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    A Petition to Magic
    A Petition to Magic
    A Petition to Magic
    Ebook33 pages24 minutes

    A Petition to Magic

    By Graham Downs

    5/5

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    About this ebook

    Every purchase of A Petition to Magic comes with a free book! Make sure you read it to the end for details.

    "Graham Downs opens the door to a fantasy world in his short story, A Petition to Magic, a world of emotions, trust, self-searching and enchanted characters that will definitely leave readers wanting more."

    Queen Celeste rose to the throne of Virdura a month ago, after the sudden death of her mother.

    Desperate to prove herself, she agrees to hear the case of a simple farmer who claims a neighbour stole his cow.

    To help her in this task, she orders her chief advisor, the royal wizard Solon, to cast a spell and divine the truth for her. Solon, however, is keeping a terrible secret. He is unable to perform any magic, and he cannot afford to let the queen find out the reason why.

    (A Petition to Magic is a short fantasy story)

    PRAISE FOR A PETITION TO MAGIC:

    "I enjoyed this read and it's a nice quick one for if you are on the train to work or have a few minutes before bed- am pretty sure you will finish it in one sitting! It also has a good little moral kicker at the end."

    - Ché Dyer, indieBerries

    "Graham Downs opens the door to a fantasy world in his short story, A Petition to Magic, a world of emotions, trust, self-searching and enchanted characters that will definitely leave readers wanting more."

    - Reviewed by Tina Stanciu for Readers' Favourite

    "...it hit all the points. Give the hero a problem. Challenge the hero. Make the situation so serious that there is a chance something as drastic as death could come should he fail. And then leave us hanging as to see if he succeeded."

    - Reading is My Drug

    "It will certainly keep readers intrigued until the end."

    - Karin Cox (Author of Cruxim)

    "You will bond to one or more of the characters, I did."

    - Sharon C. Wiliams (Book Blogger)

    "An outstanding short story which was remarkably enjoyed."

    - Vicky (Smashwords Reviewer)

    "It offers opportunity for reflection on the themes of monarchy, dishonesty, and ways of coping with failure."

    - Steve (Goodreads Reviewer)

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGraham Downs
    Release dateDec 23, 2012
    ISBN9781301232055
    A Petition to Magic
    Author

    Graham Downs

    Graham Downs is a South African author of short stories, flash fiction, and novelettes, in a variety of genres. Memoirs of a Guardian Angel is his longest work to date.He currently lives in Alberton, Gauteng, with his wife and their dog, Becky. He spends a good portion of his free time reading and, as with his writing, he reads books in a huge range of genres and lengths. He’s also passionate about South African authors—particularly independently published ones.Graham's publishing journey began in 2012, with his first book, A Petition to Magic, which is a fantasy short story about a wizard who refuses to perform magic, and a queen who insists that he do just that. He freely admits that back then, just like John Snow, he knew nothing (now, he knows perhaps a trifle more than nothing).Since those fateful first steps, he's never looked back, publishing five more books in almost as many genres, as well as getting a story included in the charity anthology, I Am Not Frazzle! (And Other Stories For Grown-ups).His latest work, Memoirs of a Guardian Angel, was launched on 6 April 2018.

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      Book preview

      A Petition to Magic - Graham Downs

      A Petition to Magic

      By

      Graham Downs

      (Cover Illustration by Hilary Keegan)

      Copyright 2012 by Graham Downs

      Smashwords Edition

      ONE

      Solon sat on his bed, with his head in his hands. The sun was beginning to come up over the horizon, as he stared out of his bedchamber window. He was a wizard.

      Some wizard, he thought.

      Nobody but he knew what he had done. Nobody but he knew of the terrible secret he kept. He had been in a deep depression for over a month. He never wanted to practice magic again. In fact, he wanted to die–it seemed only fitting. He had after all allowed the queen to die so horribly. But nobody knew that. Nobody could ever know that.

      Solon shook the thoughts of dying from his mind. He knew that he had to stay alive. He knew that he had to help Celeste become every bit of the woman her mother had been. Queen Celeste. Her coronation had come the day after her mother's death. It was the way of the monarchy to name a new queen as quickly as possible; she could not stand to be without a ruler for long. Still, the ceremony had pained Celeste terribly, and she had cried bitter tears that night.

      Now that she was queen, Solon owed it to her mother to see to it that Celeste became the best queen she could be.

      Suddenly, there was a loud banging on the heavy wooden doors to Solon's bedchamber. He looked up and enquired whom it was.

      Master Solon, came a voice from the other side, "the queen is awaiting your company in the

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