The Midnight Storm (A New Dawn #2)

Chapter 29 - Fox

Moonstone Castle was an old castle with walls that looked like they would crumble down with the next gust of wind. Faded, worn-out carpets covered the cold stone floors yet failed to fully conceal the cracks so deep one could lose a foot stumbling over it. Dust gathered in every corner, round or square. Fox had walked its corridors so often on his way from and to Mage Tower he had gotten used to it. Even branches through the mossy windows had become quite an ordinary sight.

More peculiar was what he found when Felix stormed into the chamber where King Ariel and Queen Cobra were waiting for them. The royal couple was sitting on opposite ends of a large wooden bench, the King holding a large brown book against his chest, and the Queen playing with the silver ring on her finger. The smell of fire dominated the room. It wasn't the pleasant smokey scent of a crackling fireplace, but something far more ominous that had led to the still faintly smouldering scorch mark on the grey carpet. The culprit laid on the table: a candle broken into so many pieces not even magic could mend it and a half-burnt letter that Fox couldn't read.

Felix seemed oblivious to the scenery. He plopped down on his mother's lap. "Storm said you were looking for us. He said you had a surprise."

"We couldn't find you," the King said, stern but concern marking his voice too. "Where were you?"

Felix rubbed his eyes. Yawning, he said, "Mage Tower."

"You know you can't go there."

"I can with Fox." Felix looked at his father without blinking.

Silently, Fox cowered in his place. He didn't want to get into trouble. He had only just become a Knight of Silvermark.

But the King didn't spare him any glance. "Well, I don't want you to go there again. Prince Sto—"

The Queen's venomous look ended the conversation.

"Not in front of the boy," she hissed.

Not in front of the boy. Oh, how often Mother had uttered those words to Father (the blacksmith, not Lord Brandon) when he had come home to them arguing about matters he didn't understand. Father's white cheeks had usually turned red, and his red knuckles white. You're not a good wife, he would tell her, and you mollycoddle the boy too much.

Finally, the fights were starting to make sense.

"Mage Tower is for magicians," the King lectured his son. "You're not a magician so you don't go there—end of discussion."

"Yes, Father," Felix said with a meekness that didn't last long. He tilted his head towards the Queen. "So what is the surprise? I wanna know what it is."

"God of Patience, sweet Fe." She showered him with kisses.

Felix pushed her away. "Not in front of Fox," he said under his breath.

"My big boy is too big for kisses now, is he?" she teased him, "but not for my lap?"

"That's different. The bench is too hard. You're soft."

Fox stood motionlessly in the middle of the room, defying the God of Greed. Despite the redness around the Queen's eyes, she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. If only he could get a kiss from her too, relive that taste of a snug fire, and warm milk with a teaspoon of honey. Or a hug warm and soothing that would make him forget that he missed Katla.

"Lord Fox," King Ariel acknowledged his presence. "Join us."

Fox gave a quick and awkward bow. "Thank you for your hospi-, hos-, for letting me stay here in Moonstone Castle."

"Your master raised you well." The King smiled. "May his journey be swift and his mission successful."

"May the Gods be on his side," the Queen said.