“Yes, Your Majesty. I agree to these terms. I will help however I can as the Gatebreaker if you will help us find our way home,” I told him with a slight bow of my head.
“Lydia, that is wonderful. Thank you for your loyalty. Now, I insist you rest. It has been a long night. We will stay here through the day and night and start back to the castle tomorrow morning. Do not worry about anything, I will have all your food and drinks brought to you.” Everyone left me alone.
I was so tired all I managed to do was take my boots off before I threw myself onto the cot and fell asleep almost instantly.
49
I was awoken by people outside the tent raising their voices.
“We are going to talk to her if I have to make you move myself,” I heard someone say. I quickly sat up. It took me a minute to acclimate myself. I could tell from the light coming through the tent flap it was late afternoon. There was someone standing outside the tent, facing away from me. Murphy and Erin were standing there, trying to get in. Murphy was looking murderous. I stood up and poked the guy on the shoulder. He jumped and turned around. I didn’t recognize him but I guessed the king or the prince had told him to guard the tent so I wouldn’t be disturbed. I motioned at Erin and Murphy.
“Let them in, it’s okay. They’re my friends,” I said. The guy nodded and stepped to the side. Murphy and Erin pushed by him. I sat back down on the cot. Standing up had made me a bit queasy and my head was pounding.
“What’s going on, Lydia?” Murphy boomed. “The king told us you told him everything. Why would you do that? And how can you use magic?”
“Murphy, please,” I said. Holding a hand to my head. “He’s right, I’m sorry. I don’t know what it all means yet, but I am a Magic Wielder. And they all seem to think I’m something called the Gatebreaker too.”
“Since when have you been able to use magic?” he demanded. I looked up at him and saw he looked angry. Erin didn’t look very happy either.
“Since we got here,” I admitted. “I didn’t know why, and I wanted to try to find us a way home before I told you guys.” I said, “I’m sorry, I should have told you sooner.”
“The king said you brought us here. So, it’s your fault we’re stuck here?” Murphy asked, his voice getting louder. “Send us back home, Lydia. Do it now!” His words hit me like bricks in the chest.
“Murphy, I can’t. I don’t know how.”
“Well you brought us here. So do it again!”
“It’s not that easy,” I said, raising my own voice. “I’ve been searching for a way every moment I get. I don’t know how to find the gate we came through. I don’t know how it appeared the first time, and I don’t know how to do it again!” I could feel tears welling up in my eyes.
Murphy took a step closer to me and opened his mouth to say something else, but he was interrupted.
“That’s enough.” Aidric stood in the doorway of the tent, his silhouette was framed by the light of the afternoon sun. His face was deadly serious. He walked over to stand in between me and Murphy. I realized that both Aidric and Murphy were the same height. Murphy was broader but the anger and confidence that was radiating off Aidric at the moment made Murphy seem small in comparison.
“You do not talk to her that way,” he said. “You’ve said your piece, now you need to leave. Leave her alone.” Murphy glared at Aidric and for a moment I thought he was going to argue, but he spun on his heel and left the tent, throwing the flap up as he went. I looked at Erin.
“Erin, I’m so sorry. I’m really trying to get us back. I never meant for any of this happen. And the king promised that once we found John, he would go back home with us too.” The tears were falling out of my eyes now.
Erin stepped around Aidric and sat down next to me on the cot. I could tell she had been crying too, her eyes were red and puffy. She gave me a hug.
“I know, Lydia,” she said. “This is just a lot to take right now. Murphy will come around. I will too. I just need some time to wrap my head around it.” I nodded and she hugged me again and left. After she had gone, Aidric turned to look at me.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“No,” I told him honestly. I could feel sobs coming up from deep within my chest. He sat down next to me and wrapped his arms around me, and I let it all out. All the stress and anxiety of the last few weeks released itself in the form of crying. I didn’t know what to do. I missed everyone back home and felt infinitely guilty about Erin, Murphy, and John being here in the first place. All I could do was cry. Aidric didn’t say anything. He just rested his lips against my head and stroked my hair as I let it all out. I wasn’t sure how long I cried, but eventually I fell asleep with Aidric still holding me. When I woke up again it was dark, and I was alone.
50
Two weeks later I was standing back at the top of the grand staircase, waiting to be presented at court. King Bleddyn had insisted I be presented again. This time instead of a guest, as a permanent fixture. I had been given noble status with my title as Gatebreaker. Erin stood off to the side with Rose. They were two of the guards assigned to protect me. Erin and Murphy had both decided to stay in the army. It was the only thing they were familiar with here, and they figured they could get better information being in the army than stuck in the city alone. Erin told me all of this when she had reported for her first day of guard duty. Much to my heartbreak, though, Murphy had not accepted the position as one of my guards. Instead, he became part of the new Palace Guard. I saw him around the castle occasionally, but he was still mad and was refusing to talk to me.
Once we arrived back at the castle after the attempted coup, everything had been in hyper drive. I had been given lavish new rooms in one of the towers. Aidric had introduced me to Lord Barwick who was so excited to meet me his hands were shaking when he reached out to shake mine. He promised I would start lessons with the Scholars soon, and that they would start researching a way to travel between worlds immediately.
Aidric and the king had been busy interrogating rebels and nobles who had been captured, trying to figure out how Reynard had amassed support so quickly and how it had all been kept hidden. The part of Reynard’s company for the war game that had not been part of the rebellion were found a couple of days after we got back wandering around the Golden Forest. Reynard had led them all there until they were lost and then disappeared with the few who knew what he was up to. They were brought back to the castle to recover and then sent out to their new army assignments. Nadine had left the army to be promoted to become the new Captain of the Palace Guards. A few of the rebels from the fight in the forest had been arrested, but there was no word or sign of John yet.
I was dressed back in my purple dress from the first time I had been presented at court. I had requested Gabrielle as my maid again and she had tried to convince me to wear something different, but I had insisted. I loved this dress. It made me feel beautiful and I needed all the ego boost I could get right now. Since we had returned, everyone was treating me with reverence. Like I was some legend or celebrity. I didn’t feel like anything, though. My magic was only starting to come back after the adventure in the forest. And I didn’t feel like I knew anything more than before. I was still no closer to getting home.
I shook my head and tried to push all that from my mind. I needed to prepare myself for what was to come. If they wanted to treat me like the Gatebreaker, then I was going to try my best to act like it. I would hold my head up high, and I would do my best to fulfill everyone’s expectations. If I did that then, hopefully soon, we would be able to find our way back home again.
Aidric appeared at my elbow. “Would you allow me to be your escort for the night?” he asked, offering me his arm. I smiled gratefully at him.
“I would be delighted,” I said. I linked my arm through his.
“You look beautiful in that dress,” he whispered to me. I smiled and blushed.
The herald motioned us forward to the top of the stairs. Everyone down below
fell silent as we appeared.
“Introducing Prince Aidric, the Wolf-Hearted and Lady Lydia, the Gatebreaker.” There was applause as we descended the staircase.
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Magic Wielder is book two of the Gatebreaker series. Coming June 2019.
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When You Play with Magic is an anthology of seven different fantasy stories written by seven different authors. Michelle Wilson has a story, Out of Time, included in this anthology.
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About the Author
Michelle Wilson is a lifelong bookworm. She spent her days growing up traveling to magical and far away places through the power of books. She loves to write stories that transport her readers. Michelle was born and raised in Kentucky and lives there with her husband, son, and three dogs. You can find out more about Michelle at michellereneewilson.com
Acknowledgments
Nothing happens in a vacuum, and this book would not have been possible without the endless help and support of so many people.
First, I want to thank my husband Matt who created space and time for me to chase my dream of writing a book during one of the most exciting and busy years of our life.
Second, I want to thank my parents who always encouraged my reading and writing habits growing up and, even now that I’m married and grown and have a child of my own, continue to support me in every way they can.
Publishing this book would not have been possible without the help of some outstanding people. My Beta Readers’ Team read the manuscript of this book before it had even been edited and gave me invaluable feedback on the story and characters. The cover was created by Kelley York of sleepy fox studio. You can see her work at sleepyfoxstudio.net. Cate Ryan Editing helped me fine tune everything and get the final version ready for publication. You can find her at cateryanediting.wixsite.com/home. The members of my writing group, Lindsey S. Frantz and K.D. Reid, have provided countless hours of support, critique, and honest conversations about writing.
I also want to thank a group of people that includes my son’s grandparents, great-grandparents, friends, and church family who stepped up and helped me and my husband with childcare and enabled me to get time to write and prepare this book for publication.
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