Chapter Twenty-Six
Asher
W e had traveled through Isle Element with little bumps. Here and there, we were met with hostility, but no outright attacks and not a single rebel symbol spotted. The Water, Earth, Air, and Fire Lands were stunning. This isle seemed to be the most diverse landscape wise. We had seen beaches, rivers, forests, mountains, deserts and valleys. Greenery was in abundance and the sky was clear. But the isle itself made me think of Bellamy, and that hurt more than it soothed.
Xavier was enjoying himself more than he had on Isle Shifter and Isle Healer. No matter what, this was his home. Where he came from. Maybe he had been a better male before he left the Fire Lands that we were currently within.
At the table sat all four wardens, each of them smiling broadly and warmly. They had welcomed us with open arms. As if they were glad we were there. But in their minds festered a level of hatred that made goosebumps rise upon my skin.
Around us, servants held ceramic plates, ready to offer us the first course. My eyes saw pride upon their faces, but my ears caught the sound of clinking from the way they shook in fear. They knew something was about to happen, and it terrified them.
“Why are the four of you so afraid right now?” I asked the wardens. The four of them each wore a color that represented their power. Warden Carmella wore red for fire, Warden Zaden wore blue for water, Warden Titan wore green for Earth, and Warden Ivy wore white for Air.
To my right, Warden Titan cleared his throat. “We are in the presence of royalty, Your Highness. That alone would make lesser fae break.”
Nodding and pretending that such a thing made sense was easy. Warden Titan began shoveling food into his mouth the second his plate touched the wooden table, not looking anywhere but down. Warden Ivy squinted at her own food, sniffing it. In his mind, Sterling seemed to assess his own. He began going through a mental list of…oh.
Excellent.
“Do any of you know of my husband’s history?” All four sets of eyes flicked my way, darting momentarily to Sterling before returning to me and remaining there. None of them spoke at first, as if silence and ignorance would save them from the fury I was about to ensue.
Finally, Warden Carmella answered, “No, Your Highness, I am afraid we are unaware.”
“Well,” I said, chuckling as I patted his shoulder from my place on his right. He remained silent and still, but in his mind, he raced through potential reasons for my actions. My head pounded with the exertion of using my magic, but I noticed it was getting better. Significantly so. As if, just maybe, I would be able to fight off Mia soon. “He traveled all of the Mortal Realm. Is that not impressive? Even more extraordinary was what he learned. Sterling, tell them about what you were taught in Heratt.”
That was when my plan clicked in the mortal prince’s mind. He nodded, a smirk stretching up his face.
“What is the meaning of this, Ash?” Xavier asked. He was on edge, ready for the battle he knew I was sensing. Mia watched in utter silence. Like always, she was waiting for me to root out any flaw in the system she wished to be perfect.
“Well, I became quite adept with poisons,” Sterling answered. Warden Zaden blanched, his pale skin going a sickly green.
“And tell me, husband, would you eat the food before you?”
“While it looks divine, it smells quite like sugar of lead and I prefer not to die today.”
Right as Sterling leaned back in his chair and shoved his plate away from him, Warden Titan dropped his fork.
“You must be mistaken,” Warden Zaden cut in. “We would never do such a thing.”
“Or perhaps it was the staff!” Warden Titan shouted, pointing to the male behind him. Around us, every servant gasped, leaning into the walls as if they could disappear. Mock outrage wrinkled the warden’s face, and my patience met its limit.
Gripping my fork, I swung my arm to the right, stabbing the cutlery so deeply into Titan’s ear that it sunk halfway into his head. I ripped it out and shoved it into his neck next, just for good measure. The Earth collapsed, his forehead smacking into his plate of food and his blood spraying my face. Red stained my golden gown and dripped down the edge of my white plate.
Shouts erupted, the wardens across from me backing their seats away as if that would save them. Warden Ivy shouted, rather shrilly, “You are crazy!”
My smile stretched until I wondered if my skin would split. Slowly, I reached over and gripped the fork, ripping it free of Titan’s throat. Bringing it to my lips, I let my tongue flick some of the blood. It tasted foul, but the effect was worth it. Even Mia gasped in horror.
“I have not begun to show you crazy.”
“Why would you do that?” Zaden asked, his eyes watering slightly.
“I was just putting the poor thing out of his misery. If the servants were really the ones who poisoned the food, then he had already consumed so much he was probably about to face a slow and cruel death.” I yanked the food from beneath the dead male’s head, placing it in front of Sterling.
Sterling sniffed it, terror there in his eyes. I did not mind his fear, he was smart to keep me at a distance. Shaking his head, the prince confirmed that Warden Titan’s food had not been poisoned.
“Odd, it was free of poison,” I said, quirking my head to the side. “Tell me, Warden Zaden, what do you think of the rebels?”
Zaden froze, sweat beginning to trickle down the side of his face.
“I think they are disgusting. A blight to our realm.” When I did not show any emotion to his response, he added, “Their message is deplorable.”
“And what is their message?” I inquired.
“Well, it is…um…death to the royals.” There was a hesitance and shake to his words, as if he had to force them from his lips.
“Since you think their fight so foul, then surely they poisoned your food as well. Sterling, check it for him, please.” I gestured to the plate, watching with glee as Sterling reached forward to grab it. With a sniff, he looked my way and shook his head.
“Wait, please, I can explain!” Zaden shouted, standing from his seat and running a hand through his sweaty hair.
“Sit back down,” I ordered. Abruptly, he sat once more. The entire room went silent, the sounds of breathing only faintly registering through my haze of rage. I saw it all there in their thoughts, my magic punishing me as I dug into their minds. They did not join the rebellion for the betterment of the realm. These fae only wanted the power that would be available if the Mounbettons fell.
Xavier smiled to Sterling’s left, placing his chin on his folded hands and letting his elbows support the weight. Mia remained stoic, unphased.
“You see, this is the problem. Your fight for supposed freedom is truly just a selfish desire to rule. At no point in your self-centered plight did you stop to think about what you were doing to the innocents around you. Blaming your staff? Truly, how low can you sink? You do not care about them,” I hissed, gesturing to the servants that still remained standing near the walls around us. “A real leader would have faced us, fought us. Instead, you wardens sit here in your comfy manors, smiling prettily and waiting for others to do your dirty work.”
Quicker than normal, I lost complete control of that anger inside of me. It burst like a volcano, erupting and letting that red-hot heat scorch me from head-to-toe. Relaxing my clenched fists, I grabbed my plate and tossed it onto Zaden’s. It hit with a loud clatter, pieces shattering.
“Eat while I talk, I am sure you are starved from making everyone else risk their lives.”
The lower tenor of The Manipulator seemed to send chills through Ivy, but I still had eyes for Zaden as he began shoveling the food into his mouth. Snot and tears ran down his face, and all I could think was that it felt so horribly good to force this man to poison himself after he was ready to watch servants die for his crimes.
“None of you have the intelligence or the loyalty to lead your respective lands. Having more power in your veins does not make you worthy of a title if you are a fucking idiot, it just makes you a target and a problem to eradicate.” Ivy started to cry as well, only Carmella remaining calm in the face of my magic. “You are not better than those you are meant to serve.”
With that, I tore into his mind, stomping my way through every memory and thought. Tearing apart his life and stealing his joy. He convulsed within his seat, his head falling back in a scream as I took and took from him. When I grew bored of the sound of his pain and the slow work of the poison, I shattered his mind, watching as he collapsed into a heap upon the wooden floors.
“Asher, you must stop. We need them for interrogation. Get that anger under control!” Mia shouted. Ignoring her orders, I stood, looking down upon the final two wardens. Ivy leaned away, her mind trying and failing to hide the selfishness that plagued it. But Carmella did not cower. Instead, she stared right back, her chin high.
“Will you fight me, Warden Carmella? Will you be more than the pathetic excuse of a leader that those two males were?” I asked her, my magic playing at the edges of her mind. My head was beginning to pound, the nausea setting in. Not nearly as bad as it had been, but still painful.
Carmella stood, grabbing Ivy and dragging her so that she was hidden behind the Fire warden’s back. Friends—best friends even. I could taste their affection, feel the way it pulsed like a second heart in each of their chests. Carmella was stronger, but Ivy was smarter. The two were formidable together and weak apart.
A team of sorts.
“No, Princess Asher. I remember who it was I vowed to save.” Just like that, my wrath drained out of me like water set free from a dam.
She used the same words that Nicola had ominously uttered to me before we left for this voyage. Was it a coincidence? No, probably not.
I dug into Carmella’s mind, finding that her thoughts and memories of Nicola were already there at the front, as if waiting for me. I sorted through them, watching as Nicola stood at the front of crowds, as she seemed to conduct and orchestrate every minute move. Carmella had seen Nicola’s mind seem to float above the clouds, her eyes going distant and glassy before she would nod her head and begin explaining once more. Then, as if desiring to really solidify the truth, Carmella showed me another memory of Nicola, one in which she slowly wrapped a black piece of cloth around her face, the bloody golden shield at the center of it.
Nicola was a rebel. Not just a rebel either, by the look, feel, and taste of those memories, Nicola was their leader.
Before I could leave her mind, Carmella showed me one last thing. This was not a memory, but an imagined scenario that the warden seemed to think was inevitable. An army of black-clad soldiers stormed the manor, invading Isle Element and coming straight for us.
Blinking, I returned to the space around me. Xavier and Mia stared on in horror, as if they could feel the danger that loomed. Sterling, who could not have been more oblivious, quietly whispered, “Well, it is a good thing that the food was poisoned, because it seems I have lost my appetite.”
“The rebels are coming,” I said. Xavier reacted quicker than anyone else, standing with a bang of his fists upon the table. Mia’s eyes darted from side to side as she thought—plotted. But my gaze remained on Carmella.
You cannot kill them. I have tried and failed more than I care to admit.
Warden Carmella flinched as she listened to my voice within her head, but she remained seated and calm.
We only poisoned yours and the prince’s food. We needed to take you out before Nicola’s misguided love set you free.
Oh please, they wanted all opposition out of the way. I would not have been surprised if they aimed to end Nicola one day as well.
And the rebels that come now? Are they meant to kill the king and queen?
She looked at me with a rueful smile, one born of loss and failure.
It is not the rebels who come, Asher.
What do you mean?
Vines erupted from the chests of both Ivy and Carmella, blood spraying the table as their hearts were speared. Sterling finally lost his cool, bending over and vomiting. Xavier stormed out of the dining room, shouting over his shoulder, “Get the Golden Guard here now!”
“Asher, we must be ready to fight,” Mia practically growled, pushing herself to a standing position. I stayed still, my mind racing.
Carmella said it was not the rebels coming. The army she imagined in her head had been clad in black, no sign of the bleeding shield. And she had mentioned Nicola trying to save me.
“I was right,” I whispered, choking the words out before I sobbed.
“Stop mumbling and get focused, our entire realm will fall if we are not united. We must show those rebels who they are—”
“I was right,” I nearly yelled. Whipping my head to the queen, I caught her shocked expression before she morphed it back into impassiveness. It was too late though, because I knew. Wrath did not appear, did not so much as whisper denials into my head. Because I knew.
“I know what is real.”
Then I grabbed Sterling’s arm and willed myself outside.
For the first time, I intentionally portaled.