The Silvering of Loran Read Online Free

two men.
    Topen and Kelamar sat in the chairs on either side of the sovereign.
    “I fear your time is passing much too quickly, Gilvius,” said Topen.
    Such a blunt statement from a man he had not seen, and whose appearance had not changed, in sixteen years did not surprise him. In fact, he would have been guarded had anything but candor coursed from Topen’s mouth.
    “My sincere best wishes on the sixteenth birthday of your sons,” Topen continued.
    Gilvius acknowledged Topen’s words with a nod and grateful pat to his arm.
    “It’s for certain tonight will be a joyous event,” said Kelamar. “Envoys from all the regions have arrived for the celebrations.”
    “Having just been informed of the guards’ behavior on Topen’s arrival, I trust you will make sure any such incident will not be repeated,” Gilvius said to Kelamar.
    “I’ve had to recruit from the soldiers ranks to supplement the castle guards. A few overly sharp edges need to be dulled is all, but I pledge to you, the men will be ready,” assured Kelamar.
    In an upper viewing area of the receiving hall, reserved for family and privileged visitors, sat Loran—who had just arrived after her bath. Her thumb caressed the magical stone in her hand. She was waiting for her father’s presence at the conclusion of the receptions. How excited he will be when he shares in her discovery , she thought.
    Movement across the room attracted her attention. Seated in another viewing area was one of her identical twin brothers. She wasn’t quite sure if it was Gervest or Rolam, but she suspected it was Gervest, by the manner in which he stayed back in the shadows as he watched. Loran figured Rolam would have been upfront and likely waving to her from across the room.
    Loran gazed down at the two men seated next to her father. The words they spoke below drifted upward in the chamber, but were just background noise to her mind—her concentration had shifted to Topen and the cloth bag placed near his feet. She would never consider drawing attention to herself in the chamber, but the urge to attract Topen’s notice was strong. Abruptly, the conversation below cleared in her head.
    “—then, you haven’t told them of their birthright. They don’t know of the Avileen legacy?” asked Topen.
    “Their legacy . . . what they inherit . . . I decided soon after my sons were born, this knowledge would be withheld until their sixteenth year—the age of their joining,” said Gilvius, “I wanted them to be free . . . of . . .” his voice dwindled.
    Gilvius stared off in the distance; his mind struggled for the reason he would utter his next words. He resisted the urge to speak, but it was too strong.
    “Of late, I’ve doubted if they should ever be told . . . if magic should ever be seen in this land again,” he spoke in a haze.
    Gilvius’s remarks surprised not only Topen, but Kelamar as well. Kelamar remembered it had been barely two weeks ago the sovereign had shown excitement to him for Topen’s arrival, and the beginning of the twins’ instructions in the ritual.
    “When your grandfather turned a world in anarchy into a society that lived harmoniously, despite the vast differences in the provinces, all of the enemies were contained in this land,” said Topen. “But the great castle war made you forever vulnerable . . . I’m surprised it was so easily erased from your memory.”
    “I have forgotten nothing! ” Gilvius yelled. Agitated, and in a forceful voice, he continued. “I have not forgotten the years you gave to help shape this land. I have not forgotten, nor has Kelamar, the many lives you saved, our own included, during the long siege on the castle. And I have not forgotten the price you continue to pay for your devotion to the Avileen line.”
    Topen sensed the words Gilvius spoke were not so much directed at him, but to Gilvius himself—as if he needed to confirm he truly remembered the past. Topen and Kelamar acknowledged their concern of