Page 13 of Ruin
“I grant you great power,” he said facing the wall, so I couldn’t make out his face. “Go back to your body and show no mercy to those who hurt you, but take care.” He paused, then turned to look back at me. There was an invasiveness to his stare that I wished to escape. “You are cursed. I sense it attached to every cell in your body. It stole your beauty from you at a young age.”
My lips parted. I ran my fingertips along my skin, feeling the craters beneath my touch. “I was told, yes, but why am I cursed? How did this happen?” Looking down at my talons for nails, I sighed. Someone was responsible. As a baby, I was adored—beautiful, so I was told—then around the age of three, I changed. It wouldn’t have pained me if it hadn’t pushed everyone away from me and lost me my crown. “Tell me what I need to do!”
He flexed his fingers, forcing me to my knees with nothing more than a look. Agony ripped through me and tugged at my nerves, dropping me to the ground. I opened my mouth to scream, but no one could hear me there.
“Do not mistake my bringing you here and giving you power for vulnerability. I gave you magic, and I can take it away.”
He clicked his fingers, and I breathed relief. I forced myself to my feet and looked at the monster once more. “I will not forsake you.”
“You will remember your promise, for I am not known for being forgiving.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, then gathered my skirts, lifting them off the ground, and high-tailed it out toward the sheltered sunlight. As I did, I awoke to the sound of chatter growing outside of the room. I was too late to move the body. Before anyone entered, I ran through a connecting door, through another kitchen, almost tripping over a box, and out another door until I reached the edge of the gardens. My legs ached, and the skin on my hands were cracked. Blood stained my dress. I had to get back to my room, unnoticed, but how?
The castle had come to life with the rising sun, and guards were stationed at every entrance. I felt my newfound magic prickle in my fingertips. I closed my eyes, and the flowers around me wilted, then died. It moved through me like natural magic did in the fae, except mine was wicked.
It was unlike the Berovian’s who channeled the elements, or the sorcerers in Magaelor who used
ancestral magic, channeling it through their staffs and soil. Ritualistic and sacrificial magic was the only one with no bounds, but unlike natural magic, I could harm another with it. I was unbound by the laws of magic held by both kingdoms and the islands between.
Even the fae who live on both islands couldn’t match my power. I raised my head, feeling more powerful than ever. I glanced in the direction of the trees. I needed a distraction. I closed my eyes, then willed it. Fire erupted, its flames licking their way over dry bark and dead leaves.
“Over there!” one guard called, followed by tens more. It only bought me minutes. As they ran in one direction, stomping over dead wildflowers, I ran in the other, toward the castle. When I reached it, I moved out of the way as a small crowd swelled steadily. Moving to the left, I reached the space under the castle leading to a secret passageway. After forcing it open, I crept down the stone steps that connected to one of the corridors in the east wing.
It was time to take back all that had been stolen from me. It was time for my reign.
CHAPTER SEVEN
I slammed my fist against his door, thudding four times before he answered. He pulled the door open, and I slumped down the wall. My eyes were heavy, bloodshot, and tearing up from the arrowed sunlight through a small window. This part of the castle was nicer than the west wing. It was close to the front, still far away from the rest of the royal family, and kept for visitors. Caspian would have been one of the first fae guests who hadn’t been dragged to be tortured.
“You look like hell!” Caspian exclaimed, his eyes wild. When he extended his hand, I gripped it and he pulled me to my feet.
“Yes,” I admitted. I’d only had a chance to change and hide the blood-stained dress before heading out. Not that it mattered, I always looked like hell, as he’d so eloquently put it.
“Have you changed your mind?” He tugged at the collar of his white shirt and looked me up and down. “Love?”
“Yes.”
A slow smile spread across his face. “I am so happy to hear it.”
“Wait.”
His eyes widened. “Yes?”
“Please understand that although I agree to help you, I cannot let you take Berovia from us or start a war.” I looked around the emptying corridor. “But I can do more. Please.” I gestured behind him. “Invite me in.”
He moved out of my way. “Please, Princess, come in.”
His pants had been thrown on in haste. They were unbuttoned and wrinkled. Averting my eyes, I looked around as he closed the wooden door. A rug stretched out to the corners of the room, which was much smaller than mine. A window, reaching from the ceiling to the floor, looked out to the gardens. A dressing table, white, marked and scratched, sat across from his bed. A mirror hung above the table, reminding me of why I had come.
“You were right. I am cursed.”
He grinned. “I knew it.”
“Careful.” My expression darkened. “That smile could cost me a nation.”
“Was that flirtation?” He feigned shock. “I didn’t know you to be capable of such a thing.”
I exhaled slowly. “Neither did I.”
