The Encanto’s Curse (The Encanto’s Daughter #2)

Chapter 1

1

I sprinted across the beach. My heart pounded in my ears, rushing like the ocean waves that lapped at my ankles. Salt water coated my lips, and my wet hair clung to my cheeks, stinging the skin on my face, but I couldn’t slow down. I had to keep going. I had to hide.

A raised pier where boats would dock loomed ahead of me. It was empty now, all of the fishermen having set sail that morning. Birds squawked and took to the sky, startled and annoyed, when I charged under the dock to take cover in the shadows. It smelled like rotting wood and seaweed here, and I tried to quiet my breathing, but my lungs burned with the effort.

I crouched low, closed my eyes, and listened, but all I heard was the creak of the wooden pier, rocking with the ebb and flow of the ocean waves. I knew I didn’t have much time, but I had to catch my breath. I grounded myself, focusing on what was real, to calm down.

I am Maria Josephina Robertson-Rodriguez, Mahalina Jazreel, princess—no, queen of the Court of Sirena, ruler of Biringan.

It’d been only a few months since I was crowned, and it was still hard for me to get used to calling myself queen. Repeating who I was, what I was supposed to be, helped remind me that this wasn’t all some dream, that I wouldn’t suddenly wake up back in my bed in San Diego or have to go to school with all the other humans like everyone else. A nobody. I was a diwata, a spirit of the mountains and sea in the land of encantos, and the ruler of the hidden world. And I was hiding.

Heavy boots shifted in the sand behind me, and it made my stomach drop.

He was here.

I pressed my back against the pillar. The sound of boot steps grew closer, then paused, the wearer waiting or listening. Probably both.

I held my breath and my fingers shook, so I clenched my fist around the dagger at my side, a gift from my godfather, Don Elias. He had given it to me for this very purpose, and I was not going to fail. Not this time.

I leapt out from behind the pillar and cut down with my dagger.

But my opponent knew I was coming. He always knew when danger was near.

He raised his own dagger to meet mine, our blades singing off each other, then stepped back and had the gall to smile at me. Lucas Invierno, the most esteemed knight in all of Biringan City, the datu of Mount Makiling, and, oh—might I mention, my ex-boyfriend.

I swung at him, but Lucas was faster than me. He knocked away my dagger again, moving around me, fluid like smoke.

Frustration bubbled up inside me, and I moved to hit him again. I was tired of losing. But Lucas had a lifetime of practice in the martial art of Arnis, whereas I was no better than a child swinging a stick. It was the only way I could learn to defend myself, as humiliating as it was. But it was all for a reason.

After the mambabarang attack before my coronation, Elias recommended I learn to better protect myself, both physically and magically. Being queen of Biringan, of all the encantos, I would be foolish not to think that other malicious forces might attack again, even if I had the protection of the entire Royal Guard. I couldn’t rely entirely on other people. Without my approval, though, Elias had hired the best knight in the kingdom to help me. Lucas had just started to work full-time at the palace, stepping into his father’s vacant role as head of security at the Court of Sirena. Of course, just my luck, the captain of the Royal Guard had to be the love of my life, soon to be married to someone else. But he was the best fit for the job.

I tried to summon my power, raising my hand toward Lucas, focusing on the magic coursing through my veins like Elias had taught me. I wanted to turn his dagger into something else—a snake, a twig, a palm frond, anything—but nothing happened. Lucas danced in, and I barely had time to catch his strike. It sent a shock wave through me; he was so strong. He was not holding back.

Lucas came at me with his left hand and disarmed me with one move. I tried to throw my shoulder into him, but he used my momentum and tripped me. I somersaulted, suddenly seeing the blue sky, and landed on my back in the shallow water.

Lucas straddled me in a winning finisher and spun the dagger around, placing the dull handle against my neck, knowing better than to put a blade to his queen’s throat. Sunlight sparkled in the water droplets on his hair, making him look like he was made of diamonds.

“Got you,” Lucas said, a little breathless, with a hint of a smile. His words, smooth and low, had an air of flirtation to them. Like old times.

I bit down a retort. It was the first thing he’d said to me in months that wasn’t strictly professional or hardly more than a “Good strike,” “Go again,” or “Your Majesty.” Of all times to flirt, this was the least anticipated. And the least welcome. Did he know what he was doing? Or was it by accident? When it came to Lucas, it was difficult to tell. He was always so mysterious and knew exactly how to get a rise out of me, for better or for worse. I was not in the mood for his games, especially now.

He must have realized what he’d said too, because color rose in his cheeks, and the gold in his dark eyes glinted. After a heartbeat too long, he lifted the hilt of his blade from my neck and raised himself off me.

I stayed there in the shallow water, as if proving a point that I could get up anytime I wanted, but he extended a hand to help me. I ignored him and stood on my own. “Months of training, sparring with me every day, and all you can say is ‘Got you’? ?” I asked, glaring at him.

He sheathed his dagger. Like me, he was dressed in twill pants and a loose shirt for sparring, and the tips of his pointed ears had turned the same shade of red as his clothes. Infuriatingly, he didn’t say anything again, falling back into silence.

I almost wished I hadn’t said anything. Exchanging a few strictly professional words was better than enduring this silent treatment.

Since the announcement of his engagement to my nemesis, Amador Oscura, Lucas had stopped talking to me. There had been no explanation, no conversation, not even so much as a goodbye.

No one tells you how much it sucks to find out that your boyfriend was planning on getting married to someone else the whole time you were together. Granted, we’d never officially called ourselves boyfriend-girlfriend because we were so busy with our respective duties—me being in the royal palace and him in the neighboring Court of Sigbin. But when I got a wedding invitation from Amador a month after my coronation, it was shocking, to say the least.

I almost hadn’t bought the engagement, not until I saw the announcement in the news crystals—basically magical iPads—and realized it was true. Their engagement photo had been picture-perfect. The two of them arm in arm, dressed to the nines in silks and matching gold headdresses. The whole kingdom would be in attendance.

I went through the five stages of grief after getting dumped: laughing at the absurdity of it all, fuming for being delusional enough to think Lucas wasn’t Amador’s lapdog, wondering if Lucas was under some sort of love spell, and crying in the bathtub…I was still working on the acceptance stage.

Lucas didn’t say anything more while I grabbed my wet ponytail and wrung it out, finding it covered in sand and seaweed. I knew Jinky, my lady-in-waiting, would have a fit about the state of my hair. All her hard work making it silky smooth and full, down the proverbial drain.

Everything would be so different if I were better at using my ability. If I could master my power like I was supposed to, maybe I wouldn’t feel like such a failure.

Lucas’s gaze was downcast while he waited for another sparring round. His finger traced the hilt of his knife in small circles, and the muscles in his jaw tightened. He brushed his dark hair out of his eyes, and when he gazed out across the sea, I couldn’t help but admire his profile, sharp as glass, and his expression, just as cold. I hoped he would say something. The silence was slowly killing me. A part of me wanted to stay mad at him, but another part of me still wanted to kiss him. Lucas had that effect, infuriating to no end.

I missed him, and I still didn’t know why he lied.

He’d told me that he and Amador weren’t romantically involved, that she was just saying that at school to get under my skin. But once the announcement was released, he never denied it.

He’d used me, hurt me, lied to me. I refused to let him think all was forgiven. One thing was for sure: I was not going to be hung up on a cheater. He could rot for all I cared.

I diverted my gaze out across the water. I wanted him to know how he made me feel, but I also didn’t know what to say. And then I thought, maybe he didn’t, either.

I was going to be the bigger person, even if he didn’t deserve it.

“I shouldn’t have snapped earlier,” I said. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him shift, turning to me. “You beat me, fair and square.”

“You’re getting better,” he said softly. “You almost had me.”

I kept my gaze on the water, my heart sinking. Almost.

I was about to stoop down and pick up the dagger that Lucas had knocked from my hand, but he beat me to it. He held it out to me, handle first. “Thank you,” I said automatically. I took it and wiped it clean on my shirt before putting it back in the sheath at my hip. Our eyes met, and I could almost trick myself into thinking he looked sorry. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. And that was all I needed to know.

“Well done, Datu Lucas,” a voice called from the pier above us. Don Elias, my godfather and councilor to the throne, gazed down at us, a hint of disappointment on his face. “That is enough for today.”

We jumped away from each other, startled, but Lucas regained his composure quickly. He snapped his heels together and bowed slightly to Don Elias, then to me, before he crossed the beach and disappeared into the jungle between the shoreline and the palace.

Elias waited for me as I joined him on the pier, and we walked together up the dirt path leading through the grounds.

“He caught you again,” Elias said, like I hadn’t been there.

“It’s not fair. Lucas’s power is sensing danger. It’s like he has Spidey-sense.”

Elias frowned at me. “Spidey-sense?”

Of course that would go over his head. He hadn’t grown up in the human world like I had. I figured it wasn’t worth explaining and just sighed.

“You must learn to control your power,” Elias said. “Your alchemy is your greatest advantage. Do not rely on physical strength alone.”

“I know,” I said with a groan. “It’s just not…working.”

“You were able to summon your power to accept the scepter during your coronation.”

“That was different. That was all adrenaline and—”

“You have used your power once. You can do it again.”

The memory of that day, of the bugs and the hag called a mambabarang, came rushing back. My grand-auntie Elowina, who had wanted to claim the throne for herself, had almost killed half the court for it. I’d managed to use my father’s protective amulet—an anting-anting—to create salt water to kill her. I’d been desperate then, and I was starting to think it had all been a fluke. But Elias sounded a lot more confident in me than I felt. Either he believed or wanted to believe in me, and I wasn’t sure which put more pressure on me. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I would let everyone down.

Elias escorted me in the same direction that Lucas had disappeared in, through the jungle and up a narrow stone staircase cut into the cliffside toward Sirena Palace. My body ached, my joints swollen and stiff from sparring, but I followed Elias without complaint. If he knew how hard I’d trained with Lucas, he’d probably call for a palanquin. Elias had become protective of me, especially after learning that his best friend—my father—had been murdered. But I was determined not to give him any more reason to fear for my well-being.

“We will do everything we can to protect you, but you must be able to protect yourself,” Elias said. “Your power is a rare gift, one we haven’t seen in an age, and once you can control it, you will not have to look up at anyone from the flat of your back.”

Granted, most people in the kingdom wouldn’t mind having to look up at Lucas from the flats of their backs. I forced myself to shove away the thought. I didn’t want to be the jealous type. I needed to focus on controlling my talent. Apparently, my grandmother—my father’s mother, the last queen before me—had had my gift too, but she had been able to master it because she had hundreds of years of practice.

According to scholars, magic should be easy for someone with my talent. At my age, I should be able to turn a flower into stone, a palm tree into gold, or sand into sugar. Everyone told me it was alchemy, the ability to turn one thing into another. It was how I’d turned fresh water into salt water to defeat the mambabarang. I was supposed to be able to control the very elements of nature. Emphasis on supposed to .

Idly, I tried to summon my power on a sampaguita flower jutting out from the cliff. My power burbled and buzzed beneath my skin like soda. But the flower simply shuddered under my command and snapped in half, its petals drifting through the air to land at my feet.

Changing nature felt about as possible as me sprouting wings and taking flight. It was like my power had a mind of its own, operating under someone else’s will. I was never going to get the hang of this.

Still in lecture mode, Elias brought me through the garden, which was full of hibiscus and orchids. He rambled on and on about security and safety, but I had already tuned him out. I’d heard the lecture a million times. In the garden, the air smelled fresh and instantly settled my nerves, even though I was still annoyed from today’s failures. This was one of the few places where I could find sanctuary. The palace staff rarely came out here. It was where I could be myself without having to be fussed over or advised. I felt like me, the same old MJ again.

“Princess—” Elias caught himself, just like I still did. “Er, apologies, my queen, you are bleeding.” Elias’s eyes fell to my knee, where I saw a smear of bright red blood through my ripped pants.

I hadn’t even noticed. “It must have happened when I fell.”

“You fell?”

“On the rocks. I took a shortcut on the beach to catch Lucas by surprise.” I had been trying to use the rocks so he would have a harder time tracking me through the sand. Yet another failure.

Elias pursed his lips much like a father would and turned around, calling, “Nix!” There was no answer. The garden was quiet. Elias tried again, louder. “Nix!”

After a beat with still no sign of her, he sighed. “Where is that healer? I just saw her a minute ago.”

Elias was about to call for her again when a pale face popped up from behind a garden wall. My best friend, Phoenix “Nix” Xing, looked startled, like we’d interrupted something. Knowing her, she had probably had her face buried in a book.

“Y-yes?” she asked, black hair sticking out of the braided bun on the top of her head.

“Your attention, please,” Elias said, tipping his head toward me.

Nix disappeared behind the hedges once more, and I could hear her hurrying over. I tried to reassure the both of them. “It’s no big deal, really.”

But Nix appeared, straightening her robes, and asked, “What’d you do this time?” Instead of the shabby robes I was used to seeing her in, the crisp blue healer’s uniform suited her nicely. Ever since she had learned she was a resurrector and started her formal training, she had skyrocketed to the head of her group at the Biringan Academy of Noble Arts.

“It’s not that bad!” I said. “It’s just a scrape. You’re both acting like it’s the end of the world.”

“Scrapes I can handle,” Nix said. “And a queen is not allowed to have scrapes.”

Elias had me sit down on one of the garden benches beneath a mango tree. I hiked up my pants and stayed still while Nix looked me over.

She leaned in close and clicked her tongue. “This will be quick,” she said, then hovered her hands over my knee, and a tingling chill seeped into my skin. It felt like the VapoRub my mom used to put on my chest when I had a cold. Nix’s magic stitched the skin on my knee back together in seconds, leaving nothing but a fresh red splotch that would fully heal in a day.

“You’re the best, Nix,” I said, admiring her work.

Nix shrugged and smiled at me, dark eyes sparkling.

Ever since she’d come to live with me in the palace, we’d grown closer. She’d been my best friend since I was first brought to the island after my father’s death, and she helped me figure out how to live as an encanto. Like me, she’d come from the human world, where she’d been hiding from her family—the imperial family of Jade Mountain—and sought refuge in Biringan, living in a shack on the outskirts of town while attending school with other encantos our age. But when I took over the official duties of being queen, the palace still felt too big, and I hated the thought of her living all alone in an abandoned building, so she moved into her own tower on the eastern wing. We’d spent every day together since.

We stayed up late reading romance novels and playing board games, spent days off shopping and eating, swimming in the ocean, sitting in the astronomy tower to watch the stars. Being with Nix was like one long sleepover. Growing up in the human world, I had never had a friend like her, and our friendship was something that I wanted to protect.

Being a queen can be lonely, but Nix never treated me any differently for it, and for that, I owed her everything.

“You should be more careful next time,” Elias said. “Lucas is there to train you, not to injure you.”

Oh, Lucas has injured me enough, I thought.

“Sir.” A squeak of a voice made Elias turn. A dwende—beings akin to dwarves or gnomes, no taller than my hip—with a flaming red beard and a stovepipe hat stood at attention. “The accounts are ready for you.”

“Ah, thank you, Toli. I’ll be there right away.” As chief councilor to the crown, Elias oversaw most of the administrative work and other official business. Sometimes I almost thought he preferred spending time in his office surrounded by towers of papers, like it was some kind of sanctuary from having to worry about me.

The dwende Toli left, expecting Elias to follow, but before he did, Elias turned to me and said, “You must try harder, anak.” It was an affectionate term of endearment, yet I couldn’t help but feel like it was a reminder that I was still inexperienced.

“I will,” I said. And I meant it.

When Elias left, Nix stood up. “Training didn’t go great?” she asked me.

I heaved myself to my feet, and we started walking toward the palace. The gleaming gemstone towers jutted into the satin-blue sky like a crown befitting a queen, but seeing it these days always made me feel like I wasn’t good enough to set foot inside my own home. “What gave it away?” I groaned. I stared at the gravel path so I wouldn’t have to see the palace. The gardens, though, were on the western side of the grounds, meaning the palace cast them in shadow at this time of day. I was appreciative of the breeze, despite my sour mood.

“You just have to practice,” said Nix.

“I’ve been practicing! When I’m not being queen or when I’m not with you, it’s all I do! I’m starting to think what I did at my coronation was a fluke.”

“It wasn’t! My training with the healers shows how hard it can be to control magic. It’s about focus and determination. So something must be making you distracted.”

“Hm, I wonder what it could possibly be,” I said sarcastically.

Nix frowned. “Is this still about Lucas?”

Heat rose to my face. “No.”

“Liar.”

Only my best friend could get away with calling me out. “How can you tell?”

“Your heart rate accelerated, your body temperature rose, and your sweat glands have begun to produce more—”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” I said, before she could go on one of her famous tangents. I nudged her with my elbow and couldn’t help but smile. “You don’t have to use your magic. Show-off.”

Nix looked all too proud of herself. “You just need to give it time. You’re too hard on yourself.”

I let out a huff. I knew she was right—it would take time and practice for me to get anywhere with my power, but it still felt like I was running on a treadmill, going nowhere. Every time Lucas came near me, ignored me, pretended like I didn’t exist, it felt like I was less than nothing. How could I focus on my magic when that was all I thought about? “I can’t escape him,” I said. “Seeing Lucas’s face reminds me he’s marrying…her.”

Just at that moment, I spotted Amador Oscura. She was standing in the garden, gazing at her reflection in the pond, and smoothing out her blue-black hair. When she heard us coming, she whipped around, smiling brightly. “I was hoping you’d—” When she saw it was me, her smile dropped, but it didn’t take away from her beauty. Her skin practically glowed against her soft peach Maria Clara dress, like she’d just stepped out of a fashion shoot. The only thing out of place was a smear of pink lipstick on the corner of her mouth, which she wiped away with the back of her hand. I imagined Lucas had been the one responsible for smearing her makeup, and it made my shoulders tense up.

Lady Amador Oscura was the grand duchess of the Sigbin Court, the same court Lucas belonged to. She was a royal, just like me, but of a lesser house, still bound to the council and an active member of the parliament. Royals came in and out of the palace, especially to see Elias, so I shouldn’t have been surprised to find her here. And yet I was. She always found ways of undermining me, belittling me, making comments about my half-human lineage. I’d dealt with queen bees at school before, but she was on another level.

“What are you doing here?” I snapped.

Amador looked shocked for the briefest moment before she gathered her wits and straightened her shoulders. She scrunched her nose like she smelled something foul and lifted her chin. “Official business,” she said.

“What business?”

Amador only lifted a shoulder and repeated, “Official.”

What kind required Amador to be in the garden was beyond me, but then again, Elias oversaw so many meetings, I wouldn’t be surprised if she had been told to wait outside while another meeting ran late.

I glanced at Nix, who was pretending to inspect a bed of purple peonies. Nix had never liked Amador, and they always butted heads. After all, Nix was the one who’d warned me about Amador from the start, and I had the feeling that Nix was afraid of her but chose to pretend like she didn’t exist as a defense mechanism. Amador’s eyes darted to Nix, too, and her expression narrowed, making her small mouth even smaller. She dragged her thumb against her mouth and glared at me.

“What are you doing here?” Amador asked, as if making a keen observation.

I almost laughed. “You’re in my garden.”

“Oh, your garden?” Amador asked innocently. “I didn’t know our queen was so protective of her weeds.”

I rolled my eyes. “The pigs are out back, rolling in the mud. You should join them. I’m sure you’d love it.”

Amador’s face soured. She looked me up and down, taking in my Arnis uniform coated in sand and still damp with salt water. Compared to her, I looked like something the fishermen dragged out of the ocean. Whatever she saw satisfied her, and a haughty smile curled her mouth.

From behind, the sound of heeled shoes on the stone path grew closer, and a feminine voice called out, “What is going on here?”

A tall female encanto with long pointed ears walked toward us, her hands clasped delicately in front of her slim waist. Her head tilted with curiosity. She wore a long Maria Clara dress in Sigbin blue just like Amador’s, large diamond earrings, and an even bigger diamond necklace, which was cinched at her throat. It was like she was covered in diamonds, from the ones pinning up her dark hair to the ones on her fingers. In human years, she looked like she would be in her forties, but in encanto years, it was difficult to tell.

“I’m having a chat with the queen, Mother,” Amador said.

This was Amador’s mom?

The woman blinked, surprised. “Oh! Your Majesty, I didn’t recognize you in your—” Like her daughter, her eyes went to my clothing, and she turned her head ever so slightly, as if she were trying to find the best word before she settled on: “State. Forgive me, I do not believe we’ve had the pleasure of introductions yet. I am Amihan Oscura, archduchess of Sigbin Court.” She curtsied so smoothly, she could have been floating.

I was amazed I hadn’t seen the family resemblance sooner. She and Amador had the same pinched expression, the same cold blue eyes, and even the same smile.

Amihan enunciated every word like it was a treasure she was gifting to the air. “I am simply thrilled I finally get to meet you in person. My husband, the archduke, has been away on business for some time, you see, and it has taken us simply forever to return to the kingdom. I am so glad that you and my daughter have become fast friends.”

Friends? I looked at Amador, who fluttered her eyelashes innocently. “Oh yes, Mother. We are the best of friends.”

A smile curled Amihan’s lips, like Amador had said the thing she most wanted to hear. “Excellent.”

I held my tongue; my head was buzzing so loud with anger. I wasn’t sure what kind of game Amador was playing. “What brings you to the palace?” I asked, trying to divert the conversation.

“We are here to finalize our seal of devotion,” Amihan said.

“It’s a magical oath we signed when we got engaged,” Amador added to me. She knew I needed the explanation and was using it against me like I was stupid. “A binding contract between me and my beloved, Lucas. The head magistrate oversees the promise we’ll make to each other; we just need the official seal from Elias before we’re wed. It’s almost as important as the vows we’ll take on our wedding day.”

“That’s…great.” It felt like I’d been hit over the head.

“I’m looking for Lucas,” she said. “Have you seen him?”

“He left,” I said, my voice flat.

Amador pouted. “Oh. Shame. I’ll have to keep scouring the grounds for him. He must be here somewhere.” She sighed and glanced at her mother. “Having a fiancé to escort me around is such a luxury, isn’t it? I’m not sure what I would do without him.”

“A matched pair, indeed,” said Amihan, smiling all too proudly. “Ever since you were children.”

Amador folded one arm over her stomach and raised the other to rest her chin on her delicate hand, showing off the gleaming diamond ring on her finger. The diamond was as large as her fingernail, the band a ring of golden ivy, as if it had been touched by Midas. No doubt a betrothal gift.

Something hot and sharp poked my rib cage. “You two will be very happy together,” I said, clenching my jaw so hard, I barely opened my mouth. “My blessings to you both.” My mom always said it was better to take the high road when dealing with bullies, and this was the best I could do.

“You will be in attendance at the wedding, I hope?” Amihan asked. Her eyes were bright but the skin around them was tight. It almost looked like she was nervous. “It would be an honor to have the queen in attendance.”

“Of course she’ll be at the wedding, Mother. She’s my best friend,” Amador said, her voice dripping in molten sugar.

A smile twitched its way onto my lips, but I couldn’t say anything back. Amador was trying to get a rise out of me, and the worst part was that it worked. She knew Lucas and I had fallen for each other, and she was reminding me that he had been hers all along. I had never stood a chance.

“Sure,” I said before I could stop myself. “I…Absolutely.”

Amihan seemed thrilled. “Well, then! We can’t be late! We must see the royal magistrate.” She clicked her tongue and added, “Must you smile like that, Amador? You’re going to get wrinkles.”

Amador, who had been grinning with self-satisfaction, stopped at once and lowered her head while Amihan curtsied at me once more before turning and leaving. Amador stayed behind and dragged her thumb across her lip line again, eyes lowered. For a moment, I wondered, If Lucas wasn’t the one who smeared her lipstick, who was? But then I remembered I didn’t care.

“Wrinkles?” Nix asked under her breath, baffled. “Woof, what a handful.”

Like mother, like daughter. Now I knew where Amador got her superficiality from. But I got a smidge of satisfaction out of seeing her taken down a peg. A bitter, mean part of me wanted to see Amador get her comeuppance for everything she’d done to me, but it didn’t actually make me feel any better. Not really. I still felt like I was losing.

My knees wobbled, and I barely managed to walk past Amador and head toward the palace entrance.

Nix leaned into me and whispered, “Are you okay?”

I could only nod. It was like I’d lost my voice; I was so angry.

Amador called after us so sweetly, I bet it made her teeth hurt. “I heard you’re having difficulty honing your power.”

I slowed to a stop.

Amador’s voice was drenched in false compassion. “It’s truly an embarrassment that our queen can’t control her powers yet. Such a shame, truly. No wonder the other kingdoms pity us.”

I didn’t think I was doing a bad job as queen so far. I’d passed laws decreeing universal housing, full access to healers, free education. More equality, more equity. Some nobles criticized me, but most of Biringan City believed in what I was doing. Who cared if I couldn’t use my magic yet?

A malicious voice inside of me, spurred on by my own pettiness, told me she was asking for it. I whipped around to glare at Amador and lifted my finger, pointing it right at her as I summoned my power. The temperature of the air rose around my head.

I wanted to give her zits, or make her puke, or make her diamond ring turn to charcoal. I didn’t want to hurt her, but she needed to be taught a lesson—

My power surged and then, like a backfiring car, cracked.

Power shot back up my arm, making it tingle like it had fallen asleep. “Ah!” I gasped, and shook it out, annoyed. Amador merely lifted her chin and walked away from me, unaffected.

I regretted my reaction a second later.

Nix grabbed me by the arm and carted me deeper into the garden.

My arm still tingled and my blood boiled, but Nix’s grasp on me was firm, and the farther we got from Amador, the better I felt. My power roiled out of me like waves, and the air around us smelled like sulfur, turning acrid as my bitterness ate away at my heart. I didn’t mean to do it, but my power was erratic and unpredictable and something to be embarrassed about. Exactly like Amador had said.

I couldn’t entirely blame her for what Lucas had done to me. She was the one who’d told me the truth, even if I hadn’t wanted to hear it. She was the one who’d said from practically the moment I met her that they were engaged. I might hate Amador, but she wasn’t the one who broke my heart.

Nix waved her other hand in front of her face, dispelling the rotten-egg smell. If she hadn’t known about my power, she would have thought I’d farted, but she didn’t say anything about it.

By the time we reached the edge of the garden in the shadow of the palace, I was exhausted. Trying to use my power so much had drained me.

“Just ignore her,” Nix said. “Leave Amador alone.”

That took me by surprise. “You almost sound like you’re defending her.”

She rolled her eyes but didn’t deny it. “It’s just more distractions. Maybe you should think about moving on from Lucas. It’ll only get worse the longer you think about him.”

Deep down, I knew she was right. I may have been queen, but who was I to tell him who he could and couldn’t marry? Wielding my authority like a leash, punishing those who didn’t bend to my will—that would go against everything I believed in. If Lucas had loved me, he would have stayed true.

I forced myself to take another deep breath and gazed up at the shining towers of the palace. My home. The one place I belonged.

“I’ve never been dumped before,” I admitted. “This sucks. I’m sorry I’m in a bad mood.”

“I get it.” She looked out across the garden, and then she said, “Could you imagine Amador rolling around in the mud with pigs?”

A smile made its way across my mouth. “If only I had the honor of pushing her in myself.”