The Unseen Heir (Legends of Abreia, #2) - Kenley Davidson Page 0,1
were not as encouraging as he would like, and time was no longer on his side.
But life as he knew it had never favored the weak, nor the easily defeated. He was not yet ready to give up—not when the prize being offered was still much closer to hand than he’d ever dreamed possible when he was young and overlooked, mocked for the weakness of his person and his magic.
And besides, he still had a weapon or two at his disposal. Perhaps Farhall would be less inclined to defiance when the lives of her people were hanging by a thread. When the king held a knife to the throat of the loyal guardsmen now languishing in cells beneath the palace, and when the armies of Garimore poured into the streets of Farhall’s capital city of Arandar, perhaps then Soren and his troublesome daughter would be brought to realize the folly of challenging Garimore’s king.
But much preparation would be needed, and the king sighed deeply as he regretted the loss of his Raven once more.
But no matter. When all was done, and he attained his rightful place, he would have more than enough time and authority to hunt down even the Raven and chain his power yet again. He would chain them all—everyone whose magic was a threat to the strength and security of his rule.
But that day would not come through wishing or regrets, so the king left the tower behind and began the task of returning order to his household and his kingdom.
One day, he would bring that order to the world.
All in good time.
Chapter 1
“You did what?”
Unlike the last time they’d argued in this very room, King Soren of Farhall whirled from his contemplation of the window to stare at Leisa in evident horror.
She stared back.
“I stole a horse and came as quickly as I could to warn you,” she repeated.
It was a pitifully insipid way to describe her last few days. Never mind her last few weeks.
Leisa had done her best to condense what she’d learned in Garimore into a few essential points.
King Melger of Garimore wanted to rule Farhall.
Even more than he wanted to rule Farhall, he wanted to rid the world of mages.
And he was a flaming hypocrite who wasn’t above using dark magic to get what he wanted.
Also, his son, Prince Vaniell, was an irritating fop with a hidden agenda, who would drive Princess Evaraine of Farhall to an early grave should they be so foolish as to marry.
Most important of all, however, was the fact that King Melger had caught one of Princess Evaraine’s guards spying on his men, and had decided this gave him the right to demand an immediate marriage to cement the alliance between their kingdoms.
That or he would declare war.
And in a war, Farhall would lose. Not only lose—it would be completely and utterly destroyed, giving Melger free rein to slaughter mages and oppress any non-humans within Farhall’s borders.
And out of all of these grim bits of news, the part King Soren seemed most concerned with was Leisa stealing a horse?
“It wasn’t even a very good horse,” she muttered under her breath.
Really, had he not heard a thing she’d said?
Since leaving Kyrion in the forest, Leisa had spent most of the miles considering what, exactly, she intended to tell her king. She was filthy, confused, and heartsick, and she’d been traveling on so little sleep, she’d almost blundered her way into the first guard post wearing her own face.
Once she shared her story with the stunned guards, she’d been delayed by the lack of a spare horse, then delayed again by her escort’s insistence on coddling her. It had been fifteen days since she’d escaped Garimore’s palace in the middle of the night, but she’d made it home in time. She’d reached Arandar, Farhall’s capital, before Garimore’s messengers, and now it was up to her to convey the truth of Garimore’s plan to King Soren.
This was the reason Zander had sacrificed himself, remaining behind in Garimore’s dungeons at the mercy of King Melger’s sense of justice.
It was also the reason she’d left Kyrion with his magic still sealed. Not because she feared him, but because she needed all her energy for the journey. Because she owed King Soren for taking her in. For raising her in the palace instead of leaving her in the streets to starve.
And she owed it to the people of Farhall not to abandon them to a monster like Melger.