Page 119 of A Flame of the Phoenix

Shapeshifting always leaves a trace.

Reylan had told her that. Then today, before leaving her rooms:

Many skills, many faces.

Faythe didn’t know if he’d helped seal her thoughts intentionally, but she couldn’t back down now as she ran across the wreckage she’d made of the table, having only done so to slow the guards from reaching her before she could reach the queen.

Command of a creature is more akin to your ability.Nik had told her that when he spoke of the legends he’d heard of the Queen of Lakelaria; that she could command the creatures of the sea.

The queen raised a hand…and that was when Faythe saw the final confirmation to her daunting theory.

The symbol within her palm glowed gold. So familiar. Faythe wore one just like it in hers.

A circle, with three lines scoring past the circumference.

Faythe’s steps slammed to a stop. Her chest heaved. No guards moved anymore—the hand Faythe couldn’t tear her sight from was her signal to stop them.

“Aurialis once said she lost track of Marvellas two hundred years ago,” Faythe said, her heart thundering. “It also happened to be when the Queen of Lakelaria lost her child. The queen might not have been the most loving parent, but losing her daughter left her alone and vulnerable. The perfect target.”

Adrenaline pumped her blood, threatening to sway her balance in this confrontation.

“So you can come out now.” Faythe took three terrifying breaths before she summoned the name of her terrors. “Marvellas.”

The silence that settled was so cold and deadly. She wore Iana’s face, debating if it was possible to grapple with the lie Faythe had torn open.

Then, there it was. The smile that chilled her blood every time she saw it. One of triumph and wicked glee, so not even another face could hide the intent behind it.

“You are still every partmydaughter, Aesira,” Marvellas said in her own voice.

The heat blazing her skin cooled at the fear that crept in with the changes in her appearance that followed.

“Maybe even more cunning in this second life of yours.”

Flame engulfed the lengths of white hair, starting at the root and devouring, until the brilliant red returned. Shapes of her face morphed so slowly Faythe had to blink consciously, struggling to believe she wasn’t asleep in some terrible nightmare.

Marvellas shed the skin she’d worn on these lands, hiding, for hundreds of years. Biding her time. Masterfully puppeteering a war from this one safe place no one thought to go looking.

Face-to-face with Marvellas at last, the purpose for her existence had never sung so clearly. She was created to be the end. To kill Marvellas once and for all. Her will to live beyond that goal lingered behind her.

Reylan had remained so still despite Faythe’s outburst.

Kill Marvellas. Free Reylan.

Faythe was willing to contend with how villainous Marvellas could be to achieve both.

“Dine with me?—”

Faythe’s magick reacted before Marvellas could finish. The Spirit defused her flare easily, but Faythe tried again, and again, until Marvellas attacked back and Faythe was slammed into by a force of magick like her own.

It sent her sprawling across the broken stone, cutting her flesh where it was exposed in this gown. The wind was knocked from her lungs, and Faythe struggled to roll off her back and gather breath. Kyleer yelled her name, but she listened to his struggle as he was detained from reaching her.

All Faythe could do was grant him a weak look, hoping he read that she was okay. Zaiana stood by him, with purple eyes that darted from Faythe to Marvellas, but what it showed was the dark fae had no knowledge of Marvellas’s guise until now.

Marvellas’s face finally lined with harsh anger, but it was nothing compared to what Faythe was burning with.

Faythe peeled herself from the rubble. “I could burn this castle to sand, and your soldiers to ash.”

“You wouldn’t kill innocents.”

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