Vankara (Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

time I
had ever seen one in person.  Once someone was discovered to be a mage, they
were immediately extended an invitation to attend the Royal College of Magical
Sciences where they could live in peace and hone their magical talents.  As far
as I knew, no one ever refused an offer to study at the Royal College.  The royal family personally funded the college providing the students who studied
there with whatever they needed.
    After the Royal
Mage resumed her original position, Queen Emma turned to us and began to speak.
    “Fellow citizens
of Vankara,” her voice was so loud, I was sure even the people ten streets away
could hear her words clearly.
    “Mage musta put a
spell on her voice,” the old man who had answered my mother’s question
commented with a nod of confidence in his statement.
    “Thank you all for
coming here today,” Queen Emma continued.  “I am truly humbled by your show of
support and love.  I can only hope that in the years to come I can prove your
faith in me to be justified.”
    Queen Emma was
silent for a moment and looked out into the crowd as if she were trying to
memorize all of the faces looking up at her expectantly.
    “I know times seem
dark,” she admitted, her words heavy.  “We have all lost those we loved most.” 
Queen Emma’s voice became choked with emotion and she had to stop to recompose
herself.
    I heard people
break out in quiet sobs finding a personal connection with Queen Emma in her
sorrow.
    “But we are a
strong people,” she said with intense determination.  “We will persevere.  We
will show even death that we are not a people to be taken lightly!  We will
rebuild what has been taken from us no matter what the cost!”
    The crowd erupted
into a deafening roar of cheers.  Queen Emma allowed the people to rejoice for
a long while until she finally lifted her hands as if to push down the swell of
the crowd’s buoyant pandemonium.
    Almost everyone
quieted to let Queen Emma finish her speech.
    “All I ask of each
and every one of you is to keep your faith in me and your elected leaders in
parliament.  Let us be your guiding light through these dark days.  I promise
all of you I will not rest until Vankara is once again the strongest nation in
the world.  I will not rest until every other nation looks to us as a people to
be envied!”
    Queen Emma bowed
to us once again causing another frenzy of jubilation among the throng
assembled that day.  When she stood back up, she lifted her hand in a simple
sign of farewell and walked back into the palace with all of her royal advisors
folding inline behind her, all of them except one.
    After everyone
else had left, Gabriel stayed on the balcony looking out into the crowd.  I had
an odd feeling he was looking straight at me but the idea seemed preposterous. 
I was but one face in an ocean of them.  How could he possibly single me out
from the crowd of humanity swimming around me?
    Finally, he
followed the Queen’s path and walked back inside the palace, closing the double
doors behind him.
    The start of Queen
Emma’s reign was a politically chaotic time.  A marriage was quickly arranged
between her and the King of Chromis, Fredick Chromis.  It helped solidify the
peace between our two nations and strengthened Queen Emma’s position as head of
the parliamentary government.
    After the loss of
so many people in the second plague, our country found it difficult to function
normally because there simply weren’t enough laborers to do the everyday tasks
of survival.  My father came home one day after work and told us there was a
rumor circulating throughout the city that the Queen had dispatched a messenger
to the sorcerer Dracen to see if he would aid us in our time of need.
    Not much was known
about Dracen.  For as much as anyone knew, he had lived hidden within the
depths of Ledmarrow Mountain since the beginning of time.  He was a hermit who
rarely came out of his self-imposed solitude.  On occasion, he