Page 95 of I Ran Away to Evil 2
But the prophecy swore
Of a future that bore
A curse on King Simon’s line.
The royal astronomer stepped to the front
Of the festival well underway,
But his eyes shone with fear of the future he saw
And all turned to hear with dismay:
The babe might be born but they would be the last
To walk with the blood of the throne,
A magician’s curse would be the end of his reign
And a new king rise when the child’s grown.
Oh the moon shone that night
On the streets and the sight
Of the people who had read the signs.
But the prophecy swore
Of a future that bore
A curse on King Simon’s line.
The King called to arms, and he sent out his best
To gather those magically trained.
And on the next eve, under the bright moon
He called for them all to be slain—
“What?!” the magician beside me cried out. He was young and had been getting more and more angry as the song went on, but even so, I was not expecting him to be an untrained mage. With his outburst, he lost control ofsomethingand shot a fireball at the stage.
The stool with Bard Bronwynn’s mug caught on fire … and the oil from that morning’s polish ignited faster than the stage would have otherwise. And the oils burned toxic.
The entire place had to be evacuated, and it was only thanks to Bronwynn being incredibly dexterous that she made it out in one piece.
After it was all said and done, I reassured the bard that the club had a generous donor who would cover everything. I didn’t tell her it was me. I just handed over the ring of flowers I’d prepared for her and went off to deal with the aftermath.
I thought for sure I’d be kicked out of the group after that, but everyone turned their ire on the magician. I myself trekked to the Mages Tower to enact my own revenge by asking that the boy be sent to magically clean our castle’s privies for a year. We supplied alotof magical ingredients to the tower, and it would bea shameif we couldn’t deliver as often.
He deserved it for making us miss the end of the song!
I knew it by heart now, of course.
One by one they were dropped with a rope at the throat
But the last mage, he slipped through the binds,
