Chapter 33
33
T here was a moment of silence as Issac’s confirmation rang through the meadow.
She’s the Siphon.
He had said it just as I knew it to be true. Whether I liked it or not, I was not some maiden or baker’s daughter. I was not a hollow.
I was the subject of a prophecy. A powerful being who could steal magic with just a touch.
And the moment that Issac confirmed it, King West looked at me with greed in his eyes. I was no longer a human, but instead a pile of gold in his eyes. Something to be owned .
“Take her,” King West said with a smile that made me shiver.
Guards ran forward, but Callum’s shield shot out around me, and the guards bounced back.
“Planning on joining the revolution, Commander Wells?” King West asked. “Because if you decide to fully cement yourself as a traitor to Luminaria, that’s the only group that will have you.”
Callum hesitated, taking in the King’s armed guards who had also emerged from the tunnels, calculating his odds… and then lowered his shield.
But Tristen was already stalking forward, placing himself in between Callum and I and the King’s men. “Are you interfering with the trials?”
King West strolled forward. “Hardly. I’m just picking my favored. And you know what? Since I lost my last mindweavyr, I’ll take you , too.”
Favored . The world struck me and I clung to Callum. “Don’t let him take me,” I begged.
But King West was already motioning to Callum. “Bring her here, Commander. And all will be well once you finish these trials.”
It was a not-so-veiled threat. Callum would cooperate or face the consequences.
Slowly, Callum started walking me forward.
I looked up at him in sheer terror. “Callum?—”
“Just keep your head down. Follow what the King tells you to do,” Callum said.
Betrayal stung in my eyes, but… what else could we do? We were surrounded by the King’s guards, who would be ready to strike us should we step out of line.
Tristen turned, stepping in our way.
“Move,” Callum said, his voice cold.
“You think this ends well?” Tristen asked. “You think by not taking a stand now things will get easier ?”
“ Move ,” Callum repeated.
Tristen shifted his gaze to me. The edges of him still looked like they were darkened by shadows. As if all of that use of his power had started to eat away at him.
Even with our history, I couldn’t let him burn himself out for me if that’s what he was willing to do.
“Don’t,” I whispered, the words hard to get out. Tristen’s eyes hardened, but he just dipped his head in a single nod.
We turned to the King’s men, and the guards rushed over with our iron bands outstretched. One of them clamped the bands on me so roughly I cried out, but they ignored me, ripping me from Callum’s arms as he watched on. The guards hauled me in front of the King. I tried to stand, but I fell onto my knees, unable to hold myself up any longer.
The guards had gotten Tristen’s iron bands on as well—I knew from the stunning loss of that rippling sensation of him in the air—and threw him down on the ground beside me. He stayed on his knees beside me, keeping his head held high.
“The gods have smiled down upon us,” King West said as he looked at the two of us with a demure smile.
Tristen bared his teeth like a wild animal at the King.
“Take these two back to the palace,” King West said with a wave of his hand, and the guards were pulling us up, dragging us to those earthen tunnels that smelled of soil and sparked with magic.
We were dragged into the depths of the island, and walked in the dark for what felt like minutes. Then, as if the island had dragged us through the dirt faster than our feet could carry us, a light emerged at the end of the tunnel.
The guards pulled us to the light, and we were standing in front of the Saltspire Palace once more.
Our new prison.