Page 47 of A Crown of Tears and Treason
“You’re important enough to risk a Clan war. Don’t forget that.”
“But why?” I asked, desperate voice shaking. I wasn’t any closer to finding the answer. Zandyr had been constrained by the contract and Code, fine. But Fabrian had caused so much chaos to get me in front of that altar. “I’m not the future leader of the Protectorate anymore.”
“You were still born one. The only Daughter of the First Son of the Protectorate,” Allie said. “Blood and power like that cannot be replicated, no matter what titles we throw around.”
I shook my head. “Power.”
“Yes, power,” Allie chided like I had cursed our ancestors. “We’re all Dria Vegheara’s descendants and her power flows through–”
“I can’t do magic, Allie.”
The wretched words spilled past my lips, leaving me numb. This was so much different than revealing the secret to Zandyr.I’d been goading him into leaving me alone back at the wedding, but he hadn’t cared.
Telling Allie, though…I felt small again. Like my bones didn’t fit quite right in this body of mine. LikeIwas wrong.
Allie scoffed. “Of course you can. Mara and Falor were renowned for their spells, there is no way you couldn’t have inherited–”
“No,” I said, that single word shaky. “I don’t knowhowto use magic. They forbade me from ever learning.”
Allie shook her head. “That’s not possible. It’s against Protectorate rules–”
“Like disappearing in the middle of the night and running away from the Clan?”
Allie pursed her lips. “We do not speak ill of the dead.”
We didn’t and I hadn’t. I was speaking the truth.
“Grandpa Constantine said I had potential…” Gods, why was it so hard to ask for help? Allie cared for me, she was one of the few people I could count on. “I can’t just squander it. I need to learn, Allie. Will you–will you teach me?”
A heavy silence fell between us. A dull roar resounded in my ears and my heart constricted. She was going to say no, just like my parents, and then I’d never–
She nodded solemnly. “I will. I’ve never taught anyone, but I will do my best.”
“Thank you.” A brilliant smile bloomed on my face, even as the corners of my eyes stung. “Thank you so much.”
A hint of a smile played on her lips, too. “My pleasure–” Her eyes widened. “That means you don’t have any protective spells on you.”
“I don’t–I don’t think so.”
“Shit. I should have thought about it, but I would haveneverimagined Mara and Falor would do something so insane. Maythe gods have mercy on their souls, of course.” She inhaled deeply. “Let me try something.”
I watched in amazement as she cupped her palms and closed her eyes. Her lips moved too quickly and her voice was too low for me to catch the words she chanted, but a deep frown appeared on her forehead, followed by beads of sweat. Whatever she was doing looked painful. Nothing like the flick of her fingers back at the wedding.
I stepped closer to the portal, mesmerized. Magic.Protectoratemagic, happening right in front of me.
Tendrils of blue light appeared around her palms, swirling and swerving in a slow pattern that hypnotized me.
When Allie’s eyes popped open again, they were blank.
I gasped. No green iris, no black pupils. Just a sea of wild silver coiling in her bottomless gaze. She looked eternal, a creature carved out of time itself. Finally, the tendrils snapped from her palms, dissipating in a blue haze, as she chanted faster.
A breeze passed through the portal, straight into my chest. I gulped a breath as my lungs seared. As sudden as it began, the blazing sensation vanished.
Allie blinked quickly, her eyes returning to their untamed green hue.
“What wasthat?” I asked, patting my chest as if I could pull out the blue tendrils she’d shot inside me. One crumb of magic, and I already wanted more.
“A light protection spell. It’s all I can do when I’m in the freezing outskirts of nowhere and you’re in the bloody Capital. And I’ve been depleted since the wedding, too.” She fanned herself, face reddening around the cheeks. “First lesson–magic always comes with a price. It takes something from you, usually energy.”
