FELIXI allowed Charles to leave the dungeons. It may have been the stupidest idea I’d ever had, but I decided that I was going to believe my brother, at least for now.Charles was moved to a small guest chamber and placed under a heavy guard rotation. While I made sure that his feet were chained to
FELIXI was halfway out the door before the messenger could even finish his sentence, racing at a full sprint down the hallways to welcome my friends back.Joseph and Isla were waiting in my chambers, standing a little too close together to be platonic. I decided I would address that later.“What di
ISABELLAI retreated to my tiny room in the attic, guilt and dread overwhelming me. If everything in the letter from my mother was true, that meant that Fresonia was in peril. I may have had my own issues with the royal family, but I still cared about my kingdom more than anything else.Well, almost
MILAThe village of Beauveis was nestled on the coast, a few miles south of Carnea.Traditionally a fishing village, and one of the poorest villages in the kingdom at that, Beauveis was beginning to blossom into a popular tourist destination after a video from a famous travel influencer of her spend
MILAI sat with my parents on the front porch of their house–a large beachfront cottage that overlooked the sparkling sea. My mother prepared us each large mugs of peppermint tea and I settled into a porch swing, suddenly and remarkably completely at peace.Alexander, my father, had wept when he rea
ISABELLAI listened to Charles’ instructions carefully. At the advice of Joseph, the royal family wanted me to use my time in America wisely and do some snooping on Mila’s adoption from the Benson household.Despite the fact that I readily agreed to the task, I still felt a bit hesitant. Mila’s adop
MILAI woke up the next morning feeling utterly refreshed.The sea breeze drifted in from the open window, bringing the slight smell of salt and a patch of warm sunshine with it. From outside my window, seagulls cawed, and I heard the distant bells of fishing boats bringing in their early-morning ha
FELIXThrough my findings at the Library of Magic, along with Lady Isabella’s covert research at the Bensons’ house in America, we were able to pinpoint Mila’s birthplace: the seaside village of Beauveis. As soon as I departed the library, I started heading to the sea.To be completely honest, I was
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,