Page 1 of Dueling the Suitors
1
The Second Powerful
Astoria panted for air as she reached her brother’s door and banged on it, hugging her red panda to her chest.
“Come in, Storie.”
Of course, he knew it was her. There was only one person in the whole castle who didn’t know how toknock.
Astoria let herself in and shut the door behind her. Emmett sat at his writing desk, pouring himself into a notebook. He was a vision of calm and poise, in contrast to the storm brewing inside her and the wild chase she’d made to his door.
Merely seeing him relieved her like she had broken through the surface and inhaled the air.
“Oh, Emmett, you wouldn’t believe what Father is up to!” She stomped towards him, anger rolling off her in invisible waves.
Emmett looked up from his notebook and arched an eyebrow at her. “You look furious, little one. What did he do?”
“Something absolutely drastic and utterly outrageous!”
Emmett closed his notebook, keeping the enchanted quill between the pages, and leaned back in his chair. “I am listening.”
“He wants to sell me to the highest bidder in the seven kingdoms!”
“What?” Emmett leaped to his feet, his eyes flaring. There it was, his fierce protectiveness that she so desperately wanted to see after discovering her father’s betrayal. “Tell me you are in jest, Astoria.”
“I wish I was. But, Emmett, he is here—right in Father’s study!” A tendril of fear curled around her heart. Not that she would beforcedinto marriage—her father knew better than to force her—butthisman was unlike the men who usually tried to woo her and received her insults.
Emmett’s eyes narrowed. “Who is this ‘he’?” He looked like he wanted to barge into their father’s study right away and strangle the man-in-question with his bare hands.
How pleasant that would be. However, she couldn’t allow her brother to walk into his demise. This man was not just anyone.
“The Wizard of Arden,” she said.
“What?” Emmett hissed in disbelief.
“You didn’t know about his visit either?”
“Of course not! Do you really think I would sit here in peace if I had a clue of this ridiculous scheme?”
No. Neither did she expect him to lose his composure easily. Emmett barely lost his cool; he was better at composure and maintaining a stoic mask than her or Silas. He rarely projected his feelings too, but of course, not around her. He was moreEmmettthan Crown Prince Emmett when they were together.
“Do you think Father only wanted us to find out in time? Which is stupid anyway, because I sensed the wizard—hismagic—the moment he entered our walls.”
“What does he want?”
Astoria looked down at Skylar, her pet, and saw him staring up at her with his wide, amber eyes that were too intelligent for an ordinary animal. She combed her slender fingers through his red fur and met her brother’s waiting patient gaze.
“Emperor Cyrus is sending troops to the Emoran borders. Wizard Orion thinks a union between two powerful Mages within the unconquered seven kingdoms will magnify their powers and it will keep the Emperor away. He asked for my hand in marriage! How does he know about my powers, though? Father, of course, did not waste a breath before saying yes.”
Emmett’s eyes represented a storm. “And what makes him think there should be a union between you andhim?”
“He claims he is second most powerful to Emperor Cyrus himself,” Astoria explained seriously, taking a step forward and dropping her voice. “And Emmett, I think hemightbe. The magic I sensed in him wasn’t normal. There is something dark about him. Do you think he practices dark magic or something? Because it is impossible that he could be a Half-blood.”
Emmett’s dark brows puckered as he pondered the thought. “If he thinks he can keepEmperor Cyrusaway at all, he has to be powerful enough, yes. And since Half-blood Mages don’t exist anymore, his only source is dark magic. Must be why he took upon himself the title of awizard.”
Astoria wrinkled her nose in disgust. “But, Emmett, I don’t want to be married.”
“And you will not.” Emmett grabbed her shoulders in a gentle grasp and stared down at her with determination. “Especially not to a bidder. You are my sister, not a trophy for showcasing.”