When I came to again, I was still in the throne room, this time laying on the plush red velvet of the dais by the thrones. Mom leaned against Igraine’s throne with my head and shoulders in her lap, her legs stretched out on either side of me as she combed her fingers through my hair. I could feel vibrations from her talking, but I couldn’t hear anything.

  Lord Silvo was in a heated argument with Queen Elincia, King Edvard slumped on the floor, Silvo and Igraine looking on. I couldn’t see Dad or Elidyr anywhere, but my field of vision was limited to what was in front of me.

  I shifted, realizing the stupid bracelet was back on again. I tried to sit up, but Mom pulled me back down, giving me The Look. I gave up and settled back down, wishing my hearing would come back so I could figure out what was going on.

  Silvo came over and sat next to me, holding some ice in his hand. Mom took it from him and placed it on my throat, instantly relieving some of the pain in my neck.

  He leaned forward and spoke, but I couldn’t hear him still, so I shook my head, and held a hand up to him. He took it and I tried connecting our thoughts, but the bracelet wouldn’t let me.

  I glared at it pointedly and he rolled his eyes, nodding his head to his father.

  I shook my wrist in front of him and shrugged helplessly, causing him to sigh and take it off.

  “I can’t use magic anyway, except for this, but it doesn’t exactly require much mana.” I thought to him as soon as the bracelet was off.

  “He isn’t willing to risk anything, especially not after that stunt you pulled. What was that anyway? I’ve never seen a spell like it.”

  “You all might if you would stop hoarding magic tomes for yourselves and stop with your “elemental magic only” crap. There are millions of other spell combinations out there if-”

  “I get the hint.” He huffed. “How are you feeling?”

  I sent him the pain I was feeling and he recoiled, letting go of my hand.

  I glared at him and took his hand again. “What’s going on?” I nodded towards the queen and Lord Silvo.

  “Queen Elincia is trying to keep him from arresting you for anything, he’s arguing that you’re too dangerous and unpredictable to allow to roam free.”

  “Meaning he’s going to try executing me just like the Magic Knights.” I glared at Lord Silvo

  “They… weren’t actually executed.” Silvo thought, looking away from me.

  “What do you mean? Where are they?”

  “They… I don’t know, exactly.” His shoulders slumped.

  “Is there anything you DO know?” I winced as I swallowed.

  “I won’t let my father have his way with you. You helped us calm the king in his rampage. You should probably rest up, I’ll handle my father.”

  I watched as Silvo let go of my hand, gently setting it on my stomach and stood, walking to where they were arguing. I blinked at Elidyr as she came and knelt next to me, concern etched into her face. I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know anything that she had to say, but I held my hand up anyway and she took it, knowing exactly what I wanted.

  “I’m sorry, Rivienne. If I’d known-” she started.

  I shook my head at her and let her know that I was too tired to be mad right then, but I was still mad at her for taking my tome.

  “I’m glad I took it from you, doubly so now that I saw you cast whatever that spell was. You’re an idiot on the way to an early grave.” She glared at me.

  I rolled my eyes and rolled away from her, struck by another coughing fit. This was getting old. I flinched as the pressure in my ears popped, letting me hear again.

  I relaxed onto my side, my head on Mom’s thigh as she ran her hand up and down my back gently. She shifted the ice onto the side of my neck and brushed my hair away from it.

  “-aved his life, Father. That has to count for something.” I looked up at Silvo who stood before his father, gripping the bracelet in his fist.

  “It doesn’t matter. If I allow her to walk around freely, it isn’t fair to the rest. She can either join the Astral Mages or stay in the prison. The choice is hers.”

  I pulled myself up at that, angrily motioning for Elidyr. She held her hand out and I snatched it. “I will not live in a stone box, nor am I joining the Order. Tell them there’s a third option. I’ll join the King’s Army and wear the magic nullifying bracelet.”

  I pushed myself up into a sitting position and squared my shoulders. Mom passed me the ice and I took it from her, holding it to my neck.

  “Rivienne has a proposal.” Elidyr said, stepping forward.

  The three of them stopped and turned to her, Lord Silvo’s eyes boring into mine. I held his gaze and barely even blinked at him.

  “She is willing to join the King’s Army and wear the Antimagic bracelet, and she is willing to meet with the Order at least once a month show proof of her disuse of magic.”

  I snapped my attention to Elidyr, wishing I could say something, anything about that last bit.

  “You do have to admit that it is a good idea.” Elincia said, turning back to Lord Silvo. “She would be under careful watch of the Captains at all times within the army and I already know of a perfect squadron for her to be placed in. Meeting with the Order once or twice a month would make certain you have a way to keep an eye on her as well.”

  Lord Silvo was quiet for a moment, thinking. “I can agree to this arrangement, however, she is to hand over every tome and artifact she has in her possession and I will personally meet with her once every week.” He said with finality.

  “Once a week? Isn’t that a bit much, Father.” Silvo asked, glancing down at me.

  “It’s either that, or she rots in a prison. Her choice.” He glared at me, daring me to try arguing.

  “Fine. Once a week, you are to meet personally with Lord Silvo, and Lord Silvo only.” Elincia said, a mischievous glint in her eye. I could only begin to wonder what she had in mind. “Do you agree to these terms, Rivienne, Lord Silvo?” She asked, looking between us.

  I could only nod, so I stood, careful not to aggravate my neck too much and stepped forward, holding a hand out to Lord Silvo. He took and we shook once, a smirk beginning to ghost his pale face.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “Good. Now, Rivienne, away with you. You have some recovering to do before you leave for training in a few hours. Lord Silvo, you and I have a lot to discuss.”

  I turned away and Igraine stepped forward, pulling me into another hug, careful not to hurt me. I hugged her back and sighed through my nose, frustrated with several things. 1, no longer having much control over my own life, 2, feeling like Lord Silvo got his way once again, 3, Elidyr making me meet with the snake once a week, 4, still not knowing what exactly was going on, 5, not-

  “Rivienne.” Igraine said, pulling away from me and putting her hands on the sides of my face. “Don’t ever do something like that again.”

  I looked at her in confusion.

  “Don’t look at me like that, you know good and well what I’m talking about. That spell nearly killed you.” She glared at me, before stepping away so Mom could look at my neck.

  “Well, kid, it’s going to be bruised for a while, the swelling has gone down at least, and you’re going to be sore, so try not to talk much, even when you can. At least for a few days.” Mom said, kissing me on the top of my head. “I love you, now go to bed. I’ve got to tend to the king.”

  I motioned to her and Elidyr and tilted my head in question.

  “Your Dad? He’s gone to handle a few things with the merchants. We’ll see you off in the morning. Now go, go sleep while you still can.” She pulled me in for a hug, giving me another kiss. “I love you.” She said before pulling away to go see to the king.

  “It’s really late,” Igraine said, nudging my shoulder. “Come back to my room for the night.”

  Elidyr stepped forward to give me a hug, but pushed away just as quickly, leaving without another word. I watched her leave out a side door before letting Igraine pull me to the door behind the thrones. She let go long enough to open it and let me step through before she walked through the door and hooked her arm through mine, just like we always have.

  “What a night, huh?” She asked, yawning.

  I nodded, staring at the stone floor as the lights were making my headache much worse.

  “Oh right, you can’t talk right now. Sorry.” She said sheepishly. “Well, one good thing came out of all of the mess. Well, two, really. My dad’s still alive and you’re not going to be arrested anymore.”

  I rolled my eyes and looked at her pointedly.

  “Okay, fine, you have to meet with Lord Silvo, but it’s only one day a week. Definitely beats getting shoved into a stone box.”

  I shrugged and rubbed at my neck, the muscles were really sore.

  “Hmm..” She hummed sadly, watching me out of the corner of her eye. “You need a hot bath, hopefully that’ll help.”

  I looked up at her and shook my head. It was extremely early in the morning already and I just wanted to sleep.

  “You’re not sleeping in my bed covered in blood, I know it’s late, but you really need a bath, plus, the hot water would help your muscles. I know what it looked like while he was… when he strangled you. I thought… I thought you’d died when he threw you. Silvo tried to keep you from hitting the floor too hard, but I’m not sure it really helped. Gods, I’m glad you didn’t die.” She said, suddenly throwing her arms around me. “I’m not sure I could bear it if I lost my best friend.”

  I shrugged, hugging her back.

  “Don’t shrug at me.” She snorted. “Who else is going to keep me amused by arguing with Silvo all the time? Or help me escape from the palace from time to time, or listen to me rant about politics, or be my friend?”

  I shook my head, hugging her tighter, a few tears leaking out of the corner of my eyes. My head was pounding even harder, but it really hit me just then, that if I were to die, several people would be left without me. Sure, others would come along, but they couldn’t fill the void quite like I could.

  “Anyway, sorry.” she said, pulling away to wipe her face, smirking when she realized I had to wipe my face too. “Come on, let’s go clean ourselves up and get some sleep.”

  Later, when we’d finally managed to stumble into her rooms and filled the tub with hot water, we were both a right mess. Igraine turned on the water while I dug through, looking for the soap we both liked. Normally she had a maid to do all of this for her, so it took her a few tries but she was eventually able to get the water to the right temperature.

  I took my tunic dress off and picked at the dried blood that was all down the front of it. If I could use magic, I’d be able to get it out easily, but that wasn’t a good idea right now. I really hoped I hadn’t ruined it too badly, it was my favorite thing to wear. It was light, comfortable, had pockets, and it matched my hair perfectly. Igraine had taken it from me and tossed it in a basket with her clothes and helped me get my boots unbuckled, saying I was taking too long. I’d also grimaced while taking my dress off, moving too much.

  I sunk up to my nose in the tub across from her, stretching out, finally relaxing in the hot water. I started to doze when she kicked me awake, telling me to scrub before I fell asleep. I rolled my eyes and slid all the way under the water, warming the top of my head up.

  I wanted to stay under the water longer, but I started to panic when I couldn’t breathe and suddenly, I was being choked by the king again. I hauled myself up out of the water, gasping for breath. The cold air bringing me back to reality.

  “Riv, what’s wrong!” Igraine said, running to the edge of the pool.

  I gasped for breath, clawing at my throat, still feeling his hand there.

  “Stop, stop, stop! You’re okay.” She said, helping me out of the pool, wrapping a towel around me. She took my hands and I collapsed onto a stool, burying my face into my hands on my knees, my feet on the floor. There was a knock at the door and she stepped away to open it.

  I focused on trying to block out the thoughts and keep my breathing under control. Having a panic attack wouldn’t do me any good right now and I was fine. I knew I was. It wouldn’t happen again. It wouldn’t. Right?

  “Rivienne.” Silvo’s voice floated to me from right in front of me, but I couldn’t look at him. This guy that I’d always argued with, fought with, couldn’t see me like this. He couldn’t. A dry sob escaped my already raw throat and I grimaced, holding a hand to my chest.

  He knelt down in front of me and took my hand away from my face, forcing me to look up. He connected our thoughts and saw what I was feeling and thinking. A pained look crossed his face and he used another towel to wipe my face while Igraine sat next to me and used her comb to untangle my knotted curls. Why are they helping me so much?

  “Because… because you’re our friend,” Silvo said, holding my hand. “We almost lost you today and we both realized… we realized…” He trailed off.

  “Life would suck without you around.” Igraine finished for him.

  “Right. Besides, you’ve always been there for us, it’s our turn to help you out while we can. All these years of you picking up after us, keeping us sane, giving me something to do, beating me in duels. You’re leaving in a few hours and I didn’t want to leave anything unsaid.”

  Friends. “If you need a push, we’ll be right here where we always are.” I choked out a sob as I thought of my four friends, two friends on one side of a coin, two on the other, and me, somehow balanced in the middle. They’d never met, but I sorely wished for them to. Beth, Rinko, Igraine, and now Silvo. I’d never once considered him a friend, but I guess that’s sort of what we were all these years. In an odd sort of way.

  I took a deep breath and managed to rasp out, “Thank you. Both of you.” before my voice gave out and I choked back a cough, refusing to give in.

  “You’re welcome, now, I think it’s time we got dressed and went to bed.” Igraine said, standing.

  Silvo blushed bright red and also stood, looking away. “Y-yeah, I’ll be just out here.” He motioned to the door before quickly disappearing through it, closing it behind him.

  “Here, I grabbed some clothes out of your drawer.” She said, tossing me one of my green cotton dresses and black pants. I hadn’t left any pajamas the last time I was here because I was supposed to bring clean ones the next time I came back. Which was technically supposed to have been this time.

  I slipped on the clean clothes and sat back down, looking at the painted mural on the ceiling while I waited for Igraine to finish brushing her hair out at her vanity. Years ago, the mural had just been some angels with their many eyes staring every which way which creeped us out when we were younger. Igraine and I had talked about some of the things we’d wanted to add to it. My green butterflies and waterlilies and her horse and lyre. She’d asked someone to paint them on her ceiling for her, but he wasn’t getting it right, so she’d had him paid and then picked up the paintbrush herself, taking several years to finish. She’d had her painting lessons all through her life, but she’d also had a natural talent for it. She’d taught me too as we went along, but I was never able to pick it up as quickly as she was.

  “Hey, you ready?” she asked, holding her hand out to me.

  I nodded, and followed her out. Silvo was sitting on one of the couches reading a book.

  “Took you long enough,” he smirked, snapping his book shut.

  “You can’t rush perfection.” She grinned back at him.

  Mhm, yep, there was definitely some sort of chemistry going on there. I smiled to myself, watching them. I was glad, as much as I still didn’t really care for him, I was glad she was happy. I knew they’d be fine without me around, knowing they had each other.

  I went and crawled under the covers in her bed and fell asleep almost immediately.