Free Mage Prime (Book 2) by B.J. Beach Page A

Evalin. You are most welcome. Please, come up here, beside me.”
    In the time it took her to ascend the three steps onto the dais, an alert footman had furnished another chair. Symon and Karryl moved along one, and the Lady Evalin seated herself next to the king. Karryl raised a questioning eyebrow at Symon.
    The little magician leaned across and whispered, a half smile twitching the corners of his mouth. “I’ll tell you later, if you haven’t found out by then.”
    After a few quietly murmured words with Vailin, the Lady Evalin rose to her feet. Karryl was impressed. Having reached his full growth, he had topped out at just over six feet tall, and he was sure that this amazing woman could look him in the eye. He found himself unable to suppress a grin of surprise as Evalin turned and gave him a broad wink. Her long indigo robe swished as she stepped forward to cast her gaze over the muttering occupants of the room. With undisguised interest Karryl watched the varied reactions of Vailin’s gathering of ministers as she addressed them.
    Her voice had a clear carrying quality, with a musically accented lilt which Karryl found captivating. “Gentlemen. For the benefit of those of you who might be at a loss as to who I might be, I am the Lady Evalin of Arinel. As you are no doubt aware, that is a large and beautiful island situated some miles off your own coast. The reason why I am here is to attempt to convince the non-believers and disapprovers among you that there is magic, and that the problem you are all surely facing can only be met with magic.”
    A loud “Pah!” carried from somewhere near the back of the room. Almost immediately Evalin located the perpetrator, fixing him with a gimlet stare. “Would you not be liking a little demonstration, or should we be thinking that your loyalty to your king is perhaps a little suspect?”
    A gasp rippled round the room, even as another dissenter expressed his opinion a little too loudly. “Blasted audacity!”
    Evalin’s mouth twitched as she looked over her shoulder at the young king. Legs crossed at the ankles he was leaning back in his throne, his hands resting lightly on the carved and gilded arms as he quietly took it all in. His eyes bore a knowing glint as he gave her the briefest of nods. Of all the persons present in this room, only he and Symon were truly aware of the skills and power which Evalin possessed. As it was blatantly obvious that a small percentage of the ministers were opposed to, and refused to acknowledge the existence of, anything magical, it was felt the time was now ripe for them to be whipped into line. Her head turning slowly from left to right as if looking round the room, Evalin stood straight-backed and perfectly still. Karryl felt the familiar prickling of his skin, although this time the touch seemed softer and warmer. Once again he was impressed.
    Suddenly, they were there. The softly shining beings which hovered at shoulder height about the room were, by anyone’s reckoning, beautiful. Each wore a short white pleated kirtle to preserve their modesty, but there were other attributes to confirm the gender of their otherwise naked bodies. Whirring, shimmering wings circulated the heady scent of wild flowers through the air, as the two feet tall individuals darted and soared around the room, seemingly singling out those as yet un-persuaded, and peering into their shocked faces. A number of the ministers laughed out loud with delight and held out their hands which, to their further pleasure, the diminutive sprites briefly grasped in both their own tiny hands before moving on. Symon was on his feet, his rapturous smile a twin to Evalin’s own as she beckoned to the airborne beings. One by one they darted towards her. Karryl counted twelve as they alighted and clustered around her and the group on the dais, before going to each one in turn and reaching up to gently touch their faces. Then, as fast as the blink of an eye they were gone,