Read Online Balancer (Advent Mage Cycle) by Honor Raconteur - Free Book Online Page A

her why she was relieved.”
    “Forgive me, but why do you think so?” I asked casually, carefully continuing to eat as if she hadn’t just blindsided me.
    “Isn’t it obvious?” she responded with a slight cant of the head. “A man of your position should marry well, don’t you think?”
    This is why I hate political conversation. People make some very unjust decisions and then expect me to agree with them. I put my hands down and nailed her with my eyes, making my voice firm. “I’m a blacksmith’s son,” I reminded her. “My magical power gives me the ability to control the earth. It does not give me wisdom or knowledge of how to govern.”
    Her seductress mask slipped away for a brief moment as her eyes narrowed. “And yet you agreed to Vonlorisen’s offer.”
    Ries?
    “Tell her the truth, ” Ries responded instantly. “ I want to know how she takes it.”
    This should be interesting… “On the contrary, I refused it.”
    For the first time that evening, I surprised her. She put her glass slowly down onto the table, her bright blue eyes never leaving mine. “Refused it?”
    “Yes.” What does this tell you, Ries?
    “Whoever her informant is, they don’t know much. This is the first natural response I’ve seen from her all evening.”
    True. The rest of our conversation had almost seemed to follow some script that she had written beforehand.
    The woman that had been so dangerously focused melted away to be replaced once again by the seductress. She leaned over the table’s edge in an open invitation. As she did so, the perfume she wore wafted my direction. It stirred my male senses in a way that I really wish it didn’t. “But even though you turned down the offer of marriage, surely you are still open to the idea of…other…relationships?”
    “I’m afraid not,” I responded, feeling more than a little trapped. Why did I have to have a wood floor under my feet? If it were stone, I could have disappeared by now… I hear your snickering, Night.
    “Sorry,” Night choked, still snickering.
    “Oh?” she purred, stroking one finger around the edge of her lips. “Are you not seducible?”
    Not by you, certainly. “No man alive can claim that, Domess.”
    “A wise answer,” she approved with an enigmatic smile. “And yet, you are so obviously not interested in what I have to offer. Why is that?”
    Ries, a little help here?
    Actually, Garth, I’m curious as to why you’re not tempted either.
    Jealous fiancée, remember? I shot back. To the Domess I gave an apologetic shrug and smile to buy myself a second to think. I doubt that already being engaged would slow her down. What would be a reason that she would accept…? “I’m afraid, Domess, that any…relationship…with you would be fraught with peril for me. It would drag me squarely into the political maneuvering that I am so anxious to avoid, you see.”
    “Yes, you truly do seem to be fervently avoiding any political scene.” She ignored the cooling food placed in front of her and studied every nuance of my expression. “You have the chance to seize true power and you do not take it?”
    “There’s no such thing,” I denied instinctively. “True power is a myth—it doesn’t exist. Even if it did, I have no desire to have it.”
    Her eyebrows rose in marked astonishment. She slowly sat back, lounging against the chair in a deceptively calm pose. “No desire for power? You , a man that is famous in two kingdoms? A man that both kings depend upon?”
    Well, she had a point, but… “I never sought after such influence. Domess, power comes with a price. The more power you have, the steeper the cost. Trust me, I know. I don’t know what price tag would come with true power but I do know this: it would be too costly for me.”
    A slow, approving smile swept over her face. It was the first genuine smile she had given me all evening. “I finally understand why Vonlorisen trusts you so much. You truly are the man you appear