Page 104 of An Archer's Redemption

I silenced her with a raised palm and a withering glare.

“I understand we are tipping our hand by asking the question. They will know we are wounded without our Gifts. Your objection is noted. Chancellor, send the birds. Everyone else, assess how to move forward with your respective areas assuming there are no Gifts to assist with your work. I want outlines of your worst-case scenarios by tomorrow. Mage Ernest, stay with me a moment. Everyone else, get to work. This session is adjourned.”

The Councilors rose and scurried out of the chamber.

While some of the men had witnessed my youthful tantrums, none had ever seen me command a room as I just had. I was sure a few left the chamber with memories of my mother’s famous wrath.

When the last advisor vanished and the doors slammed shut, I walked the length of the table and sat in the chair closest to my Mage. His head was bowed, and he didn’t look up.

“Mage, look at me,” I ordered.

His eyes rose to meet mine.

“Do you know of any time in our history when the Gifts failed?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No, Majesty. I have had our historians scouring the Royal Library since the first report. Since the time of Irina, the Gifts have flowed through the bloodlines without interruption.”

I thought a moment. “Is there a spell . . . or some artifact . . . that could block someone’s Gift? Mute it?”

“I know of one man who could Silence those within a certain radius, but he died many years ago. If such existed, even in the other nations, the Mages would have shared that information. It would have frightened every serious magician to their core. To have someone able to steal—”

“Stay with me. Focus.” I rested a hand on his arm to try to calm him, but the Queen’s touch nearly made him jump out of his robe.

“Majesty, forgive me. I was startled. Youtouchedme.”

I let out a sigh. “My skin isn’t poisoned.”

“No, but you areQueen.”

“Fine.” I sat back, lifting my hand a tad too dramatically from his arm. “Just focus. I know your people are working on this already, but the Mages are our best hope of finding a solution.Do whatever you must. Ask for whatever you need. There is no price too high for the return of our magic. Understand?”

“Yes, Majesty.”

“And, Mage, please try toremain calm.”

He nodded frantically. “Yes, ma’am—I mean, Majesty.”

Chapter 45

Keelan

It had taken four days of steady riding for me to make it back to the capital. I was tired, hungry, and covered in sweat and dust from the road. The last thing I wanted was to deal with the mass of people clogging the streets. I didn’t think it was a festival or market day, but who knew what days were special in the Kingdom? I reined in Dittler and picked my way carefully through the crowd.

As I passed the first handful of people, I thought an odd fear painted their eyes.

This definitely isn’t a festival crowd.

An old woman and her daughter scooted out of my way following an angry snort from Dittler. When the woman looked up, I nodded my head respectfully and asked, “What’s going on? Is there a market day today?”

The woman’s daughter tugged at her arm, urging her to ignore the large man in his dusty blue uniform—hisforeignuniform—but the old woman stepped closer and stroked Dittler’s neck. The stallion allowed her touch without so much as a whinny.

“Everybody’s gathering at the Temple. The Gifted are asking the Priests for help.”

“Help? Why do the Gifted need help? Especially from the Priests?”

The woman shushed him, looking over her shoulder nervously. “Who else are they going to turn to when their Gifts are gone? The Queen can’t do nothin’ about magic. They need the Spirits now,” she whispered loudly so I could hear her atop my horse. Her daughter gave me a dark look and pulled the woman away.

I sat up straight and scanned the crowd. I had paid little attention before, but every good sense I possessed screamed for me to be on alert.

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