Wizard of the Grove Read Online Free

her.”
    â€œIt would matter to me. Let her love me as I was.”
    Rael ached with the pain in his father’s voice that was a twin to the pain in his mother’s.
    â€œFather . . .”
    â€œNo, Rael.” Raen put his hands on his son’s shoulders but avoided the leaf-green glow of his eyes. “There is nothing you can do. Go to bed. We have a busy time ahead of us.”
    â€œYes, sir.”
    Is he too old for me to hold?
Raen wondered, looking for his child and seeing only a young man.
    Am I too old to be held?
Rael asked the dignity of his seventeen years.
    No.
    It comforted them both greatly.
    If I
can only get him to the Grove,
Rael thought as he left his father’s room.
If I
can only get him to the Grove, everything will be all right.

T WO
    â€œO ut of bed, milord. The Duke of Belkar and some of his men rode in last night and your father wants to see you in the small petition room.”
    Rael buried his head under the pillow as the middle-aged man, who had been his servant/companion since before he could remember, pulled back the heavy curtains and let in the weak early morning light. “Oh, go away, Ivan, it’s barely dawn.”
    â€œIt’s an hour past.” Strong hands dragged the blankets away with the familiarity of long service. “Get up or you won’t have time for a wash and bite before you see the king.”
    There was time for the wash but not the bite and Rael’s stomach complained bitterly as he slipped into the room where the daily business of the kingdom was most often conducted. Raen looked up at the sound, pushed the remnants of his own breakfast across the table, and turned his attention back to the document he studied. More than a little embarrassed, Rael took a chunk of bread and slid into the only vacant chair. The Duke of Belkar smiled at him and the other man, who by his armor could only be one of Belkar’s two captains, raised an edge of his lip in what have been either a greeting or a grimace.
    Finally the king scrawled his signature at the bottom of the document, set his seal in wax, and gave the paper to the Messenger standing patiently at his elbow. Then he looked up at his son.
    â€œBelkar and I have talked it over and it’s been decided that you’ll command the Elite.”
    Rael choked on the bread. The men of the Elite were the best fighters in Ardhan. Every young man who could use a sword dreamed of joining their company. And he was to command them. He suddenly thought of something. “But, sir, the king commands the Elite.”
    â€œThe king also makes the rules, and I’ve changed this one. As prince and heir, you must have a command. I thought of creating a company for you out of the Palace Guard. You’ve trained with them and most of them know you, but the Elite is already a self-contained unit, used to serving under a royal commander.” Black brows rose. “Or don’t you want to command the Elite?”
    â€œYes, sir!”
The Elite,
Rael thought.
    â€œAs prince and heir,” the king continued, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth, “you’ll be obeyed, but I hasten to point out that, training aside, you know little of actual warfare, so defer to the captain.”
    â€œYes, sir.” Rael had every intention of deferring to the captain. He’d been terrified of the thickset little man for as long as he could remember.
    â€œBefore you head down to the barracks, stop off at the armorers and get fitted for a new helmet, breastplate, and greaves. Your sword’s fine.”
    â€œYes, sir.”
    â€œWell, get going.”
    â€œYes, sir!”
    â€œHe’ll be in the thick of the fighting with the Elite,” Belkar pointed out as the prince dashed out of the room.
    â€œAye,” agreed the king grimly. “But they’ll have to go through the Elite to get to him. It’s the safest place I can think of.”
    â€œYou