I awoke with a jolt of fear,

  the distant sounds of kitchen pans clanging made me terrified that I

  had managed to sleep through training and Aela’s wrath awaited me.

  It wasn’t until I had already thrown myself to my feet and began to

  fumble around my room to get ready that I realized the trainer was

  gone and I was currently free. Sitting back on my bed, I took a deep

  breath and let it out slowly, my stomach feeling sick and my body

  coated with a thin layer of sweat, it felt like I had just

  experienced a close brush with death. Once I felt like I could stand

  again, I rose and peeled off my sweaty clothes and changed into

  something much more regal than I had been allowed to wear. I still

  needed to get some clothing more fitting for a monarch made at some

  point, though it should probably wait until I had rid myself of the

  twins for good.

  Splashing my face with water

  from the basin on my vanity, I felt a bit more alert and like my old

  self, though still jumpy and feeling like I should be constantly

  looking over my shoulder. I was trying to ignore a small voice in my

  head suggesting that this might be all one big test to see if I would

  stick to routine while they were away. If so, I was failing and I

  could be certain that the punishment would be swift and terrible. It

  seemed doubtful for the cleric to have enough patience to wait this

  long to catch me in the act though, she was not good at waiting on

  anything and wanted immediate results and response at all times. In

  some regards the fact made it a bit easier to work around her, it

  made her more predictable.

  I glanced to my desk and saw

  that the surface was empty, the document had not been found and

  brought to me while I rested. I supposed it was too much to ask for

  it to have been left behind in an obvious place, something with the

  ability to rip power away from a rightful heir probably wouldn’t be

  something you’d just leave laying around. If I were her I would

  have taken it with me and between the two of them they were certainly

  clever enough to realize that even if they had been in a hurry to

  leave. Though if it was such an important document there had to be

  more than one copy, it was reckless to make any sort of political or

  legal document and not have a copy placed somewhere for safe keeping,

  perhaps it would only be a matter of figuring out where a copy had

  been stored. It sounded simple, but I wasn’t exactly sure how to

  begin, any sort of training in how to run the kingdom had been

  ignored in favor for developing my power.

  Relying on only my fuzzy

  memories of the times I had been around my father when any important

  documents were being dealt with, I vaguely remembered that the castle

  scribe had always been there. Granted, I could only recall ever

  seeing an official document drawn up during the case of a marriage or

  an important birth and had been more focused on the celebration feast

  rather than the legalities happening on the side, but a weak idea was

  better than no idea. If my memory was correct, the scribe worked near

  the library and with only a few rooms on that side of the castle on

  that floor I didn’t think it would be too difficult to check each

  one until I found him. I hoped that on the way I would also find the

  royal author. I had less immediate, but still burning questions for

  him as well.

  Stepping outside my door, I

  lingered, breathing in the delicious smells of roasting fowl. The

  servant girl had gone through with my request, but despite how much I

  wanted to immediately go to the dining room and devour the meal, I

  needed to pursue my idea first. Laughter wafted up the stairs as I

  descended to the library, a sound that had been starkly missing from

  the castle since my father’s death. I guessed that I had not been

  the only one under my trainer’s strict rules.

  My body was sore as I

  descended each step, bruises on both the surface and deep in my

  muscles ached with each step down. My aunt had been very keen on

  specifically beating my hips and thighs, I didn’t know if it was

  because they could take more impact before breaking or if she wanted

  to make it harder for me to run away if I got the inclination, but I

  had a feeling it was the later. Half way down to the floor I needed

  to be, the pain grew enough to where I had to pause and take a break,

  my hips throbbing with pain. I leaned against the wall for support

  and waited for it to get better, but my joints stubbornly burned and

  throbbed. I wished I could get back to my bed to lay down, but there

  was no point in even trying to climb the stairs again, if I was

  having this much trouble going down them, going up was a lost cause.

  Feeling trapped, an idea

  crossed my mind that I could only label as instinct, if my power had

  begun to try to protect me during the beatings, maybe I could try to

  draw on it now to help. I had never directly tried to do anything

  with the power, only will it to grow and retreat, and while the

  cleric had been a very lackluster trainer in telling me any details

  about what the power actually was, she had made it clear that it was

  dangerous for me to try to work with it on my own before I was ready.

  I didn’t know what ready looked like, but I was willing to try to

  avoid a servant finding me so helpless and to dull the pain a little

  bit. I was growing very, very tired of pain and being controlled with

  it. I abhorred that I was being limited by the trainer's actions even

  though she was no longer in the castle.

  My core swelled to meet me as

  I reached for it, perhaps it had become used to routine and had been

  waiting to be used. The tension along its ethereal surface broke and

  power spilled everywhere, expanding around me and filling the

  stairwell. I desperately clung to control, pulling it back in before

  it extended too far. It was always like a wild animal when it was

  first released, wanting to rush away from me and explore the space

  around, but if I let it it quickly got out of control and overwhelmed

  me with information. I was suddenly hyper aware of everyone

  relatively near me, the pressure of their existence pressing into the

  edges of my power. It was a strange feeling that I really didn't

  like. There was something uncomfortable and eerie to me about being

  able to feel a person without actually seeing or physically touching

  them. Pulling my magic into some sort of stable form, I worked on

  willing the bubble of power around me smaller. Sweat broke out across

  my body again and my breathing became hard as I struggled, but after

  a few minutes I was able to bring the edges within my arm’s reach.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Relieved and able to hold it

  now without too much trouble I went from leaning against the wall to

  sitting on the steps, panting and groaning with the increased pain

  the effort had brought on. The physical pain wasn’t necessarily the

  worst part, there was something deeper within that ached whenever I

  first let the power out. It was getting better the more I practiced,

  but without Aela’s beating to distract me, it was hard to ignore

  the strange, indescribable sensation. Eventually the magical pain

  subsided, leaving me shivering, the power overexciting my physical

  body, I only had a short time to use the power before it became too

  dangerous to keep unleashed on my own. I felt unsure what to do, but

  I did what I thought was logical and coalesced a portion of my power

  towards my hips, sending it with the thought that it was protective

  energy. It flowed through my body to my hips and sunk deep into my

  muscles, warming them up to a pleasant temperature. Whether it was

  the warmth itself or some other type of magical enhancement, I

  suddenly felt strong enough to rise to my feet and I was able to with

  ease. In fact, had I felt confident enough I thought I might have

  been able to sprint down the stairs with no trouble. Hurrying to make

  sure I could get down the stairs the rest of the way before I needed

  to dismiss my magic, I was amazed by how easily I moved. The creaking

  pain I had felt with every step had vanished.

  With reluctance, at the bottom

  of the steps I exerted my will and forced my magical sphere back into

  the core of my body and locked it away with a low groan of effort. I

  braced myself for the blinding pain to return, but even though my

  power had receded, I still felt whole and well. Miraculously, it felt

  like there was nothing wrong with my legs and that there never had

  been. I stretched and squatted low, thinking that with every new

  movement the pain would come rushing back, but it never did, instead

  my legs had never felt stronger. Dazed at the possibilities I

  considered drawing forth my power again to send it to other parts of

  my body, but discretion took over and I decided that it was too

  dangerous to try again so soon. How wonderful it would be if it were

  true that I could heal and mend myself at will, that would make me

  practically immune to whatever the twins threw at me short of death.

  I couldn’t resist testing my

  new found strength and sprinted away from the stairs and down the

  hall that passed the library, giddy with how effortless it was. I had

  just been limping and wheezing trying to move my legs at all and now

  I felt like I could run for miles with no ill effects. Even if it

  turned out to be a temporary fix, I was elated. The discovery had set

  my mood into a better place as well, I felt even more hopeful.

  “My lord,” said the

  flustered scribe. I had sprinted into every room around the library

  until I found him, I had interrupted his work, ink dripping from the

  end of his quill. “How may I help you?”

  “The cleric, she had a

  document.” My words were coming out just about as jumbled as my

  thoughts were in that moment. “Do you know where a copy might be?”

  “I assume you mean the

  document of authority?” He set his quill down and looked me over

  with concern. “Has she gone then?”

  “Yes,” I answered, “this

  morning.”

  He nodded and crossed his arms

  in front of him. “I know of the document, though she thought the

  knowledge of it’s location or any copies would be dangerous for me

  to know, despite the fact that it is my entire job to know.”

  “Why would it be dangerous

  for you to know?”

  “Apparently

  because I was loyal to your father then I could not be trusted.”

  The middle aged man paused rubbed the balding spot on the top of his

  head. “The lack of logic in that thinking leads me to think there’s

  something in the document she doesn’t want someone with knowledge

  of such things to see.”

  “Then

  you will help me?” I pleaded, though I did my best to not sound

  overly desperate. “When I am able to get out of this terrible

  contract and rise to my rightful place on the throne, I will ensure

  you are richly rewarded for the risk you are undertaking with me.”

  He

  let out a chuckle and wiped the ink that had splattered from his

  quill from the desk top with an already ink stained rag. “No need

  to make promises of the sort. I think that just finding a way to get

  those two detestable women out of the castle and ideally, the

  kingdom, for good is reward enough for me. Though I certainly

  wouldn’t turn down a granted personal library or perhaps a better

  office with a window. Come, sit, we have much to think about and a

  lot to consider..”

  I

  did as he requested and sunk into a deeply stuffed armchair across

  from his desk. From the fine, sage velvet and the absolute delight it

  was to the senses to sink into I assumed that it had been mostly

  placed here for my father’s use. A ghost of a shiver ran through my

  body thinking about how I was sitting here now.

  “It

  will not be in any place obvious,” the scribe began. “Of course

  I’m sure you already considered that.”

  I

  nodded that he was correct.

  “With

  how jumpy and distrusting she was of everyone around her, it will

  likely be in a place that grants secrecy and safety. The royal archives would be the logical place. There are so many dusty corners and locked documents that she could easily have commandeered one for her own use,” he

  explained. “Then I would expect she will not have just left it out in the open and probably would leave it in the most innocuous place. This might

  be a long evening for the both of us. Perhaps we should meet up after

  dinner when we won’t be distracted by our stomachs and begin our

  search.”

  The

  memory of the smell of the roasting fowl trickled across my

  consciousness and my stomach rumbled. “I insist that you dine with

  me this evening in the royal dining room, I have had the servants

  prepare a special meal and I’m certain that there will be more than

  enough for one,” I offered.

  “I

  know better than to turn down a royal invitation,” the script

  replied and rose from his seat. “Shall we then? I’m looking

  forward to a rich and stodgy meal to help fuel the mind and body.?