Branded Mage by D.W. Read Free Book Online

the Ablaian army is correct. Thad could turn the tide not only with his magic, but his presence should bolster our soldier’s moral and weaken the enemies.”
    The rest of the conversation faded from Thad’s ears. Silently , he made his way back to his room. His thoughts fixated on what the queen had said. Abla was planning an attack, and they wanted him to help defend the Queendom. The princess was right. While he tried his best to be nice to the queen, he didn’t trust her. It was hard to forget the long months of neglect while chained to a wall.
    The main question in his mind was , should he help protect the Queendom? The royal decree that had gone out only a few days prior, had been met with mixed results. To his surprise a majority of the common people welcomed the change, with the exception of female business owners who saw a threat to their current monopoly.
    It was still too early to see if the decree would calm down the current civil strife that had been plaguing the count ryside. He didn’t like the idea of killing, but he had grown fond of many people and he knew that if Abla invaded, their safety as well as many others would be in jeopardy. With his magic, he could make a large difference.
    Hi s mind warred with itself as he sat on his bed, nibbling from his plate. The Queendom had done little for him, but it was also the only home he knew. When he escaped his slavery he could have went to another country, but he didn’t. He wasn’t even sure why he stayed. He could have gone anywhere. He was glad he had stayed though. Being the quiet type, he never got along with any of the boys at the academy.
    He never thought he really needed friends , but since his escape, he had met many people who had helped him, for no other reason than to be kind. He had people he cared about now. Not many, but that made them even more valuable. Maria, Bren, Shariel, Monique, Joan, and her family; if they were in trouble he would gladly fight for them. They might not be the whole Queendom, but they were part of it.
    His mind heavy , he closed his eyes hoping sleep would bring him some peace. After a few minutes of tossing around, he decided it was futile to sleep when he had woken up not long ago. Pacing back and forth in his room, he noticed a large brown package on his dresser. Ripping the paper, he found a large stack of books. For a moment he stared at them, confused until he remembered that the dean had promised to send over just that. In the day’s events, he had complexly forgotten about his project for the masons.
    Unable to sleep and his mind frantic for a distraction , Thad grabbed the first book in the pile and jumped onto his bed. The book talked about heat stored deep below the ground. It was an interesting read and held many examples of different phenomena where massive amounts of heat had been seen released from the earth. The idea was neat but depending on how low the heat resided would decide if it was useful or not. If he had to go more than twenty feet it would be impossible.
    He read until late into the night , until his eyelids grew so heavy he could no longer keep awake. All the books had had great ideas on how heat worked, but none of them were practical for use with magic as far as he could tell. Maybe after some sleep and the different ideas had a chance to set in, he would figure it out.
    The next day , shortly after breakfast, he was summoned to the audience chamber. Even though he expected it his stomach still tied itself in knots as he waited outside the large elaborate doors. He was somewhat glad he had overheard the conversation the night before. If he had been simply been bombarded with the choice, he wasn’t sure what he would have said. Even after a night of stressed thinking, he still wasn’t sure if he had made the right decision.
    Walking into the room , he noticed the familiar faces staring at him with apprehension. He could even see a thin line of worry marring the queen’s usual impassive