Burn Her They Said (The Anomalies of Ampara Deicra #1)

Prologue

Several Years Before

Emperor Aldritch

Red-hot rage fills my veins from the groaning of my bedchamber door slowly opening.

“Who dares—” I fist the black silk covers and toss them from my legs, then spin around to sit on the edge of the bed.

I glare over at my attendant, Lorn, as he bends into a deep bow of apology. I do not care for his act of contrition, though, since the only thing which might staunch my fury in this moment would be to toss something at him.

“Your Majesty, a messenger has just arrived from the southernmost border with urgent news.”

I wave a hand at him in annoyance to hurry and deliver his message.

“It seems a young sorcerer has been discovered to have force magic stronger than Imperial Lead Guard Hendry.”

My knees creak as I rise to stride toward him, summoning my force magic to surround me in a billowing cloud, preparing to strike should he say anything to anger me further.

“Are you suggesting I am capable of failure?”

“No, Your Eminence.” He shakes his head vigorously. “There is no doubt your elite team of scouts were exceptionally thorough in their search for the strongest sorcerers born during the Anomaly.”

I lift my chin to stare down my nose at him. “Then what, exactly, are you insinuating?”

“According to the messenger, the young sorcerer’s magic has only now proven its exceptional strength, meaning it would have been impossible for your scouts to have identified him prior to this incident.”

But not for the Dragons. The Elders possess knowledge of the future that the rest of us can only hope to access, bringing up the question: Why would they approve of every sorcerer I appointed if they knew this other one would one day ruin the image I have so carefully constructed?

“How old is this disruptor?” Every syllable I utter drips with venom as I wish to strike this moment from ever having occurred in the first place.

My diligence in appointing only the strongest sorcerers born during that strange time in our history will not be for nothing.

Three years we dealt with the very atmosphere sizzling with electricity, the sky lighting with solar flares, and the ground shaking with near-daily earthquakes.

Though our search was limited to those born during the time of the Anomaly, I cannot comprehend how even one with such power could have been overlooked.

“He is merely seventeen, Your Eminence.”

“Impossible. Someone that young could not be stronger than Hendry. The Anomaly was concluded by the time of his birth.”

“He is reported to have obliterated the entire school building.”

My dark cloud of magic recedes into my body, while my eyebrows rise toward my hairline at the sheer immensity of this young sorcerer’s power. Strength greater than I would have imagined possible.

“How many casualties?”

“None, only injuries.”

I storm forward, closing the distance between Lorn and myself, needing to look him in the eye with the threat of harm should he dare to fabricate his response to what I am about to ask him next.

“Am I to understand this youthful sorcerer can discern between an object and a living being when using such high levels of blasting force? Am I expected to believe that he can somehow decimate property larger than any force sorcerer has been known to topple alone, all while sparing lives that any other highly trained sorcerer would have taken had they used the same level of propulsion?”

Lorn nods as memories of my own training invade my mind. Lauded for the strength I wield, yet it is nothing compared to this child’s.

Fury courses in and around my organs as the carefully crafted image I have created around our Imperial Grand Witch all falls to ruin.

How my proclamation of her Imperial Guards only consisting of the strongest will no longer represent my unwavering belief in her powers being our Empire’s greatest asset.

How our rivals will no longer fear us the same way.

How they will no longer cower in submission, but instead laugh at me, making a mockery of my incessant need to be the first to have anything worthy.

Being so careful to make our offensive strategies live in the minds of every enemy, causing them to lose sleep due to the power we wield as we plot our methods to secure their land.

All to be ridiculed, now that this youth has developed an ability far surpassing anything ever known to be possible before this incident his magic supposedly caused.

“Why would the Elder Dragons have approved Hendry when I appointed him if it was known that another sorcerer would come to outpower him?”

Lorn shakes his head with caution. “Perhaps they were unaware.”

“Preposterous.” I ask the same question I have just posed to Lorn inside my own mind and wait for my blood-bound Dragon, Kresmea, to respond telepathically.

“The Elders will not disclose whether they knew about Varic.” Kresmea’s deep, gritty voice reverberates inside my skull, unnerving me with its cold echo.

“The Elders also claim their approval of Hendry was no mistake, regardless of Varic’s force magic being immeasurable by comparison.

” The Dragon’s tone indicates his irritation at having to relay politics while resting inside his den, where it lies on the other side of the mountain.

“Do you have any reason to believe they would withhold this information with the intention of undermining me?” I ask internally.

“You know the Elders do not give magical beings insight into our collective wisdom before an event has occurred. We only ever confirm our awareness of something which has come to pass after the fact. However, since you require clarification, the Elder’s claim to have no designs on causing you strife, only that they have acted as required by the accords created by our ancestor, and yours.

” Kresmea’s tone is neutral, and his lack of anger at the way his leaders are treating me is infuriating.

I turn my attention back to Lorn, who has turned white as a sheet in the interim.

“You said he obliterated the entire school building?”

“Yes, which did cause some injury—”

I raise my hand to silence him, with a small smile of victory lifting my cheeks upward.

“We will accuse Minacia for the destruction of the school.”

Lorn’s eyebrows rise as I spin around and stalk toward the arched windows, rising from the gray marble floor to the ceiling.

“Ensure that every witness to the incident corroborates our story. Ask General Sal for details to feed the other lands that would implicate how Minacia has changed their tactics as of late.”

Lorn moves within my periphery, nodding to confirm he heard me.

I release a breath and stare out at the tall statue carved in my likeness, rising from the ground just outside the citadel wall where I can watch over our citizens and the palace.

“Also, send word to General Sal that I am appointing this sorcerer to the Imperial Army, where he can use this immense power of his in service to the Empire along the Minacian border, effective immediately.”

“Your Majesty, he has yet to complete his final year of training, and if you will recall, Minacia has recently intensified the tactics used when launching attacks on our base—”

“Precisely.” The Eternal Flame roils within its golden bowl atop the Tower of the Dragon, an aggravating reminder of our fealty to our benefactors, which only serves to increase the level of ire I feel toward the ungrateful, sanctimonious beasts.

The same beasts who respected every Emperor before me, and yet chose to deceive me into believing they approved the strongest force sorcerer, when it is highly improbable the Elders were entirely unaware this Varic would one day outpower the rest. The sniveling lizards who would dare to disrespect the heir to the empire their ancestor gifted my family line for the precious egg my great-grandfather so bravely recovered for them.

All so they could spite his progeny several generations later. But why?

Flames roil before my eyes as I fume over their actions so blatantly undermining my abilities, as well as those belonging to my scouts.

Making a mockery of me and my regime by degrading the very foundation of trust and respect I have so painstakingly built to support the populace.

The eternal reminder of the beasts who cannot leave well enough alone when it comes to us other magical beings.

Who seem to have it out for me, even when I have been nothing but diligent in proving my fealty to the Dragons.

Embers pop and spew over the edge of the golden bowl housing the infernal flames before me, and a widened grin overtakes my countenance as I address Lorn with my final decree.

“Don’t you agree that the least secure encampment on the border of Minacia would be the perfect place for such a powerful sorcerer to help ensure the safety of our Empire?”

Lorn bows, regardless of what he believes.

A satisfied grin works its way across my face, as this should prove to the Dragons exactly who holds the power to make these sorts of decisions.

For their only right is to approve or deny anyone I appoint to the accord-sanctioned roles within my own court.

And while they may not care what happens to this sorcerer they so deceptively hid from me, I will not allow them to ruin my image with this revelation becoming public, nor anything which might thwart my chance to someday conquer the Continent.