Elizabeth Drake's Blog

Faramund had to choose.

His father. A man he had worshipped since he’d been a boy.

Or Lord Haydn. A man he had despised most of his life.

But there was only one path he could choose.

And that was the path of truth.

Faramund stared at the documents Lord Haydn held.

Undisputed evidence that the lord regent had ordered atrocities in the queen’s name. Atrocities that allowed him to hold on to power as the queen’s health failed.

But Faramund didn’t need to see them to know the truth.

Though he wished he did.

Faramund saw his father sit on the throne.

Saw him grip the curved arms, sculpted in the shape of an eagle.

And smile.

Faramund closed his eyes, but the image wouldn’t vanish.

Delaney made arrangements to sneak out of The Academy.

She had cash. A plan to get home. And an idea of where to go from there.

Now, she had to convince Elian.

She didn’t think that would be too hard. Not if she was honest with him.

Delaney closed her eyes as she thought of the trouble she was bringing home and the half-dozen cats her parents had that they’d rescued. It was the right thing.

And maybe there was a reason for a dark mage to have been born to such good people.

“I will take him home,” Delaney said. “My parents will help me get him off the grid. Hide him until I figure out what to do next.”

“His power is growing,” Adria said. “Faster than I have ever seen. If you can keep him away for a few years, not even the Firestarter could hurt him at his current rate of growth.”

“The Firestarter?”

“They’ll never send a dark mage. We all want to protect him.”

Delaney searched for and found Adria in the library late that night.

“We have to get Elian out of here. If they can’t break him, and they can’t, they’ll destroy him. Standard protocol.” And for some reason, Delaney couldn’t let anything happen to Elian.

Adria closed her book.

Delaney expected a snide comment. Or maybe a death bolt.

Adria nodded. “How?”

“Elian, we have to get you out of here. With this many dark mages, it’s only a matter of time before…”

Elian gently touched her shoulder. “I know. There’s a reason there are almost no light mages.”

“How many of you are there?”

“I have only met three others in my entire life.” Elian smiled. “Have you ever asked yourself why there are so many electric mages now when there weren’t a century ago?”

Delany shook her head.

“Mages are a reflection of humanity.”

That’s why there were more dark mages than ones like him

Delaney suddenly wanted to flee.

Wanted to be anywhere except beside Elian.

“Who all knows you are a light mage?” Delaney whispered.

“The staff. The professors. I suspect most of the senior class has figured it out.”

“You are anathema to all we’ve been taught.”

He lifted his shoulders. “I cannot change what I am, and they cannot change me.”

“I am a light mage,” Elian said.

“There’s no such thing.” Delaney paused and stared down at her cherry Larabar. “You’re not joking.”

He lifted his shoulders. “Sometimes I wish I could lie. Wish I could see things with the same pragmatism as a dark mage. Alas, I cannot. Just as I cannot give a professor the answer they wish for if I do not agree with it.”

“You know what Adria did for you?”

“Of course, and I have asked her not to do it again. If I fail The Academy, I fail. But I will not compromise who I am.”

“You don’t join the others for magic practice,” Delaney said pointedly, hoping the direct approach would discomfit him.

Instead, Elian smiled at her. “No, I don’t. They don’t like my magic.”

“They ‘don’t like’ a dark mage practicing circle of death, or a fire mage practicing incinerate,” Delaney said. “But they tolerate it anyway. What are you practicing that unnerves them?”

“All my magic.”

“Just what type of mage are you?” Delaney whispered.