Page 6 of The Night Prince

“Likely not, but maybe it’s another kind of disease.”

Declan grimaced.“It doesn’t feel like a disease.”He shook his head. “I can’t explain it.”

“That’s even more of a reason to get you to a Mender,” Finley suggested gently.“The Menders can cure practically anything.”

Declan stared at him steadily.“How do you think theSunElves will react to someone getting sick from sunlight?”

Finley lifted an eyebrow.“I would imagine they would have considerable sympathy. We can’t sunbathe half as much as they do without risking skin cancer even with them repairing the ozone layer.So they already pity us.To know someone gets sick from the light would make them eager to find a cure.”

“Weren’t you telling me last night about how their ancient foe, the Kindreth–or Night Elves–get sick from exposure to sunlight?”Declan pressed.

“True, but you aren’t a Night Elf by a long shot!”Finley shook his head and smiled.“No red eyes or white hair that I can see unless you’ve been doing a really good dye job and have colored contacts I don’t know about.”

The Kindreth, ruled by the dread King Vex, were known to have those two very distinctive physical features.Hair colored a silvery white and eyes like glowing red rubies.With Declan’s green eyes and black hair, he definitely couldn’t be mistaken for one.

Declan lowered his head.“All I’m saying is that people who draw their power from the Sun might wonder about someone who is harmed by it.Especially after…” Declan clenched his teeth for a moment before continuing, “especially after what happened here when the Leviathan broke through.People still ask questions.They still talk about it.Theywonder.”

People did wonder how the three of them had survived when no one else had. Michael and Shonda had only survived, because they’d been away in Washington D.C.when the invasion had started. Gemma had an aunt staying with her while they were away.Her aunt had not survived.They’d been too late to save her.

“You were a hero.You were amazing.You prove that humans have magic, Declan,” Finley breathed.

Declan’s green eyes flickered around the bar, trying to make sure that no one overheard them.Especially not that last part.Finley sought to hide his exasperation at Declan’s desire for secrecy about this.His best friend acted like what he’d done was shameful rather than miraculous.Magic was looked upon as something that elevated a species.To not have it when so many other high fantasy beings did was to be consideredlesserjust like the goblin had said about humans.

“What I did wasn’tmagical, Finley,” Declan insisted.

“It was!”

“Only you would think that.The Aravae wouldn’t,” Declan sounded so certain, so firm.

Finley swallowed down the arguments he’d made many times in the past.Declan had never budged on his belief that what he’d done in saving them needed to be kept secret at any cost or dire things would occur.They’d managed to keep that secret for five years.But every time Declan did something like take down nearly half a dozen orcs by himself in a bar fight or disarm a goblin, people started wondering about the past all over again.Would Declan’s secret be able to be kept forever?

Declan touched Finley’s arm.There was a gentle smile on his lips. “Youwill be the first human to wield magic that the world will know about.You are the shining star we need.Not me.You.And that will be better for everyone.”

“Finley, what are you thinking about?”Snaglak asked, breaking Finley out of his musings.Snaglak’s black eyes were flickering from the bottom of his almost empty mug to Finley’s face.“You thirsty?”

Finley shook himself and focused on the present again. Like everyone else, Snaglak didn’t know the truth about Declan’s specialness either despite having seen evidence of it when his best friend had taken out Snaglak’s clan in the most spectacular bar fight ever.

So he lied, “Oh, about the game, of course.I’ve got to get the Night King just right.Believable, you know?”

Snaglak gave him one of those strangely innocent looks for a being who spent most of his life pulverizing his enemies into a fine paste.“If it’s fun to kill, it won’t matter.”

Finley blinked behind his large, round glasses.“Oh, they won’t be killing King Vex!He’s going to be a big part of the next campaign!”

Snaglak’s brows beetled together.“But I thought the game was over.Big battle.Lots of blood.Tons of treasure.Everyone cheers.”

“Well, yes, and no.”Finley struggled to explain the concept of a cliffhanger to the orc.“The whole idea is thatthispart of the adventure is finished, but there’s another adventure–a bigger one–just waiting for them if they choose to go forward.”

“Oh, so they come back for more?Give Finley more money to tell stories where they go smash?”Snaglak grinned.

Finley’s lips curled into a smile.“That’s exactly it, Snaglak.You hit the nail on the head.”

“I would kill the nail,” Snaglak muttered.

Snaglak emptied the few remaining drops of beer into his glass from the pitcher.He looked sorrowfully at both and then meaningfully at Finley again. Finley ignored that beseeching glance.

Snaglak wanted him to buy the beer, or rather, have Declan comp it.But Helgrom already let Finley hold his games at the Dawn for free and was generous with the discounts on drinks and snacks for his players.He didn’t want to push that generosity, especially when every drop of liquor was needed with King Aquilan coming to town that day.

“So if Finley does another campaign, Finley no more tries to become mage?”Snaglak asked.

---