White Hall (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 10) Read Free Page B

the silver stripes looked to the older man and stated, “One twin apparently inherited the lion’s share of the power.”
    Zenth nodded and said, “True, Rial, but he has enough to be a battle mage. They can always use more soldiers with magic.”
    Rikard looked to his other son in shock. They had never noticed anything unusual about the second twin. Piotr had been obvious, but Niklaus had seemed normal enough to them.
    “I have magic?” Nik asked in surprise. “Then why haven’t I noticed?”
    The younger wizard answered after noting his elder’s silence, “Battle mages rarely notice it. Wizards become wilders because the power inside them is too great, so it basically leaks out or changes them. Most mages are like undernourished wizards. The magic in them is rarely hard to suppress because their strength is minimal.”
    The second set of wizards had joined the first and the girl shook her head as she reprimanded her counterpart, “No need to be mean about it, Rial. After all, you’ve heard about the battle mage in the Winter’s Edge tournament. If he hadn’t become ill, many say that he might have become champion.”
    Her mentor chuckled and ruffled the girl’s red hair. “Don’t say that near Wizard Magnus while his group is staying at the inn. He will most likely take offense.”
    “Magnus is a fire wizard too full of himself, Qeyr. Just because he became champion doesn’t mean that he was better than the battle mage. He won almost by default,” the girl complained to the larger wizard in blue.
    The other wizard’s apprentice broke in saying, “All of that is moot. These two are the first we’ve found to hold any magic around here.”
    Zenth nodded and applied his attention to the three who had flagged them down. “If your boys need to gather their things, we will be here through tomorrow night before moving on. Since other wizards are in Delanne, you are in luck. You can head to White Hall with the other candidates with them.”
    Piotr found interest in his words. “I thought that you just said that you hadn’t found anyone else with magic so far.”
    The girl met the questioning tone with a wizardly answer, “We haven’t. They are from Hala traveling with wizards heading back to White Hall.”
    Qeyr added, “You came assuming that your smaller boy is a wizard. Can you have him back to the main road by tomorrow morning?”
    Rikard’s mouth had gone dry and surprisingly it was Niklaus who audaciously answered, “We only live a couple miles outside of town. My brother is packed; but I can be back by tonight, if necessary.”
    The eldest of the wizards, Zenth, replied, “That won’t be necessary. Just return early in the morning. You’re farmers, so I am sure that getting up early will be nothing new for you.”
    With the decision made, the wizards practically seemed to forget about the farmers as they returned to scouring Delanne for any others with talent for magic.
     
     
    Chapter 2- Intersection
     
    Katya sighed as she saw the town on the horizon. After a long day of riding, the second in a row; the young girl’s posterior was telling her that horseback riding wasn’t something she wanted to do on a regular basis. Unfortunately the timing for that realization had come at a bad time, since they were still far from their destination. At least she could hope that Darius would stop at the next town so her body could rest from the hard leather saddle.
    “Are you all right?” the man in the falcon’s uniform asked the girl beside him. He had brown hair and was quite a bit older than Katya who was only thirteen years old, but the battle mage wasn’t that much taller. Sitting on their horses, the two were virtually eye to eye as they spoke.
    “Most of me is, Ardost,” the girl replied with a slight look of displeasure as her rear reminded Katya with each step that it was not pleased at all. “I hope that Darius plans to stop soon. If this town doesn’t have an inn, they’re going to