Free The Royal Wizard by Alianne Donnelly Page B

love of Freya had he stopped?
    He couldn’t be thinking this way. It was exactly the sort of thing his father had accused him of being too weak to resist. “When are you set to depart?” he asked Manfred. “Father?”
    The king was gone.
    Saeran frowned and followed him out into the hall, watching his beloved father hurry away as fast as dignifiedly possible. Shaking his head, Saeran returned to his window.
    Spring was coming. Soon all the snow would be gone and everything would be green again. The ceremony was to take place in a fortnight, and the dignitaries from other lands were already on their way. Halden wouldn’t be among them. News had reached Frastmir that his youngest child had the fever. Less than a year old, the boy probably hadn’t lasted long enough for the message to arrive.
    Another reason for Manfred to go to his brother. As soon as Saeran had the crown on his head and the burden of a kingdom on his shoulders, his father would be gone and there would be only him and Nia to look after Wilderheim. People would bow and come to him with their concerns and disputes, expecting him to know what was best and what was needed. He would never again walk through the villages without an escort, and people would forever see him as only a king.
    Saeran didn’t know why that suddenly seemed like such a bad thing. Everyone wanted to be king, or at the very least noble. He smiled, watching a little girl scoop snow and water into her hand and dump it down the back of a boy’s neck. All he’d ever wanted was to be at peace. After so many years of destruction and death, just peace.
    Perhaps with Nia at his side, he might finally find it.
     
    * * *
     
    The ceremony was a short affair. No grand speeches or oaths. It consisted of presenting the new king and Nia’s placing the crown upon his head. To make up for the lack, Manfred had commanded a feast to be held afterward in celebration of all good things.
    The grand hall was filled to the brim like a giant treasure chest of jewels, and Nia didn’t know where to look first. Colors swirled all around her as jugglers, performers, flame breathers, dancers, and guests moved about. There was soft cloth everywhere, covering the walls and ceilings like a tent, and it billowed in the breeze coming in through the topmost windows, giving the illusion that everything moved.
    Wine flowed freely and there was food aplenty. The tables were laden and bards played in honor of the newly crowned king. Important guests had come from all over the kingdom and beyond to witness the coronation. Two kings had come, allies of King Manfred, to witness the occasion, bringing with them their entire courts. Those who had no room in the castle took up residence with wealthy nobles in the realm. Knights set up tents in the outer bailey, leaving the inner courtyard open for fairs and more revelry.
    In the chaos of merry making, rules seemed to be forgotten. Nobles mingled with commoners, men took liberties behind the cover of columns and tapestries, queens drank their fill with no regard to decorum, even allowing touches that should not have been allowed. No one seemed to mind.
    Nia rose from her seat at the crowded table to find a more open spot from which to view the festivities. She found refuge in a dark corner and cast a spell to shield it and herself from sight. Safe inside her hiding place, she could see everything without being part of it.
    Faces paraded before her, carefree and joyous, paying no heed to anything but their own revelry. Several times a juggler passed in front of her, or a flame breather displayed his art. Nia admired their skill. Their discipline was astonishing.
    Saeran himself seemed to be everywhere at once. Several people have already commented within her hearing how unseemly it was for a king to be so restless. It was tradition for the king to sit his throne and observe the revelry, not walk about and be part of it.
    Saeran happened to overhear one such comment. He turned to