The Keeper by D.L. Gardner

Author:D.L. Gardner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: wizards, magic, dragon, series
Publisher: D.L. Gardner
Published: 2022-09-24T00:00:00+00:00

The Keeper’s plan

MAURICE SAT ON THE bed next to the open window in his mother’s room. A warm spring breeze brushed against his cheeks and the fragrance of blossoms filled his senses. He glanced outside at an Island Lark pecking at a piece of bread he had left on the porch.

“Did you want your hair braided this morning, Erika?” Serena, his mother’s attendant, asked. Maurice drew away from his daydreaming and studied them. Erika sat at her vanity, her blue eyes shifting between Serina’s reflection in the mirror and his.

“Braided would be fine,” Erika said. “Maurice, what’s been troubling you? Are you still worried about the magic? Or are you angry that your father has restricted you from wandering the island by yourself?”

Maurice pulled his knees up on the bed and sat cross-legged, giving her a sour look.

“Your father and the elders will take care of the troubles.” she said. “And the sentries are taking care of that porch that you wrecked.”

“How did you break the banister?” Serena spoke in such a gentle manner Maurice might have answered, but he wasn’t ready to expose the dragon.

“He won’t tell us,” Erika replied. “Arell and I have tried to get an answer from him but he’s like a clam. I think he was angry that he was restricted, but we’ll never know.”

They both glanced at Maurice, and he simply stared back.

How does she know my father and elders are taking care of the troubles? he thought. If they were going to take care of it, they’d be looking for the thieves.

“I haven’t seen Father for two days,” Maurice complained, mesmerized by Serena forming a thick braid in his mother’s red tresses. She tied it off with a lace and stepped away.

“He’s at the sweat lodge with the elders,” Erika said. “Discussing the situation.”

“Talking?” Maurice scorned. “Talking won’t get the magic back.”

“Talking with the other men of the village who have a say in the matter, praying together, meditating. All those things are needed when making wise decisions that concern so many people. They are doing things according to tradition. Your family’s tradition.”

“Then why aren’t I there?” Maurice asked. “If it’s my family’s tradition.”

His mother didn’t answer.

“Meanwhile the thieves sail farther and farther away on boats that our fleet can never catch. I should be in the sweat lodge,” he said.

Serena gave him a critical frown. She had been his nanny ever since he was a baby and Maurice appreciated all that she did for him. But her disapproval unsettled his nerves. He turned away from her.

“You’re needed here, Maurice.” Erika said.

“I want to solve the problem, Mother,” he said. “If no one else will, I want to.”

“You need to learn patience,” Erika insisted. “Stop worrying. If the elders and your father can’t find a way to retrieve the magic, then they will find another means of protecting our island. Your father is a fine warrior, and we have many good soldiers both in Moaton and Nico.”

“Another means will never be good enough. I was born a Cho Nisi.

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