The Lost Mage by Ben Alderson

Author:Ben Alderson [Alderson, Ben]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-05-28T22:00:00+00:00

26

I woke to a touch. A hand ran across my head, smoothing my hair with its gentle, circular motion.

It spurred me from the dark web I had been entrapped within. I could not feel my body at first as my mind awoke. Everything was quiet beyond my closed eyes. No commotion. No storm or rumbling of earth.

“He finally wakes,” a voice said beside me.

I cracked my eyes open, the overwhelming light forcing me to clamp them closed immediately. My neck was stiff, the discomfort lacing down my spine as I tried to lift my head.

“Ah, ah, ah! Lie back down before you undo my work.”

Even if I wanted to refuse, I could not. My body was no more than a deer on ice. Awkward and slow.

I opened one eye, forehead tensing as I adjusted to the bright light.

“I have been starting to worry about you.” Simion stood above me, haloed in light, his brown skin glowing.

“Camron?” I stuttered, mouth dry. Simion looked down, mouth tugging with obvious disappointment.

“Dealing with your estate. There has been a lot to sort.”

Memories of the North’s attack came flooding back all at once. Flashes of ice, dripping blood, the dragon. “You did this. You—”

“You were warned, Max. We told you that the queen requests your return and going by the arrival of that mage suggests she has grown impatient. Trust me, neither one of us wanted it to happen this way. We tried everything to spare you from that.”

My arms weak and odd, I pushed on the bedding until I was sitting. I hissed at the stabbing agony that shot up from my ankle.

“Steady, Max.” Simion tried to reach for me, but I swatted him away.

“You… you do not get to tell me what to do.”

He stood back as my harsh words slammed into him. All I wanted was a drink. To wash away the knives that covered the inside of my throat.

“I just want to help.”

“Is it not too late for that?” The hairs on the back of my neck lifted in defense. “I want you to leave me.”

Simion paused, hands fumbling before him. “I can’t.”

“Why not,” I croaked.

“Your fast-mate has asked me to tend to you. Until you are better, I am not to leave your side.”

“Camron…”

Simion busied himself, taking a mug of liquid from the bedside table and lifting it before me. “You can ask him yourself when he comes to visit. It will be soon… he has practically slept beside you nightly.”

“Why are you helping me?” A flash of the Northern warrior sped through my memory.

“Why shouldn’t I, Max?”

I could not give him an answer. I knew little of what the North wanted me for. Except now it was death.

Simion had not once taken his eyes off me. Not as he guided the mug to my mouth and lifted it. His thumb and finger held my chin up as he slowly let the welcoming water flush through me.

“How long has it been?” I asked. The sloshing of power within me had refilled.

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