Page 51 of The Kingdom's Reckoning
The two women laughed. But when their gazes connected and reality returned, their joviality swiftly fell to the wind.
Ellie looked up at the sun and sighed. "I’ll get a fire going. We still have some daylight and some time before the rain comes in. Might as well use it."
The tiny remnantsof their meager meal burned in the middle of the coals. Today’s pickings were slim, but they made do. A rumble of thunder shuddered through the trees. The storm had held off during dinner, but it seemed their luck was soon to dry up.
Kallie held her hands near the dying fire, soaking up as much warmth as she could before they would have to extinguish it. The nights were already cold as it was. The storm would only make it worse.
A bed of coals lay beneath the three logs that were leaning against one another. They glowed in the fire, steadily changing from red to yellow to white and back again. Soon, the coals would start crackling and embers would fly out, threatening to land on them.
"Will you at least?—"
"No," Kallie interrupted before Ellie could ask her to use her ability again.
"You don’t even know what I was going to ask," Ellie argued.
Kallie peered across the white smoke twisting in the space between them.
The warrior sat on the other side of the fire in nearly the same position as Kallie. Ellie’s hands hovered over the small flames, her pale nose tipped pink. Although unlike Kallie, Ellie’s wide, black eyes reeked of false innocence.
Kallie cocked a brow. "You mean youweren’tgoing to ask me to manipulate you for the hundredth time?"
"Actually, no. I wasn’t." Tucking her legs closer to her body, Ellie wrapped her arms around them and rested her chin on her knees. "So I’ll take that apology now."
Kallie snorted. "As if I believe that."
"Aren’t you curious about what I was going to ask instead?"
"No, not really."
It couldn’t have been anything good. Whenever Ellie asked questions, it made Kallie think. And right now, thinking was dangerous. Her mind kept wandering to the village. Were the people all right? Had they reached the castle yet? Had Domitius and Sebastian sent more of their cronies to Tetria? And what of Pontia? Had Terin and the others made any progress gathering the army?
Kallie rubbed the heels of her palms against her eye sockets. "Fine, what is it?"
"Whywon’tyou manipulate me?"
Kallie’s lips parted, then closed, her tongue becoming heavy in her mouth. "I already told you," she mumbled.
"No, you didn’t. You’ve denied my request one hundred times, but you haven’t told me why once." Ellie stoked the fire with a long stick and shrugged. "While you don’t owe me an explanation, I am curious."
Beneath the thick cloak, Kallie rubbed her arms, her hands running across the scattering of goosebumps that poked through the fabric of her blouse. Every time Ellie had asked Kallie to use her power, her power sang, beckoning her to pull its threads, to twist and tug at them. A few times, Kallie had nearly relented to its call but had dropped the thread of golden honey before it was too late.
"Whenever I have manipulated people in the past, it always gave me a rush," Kallie admitted quietly. "I felt unstoppable. I could make anyone do or say anything I wanted. I could bend someone’s very will to my own. If I wanted them to jump, they would. If I wanted them to crawl on their knees before me, they would do so without hesitation. If I told them to take their life…"Kallie swallowed, letting her words trail off. Ellie could figure out the rest.
She didn’t dare look at Ellie, afraid of what she would see. Kallie had done many things she was ashamed of, many things she had never spoken aloud before. All the memories, the assignments, and the punishments sat heavily on her chest. It was as if a brick sat on her ribcage, making it harder and harder to breathe as the regrets pressed against the bones.
"Who am I to take someone’s will away?" Kallie asked, voice raw. "I am no god."
"But the gods did grant you that power, did they not?" Ellie asked without an ounce of criticism tainting her voice. "It is because of them that any of you even have these abilities. Do you not believe that maybe they entrusted you with it for a reason?"
Kallie’s nails dug into her arms. "What reason could that be? All I have ever done is cause those I care about harm."
"Is that really true though?" Ellie asked.
Kallie didn’t bother to respond. They all knew what she did, the lives she had cost.
"Terin told me about the day your brother died," Ellie said after a moment.
Kallie bit her tongue, and tears sprang to her eyes. The flames before her transformed, transporting her to the Pontian village set ablaze by Sebastian and his soldiers. She could hear Dani’s cries as she knelt on the shore, hear the plunk of Fynn’s body as it hit the water. How many months would have to pass for the memory to fade?
