AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Lord Fearghas, Lady Georgia, Lady Elva,” Lugh replied. “Welcome. We are happy you host you and your family.”
Lady Georgia shifted on her feet as she recuperated from her curtsy. Her daughter Lady Elva stood behind them with a silly smirk on her face.
“It is a great honor to be invited, my King,” Lord Fearghas said.
Lugh stared at the man with a pompous smirk on his face as he straightened on my father’s throne. He took a long moment to establish superiority before he spoke again, making the Lord fidget uncomfortably.
“Your work in the Southlands ensures our safety against Lord Valiar’s brigands,” Lugh finally replied. “You honor us by taking the time to join our celebration.”
Lord Fearghas stood straighter now. His cheeks were flushed with pride. I hated him for it.
“Thank you, my King,” he said. “Those who side with the usurping prince won’t see what is coming to them.”
“Murdering his own father,” Lady Georgia intervened, the feigned sadness of her shrill voice making my skin crawl. “Unbelievable... Princess, I cannot imagine how difficult it must be... Your own brother, trying to steal your throne after killing your father...”
Lady Elva’s smirk grew bigger before she came to her senses and forced herself to hide it.
They were gloating.
The audacity made me forget where I was, or who I was with. My grief got the better of me.
The anger that I’d been pushing down came to the surface and fed my magic. My hands shook as I transformed the feeling into fear without thinking.
They deserved to be crippled with that fear.
Lady Georgia would suffer at my hands for saying those things.
Lady Elva would taste that same punishment for smirking behind her mother.
Lord Fearghas would learn once and for all what it meant to disrespect my family.
Magic swirled in me.
I attacked.
And nothing happened...
“It is a shame King Duncan could not protect the realm from his own son,” Lady Elva said. “The princess is lucky to have you on her side, my king.”
I pushed toward them once again. Fear. Humiliation. Disgust. Anything I felt, they would feel it multiplied. My magic was strong, it would cripple them.
This time, Lady Elva’s brows raised a bit as though she felt something. But that was it.
Stop it, Lady Queill’s voice rang inside my mind.
I stopped. It wasn’t a choice I’d made. Lady Queill’s warning carried the weight of mind magic. She did not allow me to make the choice to submit to her will. She made me do it.
“We are all lucky to have you protect us, my king,” Lady Georgia added. “I wish your enemies knew how futile it is to try to resist your strength.”
She looked at me as she said it, as though she meant to insinuate that I was the enemy in question. She was right.
“Thank you for inviting us to your wedding, my King,” Lord Fearghas concluded the greeting.
“You are welcome, Lord Fearghas,” Lugh replied. “We will be happy to host you at Winter Castle until then.”
Lord Fearghas bowed again, and behind him, his wife and daughter curtseyed politely.
As they left to join the rest of the court, a fog settled on my mind upon Lady Queill’s urging. Frustration was the only thing I could feel. They needed to be punished, and yet, I was powerless to do it.
