Shadow Magic by Karen Whiddon Read Free Book Online Page B

amulet. 
                  What tie she had with the thing, he'd yet to fathom.  But it was there, nonetheless, and he sensed she would somehow be instrumental in obtaining its return.  It was a bonus that she'd agreed to help him search for it.  Though dangerous as well, in a way he had yet to understand.  To keep her near him, he would have to guard against two things.  One, whatever powerful spell made her seem so irresistible to him and, two, the stifling sense of obligation that came with his obtaining yet another responsibility.  After all, he'd promised to keep her safe, granting himself one more obligation in addition to the amulet, before he could truly enjoy his hard-won freedom.
                  Ah, responsibility.  With it came the memory of failure, the sure fact that he, despite good intentions, could not be counted on.  He'd tried, by the stars how he'd tried to live up to his position as eldest son, but never would he forget the look on his brother's face right before he'd died. 
                  Failure had come at a high cost - the highest of all, and Egann had been certain of only one thing.  He would not take the chance that he might fail again.                As a result, he'd seldom done anything impetuous, spontaneous, or simply for the pure joy of it.  As Crown Prince of Rune, inside he had known that he was not worthy of the throne, for to count on him would be to court disaster.  Yet the people - who had known the truth about him also - had seemed to forget.  He was looked up to, idolized, and revered by many as their future King. 
                  A position he was not and would not ever be worthy of.  At Fiallan's wishes he had stayed, suffered the false adulation and accolades, until he'd thought he might suffocate if he didn't leave Rune.
                  Thus he had refused to take the throne, even though his refusal had left the land of Faerie kingless.
                  The guilt that he felt at his decision had nearly destroyed him.  Yet the unbelievable sense of freedom, the great weight that seemed to have lifted from his shoulders, made the guilt seem a small price to pay.  Accepting Fiallan's charge to protect the amulet had helped even more.  At least it had because he had thought even he could manage to do this one final service for them, however small.
                  Until he'd woken to find that he'd failed at even this.                Now he felt undeserving even of his coveted freedom.  But because that was all he had now, he would hold on to it with every fiber of his being.
                  Even though he now had the woman to protect and the amulet to find.
                  Yes, thinking on this, it concerned him greatly that he found himself so quickly with yet another responsibility, another life that counted on him for protection when he might only let her down.  In her very presence, Deirdre of the cliffs was a threat to that which he valued so highly.  The only responsibility he truly wanted was to find the amulet, discharge his limited duty, and disappear into the anonymity of the human world.
                  But he could not.  Not yet.  The one who called herself Shadow Dancer asked so little of him - nothing but protection from the sun.  He had given his word that he do so.  That vow had been spoken freely, even though to perform such a task, no matter how simple, would seem to be the last thing he - the killer of his own brother - was capable of honoring.
                  So now he had two concerns - Deirdre of the Shadows, and the missing Amulet of Gwymyrr.
                  Fitting, as the two were tied together, in some inexplicable way he did not yet understand.  Egann felt quite certain that once he deciphered the puzzle, he would find the missing