Tay watched the king run his fingers along the spines of the old books. Golden lines glowed in the wake of his touch, forming titles and symbols on their backs. Alethaien shivered when he recognized one of them. The Arts had been outlawed for centuries in Dorenika, but the Kings of the Alliance had always been avid students of the mysteries. He swallowed hard when Doyle pulled one of them from the shelf, leaving a dark, dusty gap that none of the other books dared enchroach upon.
“This is it,” the king said, stroking the gleaming leather as if expecting it to purr any moment. Tay had to fight the urge to shrink back in his chair when Doyle approached with his prize. “I want you to read it, prince, and take these words to heart.”
The heavy tome landed in Tay’s lap. He stared at it. It looked fairly innocent, if one discounted the glowing lines scrolling all over it just moments ago.
“Your majesty...Sire...”
Doyle bent down, one hand on each of the chair’s arms, to put his face right in front of Tay’s. “No. This is not optional, young prince. You will read this, or you will be assigned a tutor to make sure you learn its content.” He leaned in closer to whisper into the younger man’s ear. “You should not be afraid of words, my friend. It’s the people who speak them that do the bad things.”
Very intriguing. I wonder just what is in that tome Tay is supposed to read. Thanks for sharing with us.
ReplyDeleteNice idea, that words are the magic and good or bad is the person that wields them. Cool idea.
ReplyDeleteEdge of Your Seat Romance
Cool! It's not the power that's dangerous, but those that wield it...
ReplyDeleteLove it, my dear! Can't wait to read more!
T.x
I like this idea of magic being forbidden, but royalty immediately edging up against the restriction like this.
ReplyDelete“You should not be afraid of words, my friend. It’s the people who speak them that do the bad things.”
ReplyDeleteI love that line!
Royalty, like politicians, write the rules that they themselves break. Great entry. A great last line and true.
ReplyDeleteThe people who use magic or weapons or mere words are the source of the evil -- not the instruments they weild. Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting. I wish you success in your publication dreams. Roland
That's a great excerpt! I love the description of the glowing words appearing. Just one question - who's Alethaien? hehe
ReplyDeletegreat job. i loved the line about him expecting the book to purr.
ReplyDeleteOoo, loved that last line. How true it is.
ReplyDeleteGreat entry, that rebel, Olivia
Hi Blake! Great piece! I like the menace of the King and that last line is BRILLIANT!!
ReplyDeleteOOh I'm intrigued I want to know what happens next :O)
ReplyDeleteLots of foreshadowing here--nice! Thanks for participating!
ReplyDeleteThank you everyone for the comments and for stopping in on my humble Dark Side Blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Tristan. Great excerpt! Well written, and I want to read more. I love the last line - full of wisdom.
ReplyDeleteThanks for entering my Counting To 200 giveaway! Thanks also for putting it on your sidebar - much appreciated. Good luck with your entry.
I love the last line of this excerpt. So this is a case of the Kings being above the law, allowed to study magic while keeping everyone else out of it? Sounds like a recipe for preserving the status quo and maintaining power!
ReplyDelete...the final line knocked it outta the park.
ReplyDeleteWell done,
EL