#crownless.starter

“No, I don’t dance,” Kai shook his head, cutting off whoever approached him before they could even get the question out. It was bad enough he had to attend this frivolity, he didn’t intend to debase himself further by spinning around like an idiot for others to gawk at. “I’m only staying as long as I need to in order to ‘make an appearance’,” he declared, still counting down the seconds until he could go.

“Are you sure that you want to read that one?” It wasn’t unusual to find Kai in the library in the castle, but he was certainly having trouble getting used to having so many other people around, when normally he could work in solitude. The worst thing was when someone took the book... that he had been looking for. “I mean, it’s just kind of a bland read. I could help you find something more interesting.”

“No, I can’t just wave a magic wand and fix the king’s health. That’s not how anything works,” the exasperation was clear in the young wizard’s voice as he explained, for what felt like the millionth time today, that magic could not just magically heal the king. “If he were injured I could heal that, but this... he’s just old. And age has its limitations.” He didn’t dare say that the man should not have exerted himself at the ball, but it was implied.