Page 7 of The Prince and His Stolen Throne

The old man realized that the magic keeping him out didn’t work on me, and from there he started scheming.

A few spells and a carefully crafted backstory later, I infiltrated the Desolated Lands as Brendon Banes’ long-lost son. My mission was to learn everything I could about the defense spell so that the old man could tear it down.

After twelve years, I finally had the information the old man wanted.

“Tell me,” he demanded, his hands curling in front of him as if he could grasp the future and strangle it into submission. “Tell me how I can destroy the defense spell and conquer the Desolated Lands!” His voice echoed through the room. If it weren’t for the enchanted curtains, the entire castle would have heard him.

I hesitated. What I really wanted to tell him was: “Go fuck yourself.” But I needed his plot to work as much as he did. “The spell is held togetherby the five kingdoms uniting, either in marriage or by bonding over a quest.”

“Yesss. I see it now. So simple, yet so powerful.” He steepled his fingers and tapped them together in anticipation. “How do I break it?”

“The royals of every generation have to renew it.” The next words clogged in my throat, but I forced them out in a nonchalant tone. “Since I’m not actually a royal of Bane, it’s done. There’s nothing else you need to do; the spell will eventually fall apart.”

“Eventually?” he sneered. “I will not wait foreventually. I have waited long enough! I want to see it fall now!”

“So I can come home or so you can get to conquering?” I muttered.

“What did you say?” His voice changed, the evil replaced with genuine confusion.

“Nothing.”

“No, tell me, it might be important.”

“It wasn’t.”

He mulled over that for a moment before saying, “If you’re sure. Where was I?” He tossed his head back and cackled maniacally. Then the sound cut off abruptly. “Wait, no. I wasn’t there yet. Let’s see … waited long enough … fall now. Oh, right!” He cleared his throat and said, “You are the key player in this performance. You will sabotage the spell from the inside, and then! I will take over the Desolated Lands!”

I wish I’d never agreed to help him.Children did stupid things for their parent’s approval. “I could convince everyone to go for the marriage idea? Then never show up to the altar? That would probably break the spell.”

“That’s not good enough! They might have time to figure out a replacement.”

Which is why I suggested it.If my fathers could find a workaround once, they could do it again. “What do you suggest?”

“The quest! You must guide these royal champions on a quest to theirdoom.”

Acid stung my throat, and I forcefully swallowed it down. “You want me to kill them?”

He paused, sensing my dread and reluctance, then rushed to say, “No, no, you don’t have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable, son. I will lay the traps, and you will guide the royal champions into them. They don’t have todie. They just have to abandon all hope.”

“So, you’re not going tokill them?”

“No! Not intentionally. Well, maybe a few of them.”

I glared at him, refusing to budge on this point.

Finally, he sighed in exasperation. “I promise not to kill any of them. Just guarantee that they set out on a quest and fail it. How you accomplish your mission is up to you.”

If I did as he asked, I could finally go home. If I refused, I could stay in Bane … until the spell failed anyway, and Father realized I wasn’t his son. I’d lose this home, and the old man might be so furious at my initial refusal that he wouldn’t take me back. Either way, evil would pour back into the Desolated Lands. At least this way, the villain conquering them would be one I already knew.

“What quest should I suggest to them?” I asked, my own voice seeming miles away.

The Lord of Grimnight chuckled darkly. “You will tell them to defeatme. Bring these royal champions straight to my lair, so I may seal their fates myself!”

Chapter Three

“So,” Hector’s voice was casual as his blade swung at my face. I raised my shield and braced against the heavy blow. “I hear you’re getting married.”

“Not,” I shoved his arm away and slashed at his side. He laughed and skipped back out of my reach. “Necessarily.”