*THIS NOVEL IS A SEQUEL TO WILD CARD & CANNOT BE READ AS A STANDALONE*
There is a legend that one in four royal advisor-mages will betray their monarch, overthrow them for power.
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Gwenore, the new Queen of Acewood, is on a throne most would kill...
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After a few sips of Lady Ossenna's infamous special sparkling tea—flowers and flavorful spices she never divulged to anyone—I relaxed.
The meeting room no longer appeared as constricting, the suitors no longer so infuriating, and the tasks ahead not so overwhelming.
And yet my mind wouldn't settle. My thoughts raced millions of miles a minute and my head hurt.
"You said Otho has been serving the kingdom for decades?" Bits of lavender and vanilla melted on my tongue. "He looks so young."
"He does." Lady Ossenna gripped her mug and sniffed at the steam, her lengthy, lilac coated lashes batting. "Mages don't age like humans. Depending on our powers, some of us can live for centuries."
I shuddered at the idea. Living for that long? It was wrong. It was cheating death, and I hated cheaters.
But such feats meant that while my advisors continued to defy odds, I'd be secure from those who sought to capture what was mine. The longer they lived, the longer I would.
"So how long have mages been serving Acewood royals in Efura?" I knew my Efurian history well but had bypassed most of the sections about the magical community.
Lady Ossenna sipped, her lips leaving an aubergine stain on the rim of her cup. "Since the beginning of time, my queen." She shifted in her seat to get comfortable. She, too, winded down when everyone else was gone, and more so without Sir Sym to breathe down her neck.
"I'm realizing," I wiped a drop of tea as it slid down my chin, "that I know little about magic and its wielders. As a child and a teenager, I was wary of such tales, as you might remember. I preferred to focus on riding and geography."
"Nothing wrong with that." Lady Ossenna lowered her mug to the table. "I'm happy to share my knowledge."
"Which I imagine is expansive," I said, wincing.
She smiled. "As much as befits my position to know, yes." She cleared her throat. "Mages were born at the same time as Efura flourished with human life. They appeared as humans. Then, on all edges of the world, mages discovered their abilities and understood they had to use them for good. A handful showed up in lesser-known parts not governed by Acewood, but all made their way to the kingdom, eventually."
"Not governed by Acewood. So," I gulped, "the other side?"
I'd heard rumors of that portion of our world, but no one spoke of it eagerly, least of all Father. He claimed those were unreachable territories of unruly people who refused monarchy. Individuals who slept in tents or caverns or underground burrows. Who fished from feeble embarkations and gathered around fires to tell stories of us, the ones they called others.
"Yes, Majesty." Lady Ossenna reached for the same sweets Tilda had nibbled on earlier. She took hold of a white-chocolate morsel and dove into it, releasing the smallest of moans of satisfaction as she chewed. "All mages, regardless of their origins, were drawn to Acewood. That was where their powers were to converge, to link as a protective barrier against outside threats."
