel differently after you see what I brought.”
To my horror, Braydon reached into his pocket and pulled out the very thing that had placed me in this situation to begin with. Was he insane? He saw the damage it did. Was he working for his father after all? Why would he reveal the rune to me? Did he want to interrogate me about Klingland? So many questions poured through my head that I couldn’t decide which one to ask first.
“How did…” was all I managed to say.
“It seemed like a shame for all that magic to go to waste after you demonstrated such skill with it. I saved it from being tossed overboard on the ship when no one was looking. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Maybe at the time, but it was wrong of me. Don’t you know that if anyone found this, you would be arrested?”
“You were willing to take that risk.”
“And look where it got me!” I exclaimed.
Braydon fastened the gold chain behind my neck. I lifted the yellow rune off my chest and felt the cool pulsating energy that it emitted. It was oddly exhilarating to have it back despite all the trouble it caused.
“Are you sure about this?” I asked Braydon.
As soon as I felt the tingling magic of the jewel, I remembered what Edgar told me about focusing my energy. I took a deep breath and cleared my mind of all other thoughts.
“More certain than I’ve been about anything in my life.”
My heart beat faster as I felt the sincerity in his words flowing through the rune. He knew it was controlling him. Not only did he voluntarily take the risk of bringing it to me, but he also demonstrated vulnerability by letting me use it on him. It seemed too good to be true.
“Fine, but this better not be a trick,” I said.
I pushed the rune under the bodice of Greta’s baggy dress in case anyone walked in on us. Taking a deep breath, I focused on my goal of getting information, avoiding all thoughts of how handsome Braydon looked when his eyes lit up from the rune’s power or how grateful I was for the company.
“What are you doing here?” I asked him.
The magic pulsated in warm waves under my dress as his eyes grew lighter in color.
“I was worried about you.”
Maybe his concern for me wasn’t a façade, but there was something else that bothered me.
“What about Krystal?”
“What about her?”
I felt the magic fizzle out before reaching him just like it had on the veranda when I asked him about the Klinglish rumors he was not familiar with. Maybe Krystal manipulating the rune through my necklace was no accident after all. She might have been worried I would figure out she was lying about his intentions toward her.
“She said you wrote to her prior to our engagement that you had feelings for her. Is that true?”
I knew I needed to keep my thoughts focused, but it was hard to avoid thinking about how one of my closest family members may have played a bigger role in my banishment than I suspected. Braydon’s eyes glowed faintly in the dark room.
“No. I’ve never written a word to her. I had no interest in courting anyone until I met you.”
I felt a warmth flush my cheeks that had nothing to do with the rune. Fatigue started to set in. It was very hard to clear my mind when I was flooded with so many powerful emotions at once. I was angered by Krystal’s deceit and enamored by the possibility of Braydon feeling the same way toward me as I did about him.
“There must have been some sort of misunderstanding. She wouldn’t make something like that up,” I insisted.
“I’m sure she cares about you in her own way, but you have different goals, just like my father and I.”
Mercer. If it wasn’t for him, magic would still be legal, and my parents would still be alive. A new determination filled my mind. My next question was razor focused.
“What is he up to?”
I felt the magic fly straight into Braydon like an arrow hitting a bull’s eye, but it fizzled out once again just before reaching its target.
“I’m not sure…”
I thought back to our conversation at the ball. Braydon said he was against the alliance just like me. Maybe Mercer didn’t feel comfortable entrusting him with his plan. Still, I had just learned that there was a mind control rune on the loose somewhere. If Mercer had it, we would be in a lot of trouble. I felt so powerless. My people needed me, and there was nothing I could do to help them. The rush of emotions mixed with the intensity of the magic I had just used. My fatigue grew more intense. I felt my knees buckle and attempted to place my hand on the shelf to balance myself.
“Sorry,” I said. “I must be asking too many questions.”
Braydon’s strong arms wrapped firmly around my waist. Our faces were inches apart. I blushed and tried to look away from his warm brown eyes. His gaze never wavered.
“I promise not to let him hurt you no matter what his intentions are.”
I could hear the intensity in his voice even without the rune’s magic.
“If he’s planning something that could put Klingland or my family at risk, I can’t stand idly by.”
“For what it’s worth, I think you would have made a great leader.”
Braydon’s gaze was fixed on me with such sincerity that I felt I could melt into his arms. Our faces drew closer until Edgar’s voice made me jump a foot back.
“Guests aren’t allowed back here. Break it up, you two!”
I did my best to regain my composure as Braydon let go of me and nodded to
Edgar respectfully.
“Sorry, Edgar. It won’t happen again,” I said quickly.
“I’d better get back before Krystal notices I’m gone,” said Braydon.
I continued to stare at the door long after Braydon left until Edgar reminded me that he was still here.
“I take it that wasn’t a customer,” he said.
“Not exactly.”
I kept my eyes downcast, refusing to look at him in fear that I might make a false move that would give away what was hidden beneath my bodice. I wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice.
“Are you hiding something?” asked Edgar.
He was no fool.
“Prince Braydon stopped by to deliver a message for me.”
“This is not a place for politics. It’s bad enough that I have the ex-princess working here.”
“It won’t happen again,” I reassured him.
“Not if you intend to stay much longer, it won’t.”
His threatening words were far less of a weight on my chest compared to what would have happened if he had discovered the jewel I had somehow managed to steal twice.
Chapter 17
I tried not to think about Braydon as I went back into the lobby and found a guest waiting impatiently for me. He looked to be around Greta’s age and was built like a soldier, but he wore peasant clothing. There was something off about the way he carried himself like he wanted to blend in but didn’t know how. I could relate. He tapped his foot as I hustled over to the desk.
“Good day, sir. Welcome to Edgar’s inn. Please allow me to check you into a room.”
“It’s about time,” he said in a gruff voice.
Over the previous few days working for the inn, I had learned that angry customers tend to feel more at ease when they are given an opportunity to talk about themselves. I decided to ask him a question about himself, forgetting about the relic that was concealed under my dress.
“So, where are you visiting from?”
A familiar surge of energy escaped from my necklace. His eyes glistened with a yellow glow.
“My troops and I are traveling from Sederia.”
No wonder he looked like a soldier. Sederia was a kingdom of conquerors, known for their supreme lack of moral decency. If there were more knights with him, which sounded likely from his response, my family might be in trouble. I remembered from my princess lessons to always keep a straight face in front of an enemy to maintain the upper hand.