Page 7 of The Ruins of the Heartless Fae

It made sense. There were four power levels, from weakest to strongest: white, gray, yellow, and purple. There was a tier above that, but it was never worth mentioning since it was so rare—black. And there were only three people in the entire country of Rosain who were considered black ranks: Blár Vilulf, Fenris Asulf, and Hilda Helgadottir.

And standing before her was that same Fenris.

“Indeed, I am,” Fenris said. “And you’re Kolfinna the fae.”

The fire walls grew even higher until all she could see was red. Even with her stone armor—which normally kept her cool—her body was unbearably hot. Her feet stung, and it was hard to keep her eyes open from the heat. Even breathing hurt; every breath seemed as if she were inhaling fire.

She needed to escape. She couldn’t face this foe.

Kolfinna raised vines from the ground, but in a matter of seconds, he burned them. She kept gathering more and more vines, but he burned them without a second thought. She backed away, heat radiating against her back as the fire walls closed in, roaring loudly. Her body trembled and she looked for an escape, but there were no gaps in the fire walls.

Fenris was in front of her in an instant. He kicked her in her midsection. Her armor shattered easily and she was flung to the side. She bounced on the burning cobblestones, her body rolling like a rag doll. Bits of burning stone scraped her skin. Her clothes tore at the knees and elbows. Pain and fire exploded all around her. Everything was sohot.

Black colored her vision. She could feel herself becoming disoriented, and she tried to blink to clear it. The sky was red. Flecks of black and white sparks flickered in the air. She struggled to push herself up but stopped when the hot, steaming tip of a blade singed her neck.

“Kolfinna the fae.” Fenris’s voice crackled like a whip. “You are hereby arrested on charges of murder. May the king have mercy on you.”

He swung his sword.Crack. Her head crashed onto the hard cobbled street. Her vision dimmed and darkness took over.

3

Kolfinna expectedto wake up in a prison cell, or maybe in the afterlife, but when her eyes fluttered open, she was in a modest bedroom with lilac wallpaper and clean, crisp, and starkly white bedsheets beneath her. Even the sheets smelled like lilacs. And she was dressed in a soft, pale-yellow dress. It was all too bizarre.

She cringed when she moved, her temple throbbing, but she was able to sit upright without her vision dancing with black. Her injuries weren’t as debilitating as she had thought they would be. Especially after facing off against Fenris Asulf, one of the strongest men in the country.

Why am I still alive?

“You’re awake.”

Kolfinna lurched back until she smacked into the lilac wall, her hands raised to attack.

A man sat at the end of the room with a thick, yellow-paged book pinched between his fingers. He regarded her with an unreadable expression and snapped his book shut. He wore the attire of a Royal Guard: red cape, militaristic styled white and silver-accented uniform. His dark hair was slicked back, revealing his equally dark, but kind, eyes. A hint of a smile graced his lips.

“I won’t hurt you.”

As if she would believe that.

She shoved the blanket off and bolted toward the door, but water immediately slammed her to the ground. Pain jolted down her body as she continued to squirm under the cold torrent. It was relentless, and it kept her down. Water magic was supposed to be weaker than the other elements in combat, since all it did was hose you, but she had never met anyone who could pressurize their magic to make their water strong enough tokeepsomeone down.

“No need to run,” he said as he placed the book on the side table beside him and rose to his feet. “I’m really sorry about this—”

Stomping filled the room and was a constantthud, thud, thudto her eardrums before it stopped. She tried to turn her head to look at who had entered, but the water continued to blast on her back, nearly drilling a hole in her spine. From what she could see from her peripheral vision, half a dozen people filled the room.

The water pressure eased and stopped altogether, prompting her to slowly push herself on her elbows. Water sopped and dripped from her braided hair, which now resembled a knotted rope. She ran a wet hand over her drenched face, water clinging to her lashes and eyebrows heavily. As she pulled herself into a sitting position, she realized the water made her dress cling to her body like a second skin. She probably looked like a wet rag doll.

Half a dozen Royal Guards filled the tiny room. All of them practically bared their fangs at her, ready to pounce. One had fire raging on his fingertips while another had a sword with lightning sparking off the edge.

“Her eyes … they’re pink,” one of them hissed to the other. “She’s a fae all right.”

“I wouldn’t mind carving them out of her skull,” another mumbled.

“No worries, I’ve got her,” the water elemental user said, raising his hands to placate them. “She’s not going anywhere.”

“She’s a murderer. We don’t know that.” An older, clean-shaven guard narrowed his eyes at her. “She’s a fae.”

“Yes, yes, we’re quite aware of that,” the water elemental user said with an impatient nod. “Someone call Captain Asulf. The rest of you can leave.”

When no one made a move to leave, the man sighed. “Look, she’s not going anywhere. I’ve got her under control.”

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