Twisted Enchantment (Unbreakable Force Book 5) Read Online Free PDF Page B

was a magic user, who led a band of brigands. He was strong, and remarkably skilled with the sword. Mother said it was love at first sight.”
    “Who was she?” I wondered.
    “She was Aleta, princess of Sen Altare.”
    My mouth dropped. I stared at him, surprised.
    Fyrsil shrugged his shoulders. “They met in the palace. My father was a skilled thief and had claimed he could steal anything. He was there because some fellow rogues challenged him to steal the King’s greatest possession.”
    “The princess,” I said wonderingly.
    The brigand laughed bitterly. “You would think, but actually it was the sky jewel. He wore it around his neck day and night. The king didn’t wield magic, of course, but apparently the sky jewel had been passed down from generation to generation as the emblem of Sen Altare’s royalty. There’s speculation that the Lord of Omniah wielded the sky jewel himself, but no one really knows.”
    I nodded eagerly, wanting him to continue the tale. “Did he steal it then?”
    “No. He met my mother first. It sounds like a fairytale, really. As he scaled the castle wall—” I stared, dumbfounded. The castle walls looked as slick as ice. “—he heard my mother singing. He climbed to her rooms, and after convincing her that he meant her no harm, they talked the remainder of the night. She promised him to keep their visits secret, and from that time forth, he went to see her nearly every night. At some point,” Fyrsil coughed self-consciously, “I entered the picture. My mother managed to keep it a secret for several months, but it became obvious with time that she was with child.
    “Her father was furious when he found out,” Fyrsil continued. “He forced her to tell him who the father was, and that night, when my father climbed over the balcony, the king and his guards were waiting for him.” Fyrsil’s mouth twisted, as if he could recall it from his own memory.
    “My mother was devastated. Not only did she lose her lover, her father banished her from the city. Her younger sister, Elerith, would succeed the throne.”
    “What happened then?” I couldn’t help but be completely drawn into the tale.
    The once-king smiled grimly. “My mother stole the sky jewel and fled. She couldn’t wield magic, but I think she took comfort in taking what she knew her father prized above all else. A small comfort, but one nonetheless. She fled to the Tyrko Ruins, and the brigands took her in, knowing what she’d meant to Fyrsil.”
    “Fyrsil was your father’s name?” I asked. “I thought it was yours.”
    “It is.” Fyrsil stood, towering over me, and I scrambled to my feet, seizing the magic in my alarm. He merely stood there, however, his arms crossed, chin jutting out proudly. “My name is Fyrsil Matias Aleta.” He glared at me. “I may not have been the kindest ruler to Sen Altare, but I am their rightful king.”
    “I assume your mother told you all of this?” I asked, watching him warily.
    He frowned. “Of course. She and the other outlaws.”
    He started pacing through the trampled snow, hands behind his back. “She told me the story countless times. The other brigands confirmed it, and once I was old enough to occasionally venture into the city, the rumors there confirmed it as well. Aleta had been cast out by her own father. And for what?”
    “For loving a brigand?” I said wryly.
    He cast me a bitter look. “For loving a magic user.”
    I was speechless, my eyes wide in shock. He smirked at me. “You jumped to the wrong conclusions back in Sen Altare, sweetheart. You thought I was the villain, and it’s now being run by a bunch of discriminating idiots, that fool Sirius Archer at the head.”
    “Hold on, Fyrsil,” I growled. “You are far from being innocent. You had your soldiers plundering travelers, merchants, and farmers. How can you justify that?”
    “Because they deserved it,” he spat. “They deserved everything they got. The taxes, the persecution,