Trial of Magic (The Fairy Tale Enchantress #4) - K. M. Shea Page 0,243

would be a one-sided fight.”

“Sh-she’s gotten better at her magic,” Galendra stammered.

“Much better,” Crest added. He held a potion saturated cloth to his still bleeding shoulder—a parting gift from Angelique. “I don’t know who taught her, but she’s improved greatly, even since we snatched Evariste. Maybe Clovicus was teaching her on the side?”

“Impossible,” Primrose scoffed. “He was busy being a constant thorn in our side in the Conclave. He couldn’t have trained her.” Despite her blustery huffing, she’d only just stopped whimpering several minutes prior over the dagger wound Angelique had inflicted upon her as well.

“I don’t care how much she improved! Running from her—stirring up such fear that you incited all our forces in the Conclave to flee—is the worst failure we’ve had since my deceased husband’s blunder in Baris!” Liliane leaned into Primrose’s face, her boiling anger making her skin pink. “You have ruined centuries of planning!”

“So we left early; what of it?” Lazare leaned against the cave wall and folded his arms across his chest. He was the only one of the bunch who didn’t fear Liliane, which Acri wasn’t certain was because he was truly unimpressed with his mother or if his advanced age made him a lunatic. “The Veneno Conclave is beyond repair. They won’t recover from this—at least not before we get our chance to strike.”

He pushed off the wall and prowled up to Liliane, his eyes glittering in the flicking torchlight. “What I’m most interested in is what excuse do you have to explain why that half-trained apprentice was able to yank Evariste out of the mirror like it was child’s play. Hmm?”

“Do not use that condescending tone with me, Lazare,” Liliane snapped. “You may be the oldest of our members, but I am the leader!”

Lazare smirked as he stood up straight and put his hands in the pockets of his robe. “Maybe so. But we almost lost the mirror. That seems like a larger problem than the loss of our control on the Conclave.”

Liliane balled her hands into tight fists and glared up at the Lord Enchanter, who dared to remind her of their failure.

He’s either a lunatic or stronger than I realized, Acri decided.

Liliane spun around. “The mirror was another failure. But, no more.” She paused next to her easel of paints and picked up a small paintbrush. “We cannot afford another mistake. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Liliane,” the enchanters murmured, Lazare with a little more cynicism than the rest.

Silence filled the cave.

Acri watched with amusement as Crest fidgeted, glancing at the other enchanters.

“At least Lazare is right: the Conclave is weakened. They won’t be a threat to us,” Crest said.

“They also have no knowledge of where our base is,” Primrose added.

Liliane perched daintily on a stool. She crossed her legs at her ankles and tucked them to the side. With her blonde hair spilling over her shoulders, she looked picturesque—if one ignored the anger in her eyes.

“Be that as it may, we will take no chances now. Begin preparations for war, immediately.” Her lips curled back from her teeth as she snarled. “And before we move, we eliminate Angelique. Or else.”

The End

For information about book 5 in this 6 book series and for a free short story about Angelique and Evariste, visit kmshea.com

Afterword

Thank you for reading Trial of Magic, I hope you enjoyed Angelique’s story! If you want to read more of my work, sign up for my newsletter to receive my free K. M. Shea Starter Pack ebook.

It contains:

A King Arthur and Her Knights prequel short story

A Red Rope of Fate prequel short story

An original fairy tale, Princess Snow and Queen Ruby

A fairy tale retelling, The Princess Who Chased Sheep

My newsletter is released every month, and contains information about the books I'm working on, new freebies, and exclusive content just for newsletter subscribers!

Thank you for your support and encouragement. I am proud to say I have the best readers. Therefore, it is my dearest wish that Angelique and her friends made you laugh, and warmed your heart. Thank you.

Other books by K. M. Shea

The Snow Queen Series:

A completed Epic Fantasy series of two books and an anthology of short stories

Timeless Fairy Tales:

Beauty and the Beast

The Wild Swans

Cinderella and the Colonel

Rumpelstiltskin

The Little Selkie

Puss in Boots

Swan Lake

Sleeping Beauty

Frog Prince

12 Dancing Princesses

Snow White

Three pack (Beauty and the Beast, The Wild Swans, Cinderella and the Colonel)

The Fairy Tale Enchantress:

Apprentice of Magic

Curse of Magic

Reign of Magic

Trial of Magic

Book 5- Please check for updates at: https://kmshea.com/

The Elves of Lessa:

Red Rope of Fate

Royal Magic

The Prince’s Bargain

Hall of Blood and Mercy:

A complete urban fantasy series of 3 books

Court of Midnight and Deception:

A complete urban fantasy series of 3 books

King Arthur and Her Knights:

A complete historical fantasy series of seven books

Robyn Hood:

A compete historical fiction series of two novellas

The Magical Beings’ Rehabilitation Center:

A complete urban fantasy series of two books and an anthology of short stories

Other Novels

Life Reader

Princess Ahira

A Goose Girl

Second Age of Retha: Written under pen name A. M. Sohma

The Luckless

The Desperate Quest

The Revived

About the Author

K. M. Shea is a fantasy-romance author who never quite grew out of adventure books or fairy tales, and still searches closets in hopes of stumbling into Narnia. She is addicted to sweet romances, witty characters, and happy endings. She also writes LitRPG and GameLit under the pen name, A. M. Sohma.

Hang out with the K. M. Shea Community at…

kmshea.com