Rune Mage [Fantasy/Adventure | Book 1 +2 | Complete]

CHAOS MAGE Chapter 1: The Execution

"We now bring forward Kristen Harred for execution for the following crimes: attempted genocide, misuse of magic, and treason."

Seiren's hand found Madeleine's in the dark and she curled her fingers into her sister's. There was a moment of apprehensive murmuring from the few present in the isolated chamber at the far back of the Council of Mages. The twins sat at the back, out of sight and out of earshot. Filtered sunlight shone through the darkened windows. Guards tugged Seiren and Madeleine's mother through the double doors, her wrists still fastened in chains imbued with nullifying magic. Her usually neat plait was undone and she was covered in dirt and scratches. She walked with a limp, a far cry from the pristine, tidy look Seiren remembered.

Seiren reminded herself of reality, of her mother's true agenda. She wanted to sacrifice the entire country to revive celestial magic for her own gain. All the fond memories Seiren had of her could never negate that. But still, Seiren couldn't help but wonder: if she'd tried harder to convince her mother to do good and to understand the people she thought so little of, perhaps the outcome could have been different. Perhaps she didn't have to watch her own mother be subject to an advanced indigo rune that would put her brain to sleep permanently before her body shut down, all before a small crowd of people wishing her dead. Seiren had been lost to the dark, immersed in unethical experiments, and it took huge, unrelenting efforts from those close to her to bring her back to light. Seiren could have tried harder, pushed further, been firmer.

"We were there," Madeleine whispered, as if sensing Seiren's thoughts. She probably could still tell Seiren's mind, having spent six years attached to and powered by her twin as a soul tethered to a stone. Madeleine squeezed Seiren's hand with reassurance. "She planned everything. If she could, she would have killed all of us. Don't forget Maura, Loren, Tesla... and all the citizens in Benover caught in that circle back then."

But she didn't kill us. Seiren couldn't help but remember there were many chances Kristen could have finished her off but hadn't. When Seiren was caught in Benover after deserting her post in Acrise, Kristen exiled her instead of keeping her in the sacrificial circle. When Seiren finally confronted her in the king's chamber in this very building, Kristen offered her a chance to join her side. Even from the very beginning, when Jarsdel attacked their Finberry home when she and Madeleine were just twelve years old, Kristen could have eradicated all the evidence by killing Seiren just as Jarsdel had killed their father and Madeleine. But Kristen let her live — and Seiren's survival was the sole reason why Kristen walked to her execution now.

"In just under two months, I'll be starting at King's. An eighth year there, can you imagine?" Despite the light voice, Madeleine almost crushed Seiren's fingers. "I expected to fail the probationary mage exam — I just hadn't had any practical experience, you know? And because of your sentence and you being in Cliffe for the past few months, I have nobody to practise it with."

Her words sped up. Her hand was damp in Seiren's.

"But maybe with your six months being up soon, we can do it again. Practise, I mean. I can do the sketches and stuff but my body still doesn't always do what I want it to do and it's awkward explaining it to anyone else. And you can study with me so you can prepare to climb that king's mage ladder—"

"You're nervous, too, Maddy."

Madeleine broke off and took in a shuddering breath.

"She's our mother, Seiren," she said in a tiny voice.

"She's foregone all motherly rights when she left us for dead six years ago."

Seiren stared ahead, blinking back tears. Madeleine's hand still trembled. There were about twenty or so people present: half of them mages, the other half senior members of the military who had survived the Battle of Benover. At the front stood Kommora Haigh, the mastermind behind Kristen's downfall, waiting for Kristen's entourage to bring her forward. With her arms crossed over her chest, the royal blue king's mage cloak made Kommora's portly, grey-haired figure more formidable, if that were even possible. Her severe gaze was unyielding and fixed on the bent head of Kristen. Bellamy Southwark, the mage who openly opposed King Pollin and the previous generation of king's mages by recruiting state mages to rebel against the system, stood beside Kommora. He also wore a king's mage cloak. The greys at his temples appeared to have spread further throughout his dark hair since Seiren had seen him at her own trial.