Page 30 of Enchanted Kingdom
Owen flicked the air, and another shot of what looked like green lightning flew outward, seeming to wrap around the rest of the room and put the two of us into a bubble. But instead of surrounding me, it stopped just before me and didn’t go above me either. I was not within the magical sound barrier; it was like I was in another smaller bubble free of the magic itself. Like I had an invisible barrier around myself.
“Iron Will, through and through,” Owen stated.
He moved a finger and the barrier around everything but the door dropped.
“So will the night guard still be able to hear me right now?” I asked quietly.
Owen shook his head. “My magic is working on the door and the walls, not on you. My magic can work on your surroundings, but it cannot work on your person.”
My forehead creased. “I don’t even understand this nonsense about Iron Will.”
Owen cocked his head. “I think the king said it best once when he said that some normal humans are so stubborn that magic can’t and won’t work on them.”
I thought on that a moment. Was I truly that stubborn? “Okay, that makes more sense. But why don’t I know more about this? What does it even mean?”
Owen shrugged. “It just means you’re immune to magic being able to be used on you. I think the king doesn’t like to advertise that people like you exist, so it isn’t talked about all that often.”
“But why does the king care?” I asked. “Why does he care if I have Iron Will or not? It’s not as if I have magic too. I pose no threat.”
Owen shrugged again, this time with his hands out at his sides. “That seems to be the question we all are wondering. The king has been trying to figure out how this happens, what causes it, for years. Having someone with Iron Will right within his castle may make him curious. Too curious.”
“So I’m not safe here?” I asked breathlessly, wiping my hands on my pajama pants.
He grinned. “Sure you are. That’s why I’m here.”
I looked up at the ceiling and back at him. “You were just sleeping on the job, so forgive me if I don’t entirely believe you.”
“I would’ve woken up had anything gone down,” he said defensively.
I put my hands up to my head and rubbed my temples. “If I am unsafe at the castle, and making the kingcurious, why am I even here to begin with?”
Owen burst out laughing.
I looked at him like he was crazy.
He laughed again. “You don’t understand the number of women I have seen throw themselves at the princes these last few years. Your indifference is great.” He shook his head. “And to answer your question, I think you’d have to take that up with Keir.”
Keir.There was that nickname again.
“Believe me, I will,” I muttered more to myself than to him.
He snorted. “I have no doubt.” Then, after the fact, he added, “But don’t worry yourself sick, Jorah. You are a puzzle the king cannot solve. He will not kill you until he’s figured you out.”
“You just really know how to put a woman to sleep,” I blurted out.
He laughed. “This is way more fun than listening to you and Silvia through the wall.”
My eyes went large. “How long have you been behind there?”
He smiled. “Since the moment the king’s magic didn’t work on you.”
“Good thing I didn’t cry myself to sleep every night,” I said sarcastically.
“No,” he argued. “You just don’t sleep, tossing and turning and pacing around. What is your problem, anyway? Just sleep.”
I wanted to shake him. “I am in a castle swimming with Enchanted. How, precisely, am I supposed tojust sleep?”
It was him this time that took a moment to consider my words. “So you are uncomfortable with Enchanted? With magic?”
