MILA The next day, Felix met me outside my motel. He carried takeout coffee in one hand and waved at me with the other. He smiled at me as I approached. “Good morning,” he said, leaning down to kiss my cheek. I blushed, involuntarily. It wasn’t until the morning light that I realized what a si
Sophia’s eyes darted from side to side, as if to make sure no one was watching our conversation. “I haven’t noticed anything,” she said, blatantly lying. I sighed and gave her a long look. “Sophia.” She sighed and rested her soup ladle against the pot. “Look, there’s a sense now that if we som
MILA: Thankfully I had about twenty minutes before I was supposed to meet Felix so that he could walk me home. Strangers passed me on the sidewalk, clearly wondering what was going on with the crazy American having a public breakdown. I was so miserable and torn up inside I couldn’t even be bother
FELIX It had nearly broken my heart to arrive at Samara’s Place and see Mila in distress. She tried to hide it from me and she did a good job, but she didn’t know I could feel what she felt. Even from a few blocks away, my heart ached along with hers. Over the past few days, our emotional connec
MILA: “The entire royal family?” I asked Felix. I could feel my heart thudding in my chest at the thought. Meeting the parents was scary enough in any relationship–meeting the parents who just so happened to be the King and Queen of a foreign country was an entirely different situation. Felix
MILA: I stared at Felix in shock. He was generous, and I was allowing him to spoil me a bit by way of him purchasing me one outfit, but everything? I couldn’t accept that. Especially not since our relationship still felt… undefined. “That’s too much,” I said softly. Felix looked at me, genuine
FELIX As our Great Witch, Esmeralda, entered the room, the magic in the air shifted, as if bowing to her presence. Esmeralda carried a great, deep, ancient magic in her bones, the sort of power that could make kingdoms fall with a single snap of her fingers. She always wore her red velvet witch’
Of course, all that came crashing down when Isabella walked in. Was she to be everywhere in the castle? Would I have to prepare to face her every time I was here? Isabella hurried over to the King and Felix, dropping into a perfectly poised curtsy. I had practiced mine, and I was pretty good for
MILAOur baby boy, Samuel, was born in April, a few days after Felix’s 31st birthday. He was named for the first King of Fresonia and to commemorate the love that had brought his parents together. As the future King of Fresonia, he had an official naming ceremony in front of the entire kingdom, and
CHARLESLife in exile was surprisingly calm.Despite our conversation before being sent to this remote island, I’d had a harder time adjusting to a relationship with Isabella than I once thought. Perhaps it was the sadness I felt at being away from my home kingdom, or maybe I did not like the vulner
FELIXWhen I was growing up, I never imagined that I would enjoy being King.The whole thing looked dreadfully boring to a young boy. Although I knew I was the heir to the throne and would someday take over for my father, I always had far more interest in hanging out with Ignatius and running around
MILAThe last few weeks had been a blur. Meetings, ribbon cuttings, speeches. I spent countless hours in the countryside of Fresonia helping to relocate people who had been displaced by either the war or the dissolution with Abernathy. I cooked meals for homeless shelters and taught magic to young c
FELIXThe King of Abernathy had been placed in a highly-protected magical prison deep in the Dragon’s Teeth mountains, locked away with no hope of escape. His advisors and various family members were locked away with him, all facing sentences for their crimes against magic.The leaders from the othe
FELIXThe King was clearly shocked by my challenge. He slowly put down his wine glass, his eyes darting between me and Mila. I could tell that the idea intrigued him, as much as he wanted to seem disgusted by the offer.The curse might have been broken, but I could still feel the panic and tension s
FELIXIt was time for me and Mila to travel to Aberenathy. We could delay it no longer–although the magic across the kingdoms was safe and protected, time was still of the essence when it came to the civilians in Abernathy.We were concerned about what the King was doing to his citizens. Based on Is
At the nearest chance I would ask Mila to take me to that famed Library of Magic so that I could learn about the powers that now flowed through my veins. Although I was thrilled, I was also terrified. I had gone twenty-six years of my life without magic.What would change now?I was exhausted, ready
ISLAI had been waiting in the war council room with Joseph when the magic came surging back into the kingdom. In case anything went wrong, we were instructed to stay in the below-ground chambers and monitor any potential problems with the magic.I had no idea what to expect when the magic returned,