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It was a cold ride back to the palace without my jacket, but every shiver was worth it.
The concern from my parents when they greeted my arrival was irritating, though.
Mother fussed and demanded a coat be fetched for me at once, and no matter how much I argued we were walking inside and I was going to change before dinner anyway, she wasn’t swayed.
“What happened, Jack?” my father asked.
“I ran into a kid who needed it more than I did,” I said. I called him a kid but he wasn’t that young; he was probably my age, actually.
They both stopped walking and stared at me. Mother slowly smiled and shook her head. Dad slapped me on the back and steered me inside.
Everyone acted like I did as much as I possibly could have done, but it still didn’t sit right with me. I still felt like I should have done more.
After changing I met them for dinner and detailed the market for them, giving them the gifts I’d found. Mother was ecstatic about the silks and Dad beamed at the horse statue.
When we were done eating, Mother and I went out to the royal gardens for my magic lesson.
“Do you feel up for trying the transport spell again?” she asked. Lucas and her two guards stood watch at either entrance to the grassy courtyard.
“Actually, I was wondering if our magic could heal people?”
Her eyes widened. “Heal people?” she repeated. “Why the sudden interest?”
I shrugged and rubbed the back of my neck. “Just...saw a lot of people who needed it today, that’s all.” It hadn’t just been that kid, either. Plenty of people walking around had nasty steam burns up and down their arms or spanning their faces.
Her surprise melted into fondness. “Oh, Jack. You have the biggest heart I’ve ever seen.” She stepped forward to hug me, ruffling my hair. “I wish we could go around healing people. But you know our magic must stay secret. Even if you knew those spells, you couldn’t have healed them today.”
I squirmed out of her embrace. “That doesn’t make any sense. What’s the point of having this power if we don’t help people?” The past generations of our family have wasted this magic, in my opinion. They’d only kept themselves safe, and the knowledge of how to wield our magic was all but forgotten. Mother had taught herself almost everything from ancient spell books.
“We do, Jack. But we have to do it more subtly than healing a town of sick people. I help fertilize the farm lands and send rains when there’s a drought, and the magic in the very ground of this kingdom keeps plagues and disease at bay.”
“You don’t think it’s time we took it a step further?”
“Jack, most of the kingdom has no idea magic exists. If we were to suddenly announce our abilities it could be very dangerous for us. There are people who would call us monsters and demand we step down, or people who would attack us and use us for their own gains.”
“We live in the most fortified building of the kingdom. If they can’t get to us now, why would they be able to then?” The whole mindset didn’t sit well with me. It sounded like cowardice.
“Determination is a powerful thing, Jack. Right now, no one in the kingdom has the willpower needed to break through our security. We don’t want to give them that motivation.”
“These all sound like excuses,” I muttered, glaring at the ground.
“We have to keep ourselves safe first and foremost,” she said. “When the royal family goes, anarchy descends upon the land. We’re the first defense against that.”
It still sounded like an excuse.
“All that said,” she went on, “It doesn’t hurt to know a few healing spells just in case. But you have to promise me that the next time you go into town, you won’t heal every other person in sight.”
I knew that wasn’t a promise I could keep, but I made it anyway. One of her guards volunteered to be a pincushion for me to practice on, and while I got the hang of healing small cuts and bruises easily, there wasn’t a way to practice anything larger without seriously injuring him. Neither I nor my mother had the stomach for that, and I think her guard appreciated us keeping the lesson theoretical.
I’d be able to practice it soon enough, anyway. One way or another I was going back to Gallen and finding that boy.
There was no immediate chance, though. The next day was Commoner’s Court, and I’d been going to these since I was twelve.
It was always interesting to hear from the people directly, and to see my father rule. Most things were noted down to be discussed later with the full court. Others were dismissed as something for the provincial governor to handle.
My chance to find a way back to that town was further delayed at dinner, when Dad announced plans for a new hunt.
I rolled my eyes and pushed the broccoli around on my plate. He called it a hunt. Me and the other noble children called it forced bonding.
“Oh, don’t be like that,” Dad said. “This one will be different. This time, me and the men have decided to trust you boys out there on your own.”
I dropped my fork.
“Excuse me?” Mother demanded.
“Alone except for the guards that will be keeping an eye on them,” Dad corrected, giving my mom a wide smile.
They wanted to let a bunch of noble kids loose in the woods? Granted, they were fairly public woods and there wasn’t anything more dangerous than a rabbit in them, but this still seemed like a terrible idea.
“Absolutely not, it’s far too dangerous,” Mother said.
Dad reached over and placed his hand on hers. “Honey, I’ve already agreed to it.”
“Why would you do such a thing?”
Really, why? I hated these hunts. Tramping about in the trees and shooting at small wildlife was not my idea of a good time. Especially with the children of the council.
“Because I trust our son and the highly trained guards surrounding him to keep him safe,” Dad said. “This will be good for him. Those boys will soon replace their fathers on the council, and one day Jack will be leading them. They need to learn to trust each other now.”
There wasn’t any way to get out of this.
Mother tried. She argued every possible point she could come up with, but Dad held firm. Even if I pretended to be sick it would only postpone the event.
We were leaving in two days, rain or shine.