Page 18 of Of Realms and Chaos

At least, she thought it did.

I began moving before I had made the decision to do so, my feet carrying me towards the female who had been like a mother to me. Who had beaten me down and nearly destroyed me. After I took a handful of steps, Mia dropped her hands to the ground, her eyes never leaving mine.

Slowly, too slowly, I screamed out a warning. The ground shook, and branches the size of tree trunks broke through the dirt and grass, through stone and brick, stabbing chests and wrapping around necks.

Mia was careless with her power, taking out both the fae of Haven and the fae of the Golden Guard. I watched on in horror as she killed by the masses, bodies being torn apart regardless of age or allegiance. Only the sirens, who dove for the water, made it out. The deaths were quick and many. A small form, the youngling no more than five years, was slumped down nearby, and my sorrow heated into an inferno of fury.

She laughed, standing upright. “Come, Asher darling. Let the Guard take care of these filthy creatures.”

Her voice was as beautiful as ever—her body and face full of harsh lines, making her look like the queen she was born to become. She clearly had not considered that I would deign to warn the fae of her oncoming attack. Or perhaps she thought I had been trying to save the Guard. There were many who had hesitated, who seemed to wish that they were not being forced to take the lives of their own. For them, I still would not show mercy.

Mia did not know that though. Over the last couple of months, I had changed, enough so that she no longer knew me at all. I was not the princess she had molded me into. I was not The Manipulator Xavier had trained me to become. I was Asher, and I was free.

I pushed out my power, meeting a golden garden of resistance and blocking my path to her mind. No matter, this was what I had been practicing day and night for. I could take her down even without my powers.

I would never concede. I would fight until my final breath and then rage from the Underworld where I knew my blackened soul belonged.

I would win.

A loud scream of fury came from my back, halting me in my pursuit. Turning, I watched as Bellamy, his body hidden beneath scorching black flames, ran at us. Behind him lay the bodies of every Golden Guard and every Haven inhabitant.

She had killed them all.

The Trusted remained, the group of them gathered in a circle. Only Cyprus and Luca were missing, the two of them likely still in Betovere. Ranbir was on the ground with his hands to the dirt and his jaw tense as he put everything he had into stopping the queen’s attack.

Mia began sprouting vines with thorns and red flowers that had teeth, using her power in an attempt to keep Bellamy back as she walked towards me. But he pressed on, burning through the leaves and slicing branches in half with powerful gusts of wind. I watched as the queen’s face faltered, a rare crack in her mask of cool confidence.

“Asher, my flower, we must go now,” she said, grabbing hold of my bad hand and tugging me back towards the water. I howled in pain, but she did not seem to notice.

On the edge of the sand stood a male with dark mahogany hair and tanned skin, looking uncomfortably familiar though I was unable to put my finger on why.

I pulled with all my might, trying to free myself from her hold on me, but the queen was far stronger than I realized. She tightened her grasp until the agony nearly consumed me. Despite that, I still struggled in her grip, imagining what it would mean to be dragged back to Betovere—picturing a new golden wedding aisle and Sterling waiting at the end of it. Picturing more and more fae bodies falling at my feet on a wooden stage.

The panic came in full force, and then I was shouting, searching her mind for any way in. For a single chance to break her before she broke me. Mia seemed to finally notice my resistance, and she paused momentarily, leaving Bellamy to fight through a particularly nasty patch of thorned roses.

“Asher, we do not have time for this. They are all gone, so you cannot save them. No fae is worth your life. We must leave immediately,” she said, her voice a rush of anxiety and determination.

That was when I realized that Mia had not tried to harm me. In fact, she had taken great care to hurt everyone but me. The look in her eyes, one of relief and fear, made me think that she was under the impression she was rescuing me. Mia thought me in danger, and that meant she would kill anyone in her way if I did not kill her first.

I finally pushed away from her, ducking under a branch to put distance between us. She stared at me, mouth agape and eyes bulging. I had never—not once—seen Mia quite this stunned, not even as she watched me being taken from my wedding. That had been terror. This was pure shock. The raise of her brows and slackening of her shoulders was the opposite of the Mia I knew.

Was it foolish that it hurt me to see her this way?

Bellamy made it to me then, his hand immediately resting on my lower back—nearly scorching me through the ripped dress. At the sight of him touching me, Mia’s face lit up in fury. She lifted an arm, and a vine thicker than rope shot out of the ground. I watched in horror as it wrapped around Winona’s leg, causing her to fall. The vine dragged her away from Ranbir, who had still been working to wither the other plants, her nails digging into the dirt and pulling chunks of grass free. He screamed as he dove for her, but the weeds suddenly grew larger, entrapping every one of Bellamy’s Trusted.

Ranbir’s screams did not die out. Instead, they became louder—hoarser—with every foot closer Winona got to Mia. He fought, throwing his power out with the type of strength that I had not realized he had, killing every plant within a fifteen-foot radius. But Mia was faster, more brutal. Each dead plant had three sprouting in its wake. Escaping quickly became impossible for all of them.

What seemed to be hours were mere seconds. One moment, Winona was beside the love of her life, her husband and soulmate, then she was suddenly beside the fae queen, vines covering every inch of her body below the neck. Bellamy and I froze, too afraid that moving would mean risking Winona’s life.

“Now then, let us not be imprudent. Release the princess, Elemental. Do that, and I will not kill you all where you stand,” Mia said, her voice dripping with authority.

Winona remained silent, her face stoic. She would not cry. Nor would she beg. It was not in her nature to do so. A faint glow emitted from her, but as the vines tightened around her, those Sun powers faded into nothing. She gave a curt shake of her head, eyes trained on her prince.

Noe screamed from behind me as she fought against the vines with her shadows, slashing and tearing one only for two to replace it. Each of Bellamy’s Trusted projected thoughts of terror and fury as they did the same.

I felt my body begin to shake as I took a slow step forward, my power still pressing into the gilded flowers that shielded Mia’s mind. All I needed was one chance, and I could save them. I might not have saved the innocent fae of Haven, I might have failed them entirely, but I could prevent the death of the male I loved and the family I had found.

I took a second step and then Bellamy was grabbing my arm, pulling me into him. My back hit his chest, and for once, I could sense all of his feelings, hear many of his thoughts. He pictured watching Mia take me away, the soul-crushing loss of me, and he could not stomach it. Not even to save his friends. His family.

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