ISABELLAAfter Charles’ dismissal, I did not quite know what to do with myself.I made my way back to the main area of camp, the noise of the men preparing for battle drowning out the hateful thoughts in my head. A few of the men jeered at me as I passed them, making no secret of the way they looked
MILAThis was not how I wanted to go out. Either this soldier would kill me or assault me and then kill me and either way, it sounded pretty awful. But I was out of options, and at least I’d been able to save that poor woman.I heard the man cry out in pain, and I opened my eyes. He now had a large,
FELIXThe battlefield was ablaze.Rogue dragons from Charles’ army were happily torching the soldiers, not even caring which side they were fighting for. One of the trees in the nearby forest had caught fire, and from just beyond the woods, I could see smoke billowing from the direction of Barlow.A
FELIXThere had been rumors of a great, unknown power being passed down through generations of Dragon Knights, starting with my ancestor, King Samuel, the Great Unifier who founded Fresonia. This great power had not been seen for centuries, and its existence now was only rumored.But as I faced deat
Mila hesitated for a moment, as if reluctant to reveal whatever information she was hiding. “I was evacuating civilians from Barlow when one of Charles’ soldiers tried to, ah, compromise me.”My blood boiled.“He had me pinned to the ground and surely would have killed me when Isabella hit him in th
MILAThe trek back to Fresia was quiet. I could tell that Felix was haunted by what had happened on the battlefield, and he was not the only one–most of the men were staring forward with solemn eyes, not speaking about what they had seen.Felix limply held my hand. I knew that he felt terrible, over
He spat the last words at his brother, and I winced. My poor husband was holding back tears, but he would never show such vulnerability in front of his people. My heart ached for him, but he stayed strong.Charles said nothing. Instead, he raised his hand to his head in a mocking salute.Guards esco
FELIXThe trials were all completed in a week. I knew from my friends in other kingdoms that they had completed their proceedings, as well. It was a dark time for the magical kingdoms.In addition to a few hundred men, we had lost seven dragons in the battle. For a Dragon Knight, there was no greate
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,