Battle Mage: The Lost King (Tales of Alus) Read Online Free

the lords of both Windmeer and Falcon’s Keep, the mage had never been as thoroughly overwhelmed by meeting a noble as he was now. King Alain, the second, the king of Southwall and master of the city of Hala, was the highest noble one could ever meet and the mage looked at the man in awe.
    He was a young king though he had already ruled for five years along with his beautiful queen. The two were regal but like night and day by their contrasting looks. The king was above average in height and blond, while Queen Alyanna was a petite young woman with long dark hair. As with many royal families, they were actually distant cousins. With well over a thousand years in the royal lineage, Alain was in direct line with the immortal king Gerid, while his wife came from the line of the brother Simon and his wife Alyanna, for whom she was named.
    That was as much history as the mage had knowledge of since he was a man of war and magic. Some history related to battles was common with the mages as history held the answer to many tactical issues, but who descended from whom in the royal line had never been in his exams. While he stood before the two as one of the top wizards in the tournament, however, even that bit of knowledge escaped his numbed mind.
    “I am honored to present Falcon Sebastian Trillon representing Windmeer and Wizard Drovan Relgass of Tolmona with these silver chains for their excellent performance in the tournament. This silver stone represents the earth element you used so well, Wizard Drovan,” the king stated handing a felt lined, glossy black case to the wizard. A silver chain with a simple stone shape made of silver rested on the black felt.
    “For Falcon Sebastian, we had this made especially for you. The falcon’s head, since you used most of the elements and represented your corps alone, we thought it appropriate,” he gestured to the queen who smiled and gave a nod. Sebastian was told that the couple had seen quite a few matches from one of the balconies in the castle over looking the three arenas in the courtyards east of the keep.
    Looking at the surprisingly intricate silver falcon head on the silver chain, Sebastian could barely bring his eyes back to his king. Unsure of what to say and if he should say anything, the mage merely bowed his head remaining silent. The moment was handled easily by the king as he simply moved to address the lone woman standing before the assembled crowd.
    “Lady Annalicia de Malef Eremia from Malaiy, who took second place, we offer this silver chain with a gold token representing the wind element, which took you to the Heights. My wife thought a mere necklace for such a beautiful wizard wasn’t enough, so she made me include these diamond earrings,” Alain added with a chuckle.
    The young woman from Malaiy blushed slightly at the compliment since it came from the king as much as anything. Accepting the small case with her prize, Annalicia’s eyes widened slightly noting the size of the diamonds on the studs. While simple in design, the stones were large enough to be worth a small fortune in gold.
    Not allowing the girl to turn down such a generous prize, especially for someone who didn’t win, King Alain gestured and received a dozen horns sounding a heroic anthem. Turning to the final wizard before him, he proclaimed, “Wizard Magnus Trekanus, representing White Hall and the fire wizard school, I proclaim you Winter’s Edge champion!”
    The hall erupted with cheers. Many had seen the final duel and knew how well the fire wizard had done. For some, however, there were two blemishes on the champion’s win. First, Sebastian had been forced to retire before their heavily anticipated match, which was actually a rematch, since the two had dueled at White Hall and the fire wizard had lost.
    The second blemish came when the mage had used a water spell greater than any other in the tournament. From the bleachers atop the outer wall, Sebastian had called the waters of a lake