The Disinherited Prince by Guy Antibes

Author:Guy Antibes
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3, epub
Publisher: CasiePress LLC
Published: 2016-08-24T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

~

“SO FATHER AND THE EMPEROR DECIDED TO KEEP MY RESULTS A SECRET, after all?”

Malden nodded to Pol, who had just been moved to his rooms. “Since you weren’t tested, there is no reason to think otherwise.”

“The Emperor said he’d take care of things when we talked in the infirmary just before he left. I didn’t believe him. I guess I should have,” Pol said, amazed that his magic hadn’t been revealed after all. “Still, a lot of people know I can do magic.”

“Those that do, know how to keep quiet. Farthia, your mother, and I have no reason to blurt it out to anyone. Your father won’t, for obvious reasons.”

“Paki knows.” Pol said. “I’d like to talk to him about it, but—”

“Don’t say anything. Paki might not be the most reliable confidant. Not at this point, anyway,” Malden said. “Interestingly enough, Paki showed some talent in the test. Not enough to get the Emperor excited, but just enough to justify sending him to a monastery with you for further training, but not enough where he could attain an exalted level, like you.” Malden grinned.

Pol snorted. How could he live long enough to be exalted at anything? “Paki’s good at doing simple non-magical things. He wants to be a scout like his father.”

“Why don’t you let him train with you and Valiso? The man’s not a woodsman, but much of what he has to teach a scout could be put to good use. Paki gives you an extra bodyguard, although he’s still a bit small.”

“Bigger than me,” Pol said. “But then isn’t everybody?”

“Give it all some time. That’s one thing you have, time. I’d still give a monastery some thought. With Paki’s talent, he could justify going along with you.”

If Paki could go with Pol, then a monastery wouldn’t be so bad. Perhaps Val could protect his mother, the Queen. With Pol out of the way, there might be less pressure on his siblings. Why did there have to be pressure at all?

“Even with evidence that Landon beat me up, Father still refuses to act? Doesn’t he love my mother?”

Malden toyed with a penknife. “Colvin is not a perfect man.”

“That’s not an answer.” Pol instantly regretted the sharpness of his words, but Malden didn’t seem put out.

The magician sighed. “He loved his first wife more than he does your mother. His four children are all that he has left of her, so he is reticent to do anything that will damage her memory. That is what I think, anyway. When confronted with Grostin hiring the peashooter, Colvin brushed it off as a foible of Grostin’s youth. He did reprimand him. Of course, you wouldn’t know it.”

Pol understood that. Grostin was hard as rock.

“Landon was a different story. Listya is where Colvin thinks Landon should be. If he hadn’t submitted the petition to the Emperor, your father might have acted differently, but in this case, he told Ranno that it was his prerogative to ignore Landon’s involvement. I’m sorry, My Prince.”

Pol had always thought that his father loved his siblings more than him.

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