Page 28 of The Prince's Curse

Haldric’s emerald eyes sparkled as he leaned forward. “Good question. Alchemy is a particular means of channeling and focusing runeflame. While hand gestures are the most basic way to shape runeflame, others learn to impart their magic via scrolls, potions, enchanted items, or even music.”

He met Benjin’s gaze and hesitated, his expression turning uncertain. As if suddenly remembering where he was, some of his good humor faded. He straightened his back and cleared his throat. “But that’s enough of an overview. For now, we’ll start with a few basic runes. While runeflame possesses greater versatility than any other type of magic, it comes at the cost of precision. Even a minor mistake can cause a spell to fizzle or react unpredictably, and experienced mages might spend years mastering a single advanced technique. I’ll show you how to construct each rune while you do your best to copy it exactly.”

A quick search of the room turned up some ink and parchment. Haldric sketched the glowing outline of a rune in the air with his finger, then had Benjin write it over and over again until satisfied he’d gotten it right.

It was the sort of tedious grunt work Benjin was coming to expect from practicing magic. As they continued, however, hefound himself getting more and more invested into the exercise. There was something oddly soothing about the repetition, and each time he recognized a rune as a component of a spell he already knew, his jolt of triumph made all the previous effort seem worth it.

Even the prince gradually relaxed again. They didn’t talk much, but Benjin could see his tension ebbing, his green eyes flashing with excitement each time Benjin succeeded. It made his presence almost tolerable.

Haldric etched a fresh rune in the air, and Benjin recognized it at once as a component of his basic levitation Evocation. Since he already had some familiarity with the rune, he tried to modify it so that the affected object slowly rotated in midair instead of holding in place.

The book he’d targeted shot upward on a gust of runeflame. Instead of spinning as Benjin had intended, however, the poor tome began to rip itself apart. Torn scraps of pages fluttered about the chamber like paper rain.

A flash of runeflame from Haldric canceled out Benjin’s fizzled spell and settled the storm of pages. The prince fixed Benjin with a glare. “Goddess’ mercy, are youtryingto kill us? I told you to copy the runes precisely!”

“It was an accident! I was just trying to—”

“It doesn’t matter what you weretryingto do. You are untrained and unskilled. If you’re not careful, your lack of discipline could get you or someone else killed!” Haldric’s voice was a low growl, his jaw clenched tight. “An inexperienced novice like you has no place practicing runeflame at all, let alone as Dexil’s apprentice!”

The prince’s harsh words echoed Benjin’s own whispered insecurities. His face flushed as he abruptly rose and stormed toward the door. “This lesson is over.”

“Fine by me. I have better things to do than coddle a fool.”

Benjin slammed the door behind him and stalked down the corridor, his mind brewing with furious thoughts of the prince. It was only when he neared his room near those of the other palace servants that shame began to outweigh his ire.

The prince was right—in retrospect, what Benjin had done was incredibly foolish. But that didn’t give Haldric the right to respond to Benjin’s mistake with such obvious disdain, nor to judge him so severely for it. Who was Haldric to decide who was and wasn’t worthy of runeflame?

It was a stark reminder that, no matter the occasional cracks in the prince’s cold façade, he remained every bit the arrogant noble who’d first deemed Benjin utterly beneath his notice.

ten

Haldric

Haldric entered the GrandMagus’ tower, relieved when he didn’t see Benjin there. Their lesson yesterday had started off okay enough, but it had ended as disastrously as Haldric had predicted.

Benjin had talent—even Haldric could see that from how swiftly he’d picked up the runes they’d practiced. Yet, he was also hasty and far too reckless. That stunt he’d pulled with the levitation spell could have ended far worse than it had.

What if instead of fizzling, the mismatched spell had amplified and attempted to levitate the entire room straight out of the keep? Or Goddess forbid, what if it had inverted to voidflame. Not even the Grand Magus’ wards could’ve protected them then.

“Your Highness,” Dexil said in greeting. He spared Haldric a fond smile before returning his attention to the thin sheet of metal before him.

Haldric recognized enough of the protective sigils to guess this was part of the warding he was working on for the upcomingSummit. Thinking of all those governors gathered in one place, looking to him for guidance, sent a wave of anxiety washing over him.

He tried to shove it down, focusing on his main purpose here. “I hope I’m not disturbing you. I wanted to speak to you about your new apprentice.”

“I always have time to spare for you, Your Highness. Did your joint lesson yesterday go well?”

Haldric hesitated. Despite his dislike for the young mage, he didn’t relish the prospect of getting Benjin in trouble. Still, he couldn’t ignore his concerns either.

“To be honest, it nearly ended in disaster. I’m not certain Benjin possesses the proper temperament to be a mage. His eagerness to experiment almost put us both in jeopardy.”

Dexil clucked his tongue. “I was afraid of that. Not to worry—I’ll talk to him. Next time though, I suggest you proceed with more caution. It’s probably best to avoid channeling any runeflame until you’re confident he’s mastered the rune.”

Haldric blinked, certain he must have misheard. “Forgive me, Grand Magus, but did you saynext time?”

“Of course.” Dexil indicated the incomplete wards with a glowing palm. “I expect things will only grow more hectic as the Summit nears, and I don’t want either of you to neglect your magical training in the meantime.”

Haldric fought down a grimace. “I’m not certain that’s wise.”

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