The Dragon's Vow or the Stubborn Bride - страница 47

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My uncle showed me the cache where the Focus was kept only once, and even admitted that he had found it with my aunt’s help. At that time it was not fashionable among young people, and he did everything in secret, without telling anyone anything. It seemed terribly unfair to me that it was Uncle Eric who was touched by the Misfortune, depriving not only his beloved wife, but also a true couple.

There were no instructions for activating the Focus in the cache, but I suspect there was some kind of ritual or spell that I didn’t bother to find out about. But it’s understandable, I didn’t intend to get married. It was a hard pull, I decided to show off! So what's now? Maybe I should ask Aiz?

Oh no! My reputation cannot withstand such a blow. We are both contenders, albeit for different thrones, and competition between authorities in this situation is inevitable, which did not interfere with our friendship. But now is a completely different moment. Moments passed, but still nothing happened. I began to regret starting all this. Maybe pretend he was joking? At least I won’t embarrass myself, otherwise Kai will giggle at my failed attempt for the rest of his days, and Aze will look on with superiority.

– Ethan, can I touch it? – Kaya suddenly asked in a trembling voice. “I’ll just touch it once and that’s it.” Maybe I can figure out how to come up with something similar for magicians?

“I don’t advise you to paw at dragon artifacts unnecessarily,” Aiz warned him menacingly, as if it were his own Focus.

– And why is that? “Kai, who often got into trouble with malachite, squinted his eyes in a bad way.

– Who knows how it works? You never know what the consequences will be! – Jed answered instead of Aiz and laughed obscenely at his own stupid inventions.

– Jerk! – Kayu pushed him in the shoulder.

Grinning, I lightly tossed the Focus in my palm, intending to put it in my pocket and declare that they, like children, fell for my prank. But then everything happened. Taking off much higher than I expected, the artifact hovered in the air. It slowly turned around its own axis and blazed brightly with orange runes!

– Oh, you! – one of the guys exclaimed, but I couldn’t make out who exactly.

And the Focus set off and, picking up speed, flew towards the main building. It flew right over the roof of the stagecoach, barely missing it, and disappeared.