A March of Kings - By Morgan Rice Page 0,11

alive—at least for now.

All the faces turned at once, startled at Thor’s and Reese’s sudden entrance. Thor realized what a shock it must have been, with their sudden appearance in the middle of the room, coming out of a secret door in the stone wall.

“That’s the boy!” someone from the crowd yelled, standing and pointing at Thor with hatred. “He’s the one who tried to poison the king!”

Guards bore down on him from all corners of the room. Thor hardly knew what to do. A part of him wanted to turn and flee, but he knew he had to face this angry mob, had to have his peace with the king. So he braced himself, as several guards ran forward, reaching out to grab him. Krohn, at his side, snarled, warning his attackers.

As Thor stood there, he felt a sudden heat rise up within him, a power surging through him; he raised one hand, involuntarily, and held out a palm and directed his energy towards them.

Thor was amazed as they all stopped in mid-stride, feet away, as if frozen. His power, whatever it was, welling within him, kept them at bay.

“How dare you march in here and use your sorcery, boy!” Brom yelled, drawing his sword. “Was trying to kill our king once not enough?”

Brom approached Thor with his sword drawn; as he did, Thor felt something overcome him, a feeling stronger than he’d ever had. He simply closed his eyes and focused. He sensed the energy within Brom’s sword, its shape, its metal, and somehow, he became one with it. He willed it to stop in his mind’s eye.

Brom stood frozen in his tracks, wide-eyed.

“Argon!” Brom spun and yelled. “Stop this sorcery at once! Stop this boy!”

Argon stepped from the crowd, and slowly lowered his hood. He stared back at Thor with intense, burning eyes.

“I see no reason to stop him,” Argon said. “He has not come here to harm.”

“Are you mad? He’s nearly killed our King!”

“That is what you suppose,” Argon said. “That is not what I see.”

“Leave him be,” came a gravelly, deep voice.

Everyone turned as MacGil sat up. He looked over, very faint. It was clearly a struggle for him to speak.

“I want to see the boy. He is not the one that killed me. I saw the man’s face, and it was not him. Thor is innocent.”

Slowly, the others relaxed their guard, and Thor relaxed his mind, letting them go. The guards backed away, looking at Thor warily, as if he were from another realm, and slowly put their swords back in their scabbards.

“I want to see him,” MacGil said. “Alone. All of you. Leave us.”

“My King,” Brom said. “Do you really think that is safe? Just you and this boy alone?”

“Thor is not to be touched,” MacGil said. “Now leave us. All of you. Including my family.”

A thick silence fell over the room as everyone stared at each other, clearly unsure what to do. Thor stood there, rooted in place, hardly able to process at all.

One by one the others, including the King’s family, filed from the room, as Krohn left with Reese. The chamber, so filled with people but moments before, suddenly became empty.

The door closed. It was just Thor and the king, alone in the silence. He could hardly believe it. Seeing MacGil lying there, so pale, in such pain, hurt Thor more than he could say. He did not know why, but it was almost as if a part of him were dying there, too, on that bed. He wanted more than anything for the king to be well.

“Come here my boy,” MacGil said weakly, his voice hoarse, barely above a whisper.

Thor lowered his head and hurried to the king’s side, kneeling before him. He held out a limp wrist, and Thor reached up, took his hand, and kissed it.

Thor looked up and saw MacGil smiling down weakly. Thor was surprised to feel hot tears flooding his own cheeks.

“My liege,” Thor began, all in a rush, unable to keep it in, “please believe me. I did not poison you. I knew of the plot only from my dream. From some power of which I know not of. I only wanted to warn you. Please, believe me—”

MacGil held up a palm, and Thor fell silent.

“I was wrong about you,” MacGil said. “It took my being killed by another man’s hand to realize it wasn’t you. You were just trying to save me. Forgive me. You were loyal. Perhaps the only loyal member