Free True Magics by Erik Buchanan

theirs. Consider that a command.”
    “Yes, Your Majesty,” said Thomas.
    “And take Henry with you,” said the king. “He can consider it part of his punishment for not telling me of this earlier.”

5
    It was well after lunch when Thomas and Henry reached the Street of Smiths. They’d stopped at home for dry clothes and their rapiers, and to raid whatever food they had left in their cupboard. It yielded some stale bread that they broke in half and crunched on as they walked through the streets. The wind had risen since the morning, and the day had not warmed up at all. The shops were all closed for the holiday and the few folks they saw were walking briskly from one house to another.
    Thomas walked fast, both from the cold, and because he was sure Eileen and George were desperate to hear that they were all right.
    Or at least Eileen, Thomas thought as they reached the house. George he wasn’t too sure of any more. The man had seemed more irritated than anything else when the whole mess had happened.
    Thomas hammered on the door of the smithy and called up, “It’s us!”
    He heard Eileen shout, “They’re back!” and then her footsteps pounding down the stairs. The bolt inside was shot back loud enough to hear, and Eileen swung the door open. She wore a plain brown dress and sweater and her hair was a mess. She looked wonderful to Thomas. “You’re back!” Eileen wrapped her arms around Thomas’s neck. “Thank the Four!” She pushed him back. “What happened? What did the king want?”
    “Nothing we can talk about here,” said Henry. “Glad to see you, too, by the way.”
    “Don’t be stupid, Henry,” Eileen said, rolling her eyes. She gave him a quick hug anyway. “Get in here and tell me what happened.” She led them upstairs to the kitchen. “George is just getting changed. He’s been invited to the Master Smith’s house for dinner.”
    “ We’ve been invited,” corrected George, coming down the stairs in a clean shirt and breeches. “And we should both be there.” He looked over Henry and Thomas. “You’re all right?”
    “Yes,” said Thomas.
    “Good.” George sat down at the table. “What sort of trouble are you in?”
    “We aren’t,” said Thomas. “I mean, the king was upset with Henry for not telling him the truth about what happened in Frostmire, but he mostly wanted to talk about the magic. So after Father Alphonse left…”
    “Alphonse?” George’s eyes widened. “The Inquisitor? I thought he was in the dungeon in Frostmire.”
    “Apparently my brother let him out,” said Henry.
    “Apparently?” George fumed where he sat. “And now he’s after us again, is he?”
    “No,” said Thomas. “The king told him in no uncertain terms that anyone who went to Frostmire has to be left alone. The Archbishop’s representative wasn’t happy about it.”
    “Who?”
    “You are doing a terrible job of telling this,” said Henry. “The Inquisitor and the Archbishop’s representative were there to demand Thomas’s arrest, at least in part.”
    Now it was Thomas’s eyes that went wide. “In part? Why else would they be there?”
    “No idea,” said Henry. “But you don’t send a priest whose been fighting the Beudleans just to petition for the arrest of a witch in Frostmire.”
    “So you didn’t get arrested so far,” interrupted George. “What did the king want?”
    “First, to see magic,” said Thomas.
    “You didn’t cast lightning!” Eileen looked horrified. “Not in the palace!”
    “No, I didn’t do lightning” said Thomas. “I did fog.”
    “Think it’s dispersed by now?” asked Henry.
    “Should be,” Thomas had a vision of the court coming into a foggy throne room. “I hope so.”
    “Because that would be embarrassing.”
    “And then what happened?” demanded George.
    “We had breakfast,” said Henry. “In the king’s private library. Good breakfast, too.”
    “Henry…” George growled out the word like a dog about to