Page 36 of Prince of Blaze and Embers
I was no killer.
But, then, actually, yes, I was.
My feelings about the prince doubled down, welling in a mixed pool of swishing anxiety and nerves that were impossible to shake. I was stuck—in all the ways. I couldn’t leave my thoughts, the feeling that I’d done something terrible, and hell—I couldn’t even leave the house I was in.
That wasn’t anything new to me, though.
Being trapped was normal.
The feeling of being free, though, wasn’t.
There was a presence in the room then, in the middle of the night. Flopping over, I saw the huge tortoise with his wide, old eyes glaring at me from the side of the bed.
My legs kicked off the covers, and I sat on the edge of the bed.Excitement shot up in me like a flurry of arrows piercing through my gloom.
“Cornelius!” I said it like he was an old friend, and perhaps he was. “You’re back. I heard you in the woods, but I couldn’t find you!” My voice crumbled at the words that escaped my mouth before my brain was able to usher them out. “Where… where were you?”
“Ash,” his old voice said in a wise, croaky tone. “I’m here to guide you. I’m the wind that blows the leaves off the tree, stirs the waves of the sea, helps the clouds stroll through the sky. But I cannot become a part of this world. This is your world. Not mine.”
“You’re not from this world? Are you… dead?”
“Ha!” The old tortoise belted out an unusual laugh I didn’t expect, and one that caused me to sit up straight. He didn’t seem to notice and continued to laugh. “No, no, child. I’m not dead. However, I have been alive a long, long time.”
“So that’s why I didn’t see you? You couldn’t help me when that Rone and the ogre came after me?”
“I’m unable to aid in such a capacity. I will teach you what I can so that in the future—you wouldn’t need me to. In that respect, you didn’t need me then either, it appears.”
“I almost died!” My butt scooted forward, and I hunched over him. “I could’ve been murdered, or sent to the queen!”
“But you weren’t…” His tone lifted to a high note. “And I think I know why.”
“Huh? You do?”
He nodded with a smirk at the corner of his old, green beak.
“You couldn’t find your magic when I used my illusion to create the snake that attacked you, but you were able to when you were really in trouble. Think. What was different that time?”
“I—I was frightened by the snakes. For real, I was. But maybe part of me knew it was fake. When I was really in trouble, I…”
“No. Not that. What did you feel? What was your body doing? What changed in you?”
“I—I didn’t know what to do. Rone was chasing me on that monster, and I was trapped.”
“What felt different?” The tip of his beak rose and crept forward. His incredibly old and wise eyes stared deep into mine.
“I was… weak. I think. When the snakes came, I felt depleted, kinda. But when the ogre came, I fell, and I felt, kinda… strong.”
He didn’t press me, but there was a sparkle in his eye as he nodded slowly.
“I fell into the water.” A sharp realization hit like a hammer striking an anvil. “The water…”
A proud expression grew on his face, cocking his head to the side with his eyes closed. “Ash… I believe there’s more to you than you realize.”
“The water…” I muttered the words, feeling the weight of them on my shoulders as they slunk. “I felt refreshed. Like I was rejuvenated, and then the magic came to me when I needed it. So what does that mean?”
“This is your first time away from the sea, is it not?”
My jaw dropped. “Yes.”
