Read The Castrofax Online

Authors: Jenna Van Vleet

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The Castrofax (39 page)

BOOK: The Castrofax
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Nolen slipped the copper control piece over
the fingers of his left hand before he wrote, glad to feel the
sweet touch of the Mage’s awesome power. He would have to be
careful with the amount of power he used. Had the Mage noticed a
difference? It would be a heavy blow for the man to learn of his
impending death, and certainly a tile to play in breaking him.

There were notes of rumors in the palace
which he read. It seemed a whore in the City claimed the babe she
bore was his, someone was planning an arson attack on a family of
visiting Shalabane, a ship in the harbor reportedly smuggled in
illegal Cinibarian Milena blades—wickedly sharp and designed with a
spring to break into four pieces once stabbed into a man—someone
was stealing the Queen’s jewels—though he suspected she misplaced
them herself—and there was the ever present rumor that the Class
Ten was still chaste. He sighed heavily as he read on, wishing for
a drink.

A servant came and went with his supper as
night fell, and he ate as he thumbed through the reports and
rumors. As he chased a bite with a swallow of hot wine, his eyes
stopped over a new rumor. He reread it and set the mug down.

A well-respected midwife to the nobles died
of old age last month, and in her will she stated Queen Miranda has
no claim to the throne for she is not the daughter of Queen
Gwenin.

He crumpled the paper and tossed it into the
fire, watching it crackle and burn. He returned to his desk and
wrote a quick note to the man who penned the rumors.
‘Any man
repeating that rumor is to have his tongue struck from his mouth
for heresy. Find the family of the midwife and have them all
killed.’
He would leave it in the rookery where he and all his
spies left their communications.

As he returned to his meal and notes, the
wind gusted through the crack in his window and with it brought
anxious voices. He ignored them and realized it had grown too dark
to read. Before he snapped his fingers to create a flame, but
caught himself, and instead fetched a firebrand from the fire to
light a few wicks.

Returning to his pages, he sat for no more
than a minute when frenzied pounding sounded on his door. Balien
shoved it open before Nolen could cross the room. The Prince looked
worried, and his golden hair fell over his eyebrows, windblown out
of its usual disarray.

“Look in the skies,” he said breathlessly.
“Quickly.”

Nolen moved to the window and opened it, but
he knew what he was looking for. The night sky was dark blue like
usual, holding onto the last vestiges of sunlight, and overhead the
stars winked along with the moon hanging in the east, but tonight
there was something more. High overhead to the south was a
brilliant white light that seemed to have two curving tendrils to
it. It was easy to tell it was not part of this word, but far
beyond. It was brighter than all the stars, competing even with the
moon.

“What is it?” Nolen asked as Balien joined
him. His cousin smelled of sandalwood and lavender. “It is not a
comet.” He could hear people talking from open windows around him,
and in the courtyard below people gathered and pointed skyward.

“No—those have a single long tail. I think it
is an exploded star,” Balien replied quickly. “And we have someone
in the palace known for breaking them.”

Nolen snapped his head to look down at his
cousin who stood a few inches shorter. “You do not think he will
be—”

“I do, and people are stupid. You need to
protect him since you took his ability to protect himself.”

“Where is he?”

“I saw him leaving his rooms with an Arconian
after supper.”

Nolen grabbed his Mage cloak and quickly
buckled it as he strode from his quarters with Balien hot on his
heels. His cousin had his familiar golden sword
Harbinger
strapped over his right shoulder. Balien had a soft heart, a softer
heart than a Prince should have, and though he used violence
sparingly, he knew well how to use the gold-covered short
sword.

“Where would he go?” Nolen asked. He was
surprised to realize he knew nothing of the man he kept prisoner.
Not that he wanted to. He did not even care to say or think his
name, calling him Mage to help distance himself from the Class Ten.
They ran to the stairs and heard raised voices.

“Follow those,” Balien replied and pushed
past, taking the steps two at a time. They raced down the stairs to
the bottom level, passing people who looked frightened as they
stared out the windows on each landing.

On the bottom floor Nolen paced a quick
circle as he looked for any sign of his Mage. Most people stood at
the windows talking in amazed tones, but the doors to the outside
green nestled in center of the palace were open, and from them he
heard a shout. He would recognize that man’s screams anywhere,
having been entertained by them for four days. He started racing,
Balien right behind him.

The outside air was brisk, but the buildings
sheltered the green from wind. The green was more of a lush garden,
boasting great old trees and hedges hiding benches. Nolen used to
steal away into the rooms created by hedges when he first came to
the palace at sixteen to kiss the servant girls. The space was lit
by tall lanterns and a few burning torches, casting a little light,
but the burst star threw its own blue glow tonight.

The Mage with his midnight locks stood off to
one side of the green, backing up through rosebushes with a pinched
face. The sheen of sweat on his face said he had run, and the edges
of his shirt untucked said he had already been assaulted. A woman
hung off his right arm holding a broad silvery shield of ice over
her forearm. Before them was a gathering of palace folk, mostly
servants, but Nolen recognized several of the upper class who
socialized within the walls.

“What is the meaning of this?” a man yelled.
“Why break more?” shouted another. “He broke the stars once, he
will kill us all!” “It is an omen! The skies are fighting against
him!”

The crowd surged forward and the Mage went
down, pushing the Arconian off his arm and out of the way. Nolen
raced into the thick of it.

“Get off!” Nolen shouted, pulling a man out
of the way. Balien positioned a woman soundly onto a bench with a
grip on her collar. “Unhand him!” Nolen was hesitant to use the
Mage’s ever-present power.


DID YOU NOT HEAR YOUR PRINCES
?”
Balien shouted above the cacophony. That seemed to get attention,
and as people paused to look, Nolen pushed into the heart of the
crowd.

The Mage lay on his back, his vest torn open,
his shirt ripped around the front laces and soiled with dirt. He
had a black smudge across one cheek, leaves in his hair, and there
were three claw marks across his neck filling with tiny spots of
blood. He kicked a man off his leg and scrabbled with another who
reached for his throat, but Nolen shoved the man to his
backside.

“This Mage is my property, and you will do
well to remember that!” Nolen bellowed. “He has no control over his
Elements anymore, so he did not do this,” he pointed to the burst
star, “and neither did I. Mages do not have the capability of
touching the skies.”

“Ages ago when they were stronger they could!
This Mage was born out of his time to bring an end to us!” a man
shouted.

“It is an omen, my Prince,” a noble argued.
“Something terrible is going to happen.”

“Return to your houses!” Balien yelled. “This
man is not to be molested again.” He had unsheathed
Harbinger
in the fray, and in the silver moonlight and gold
firelight looked a true Prince of Anatoly.

The woman who had been on the Mage’s arm
stooped to brush him off, and Nolen had to help him up. The Mage
muttered his thanks and let the woman dust him down; she was very
thorough.

“I didn’t do it,” he said quietly, as they
looked to the massive star between two towers. Once finished, the
woman looped her arm through his again and held on tightly with
long fingers.

“Do you know what it is?” Nolen asked as
Balien joined them.

“A burst star I imagine.” The Mage pointed a
finger and traced a circle. “That grouping is the striking serpent,
and I think that star was in the end of the tail.”

“What is a burst star?” the woman asked.

“Sometimes brilliant stars fade to a faint
red, then explode.”

“What else could it be than a star?” Balien
said quietly.

Nolen sneered. “The populous will come up
with a thousand-thousand answers.” He looked at the woman who gave
him a sultry smile. “Are your rooms close by?” She nodded. “You
will stay there the night,” he said to his Mage. “See he finds his
way,” he looked at the woman whose grin broadened.

Hateful eyes watched them go as the crowd
buckled around them, warily keeping an eye on Nolen. Balien stepped
up to Nolen’s side and folded his arms.

“Do you know what you have got yourself into,
cousin? I think you will find this is beyond you. His power was
meant for him alone. You do not know how to use it.”

“I just said I did not do that,” Nolen
gestured to the skies angrily.

“No, Nolen. Gabriel was shaped and trained
not only in body but in character to use his Elements. By taking
them from him you have upset the balance of a Class Ten and
therefore the very world in which you stand.”

“This is rich coming from a non-Mage.”

Balien fixed him with an indignant glare. “I
would have to have my senses taken from me to not see the upset.
Someday soon you will have to answer to the Head Mage and all of
Jaden, and I warrant Casimir will take him from you.”

“It will never come to that.”

“You fool yourself if you think that,
cousin.”

“It will not, because soon I will break him.”
Nolen rocked on his heels. “And then I will kill him.”

-End

 

Continue the story here with book two:

Breaking Stars

Other Books by Jenna Van Vleet

The Father of the Fifth Age series

The Castrofax

Breaking Stars

Unlocking Void

Chasing Bloodlines

Felling Kingdoms

About The Author

Reality is boring, and Jenna realized that
very early on. If she was not reading fantasy, she was writing it.
As an artist she dabbles in everything from costuming, portrait
art, and leather crafting. She currently resides in Utah with her
husband, and is 15 cats away from being crazy.

BOOK: The Castrofax
12.09Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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