Free The Kingdom of Eternal Sorrow (The Golden Mage Book 1) by C.G. Garcia Page A

has come at last!”
    “Her hair—it really does look like strands of gold,” Selwyn said
faintly.
    Aidric turned his gaze from the girl to Selwyn in alarm. Selwyn’s face
had become suspiciously pale and he looked as if he was about to swoon. Sure
enough, as Aidric called out his name sharply, Selwyn’s eyes grew vacant, and
he pitched forward. Aidric rushed forward to catch him.
    “Typical,” Aidric remarked with some amusement as he carefully laid his
friend onto the marble floor. “He never could handle shock very well.”
    He laid his hand onto Selwyn’s forehead and with a slight exertion of
power, commanded him to awaken. Selwyn’s eyes immediately flew open, and for a
few beats, he merely stared up at Aidric blankly before sense finally flooded
back into his eyes. Selwyn’s gaze shifted between Aidric and Diryan in
confusion, but then, a moment later, he groaned and quickly shut his eyes
again, no doubt seeing the irritation in the king’s eyes.
    “I did it again, didn’t I?” Selwyn moaned, his cheeks coloring in
embarrassment.
    “I’m afraid so, my friend,” Aidric replied with a smile. “That Empathy
of yours does nothing for your nerves.”
    As he hauled his friend onto his feet again, Aidric glanced over at the
faces of the king and Zenas. Everything in Diryan’s stiff posture and benign expression
told him that he was impatient but trying not to show it. Zenas, however, wore
a very open expression of disgust at Selwyn’s unexpected behavior.
    Sighing inwardly, Aidric turned back to Selwyn and forced himself to
say sternly, “Sel, if you feel that you can’t handle the current situation, I’m
afraid that I’ll have to ask you to remain in the sitting room until we finish
here. We must have no distractions while we are interrogating her. It
could result in a disaster in this already delicate situation.”
    Selwyn swallowed hard, hurt briefly flashing in his eyes, but before
Sel could reply, Aidric hastily added, “Sorry for sounding so brusque. I do wish for you to stay. Your Empathy is easily ten times more powerful than mine
and could be very helpful.”
    Selwyn nodded. “I’ll be all right. I’m sorry. Sometimes I’m so
concerned about the emotions of others that I ignore how over-sensitive my own
can be. I promise I’ll keep it together.”
    “Fine,” Aidric said as he walked over to the bed to position himself for
the upcoming interrogation.
    The others followed his example and arranged themselves in a line at
the foot of the bed.
    “Now remember,” Aidric warned, “she’s extremely confused, and I don’t
believe she knows where she is. Although I did the best I could to calm her,
she will probably wake frightened, so don’t make any sudden movements that
would alarm her further. I don’t want to have to paralyze her again.”
    “You said she could not harm us,” Zenas interrupted accusingly.
    “She cannot!” Aidric snapped back, his patience thinning. Insufferable
old goat! “I say this for her benefit, not yours! Do you not trust me? Is
my word no longer good enough for you, Master Linguist?”
    “Enough,” Diryan commanded sharply.
    He turned to Aidric and regarded him with a critical eye.
    “You surprise me, Aidric,” Diryan said. “You usually do not lose your
temper quite so easily…” He trailed off and looked at Aidric with a raised
eyebrow.
    Aidric stiffened. He knew very well why he was so on edge, and bringing
up that particular fear was out of the question in present company. He didn’t
want to add any more preconceived biases to the situation than they already
had. She had yet to even open her eyes, and the fear already in the air was
enough to choke even a non-empath.
    “Forgive me, Your Majesty,” he apologized softly, bowing his head. “This
whole situation—I guess I’m more unnerved by everything that has happened than
I had thought. Then to have my words so questioned—”
    “Have you forgotten who she could possibly be, boy?”