Im not sure that theres much thats normal about it, Devin said. I have been spending every day in a forge in the cellar, trying to get metal that refuses to respond to anything but magic to turn into a sword, and Ive… Ive finished it, only to just realize that it was going to be either your father or your brother I was due to give it to.

Does that mean youre going to go? Lenore asked.

Devin shook his head. I dont know. Ive finished, but I dont think Master Grey is finished with me. As for leaving… I dont want to do that.

I wouldnt want you to either, Lenore said. The metal youre working with responds to magic? So Master Grey is helping you?

He… Devin wasnt sure what to say, how much to reveal even with someone like Lenore. There are spells woven all through the forge. He isnt there anymore though. Im not sure where hes gone.

Who knows where sorcerers go? Lenore said. When we were children, we would have lessons with him sometimes, and it always felt as though, for every one thing he told us, there were another dozen that he didnt.

Devin nodded at that, thinking of everything that hed found in Master Greys rooms, the things that hed found in the mans journal. Was any of it true? Was he really the one who had the potential to change the world?

Right then, he realized that, for a minute or two, none of it mattered. It was enough that he was here with the princess, enough that, for a few moments, everything seemed to be at peace. They sat there with one another while below, the castle continued to whirl and bustle, and even though they didnt say anything, it was enough.

We need to go, your highness, Orianne said after a while.

Lenore sighed and rose. I know. She turned to Devin. I have enjoyed this.

Me too, Devin said.

Are you serious about me being able to ask you for anything in the coming days?

Devin nodded. He knew it was an easy thing to say, but he meant it. And in that moment, he knew what he had to do with the sword. Rodry had intended the sword as a wedding present, so he would see it given to Lenore. It was the least he could do for his former friend.

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

King Ravin stood on the deck of his flagship, sunlight shining from his armor, and knew that the world was his to take. It was the feeling that he woke with each morning, and the one that he lay down with each night: the certainty that he was not as other men were, that he, of all of them, was the one able to reach out and have what he wished from the world.