The Kingdom's Crown (Inheritance of Hunger #3) - Kathryn Moon Page 0,25

power every day.

"Magical janitorial staff," I murmured, eyeing the spines of books, memorizing the titles.

"Get out."

I looked, and the older man was vibrating, glaring down at me. If I were a mage in his position, I would've hated the work. I suspected he did hate it. I hoped he found the purpose of that conduit as unnatural as I did, but either way, I'd pissed him off properly, ruffled his tidy feathers, and it was time to go. Nearly.

"One last question," I said, ignoring his glare. "The princess said there's been no luck healing the dowager queen with magic. Why not?"

"You can use magic to heal a wound certainly, or cure an illness. But the dowager queen's magic is the illness," Nathan said, frowning.

"Her magic is poisoned?"

"It's running out. She's too ill to feed the Hunger, so the Hunger feeds on her. She knows what's wrong with her, believe me, Chosen," Nathan said.

"But then the queen or Bryony—"

"No! No. It has to be her own. Trying to force magic in would only do more harm. It creates friction, you see, after it leaves the source. We can use a little magic here and there against her symptoms, nothing more."

I frowned, disturbed by every bit of this news. Bryony tried to resist her Hunger sometimes and we'd seen how it hurt her, but I'd always imagined it would just lead to her lashing out and demanding sex eventually, not that she might resist it to her own death. I needed to know more of her nature if I was going to keep her safe.

I stood, bowing briefly, distracting him from the easy lift of a book from the floor which I slipped into an inner pocket of my coat.

"Apologies for the interruption in your busy day. I'll see myself out."

Nathan didn't move to the door, but he followed me every step of the way until I was out in the hall. The main door slammed shut behind me, and I turned, listening to the locks fasten in place again, smirking at the heady flare of magic. Well, that certainly wasn't Leftman's charm now. Poor Kenneth would never find his way out.

"So the conduit will take my magic too?" Bryony asked, trailing her fingertips in the fountain pool.

Owen had remembered Bryony liked the rose gardens and sweet-talked her away from her grandmother's bedside and outside for the afternoon with the rest of us. She sat between Daniel and Cosmo, the latter sketching the pair as Daniel's fingers flirted with the lace overlay of Bryony's skirt.

I didn't like the steady small frown Bryony had been wearing for days now. She looked a little tired, a little bored, but mostly tense, all her muscles bound up tight like she was constantly bracing herself for an attack. She'd relaxed a little by the water, but not enough to reassure me—or the rest of her Chosen, based on their watchful expressions—that she wasn't entirely miserable here in the castle, but my news regarding her grandmother's health had draped a shadow over her eyes.

"If you let it loose, probably. If you and I are containing it, it doesn't seem a problem, but…"

Bryony's lips curled up, but it wasn't a real smile. "But I make more than we really need."

"Be fanciful with it then," I said shrugging. "Direct it to our furniture, your dresses. Owen's old shirts."

"I like my shirts fine," Owen said from the hedge border of the garden where he was collecting an audience of chipmunks and seagulls and one pale fox.

"You said stones and seashells make good conduits?" Bryony asked, brow furrowing and spine straightening. "And coins?"

"For small workings, yes."

"Why don't I charge those? We could send them north. Or to minor magicians."

"Very clever, princess," I said grinning. I leaned forward on the bench across from where she sat at the fountain and tugged on her skirt until she met me halfway.

"Ah, well there goes the sketch," Cosmo said with a sigh.

"What will we do about the conduit?" Bryony murmured as I brushed my lips over hers.

"The mages are drawing on it," I said, trying to distract her from the problem with delicate kisses, resisting the laugh in my chest as she started to tip in my direction. I caught her by the waist and drew her onto my lap, relieved to see the pink in her cheeks and a genuine smile curling her lips. "Breaking it would be dangerous, and I can understand its purpose in general. A store of magic is wise for