Domitia wrung her hands. “I–I’m not. Of course, I’ve heard troubling stories about the king, and the prince as well, but I’ve been assured that you are kind and gracious. A true princess in every sense of the word.”
“I certainly have tried to be in the past.” Lucia trailed her fingers over the table the practice candles were set upon. “But lately, I must admit, I’ve become increasingly worried.”
“Worried, your grace?”
Oh-how was she to put into words how she felt? It was difficult to wrap her mind around it fully, but she couldn’t ignore the truth of it. “I have something within me that. . hungers. I can only explain it as a caged beast. I didn’t feel it when I was asleep, but now that I’m awake I find it impossible to ignore.”
“I don’t understand, princess. A beast within you? What does this mean?”
“They tell me it’s not evil. It doesn’t feel evil, really. But there is a darkness taking hold,” Lucia said, and as she spoke she realized just how true her words were, “as if the night itself wraps me in an embrace that grows tighter every moment.”
Domitia’s gaze filled with understanding. She nodded. “What you’re feeling is perfectly normal for one able to harness any part of elementia. But don’t worry. Without blood sacrifice, our powers can’t be any more destructive than what I’ve shown you here today.” She leaned over to blow out the candle she’d lit earlier. “Now it’s your turn. Try to light this candle and we’ll take it from there. All right?”
The dark beast within her rolled over at Domitia’s dismissal of her previous words of warning. For that was what they were-a warning.
“Certainly,” Lucia said.
All ten wicks caught fire at once, the flames rising high into the air to lick the ceiling. The witch gasped and staggered back, drawing a shaking hand to her mouth.
“But-but, princess. I’ve never seen anything like this!”
Lucia couldn’t help but smile at the terrified confusion on the woman’s face. “No, I don’t suppose you have.”
Domitia’s wide eyes reflected the flickering fire. “And you do this with no effort at all. . Incredible. .”
“Oh, there’s effort, I assure you. It’s a muscle inside me that begs to be flexed. Answer me this question. It’s a question I’ve posed to several people so far, yet my dead mother’s opinion still lingers as if her ghost now haunts me. Is this magic I wield evil?”
“Evil?” Domitia repeated, her voice shaking. “I don’t know.”
“Wrong answer.” Lucia thrust her hands out toward the witch, summoning air magic. It wrapped itself around the woman and slammed her up and back against the wall, pinning her there like a butterfly on a board.
Domitia gasped. “What are you doing?”
It was an excellent question. What was Lucia doing?
Whatever it was. . it felt good.
The fire blazed behind her-so hot that sweat dripped down her back. Too hot. She needed something cold to balance it. Fire and water were opposites. The witch herself had said they often canceled each other out.
Lucia wanted to know if this was true. She glanced at the goblet of water the witch had used. A focused thought drew the water from its container, and it traveled through the air until level with where Lucia stood.
She studied it, cocking her head, and she thought of home. Of Limeros.
The water froze in the air, forming itself into the shape of a spear.
The witch yelped as the sharp piece of ice moved closer to her, close enough to touch her throat. The dark beast within Lucia approved of this. It had a great thirst for fresh blood now that it had finally awoken.
“I will have to tell my father when he returns from my brother’s wedding how disappointed I am in his poor choice of tutor.”
“Princess, please!” Domitia shrieked. “I will do anything you ask of me! Please don’t hurt me!”
The words were hollow in Lucia’s ears. Instead, she focused on the spear of ice, pressing it close enough to break the witch’s skin. A bright line of red blood spilled down her throat. The sight of it fascinated Lucia. How much blood could be spilled before the woman perished? And would this blood sacrifice help increase Lucia’s power even more?
A rumble sounded loud all around her and the floor began to shake. Lucia lost her footing and fell hard to the ground, bruising her shoulder. The spear of ice fell and shattered.
“What is this?” Lucia managed. “What’s happening?”
The candles fell off the table, their flames extinguishing before they landed on the floor. Lucia’s gaze whipped toward the witch, who held her hand to her injured throat and stared at the princess with fear as the earthquake finally came to a stop.
Lucia’s heart leapt into her throat as the beast within her withdrew into its dark cave.
Goddess, what had she been thinking? She’d nearly killed this poor woman!
Domitia’s voice trembled. “What are you?”
Lucia forced herself to look the witch directly in her eyes. “You will say nothing of what happened here if you value your life.”
“Princess-”
“Leave me!”
She didn’t have to say it again. Domitia fled the room without further argument.
Lucia’s heart pounded loud as thunder in her ears.
This is what my mother meant. She was right and everyone else was wrong.
She felt the truth in the thought. And what scared her more than anything else that had happened today was that a small part of her didn’t care.
A glimpse of golden feathers caught her eye as a hawk took flight from her balcony.
“Alexius! Come back!” She raced to the marble railing to see the hawk soar high into the blue sky until it disappeared from sight.
The sliver of hope that had briefly caught fire in her chest turned to bitter ash.
CHAPTER 23
CLEO
AURANOS
“It’s remarkable, really,” the king said loud enough for all to hear. He stood before the guests at the evening wedding banquet he’d insisted go on as scheduled at the palace, despite the carnage they’d left behind at the temple. “This young girl next to me had enough courage to say she wanted to continue with the ceremony and marry my son, not only in the face of a violent and horrific attack by insurgents, but after the world itself had been rocked beneath her feet. Tonight we shall mourn those we lost, but also celebrate together, victorious.”
Cleo wore a blood-free gown. Her hair had been neatened, her face washed. She sat stiffly between Magnus and his father on the dais and twisted her amethyst ring until it would surely leave a groove in her finger. The guests, she noted when she looked up from her golden plate that bore food she couldn’t stomach, looked every bit as stunned by the day’s events as Cleo did. Five of their fellow wedding guests had been killed by the collapsing temple before the rest had escaped outside.
These people didn’t want to be here any more than she did.
“I welcome this beautiful princess into my family. And I so look forward to introducing her to Princess Lucia when my daughter is finally well enough to leave her chambers. Despite its difficulties, today has been an incredible day of miracles and blessings.”
Miracles and blessings. It was all she could do not to leap from her seat and run screaming from this hall.
“Let us toast to the happy couple.” The king raised his glass, as did everyone seated at the long wooden tables, mountains of food and drink heaped before them. “To Magnus and Cleo. May their days together be as happy as mine were with my beloved, departed Althea.”
“To Magnus and Cleo,” the guests echoed immediately.
Cleo’s knuckles were white on her goblet and she raised it to her lips, only to find her hand was shaking. The taste of the sweet wine offered small comfort. Such a familiar taste now-this Paelsian wine. It teased her with the chance for escape. Perhaps she would drink enough wine tonight to drown herself in.