Forgotten Mage (6 page)

Faye grabbed his arm and tugged him
toward one of the small tables that was covered in pastries. “Don’t
mind granddad, he gets like that sometimes,” She said with a
giggle. “You should have heard the story when my mother gave me my
name. She said he turned so red you could use his face as a
lantern.”

Bren put the old man’s words out of his
mind and looked at the table of sweets. “I’ll take a tart please,”
He said, fishing a gold coin out of his pouch.

The lady behind the table gave him a
surprised look. “Boy, they’re only two coppers each,” she said,
looking at the gold coin as if it was poisonous.

“Oh,” Bren said and dumped the contents
of his purse onto the table. Bren heard an audible gasp from both
Faye and the stand worker as gold coins clattered onto the wood.
Searching through the pile of coins, Bren pulled out a silver coin
and handed it to the lady and started placing the other coins back
in his pouch.

Bren took his tart and started to walk
off when he felt a light touch on his shoulder. “Your change,” the
lady said, holding out a fistful of copper coins.

“Thank you,” Bren said as he placed the
coins in his pouch.

“I don’t think anyone in town has seen
that much gold in one place in their life,” Faye said, suppressing
a laugh.

“Really? My mother gave me and my
sister ten gold every season for spending,” Bren said as if it was
nothing.

“Ten gold?” Faye said startled. “What
did you do with ten gold?”

“Nothing really,” Bren said, not
understanding the meaning behind the question. “Mother would rarely
let me or my sister go into the town so most of the time I just put
it in my dresser.”

“Faye,” a voice said from behind them.
Turning around Bren noticed three boys near his own age running
toward them.

“I was hoping I would see you tonight,”
one of the boys said, grinning brightly.

“Friends of yours?” Bren asked walking
up to stand next to Faye.

“You could say that,” Faye said almost
sighing. “The short one with the grass stains is Glenn, the one in
the middle who looks as if he hasn’t had a proper haircut since in
birth is Coliah, and the one who seems as if the world revolves
around him is the mayor’s son Wes.” Bren had seen the look Faye was
giving the three boys many times when an ambassador visited that
she was not fond of.

“Who is your friend Faye>” Wes
asked, his eyes moving over Bren in an uncomfortable
way.

“Wes, I would like you to introduce you
to Bren, the Farlan prince,” Faye said as she pulled Bren away from
the boys.

“Faye quit fooling,” Wes said chasing
after them. “Who is he really?”

“I told you,” Faye said, pushing the
boy away. “Now please, my friend and I are trying to enjoy
ourselves.”

Wes grabbed Faye’s wrist and pulled her
back. “Why don’t you spend some time with us?” Wes asked, pulling
Faye toward him.

Before Bren knew what he was doing, he
had grabbed Wes by the wrist and pulled Faye behind him. “I think
she asked you to leave us alone,” Bren said in even tones, his eyes
locked onto Wes’s.

Wes pulled his arm free with a strong
jerk and moved his face only inches away from Bren’s. “Faye, I
think your friend should mind his own business.”

Wes put both his hands on Bren’s chest,
but instead of moving backwards, Bren moved his left foot to the
side and slid out of the way as Wes pushed. Wes was easily twice as
wide as Bren and looked as if he were used to having his way around
the small farming community. Bren cared little for that though. It
was true that he had been raised in the luxury of the palace, but
that also meant that a large portion of his time was spent with the
royal guard as his mother expected him to take a position within
once he came of age. Despite his own desires, he had been forced to
train with the guard since he had been big enough to hold a
practice sword.

Bren heard Faye laugh as the larger boy
fell to the ground without Bren so much as laying a hard on him.
Wes was not so amused, and quickly regained his feet before
charging at Bren.

This time Bren stood his ground,
bending his knees slightly. As soon as Wes was within striking
distance, Bren shot forward like a coiled snake with his palm held
out, striking the larger man squarely in the chin. Wes’s head
snapped back and his eyes rolled into his head as he fell
unconscious to the ground.

“What is going on here?” A loud voice
rumbled from a few feet away as the portly man Doren had been
talking to stormed toward them.

“Wes attacked Bren,” Faye said as she
looked down at the boy laying on the ground.

“What did you do to my boy?” The man
asked, grabbing Bren by the upper arm.

“A lot less than he deserved,” Bren
said, pulling his arm free. “If I was not in a good mood, I would
have called for the headsman.”

“Call the headsman, who do you think
you are boy?” The portly man asked, his eyes filled with
fire.

“Don’t do anything rash Derek,” Doren
said stepping in-between Bren and the portly man. “If he wanted, he
really could have your son and all of our heads laying on the
headsman block.

Derek stopped his attempted to get to
Bren and looked at the elder farmer. “What nonsense are you talking
about Doren?”

“Shall I introduce Bren Farlane, prince
of Farlan,” Doren said, bowing slightly toward the young
man.

“The prince?” The Mayor said looking
down at his son as the boy started to move about. With one arm, the
mayor reached down and pulled his son to his feet and gave him a
hard shake.

“Father,” Wes said as his mind started
to clear. “He attacked me for no reason,” Wes said, pointing his
finger at Bren as soon as his senses returned.

“He doesn’t need a reason you damned
fool,” his father said cuffing the boy on the back on the head
hard. “Now, bow to your prince and hope that all of us can leave
with our heads still firmly attached to our necks.”

“I don’t plan on having anyone killed
today sir,” Bren said, slightly embarrassed he had even mentioned
the headsman. “He knew the laws of the land and also knew that he
could have the boy beheaded for attacking a member of the royal
bloodline, but he didn’t see the need for it.

After giving a short bow and pushing
his son to do the same, Derek escorted his troublesome son away
from Bren and Faye. “That was marvelous,” Faye said
laughing.

“That it was not young lady,” Doren
said sternly. “What if he had hurt the prince? Did you stop and
think about that? You might think life is as simple as it seems
here, but it’s not. In the blink of an eye, we could all find
ourselves a head lighter should something happen to the
boy.”

Faye’s laughter suddenly stopped. His
face still red with anger, Doren stomped off muttering to himself.
As soon as the old man was gone, Faye grabbed Bren’s hand and
pulled him to the next stall. “That was wonderful. Wes has needed
someone to knock some sense into him for as long as I’ve known
him.”

“He looks at you fondly,” Bren said, as
a small tightness in his chest overtook him.

“He thinks I will marry him,” Faye said
laughing. “I would rather marry a pig than have to spend more than
a few minutes with that buffoon.”

Bren didn’t know why, but when he heard
the disgust in her voice, the tightness in his chest disappeared.
“What do we do next?” He asked, gripping her hand
tightly.

Faye led Bren all over the small town
square where they looked over every stall. Most of them were filled
with sweets and food, but a few had trinkets for sale. When they
happened across one that had a small silver butterfly on a delicate
copper chain, Faye couldn’t help but to pick it up and look at
it.

“How much?” Bren asked as he saw the
look on Faye’s face as she spun the necklace between her
fingers.

“Nine silver and three,” the merchant
said looking at Bren with a bored expression.

Bren pulled out a gold coin and placed
in on the table. “I’ll take it.”

The merchant took the coin and started
to show the young man his other wares, but the merchant’s voice was
drowned out by Faye’s screams of delight. “Really?!?” she
exclaimed, bouncing on her toes. “I am afraid to wear it. What if
the chain breaks and I lose it?” She asked, her face creased with
worry.

“I think it would great on you, but if
you don’t want to wear it,” Bren said, slightly
disappointed.

Upon seeing his face, Faye smiled and
tried to put the necklace on but fumbling with the clasp. “Can you
help me?” She asked, handing the necklace to Bren.

Faye turned around and pulled up her
long hair. Bren’s hands shook nervously as he placed the necklace
around her neck. It took a few clumsy tries, but he was finally
able to work the clasp.

“How does it look?” Faye asked,
spinning around in a full circle.

“Beautiful,” Bren replied, suddenly
mesmerized by the young girl standing in front of him.

Off in the distance, a soft melody rose
into the air and cheers rose up from the gathering crowd of
farmers.

“The band is playing,” Faye said,
grabbing Bren by the hand and rushing toward where the music was
coming from.

Bren had been taught how to dance when
he was younger. It was almost a requirement when one was forced to
attend as many gatherings as the royal family, but he had never had
to dance with many girls of his own age. Most of the time, it was
elderly ladies of the court or people that he had known so long
they were like family. Now with Faye standing in front of him,
everything he had learned seemed to vanish from his
mind.

Giggling, Faye put Bren’s left hand on
her waist and took his right in her own as she wrapped her other
arm around his shoulder. “Don’t tell me that the prince doesn’t
know how to dance,” She said, pulling him in close.

Bren’s mouth went dry, as if he had
taken a mouth full of what the nurses in the palace passed as
medicine. Everything slowed down in his mind as he tried to move
with the music. His hands felt clammy and with Faye’s face so
close, he was forced to turn his head in fear that his breath
smelled bad.

As his head turned, Faye moved in
closer with her head nearly resting on his shoulder. Bren could
smell her hair and feel the warmth of her body. With each beat of
the music, it felt as if his heart sped up. When the song finally
came to an end, Bren let go of Faye’s waist and tried to pull back,
but Faye wouldn’t let him. Suddenly, Faye’s face rushed in toward
him and her lips brushed his. Closing his eyes, Bren felt the
warmth of her touch and the softness of her lips.

When Bren opened his eyes, he could
still feel Faye’s touch, but he couldn’t see her. “Where are you?”
Bren asked confused.

“What?” Faye asked, her voice almost in
his ear. “No not now,” He heard her say as he felt her hand pull
out of his grasp.

Looking around, Bren tried to find any
trace of Faye but there was nothing. Bren had grown up around mages
and while he knew that almost everything was possible, he still
felt shocked when Faye disappeared. It was just completely
unexpected.

Bren continued to look for Faye, but it
wasn’t until the music had died down and people started to gather
for their respective trips home that he caught a glimpse of her out
of the corner of his eyes. Bren rushed toward her, glad that she
was ok. “Where did you go?” Bren asked, breathing hard.

Faye’s face turned a rosy pink color.
“I just needed some time alone,” She said, adverting her gaze to
look at the ground.

“I can’t believe you can use magic,”
Bren said excitedly, but his words were cut off when Faye covered
his mouth with her hand.

“Please don’t tell anyone,” Faye
pleaded.

“Why? It’s amazing!” Thad exclaimed
excitedly.

“You know my granddad,” Faye said, her
eyes watering. “He hates mages,” she said with a downcast
look.

Bren didn’t understand why she was so
worried about her gift, but decided not to press the issue. He knew
that it didn’t matter if she tried to hide it, sooner or later she
would have to come to accept it. That was if his father’s friends
had told him the truth. “Magic isn’t just something you can do,”
Bren said, saying the same thing he had been told hundreds of times
over during his life. “It is a part of who you are.”

Faye didn’t say anything, instead she
pulled away from him and moved toward the small wagon that had
brought them. Bren silently followed behind her and when he reached
the wagon he noticed Doren’s disapproving glare. The same glare
that his mother had given him all too often. He wasn’t sure what he
had done to deserve it, but he was sure that he would learn soon
enough.

The ride home was uncomfortably silent
until Clair asked Faye how the night had went. “I had fun,” Was all
she said as she gave Bren a pleading look.

As soon as the wagon stopped, Faye
rushed into the house leaving Bren behind with a worried mother who
instantly pulled him aside. “What happened that has her so worked
up?” Clair asked worriedly.