Page 9 of Heir Of Sun And Moon
Daje shakes his head as he looks at me, his features easing when he takes in my panicked expression. “Your father didn’t say, but he didn’t appear overly concerned.”
I blow out a breath at that and nod my head, following Daje out of the workshop. Three stone steps lead away from the little room built into the wide trunk of an albero tree. While I’ve never been to any of the other kingdoms, I can’t imagine that they are as beautiful as this one. Even in the daytime, sunlight only reaches the ground through the small gaps within the dense treetops, creating a near-permanent sort of twilight. Nestled deeply within the forest, many of our dwellings and shops are built into the ancient albero trees themselves. Their massive trunks are so large and tall that as many as two stories can be built into them without disrupting its own growth and life, though mages do infuse some magic into the tree to help.
Separate from the albero trees, pirang and banya trees grow in abundance. Their wild, intertwining limbs and thick canopies provide the forest with not only shade and protection from the elements, but they also shield attacks from other kingdoms. Not that attacks could happen, with the Spell that was cast two-hundred years ago still in place. The Spell sent beings back to their own kingdoms and ensured that they couldn’t leave unless they gave up their magic, a process that I had read was extremely painful and resulted in loss of life within a week. In the mortals’ case, crossing borders meant giving up decades of their lives until they, too, were days away from death.
There is one exception to the consequences of the Spell that no other kingdom is aware of. It’s a tightly guarded secret, one that my ancestors decided should be kept during the aftermath of the Spell’s casting. Mages can walk through the magical borders without repercussion. It isn’t exactly known how orwhythat is the case—perhaps it’s because of the queen of Void Magic who originally cast it—but this loophole has been kept quiet for two centuries. Despite our ability to walk into the other realms without consequence, it’s very rare for any mage to actually leave. It has become apparent over time that even if the Spell weren’t in place, we are not exactly welcome in other kingdoms. Past foreign rulers felt that the mage queen, Lucia, made a horrible mistake and was too hurried in her decision to end the war happening at the time. They blamed all mages and made sure it was known that we were not wanted in their lands. So our people remain content here—surrounded by the trees and the safety they provide. If I’m being honest, it sounds utterly boring to find fulfillment in just merely existing, but I suppose I’m a bit of an anomaly that way.
Daje and I continue on the trail of moss-covered gray stones that weave through the forest and straight to the palace—thoughpalaceis too fancy a word for the warm and loving place Nox and I grew up in. I drink in the greenery around us, an abundance of color and fragrance everywhere I look. Flowers in every shade and variety grow around homes and even on top of them. Wild gardens and fruit bushes dot the land in each direction. The people here relish being surrounded by so much vegetation, by so much life.
After a few minutes, we finally reach the white stone steps that lead up to the palace. Nodding to the guards as we pass, we take the numerous steps two at a time—playfully racing each other until we reach the top. Built squarely in the middle of four of the largest albero trees in the kingdom, the three-story estate somehow manages to camouflage into the dense forest around it. A wrap-around balcony lines both the lower and upper levels, the structure made from a combination of white and black stones and wood. Each floor has arching windows every few feet, allowing what sunlight shines through the forest to pour into the palace. Green vines with small white flowers wrap around each of the balcony beams, adding not only to structural stability but the efficacy of concealment as well. Small spelled flames in glass orbs hang every few feet all around the palace, illuminating the structure with a buttery glow.
I push the large wooden double doors of the palace open, the mage sigil of an albero tree under the stars carved delicately into them. Our sandals scuff slightly on the black stone floors as we walk, and I realize I never asked Daje where I was supposed to meet my father.
“He is in the council room.” Daje’s voice echoes faintly off of all the stone that not only lines the floor but makes up the walls as well.
“How did you know what I was thinking?” I gape, turning to look at where he walks beside me.
“Ah, that is a secret I’ll never tell,” he taunts with a wink. When I narrow my eyes at him, he laughs heartily until we’re a few steps away from the council room. “The secret is that you said it out loud.”
I roll my eyes in response, bumping him with my shoulder as I step forward to open the door, but Daje does it first. I plaster on a small smile as I pass him, but a part of me wishes he wasn’t sochivalrous. I’ll never be the type of woman that preens over such acts, but Daje—despite being my oldest friend—believes I might find those things attractive. And for all that I care about him, I just can’tmakemyself feel for him in the same way he so obviously feels for me. Even if he’s never actually confessed those feelings.
Inside the council room, a long wooden table sits in the middle, the natural edge of it curving like the waves of the ocean. Around it are twelve chairs—one at the head of the table where my father sits, five on either side of him where the council members sit, and one at the end where my mother sits when she attends meetings. Two massive chandeliers of glowing flame are evenly spaced above, casting the room with enough light to make out the intricate details carved into the wood.
My father’s gray eyes meet mine, a copycat to the color of my own. A symbol of the pure mage blood flowing through our veins, which makes the fact that I was born with zero magic even more gutting. When my older brother Nox dropped his blood into the Cauldron of Vires, the flame that grew was the largest our realm had seen in at least two centuries. He not only has an abundance of magic, but he can wield it more easily without growing as tired as the other mages his age, and even some that are older.
My hopes were high when it was time for my own ceremony two years later, and I couldn’t wait to join Nox in all the different magic classes of the mage schools. There was a small part of me that thought maybe I’d have even more magic than him. Not because I thought it was a competition, but because I’ve always felt like I was different. Like I was made formore.I suppose the gods had a good laugh at that. I’m the princess of the Mage Kingdom who comes from two powerful parents, yet I am also the first mage in history to be born without magic.
I’ll never forget the look on my father’s face when not even a spark grew from the cauldron after my blood dropped in. He wasn’t upset or even angry, as I worried he might be. It was pity that filled the depths of his gaze as he realized his daughter was magicless. When the crowd gaped in confusion after my fifth attempt at drawing any sort of ember, my parents and brother hugged me tightly and promised it would be okay.
As king and queen, they created a special curriculum for me to continue my studies like normal. As ifIwere normal. And I quickly realized that if I couldn’t wield magic, then I would sharpen every other possible tool at my disposal. While the mage children my age played with their magic and learned summoning and infusing, I spent my time reading as much as possible about all topics and sparring with our instructor, Dilan. Being a princess didn’t stop other kids from bullying me about being magicless, though. So I hardened myself until I no longer cared about the opinions of others that weren’t close to me. I became formidable in every other way that I could. As I got older, and the jabs became harsher, I refused to let it affect me.
Then the offers for marriage started flowing in. I overheard my father talking with my mother about how unusual it was to have so many non-nobility ask to wed a princess, and I knew it was because they viewed me as less for what I lacked. It was even brought up in the council by some of the oldermembers that perhaps I should be “encouraged” to marry the strongest magic wielder of eligible age, though my father quickly and furiously shut that down.
It’s not that I don’t want to marry eventually or that I even care if I marry someone who is of nobility or not. I simply want to have the freedom to focus on what I view as my most important task—finding my magic and fixing it as a whole for the kingdom. I want my freedom to explore while also knowing I have somewhere to anchor a home to. I want to be challenged and forced to look at things from new perspectives without my intelligence being questioned. I crave someone who doesn’t want to dull all my jagged edges, but instead sharpens them with their own. Not in competition, but in mutual understanding and respect. There is nothing wrong with settling down, but I was never made to settle. Certainly not with anyone who can’t let me be who I am supposed to be.
Shaking my head lightly to clear my thoughts, I walk to my father’s right, leaning in to kiss the top of his head. His long black hair is tied back, stark against the light gray color of his tunic.
“How is my darling daughter today?” my father asks, his eyes coltish as he takes me in.
“I’m well, where is everyone else? Is Nox okay?” I inquire with a gesture to the empty seats around the table.
“Yes, your brother is fine. I received a letter from him this morning.” I relax my shoulders at my father’s response, nearly sighing in relief. “This isn’t a council issue,” he says, his lips sliding into a teasing smile. “I called you here because I received another offer for your hand in marriage.” My loud, irritated groan fills the space as he laughs. Daje stands on the opposite side of the table from me, chuckling as well, though I notice it doesn’t quite hold his usual levity.
“Please tell me that I did not leave in the middle of my experiments only to find out that some random man in the capital thinks himselfmy saviorfor being willing to marry me.Oh look at the poor magicless princess; surely she must need a man to save her from her own existence.” My hands gesture wildly as I continue my mocking of whichever idiot assumes I want to be tied down simply because the magic in my blood is somehow blocked.
“I thought you might react this way, but I still had to tell you nonetheless.”
“You couldn’t possibly wait for our dinner tonight?” I snark, my hands resting on my hips.
My father’s smile widens as he shrugs. “I was bored and needed some entertainment.”
I scoff and flip him my middle finger, which he heartily laughs at. We eventually fall into chatting about the man who asked for my hand as well as the updates with Nox. Daje, as the son of—and advisor to—one of my father’s oldest and most-trusted council members, is able to listen to the details that not many outside these walls know of. To them, Nox is out exploring our kingdom, enjoying some freedom before he steps into the role of heir apparent. But the truth of his absence is much more frightening. I’ve only seen my brother a handful of times in recent years because of the mission he is on for my father—for our kingdom.
When the council members start to filter in for their daily meeting, I give my father a hug and leave, Daje quick on my heels. “So what would it take for a marriage proposal to be accepted by the incomparable Bahira?” he asks in a joking tone, but I’ve known Daje for far too long to not hear the genuine interest hidden there.
Shit, I knew this was coming.My shoulders tense, knowing that he would propose to me this very moment if he thought there was a chance I’d say yes. So I deflect the only way I can that won’t hurt his feelings—with sarcasm.
“Hmm, well obviously I’m looking for someone wealthy,” I start, a forced dreamy look in my eyes. Despite the underlying seriousness lining his features, he can’t help the small curve of his lips. “And of course, I need someone super powerful, like themostpowerful.” Daje rolls his eyes.
