Page 103 of Kingdom of Locks

“You are a child, not a man,” scoffed Cyfrin dismissively.

“You will show your prince some respect,” said King Bern curtly. “Guards, seize him.”

The guards hurried forward, but none of them made it more than a few steps. Running his hands caressingly along the braids over his chest, Cyfrin muttered a few words. Instantly, each of the guards froze in his tracks, held in place by an invisible hand.

“How dare you?” the king demanded in outrage.

“How dare I?” repeated Cyfrin, and Aurelia recognized the signs of him losing his temper. “How dare you?”

He extended his hand, but before he could act, the door leading to the corridor burst open, and a dozen guild members poured into the room. Their shouts of anger and alarm rang across the ruined library, several of them gasping Cyfrin’s name. Clearly seventeen years wasn’t long enough for him to be fully forgotten.

“I’m so glad you could join us, Master Enchanters and Enchantresses,” Cyfrin said smoothly. “You’re just in time to witness a demonstration of my power. I’m thrilled at the opportunity to show you the results of my…what did you call them? Abominable experiments, was it? See how abominable you find them now.”

“Enough playacting,” snapped a middle aged enchantress. She lifted her hands before her, palms outward in Cyfrin’s direction. As if it was a signal, the rest of the guild members copied the gesture. They began to murmur as they spread out, forming a semi-circle with Cyfrin as the focus.

The rogue enchanter showed no sign of alarm at this coordinated attack. He just smiled lazily, once again folding his arms so that his hands rested on the thick braids crisscrossing his chest. Nausea curled in Aurelia’s stomach at the sight of his fingers stretching caressingly over her own hair, detached from her body though it might be. A shiver passed over her frame, and Amell’s arm was instantly around her shoulders.

“We should move back,” he whispered. “Let the guild members take care of Cyfrin.”

Aurelia allowed him to draw her back a little, but her thoughts were troubled.

“I’m not sure they’ll be able to,” she said.

“They will.” Amell’s voice was confident. “So many against just him—and these are some of the most powerful enchanters in the kingdom. They train for this as well—they know how to fight together.”

Aurelia bit her lip, unconvinced. Cyfrin had been preparing for this moment for seventeen years. And if she was correct, his plan had always been to take on the guild. He must believe he had enough power to defend against a combined attack.

She had no chance to express her doubts. The guild members’ muttering had grown to a discordant buzzing, and a senior enchanter suddenly gave a shout. At the sound, the semi-circle of magic-users all shouted as well, releasing the power they had been preparing.

Aurelia couldn’t sense magic, but she could see from the strain on the enchanters’ faces that they were giving the attack everything they had.

And yet, Cyfrin still stood.

He took an unsteady step back, as if he’d been hit hard with something, but he kept his feet. A look of great concentration flitted across his face, but it passed quickly, melting back into the hateful smirk she knew all too well. A quick glance around the room showed the guild members all frozen in shock, their faces telling Aurelia plainly that they had seriously underestimated the power at Cyfrin’s disposal.

“Now you see it, don’t you?” the renegade enchanter breathed. “The limitless potential. Now you understand that my path was the one of wisdom, not your cautious, narrow-minded—”

“Wisdom?” gasped the enchanter whom Amell had called Bartholomew. “You toy with others’ lives like they’re playthings to be used and discarded, and you call it wisdom?”

Aurelia applauded his words, but it made her nervous to see how rattled he was. Cyfrin’s experiments had clearly had the desired effect—he had exceeded what the guild had believed him capable of. Which meant they weren’t prepared.

Cyfrin just laughed at the old man’s words. “No lectures today, Bartholomew. Or ever again. I don’t believe Fernedell needs an Enchanters’ Guild anymore. As you’ll soon see, I have enough power to provide the king with all the assistance and advice he could ever require. If I do decide to take on some like-minded apprentices in years to come, you can be assured they won’t be subjected to the white-washed drivel you teach your students.”

Aurelia could feel the derisive astonishment issuing from Amell, but she didn’t find it at all hard to believe that Cyfrin still thought he could muscle his way into a position at the king’s side. She knew better than anyone that he believed that having power meant having the right to do whatever you chose with that power. He’d worked for years to demonstrate what he was capable of, and now the time had come, he would see the position as his due.

“Enough!” cried one of the other enchanters. “Again!”

All of the guild members once again closed in on Cyfrin, and he began to laugh. Stroking the braids across his chest, he muttered words of his own. Blow after blow the guild members sent at him, and every time, his stored magic protected him. The king’s guards were still frozen in place, unable to move, but Cyfrin showed no strain from keeping up that enchantment while holding off the ongoing attack against him.

Aurelia could feel Amell’s alarm growing beside her.

“I think we should get you out of here,” the prince muttered, wrapping a hand gently around her arm.

Aurelia shook her head. “I’m not leaving,” she said flatly. “I’m not running away.”

She could tell that Amell wanted to argue, but at that moment, Cyfrin changed track. The humor fell from his face, and for a moment Aurelia hoped it was because the attack was finally beginning to work. But a second later, a look of determination seized the enchanter’s features, and he balled his hands into fists where they crossed his chest.

“I’ve had enough of this childish play,” he said coldly.

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