Chapter 22 Violet
Violet
Do you trust her? I asked through the bond.
Sebastian stood beside me at the castle doors as the carriage rolled to a stop.
A beautiful woman stepped out, draped in wild layers of fabric that moved like they had a mind of their own.
Finnel hurried forward to offer his hand, but she swatted it aside without even looking at him and climbed down herself.
Not really, he said.
Bash!
I’m kidding, he replied lazily. I’ve known her for centuries. She’s good on her word. And she owes me.
For what?
The woman promptly tripped over absolutely nothing, catching herself at the last second before brushing a strand of hair from her face as if the stumble had never happened.
She’s actually a millennia old, Sebastian continued, completely straight-faced. But to keep her youthful appearance, she has to feed on innocent souls. I provide her with the souls.
My stomach flipped.
He nudged my shoulder.
I’m kidding, love, he said and then aloud, “They aren’t completely innocent.”
“Stop that,” I muttered.
He turned his head slightly to look at me, the corner of his mouth lifting. “She won’t hurt you. And I’m not comfortable meeting with the other Sovereigns until we let a witch look and see what our options are.”
The woman finally made it up the stairs, though “made it” was generous. She climbed like someone who had never once encountered stairs in her entire life—pausing midway to inspect a loose thread on her sleeve, then nearly missing the last step entirely before catching herself on the banister.
“Gods, you’d think a castle this old would have learned how to build proper stairs by now,” she announced loudly.
Sebastian stepped forward before Finnel could say anything.
“Lirra,” he said smoothly.
The woman brightened immediately. “Shadow King.”
She swept him into an embrace that was far too enthusiastic for someone greeting a ruler, then leaned back and squinted up at his face like she was inspecting a painting she wasn’t sure she liked.
“Still brooding, I see. Good. I’d have been disappointed if you’d grown out of that.”
Sebastian only sighed faintly. Her gaze slid past him, and it landed squarely on me.
She froze.
Then her head tilted slowly to one side.
“Well,” she said.
I had the distinct feeling I was about to regret this.
Lirra stepped closer, circling me once like a curious bird. Her eyes traveled from my hair to my boots and back again before she hummed thoughtfully.
“You should stand a little straighter.”
Sebastian rubbed the bridge of his nose.
She leaned closer to me, lowering her voice only slightly. “You look tired. And a little haunted. That usually means someone is messing around in your head.” She paused, studying my face. “Also—no offense—you look like someone who accidentally destroys furniture when she sneezes.”
“Lirra,” Sebastian warned.
“What?” she said, waving a hand. “I’m being honest.”
Her eyes sparkled suddenly. “Oh! And you’re the phoenix girl, aren’t you? I’ve always wanted to meet one of you. Do you burst into flames when you’re angry, or is it more of a slow simmer situation?”
“Lirra.”
She sighed dramatically. “Fine.”
Sebastian gestured toward the doors. “Let me show you where we can do this.”
She perked up immediately. “Excellent. I love a good mind invasion.”
I wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be reassuring.
Sebastian guided us down the corridor and into a quieter chamber deeper in the castle. The room was simple—stone walls, a wide wooden table in the center, candles already burning along the edges.
Lirra clapped once when she saw it. “Oh, this will work beautifully.”
Sebastian looked at me. “Lay down.”
I climbed onto the table, the wood cool beneath my back as I stretched out. The ceiling above me blurred slightly as nerves finally started catching up with me.
Sebastian moved to one side of the table while Lirra took the other.
She rolled up the sleeves of her strange, colorful robes and leaned over me, her expression suddenly much more serious than it had been outside.
“So,” she said, tapping a finger against her chin. “The Shadow King can push into minds just fine, but he hasn’t been able to find what’s controlling you.”
Sebastian’s jaw tightened slightly. “It’s hidden,” he said.
Lirra nodded. “Yes. That’s what I figured.”
She reached out and placed two fingers lightly against my temple.
“Lucky for you,” she said softly, “I’m very good at finding things that don’t want to be found.”
Sebastian’s hand slid over mine on the table. “Stay with me,” he murmured.
“Alright, phoenix,” Lirra said. “Let’s go see what’s hiding in your head.” She inhaled slowly. Then her eyes closed.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then there was a deep pressure that pushed inward like someone had suddenly driven their hands into my skull and started searching through the spaces inside.
I gasped before I could stop myself.
Sebastian’s hand tightened instantly around mine.
“Easy,” he murmured, though I could hear the tension in his voice.
The pressure deepened.
My chest rose sharply as I struggled to draw in another breath. The room blurred for a second, the candles stretching into thin streaks of light as Lirra moved further into my mind.
And something inside me reacted.
I felt it immediately.
That fire.
The same new power that had awakened inside of me stirred violently. It pushed outward instinctively, the magic coiling through my veins as if it meant to burn whatever had just forced its way into my head.
The room warmed.
Sebastian felt it too. I saw his shadows flicker along the edge of my vision.
But fear slammed into me just as fast.
If I let that power go—
If I stopped holding it down—
I had no idea what it would do.
So I forced it back.
I pushed the magic down as hard as I could, locking it deep inside my chest where it couldn’t reach anyone. The effort made the pressure in my skull spike.
I sucked in another breath through my teeth.
Lirra pulled her hand away, and the pain vanished instantly.
I blinked up at the ceiling, chest heaving as air rushed back into my lungs.
“I don’t see it,” Lirra said.
Sebastian straightened immediately. “What do you mean you don’t see it?”
His voice was dangerously calm.
Lirra sighed like someone explaining something obvious to a stubborn child.
“It means exactly what I said.” She crossed her arms, glancing down at me.
“It’s embedded deep within her mind. Whoever placed it there knew what they were doing.
” She rubbed her temple thoughtfully. “It’s buried so far down that I can’t even see where the thread begins. ”
Sebastian’s shadows stirred restlessly along the floor. “So find it.”
Lirra shot him a look. “That’s the problem.” She gestured vaguely toward my head. “I don’t know exactly where to look.”
The room went quiet.
She exhaled slowly.
“I can dig for it,” she admitted. “But it will take time. A lot of digging around.”
Her eyes flicked to mine.
“And it will be very painful.”
“Do it,” I said immediately.
Lirra frowned. “You don’t understand what I mean by painful.”
“I don’t care.”
She leaned closer.
“This isn’t a simple spell I can just pluck out like a splinter,” she said. “Whatever is controlling you is woven into your mind. To remove it, I would have to tear through the layers of your thoughts to find where it’s anchored.”
Sebastian’s grip on my hand tightened again.
Lirra continued, her gaze steady on mine. “It could rewire parts of who you are. It could leave you a shell of the person you are now. It could destroy memories, instincts—pieces of your mind that make you you.” She paused. “And if your magic fights me while I’m doing it…”
She shook her head.
“You could lose parts of your power with it,” she finished, “if you are even strong enough to survive the process.”
* * *
“Can’t one thing just be simple?”
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
We sat in the garden, my back pressed into Sebastian’s chest, his arm draped low across my waist as I toyed with the hem of my dress. The fabric twisted between my fingers, over and over, something to keep my hands from shaking.
Lirra had left as strangely as she arrived—picking up a few shiny trinkets from the room and waltzing out without a word. No one stopped her. Maybe it was one of those small freedoms Sebastian allowed her so she’d stay willing to help when he asked. Or maybe—
My gaze flicked down, catching the faint curl of shadow wrapping around my wrist.
—or maybe it was because he’d been too focused on keeping his shadows from swallowing everyone in the room after hearing that I couldn’t be fixed.
He thought no one noticed.
But I did. I always did.
“Nothing is simple when it comes to power,” he said.
His voice was steady, but I felt the tension beneath it—the way his chest rose a little slower than usual against my back, like he was forcing control into every breath.
I let my head fall back against his shoulder, staring up at the dusty blue sky.
“What do we do now?”
For a moment, he didn’t answer. His thumb shifted against my side, a slow, absent movement, like he was grounding himself before he spoke.
“It wasn’t full control with you,” he said finally. “You fought it—with what you said to Calum. If they had full control, they would have made you hurt yourself.”
My fingers stilled in my dress.
I swallowed. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“Yes,” he said simply. “Because it means we can work with it.”
I huffed out a breath, something between disbelief and frustration, pulling slightly away from his hold before settling back again.
“How?”
“We make you stronger mentally,” he said. “So the next time they try, you fight it.” His jaw shifted, the muscle there ticking once. “And when they can’t control you, they’ll have no choice but to come out and face us themselves.”
The words should have sounded reassuring.
They didn’t.
“And then what, Bash?” I pushed up, turning in his hold until I was facing him. “I can’t abandon my realm now. It—” I exhaled, pressing a hand to my chest. “I feel it in me. I need it as much as it needs me.”
His gaze sharpened on me, something unreadable flickering behind his eyes.
“The plan doesn’t change,” he said. “We keep rebuilding your realm. We make sure every piece is in place.”
A pause.
His eyes dipped briefly, like he was weighing something before he added, “And we start training again.”
My stomach dropped.
“Bash, I can’t—”
“Not with him,” he cut in. “With me.”
I stilled, studying him. “You hold back.”
His shoulders tightened just slightly. “Of course I hold back.”
“And do you think that helps me?”
The question hung between us.
For a moment, he didn’t answer. His gaze dropped to my mouth, then back to my eyes, like he was reconsidering every version of the truth before choosing one.
Finally—
“You’re right.”
The words were quieter than before. He shifted, one hand coming up to cup the side of my neck, his thumb brushing just beneath my ear.
“I want you to be able to protect yourself when I’m not with you,” he added.
Something in my chest loosened at that. “Good.”
His eyes darkened slightly. “And I think I know who’s behind this.”
I straightened a little. “Who?”
“Celine.”
Heat flared in my chest before I could stop it.
The small patch of violets near my knee turned away from me, petals curling inward like they could feel it too.
I stilled, forcing a slow breath in through my nose.
“She was part of trying to make Nathara Sovereign,” I said slowly. “And she hates me—probably more now than ever.”
I let the thought settle, turning it over, pushing it further.
“But no.” I shook my head, more certain now. “She wouldn’t risk Calum. She would have found another way. And if she was willing to let someone into his mind, she would have done it long ago to make him break things off with me.”
The heat in my chest began to settle, though it still flickered beneath the surface.
I exhaled. “Celine may have been involved—maybe even controlled, too—but she’s not the one pulling the strings.”
“Well,” he said after a moment, voice quieter now, steadier again, “we keep moving forward.”
His gaze drifted past me, toward the horizon, like he was already ten steps ahead.
“Power doesn’t exist quietly, love,” he added. “It draws attention. It invites opposition.” His jaw tightened faintly. “There will always be someone who sees it and decides it shouldn’t belong to you.”
“Comforting,” I muttered.