A Shadow Bright and Burning (Kingdom on Fire #1)(105)

“I’m glad that I was able to stop Korozoth, Your Majesty.”

“Lord Blackwood came to see me straight after the fighting and explained how the ward happened to fall.” Would she now blame me for the trouble in the first place? “It grieves me that Master Palehook could have abused my people and my trust so shamefully.” She stroked her little dog’s head. “Even if I could replenish the ward, I would not.”



“So Your Majesty isn’t angry?” I twisted my hands in my lap.

“No. I’m pleased, both with the destruction of one of the great Seven, and what I’ve learned of your people.”

“My people?” The sorcerers? The magicians? I felt no surge of belonging to either.

“The sorcerers have been left to their own devices long enough. They behave as if they are sorcerers first and Englishmen second.”

“They’re not my people, Majesty. My father was a magician with a talent for fire. Howard Mickelmas did teach me how to pass for a sorcerer. I was prepared to accept your commendation and lie to everyone.”

“Your confession is good to hear, Miss Howel.” Now the guards would arrest me. “Your honesty makes a strong case for your integrity. I need that on the front lines.”

“Even if I’m not the prophesied one?”

“I’m not sure I ever had tremendous faith in that idea,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“But I’m not a sorcerer.”

“You use a stave. You employed many sorcerers’ techniques in Korozoth’s destruction, so they tell me.”

“Hargrove—that is, Mickelmas—told me that I was a cross between the two races. Magicians are descended from sorcerers, after all. I belong nowhere.”

“Then it seems you may choose your own path,” the queen said. What a strange and heavenly idea. “But I warn you that you have an irrevocable decision to make. I recognize you were born a magician and may need to control those aspects of yourself, but if you become a sorcerer, you must turn your back on a magician’s label and life.”



My mouth went dry. “You’ll commend me as a sorcerer, Majesty?”

“If you wish. It will come with the privileges of that rank, but the responsibilities as well.” She drew herself up by every royal inch. “I mean to send us on the attack. We will retake Canterbury from the Vulture Lady, we will destroy Nemneris and preserve our coasts, and we will march through the midlands and the north until we come to R’hlem himself. And we will finish him, before this war drags on further into its second decade.” I could hardly contain my astonishment—or delight—at her words. “You will be a part of my plans, should you choose this path.”

“Are you certain this is a wise decision?” God, what was I saying, challenging the queen? She smiled.

“My advisors are against it, but they were led astray by Master Palehook, and even old Agrippa.” Sadness tinged his name; she could believe it no more than I. “They tend to look suspiciously on any woman who dares to challenge their authority.” The edge in her voice couldn’t be mistaken. Perhaps she understood my situation better than I imagined. “I feel we must try what has not yet been attempted, and you have given us the first clear hope of defeating these monsters in eleven years. Now, Miss Howel, have you made your decision?”



What did I want for myself?

As a magician, there would be the possibility of learning more about my past, about my father. But my work would be outlawed, and my influence in this war would be less. As a sorcerer, I would be on the front lines, but I would look behind every step of the way, in case an enemy from my own camp planted a knife in my back.

But I had friends now. And above all, I had to help Rook. There was only one path that would allow me to stop his transformation.

“I choose to become a sorcerer, if Your Majesty wills it.”

“Kneel.”

I did as commanded. “Your Majesty. I am your humble servant. I seek your royal commendation to take up arms against England’s foes, and to defend Your Majesty’s life with my own.”

She placed a delicate hand on my hair. “I grant my commendation, Henrietta Howel, that you will take up arms in my defense, that you will live and die for my country and my person, and that your magic shall find its greatest purpose in the service of others. Rise and be known.” I stood again and towered over the queen. Tiny as she was, I bowed my head to her as my leader.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

She smiled. “In time, I believe I will have you to thank, Miss Howel. We will all have you to thank.”





Ten days later, not too long after my more public commendation before the court and the Order, I wandered Agrippa’s garden, trying to grab a moment’s peace. There had been many parties and celebrations lately, what with Korozoth’s destruction, but I couldn’t enjoy any of them. The Queen was taking more of an interest in sorcerer affairs. And I was responsible. People who had claimed to be my allies snubbed me. I often felt alone when I went out in public.

There was one friend, however, I could always rely upon. “Howel, wait,” Blackwood called as he came over to me. I smiled to hear my plain surname from his lips at last.

“So I am a sorcerer now, my lord?”