Free Bronze Magic (Book 1) by Jenny Ealey

judge for yourself.”
He settled himself against the tree, drew his long legs up and rested his
arms on his knees. Then he began.
“As you no doubt know, I have twin older brothers. One of them
is king; the other would like to be. Kosar and Jarand have grown up
in fierce competition with each other and their common ambition to
assume the monarchy has overshadowed all other loyalties.”
The wizard frowned, “You have not been brought up in a moral
household since your father died, then.”
Tarkyn threw an impatient glance at the wizard, “Stormaway, don’t
judge my worth too hastily – and when you do, judge me on my own
merits, not on my family’s.”
As Stormaway gave a short nod, Tarkyn continued, “The Harvest
Festival was when it all went wrong.” He shifted his weight a little as he
grimaced at the memories, “I think it might be about here that my tale
will part company with the rumours...During the final bout, my shaft of
power went slightly off target and damaged one of the wooden spectator
stands. People jumped off in a panic as the stand sagged to one side but
as soon as they could see it wasn’t going to collapse, they came back and
sat down to watch the rest of the tournament.”
“That’s it?” demanded Stormaway.
Tarkyn gave a lop-sided smile. “The damage to the spectator stand is
the only incident of any note that occurred during the tournament. More
happened later of course, but I will come to that.
“Unfortunately, as you know, I won the whole tournament. I say
unfortunately, because I gather it made my brothers realise how strong my
magic had become and that I now have… or had, a following among the
people. From what they said afterwards, they seem to have thought I might
mount a challenge for the throne.” The prince shook his head in bewilderment,
“But just because I possibly could, doesn’t mean that I would. The thought
never entered my mind. I want nothing to do with the throne. All my life,
I have watched the misery and anxiety caused by the manoeuvrings around
the monarchy. I find even the peripheral intrigue of being the king’s brother
enough to manage. I have never had any wish to become the focal point.”
Tarkyn ran his hand distractedly through his hair. “They didn’t even ask
me my intentions.” He lapsed into silence, staring moodily into the fire.
After a few minutes he stirred himself enough to glance up at Stormaway
with a wry grimace, “Still, I suppose they wouldn’t have believed me
anyway, once the idea was planted in their heads.”
Not wishing to stand up this time Tarkyn, with a flick of his wrist and
a muttered “ Liefka, ” floated another branch onto the fire and when the
branch was settled, he continued his story.
“For the first time in who knows how long, they acted in concert
instead of vying with each other. They had me arrested late at night when
no one was there to raise objections. I don’t know if you can understand
how embarrassing it is to be arrested by Palace Guards whom you have
known all your life?” He shrugged, “Hard for them, hard for me.”
He waved a dismissive hand, “Anyway, because of the incident at the
tournament, Kosar sentenced me to foreswear my power for four years,
on pain of imprisonment.”
“What?” demanded Stormaway, incensed. “For misdirecting one
blast in a tournament? If they were worried about it, they should have
organised boundary shields.”
Tarkyn shrugged. “That’s what I said, but I realise now it was never
about that. The twins just wanted me disarmed and that was their excuse.”
“So what did you do?”
“I couldn’t let them take my magic. It would have been like...I don’t
know... losing my arm, being blinded, having my heart ripped out of me.”
Stormaway nodded sympathetically. “Totally barbaric, even to
consider it.”
“So I defied the king and threw up my shield...” He trailed off and
glanced uncertainly at Stormaway before