When Anna blushed again I realized she wasn’t just talking about Rina. I never thought I was invincible of course, I was just paranoid and over prepared for everything. One surprise attack though was almost all it took. I shuddered as I considered hitting that wall at even a slightly different angle…
I said thoughtfully, “Well that won’t happen again, we can hit any future mages with multiple dispels at once to kill any hidden enchantments they might have on them. I depended on the guards to find any stuff on him, but can’t blame them for not thinking of a false tooth.”
Anna asked, “So, what happened with the invasion, I assume everything is good since you’re here?”
In a low voice that wouldn’t carry to the children I explained what happened. It was more than a little relief that spread through me when she did not look at me with fear while I described the encounter. I hoped the king would get over that…
Chapter 22
We spent the rest of the afternoon at the orphanage. Rina, thank goodness, seemed to bounce back from the attack and wounds I had taken. Anna seemed better as well as we watched the children play. It would be hard to hold negative thoughts while watching children run around and having a good time. It was always a wistful thing for me, something I had not been able to enjoy as a child.
When we got back to the palace we ate dinner, afterwards I was invited back to the king’s suite.
To my relief, the king looked much more relaxed than he had been earlier as well.
King Tristan said, “I wanted to thank you Silvia, outside of not telling me your plans, you kept our kingdom safe from Zual. Is there anything else you need to tell me?”
I blushed, “Actually your majesty,” he groaned then waved me to continue, “I have set up protections in the villages, though nothing as deadly, more a warning bell for me to come. I am worried with the passes effectively closed up, they may start using portals to move people anywhere in the kingdom. They are short on mages now, and grow their own food, but they will still want to take people for slaves or magical rituals.”
He nodded, “But you will be able to react quickly, plus we have the portals you made to move soldiers quickly as well,” he turned to the commander and said, “Increase our troops in those villages.”
Dane bowed and said, “I will your majesty.”
The king narrowed his eyes at me and asked, “Any other suggestions should they start doing that?”
I frowned and said, “They may try and take caravans between villages. I would suggest increasing the knights or soldiers to act as escorts.”
The king shook his head, “Can’t really afford that.”
I pursed my lips and said, “Charge them for it. If they refuse to pay make sure they know it is at their own risk. I know there are already mercenaries for that, but I don’t think they will stand much of a chance without enchanted weapons, maybe even just one knight per mercenary group with a communicator to call for backup? I’ll give you a price discount.”
I winked at him and he started laughing…
Time passed as weeks became months. Anna became a master mage and I saw her almost as much as I ever did since she decided to be business partners. I could always rely on her to help out when a mage needed to be stopped. She still hadn’t figured out the four way elemental spell, but I had dropped enough hints, she either would or she wouldn’t. So far I had not approached Anna with my feelings despite it not being inappropriate any longer. I wasn’t sure how she would take it, she loved me as a friend, a former mentor, and a business partner, but was there more than that for her?
I also didn’t think I deserved her, or perhaps I was just a coward. She was too precious to me to chance losing.
I took another apprentice named Joseph. He seemed to be a good man, though he was just fifteen. He didn’t seem to mind a woman for a master, nor a preteen fellow apprentice. So far the idea of requiring mages to get jobs seemed to have worked, the king had decided not to rebuild the council after consulting with King Leland and Darnell.
There were incursions with portals, but after the first few they did as I thought and started avoiding villages and went for moving targets, where they were a little more successful despite the caravan guards. Unfortunately I couldn’t solve everything, this seemed to be the best that could be done short of invading Zual which none of the monarchs were inclined to do.
Without the white council in the way and causing drama, I grew even closer to the royal family. Maria had a son and named him Brom, I was almost sure he was over spoiled and enjoyed adding to it myself. In a way, Maria and I were even closer now than we were years ago when we shared intimate feelings, she was my sister in all but name.
I was happy with my life, sometimes I thought I was too happy, that I didn’t deserve it at all. I still wasn’t satisfied and hated sitting still. I could never do enough. Nothing I did would never be enough to atone for my past. I did my best to protect my new family, my kingdom and all those I could within it. It was my duty, and it was the very least I could do…
Afterword:
I hope you enjoyed this story, if you did please leave a review. Reviews are the lifeblood of independent authors, I would appreciate greatly any constructive feedback or opinions. This story is complete as is and is not meant to be a new series.
About the Author : If you have any comments or suggestions you can send me an email at [email protected] if you like my work, or even if you don’t, please consider leaving a review of this book. I can also be found at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7456808.D_L_Harrison
Book Description
Silvia is a dark mage. Unfortunately she finds herself about to be sacrificed. Someone must have told her evil master about her plans to kill him and take over. After that, things just seem to go downhill for her. She has no choice but to escape the kingdom of Zual, something that to her knowledge has never been done before. She will need to deal with many issues she never had to face before.
Among those issues, the white mages, and her conscience.
Note: This is a standalone book, not the beginning of a series.
The Formerly Dark Mage Page 19