Page 22 of Enchanted Kingdom
Molly shrugged. “It could be the fact that there is a training facility on the other side of the forest. For the king’s guard. The stables are over there too.”
“True,” Renna chimed in, “But there used to be more birds. Now there are very few, hardly any.”
“Is there something wrong with the forest?” I asked. “Some sort of disease?”
Renna shook her head. “No one knows. My father said when he was little there were tons of creatures in the forest. Now it’s quiet.” After a moment she added, “Too quiet.”
I thought on that for a moment. “At the risk of sounding like a dumb Nerede girl, is the forest itself Enchanted also?”
Renna cocked her head. “It’s Enchanted in the sense that the forest is alive and its own creature, quite like all forests, I imagine. It is magical in its own way, but not at all like the Enchanted use magic, so no, not in the way I’m sure you’re probably thinking.”
“May I ask a possibly insensitive question?” Gwen asked.
Molly snorted a laugh. “Here we go again.”
Renna gestured with a hand for Gwen to continue.
“Keep in mind not all of us understand the Enchanted and the rules of magic because we are not from levels that have magic,” Gwen began. “But why have we been here two days and only seen magic the one time? I was expecting magic everywhere up here.”
I wholeheartedly agreed with her, I just hadn’t had the guts to ask the same question.
Renna began, “Our magic is our ultimate weapon. We use it only when we have to, or in the case of our king who is so powerful, he can and does use it on occasion to entertain, but for the most part, we choose and are careful with when and how we use it. Some Enchanted have depleted their stores of magic by using too much too fast and wasting it frivolously. Our king has always had us use it in select ways to train and tried to protect us by having us not overuse it. It is our duty as Enchanted to protect Wylan, not just use magic whenever we see fit.”
“We have magic, yes,” Molly added, “but we are also Wylan’s soldiers, whether we work within the royal guard or not. Great responsibility comes with our magic.” It looked like she wanted to roll her eyes but switched to look back at her book instead.
The conversation left me uncomfortable, so I got up and moved about the room. I knew more of these select ways the king had them use magic than I cared to admit. My father had been killed by an Enchanted, whether the king had personally made that call or not. Though Renna and Molly seemed nice, nicer than I’d ever imagined Enchanted to be, it would do me well to remember what I had lost. I found another window in the corner and settled there.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Renna had followed me. Damn her. Why couldn’t she just let me fade into the background? Why was that so hard to do here when that was what everyone, except for maybe Renna and Prince Keiran, wanted of me?
She smiled. “It’s okay to answer honestly. I won’t hurt you, Jorah. I won’t use my magic on you just because you say something I don’t like.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “I lost someone. Someone close to me. At the hands of an Enchanted.”
“Ahhh.” She reached out and gently squeezed my arm. “I am sorry for your loss. So sorry. But please know there are good and bad people in every level of our kingdom. There are good Enchanted just as there are evil. Just as I am sure there are good people in Nerede and also bad.”
I opened my eyes to listen, wondering if she might be right. In my grief and outrage, had I assumed all Enchanted were the same? But weren’t Enchanted really just people also? People with extraordinary powers? A power that maturity was not a requirement for.
“While it is true some get drunk off their power and seek to dominate and destroy, there are those of us that use our power properly...to protect.”
Her words confused me more than ever. I thought of her approaching me on the first night and how she assumed I had Iron Will and that’s why the king’s magic didn’t work on me. Also how she wanted to sit by me last night. “And you are being nice to me because you are trying to protect me?”
Her eyes went wide a moment, and I knew I hit the nail on the head. She moved in closer to whisper. “Yes. But I also do want to be your friend, Jorah, because I think you are different in the best kinds of ways. And yes, I also know this castle is not a safe place for someone with Iron Will.”
So that was definitely not going to make sleeping tonight any easier. “Why?”
She gave her head a shake. “Because of those of us that fall on the dominate-and-destroy side of things. They don’t like the outliers to their power.”
I was pretty sure she was trying to tell me to be careful of the king, but without actually saying it. “But I don’t have power, I am not Enchanted, so how am I even a threat?”
“Because magic will not work on you.”
I squinted. “Magic didn’t work on me once. How do you know it’ll be the same every time?”
Renna shrugged. “Gut instinct. I’ve only known of a few people from Nerede and Rallis to be immune, but it worked the same way as it did on you. As if you had magic yourself.”
“But I do not have magic!” I argued. “None. Promise. I can make an amazing loaf of bread. Also my cookies are legendary. That’s it. That is my skill set, my only powers.”
