4: Kenet

I arrived for my audience with my father just after lunch, taking the Snake Ladder from my chambers to his instead of walking through the whole castle as I properly should have done. But I was nearly late, and though I am full grown by every measure, when I am hoping to cheer him up sometimes cannot help but be the playful boy I was. So I hopped and hurried through the clandestine stairways and narrow passages that took me to him, pausing just behind the tapestry that hid the final doorway.

I could hear raised voices.

Sergetten’s first. “When will you get it through your thick skull that Night Magic is no more dangerous than Daylight?”

“You are the one always telling me to heed the danger of the Frangi Night Mages!” my father roared back.

“The Mages, yes, but not the power itself! If anything you should be giving me leave to learn more, to do more, so that if they should attack, we can be better protected! We should not rely on Lord Seroi alone. This won’t be like the last time I brought a boy to the castle—”

“No!” I heard the sound of something falling and breaking, and the pain in my father’s voice. “Sergetten...”

Silence for a few moments. Then I had to strain to hear Sergetten’s quiet answer. “Very well. I shall not sully myself any more than you deem necessary, my king.” I could easily imagine the bitterness on his...