MILA I gaped at Felix for a moment, in total shock. “It’s been two days,” I choked out. Felix shrugged. “Time feels like it moves slower with you, Mila, like I’ve known you forever. Besides, you don’t have a real place to live right now, and this way we can really get to know each other and st
MILA As we sat and chatted, I thought that Mrs. Raven just might be my new best friend. She was charming and delightful, and it seemed like she was the only person in Felix’s life who could give him a hard time and get away with it. Better yet, she seemed delighted to have me in the apartment. S
MILA I crossed my fingers tightly. Next to me, Felix craned his neck to hear better. “Congratulations! We’re thrilled to offer you the space. You had a very impressive application process, and we would love to provide you the space you need to open a restaurant!” I clapped my hand over my mout
Tonight wasn’t the night. When I entered my dining room, I could feel my jaw drop. Mila had transformed the space into a romantic, cozy date spot. She turned the lights off, so the only illumination came from the candles lit around the room and the soft glow of the city lights streaming in from th
MILA When I awoke in Felix’s bed the next morning, a tiny part of me wondered if we were moving too fast. Our relationship felt natural and easy, but it was still in that tentative beginning stage where anything could happen. When Felix woke up and pulled me under the covers again, I decided it
MILA The commute from Felix’s apartment to my restaurant space was easy–at most a five minute walk. There was a cute coffee shop along the way, so I had gotten used to the nice morning routine of grabbing a vanilla latte on my way in. It was a wonder how much money you saved when you didn’t have
MILA I was still in a ball on the kitchen floor when I heard a knock at the building’s main entrance. I frowned. It was still too early for Felix to come and pick me up for dinner. Who else could it be? I didn’t know anyone in Fresonia. Was I being mugged again? My face broke out into a grin w
FELIX I arrived at the restaurant, pleased to see that it looked shiny and new, even from the outside. I knocked on the door, feeling pleased that the maids from the castle had been able to help out. When Mila opened the door, the breath got knocked out of me. She wore a slinky, silky dress th
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,