duke

I wasn’t certain what I was supposed to do. The duke had to know.

Yet…

Was this why he’d brought me here as a knight?

To keep watch over his daughter? To protect her from it?

By the Architect, there was so much magic.

“They call, Aidric,” she whispered. “Every night, their song grows louder. I…”

“You’re a mage,” I said.

She lowered her head. “I am sorry.”

“Me, too.”

She turned to me, and her magic nearly knocked me off my feet.

Her magic.

I was trained to fight such magic.

But I couldn’t fight her.

Elyssa stood in front of the large windows, the moonlight bathing her.

And magic.

So much magic.

I started to call for the guards, to find the mage ensorcelling her, then remembered Gillian.

“Elyssa?”

The moment I entered, I felt the brush of magic.

Not bad magic. Not exactly. But magic.

Tight. Contained. But still stupidly powerful.

I drew my sword and crept inside.

The other knights were out drinking and finding ladies, but my time with the calificars had made that awkward.

Well, more awkward.

I retreated to the duke’s library. It was a big one. Even bigger than back at the monastery.

And it had a lot more non-religious books.