5. Esther #2
Yeah, I’m definitely not eating anything tonight. Her eyes snap to mine, and for the first time, she looks at me with something other than contempt. Now, I’m a threat.
She brings a small cloth to her lips and then throws it on the table. “Has your brain rotted so much from living in this cushy kingdom of yours, cousin, that you dare make a commoner your heir?”
I curl my fingers into my palms, biting my tongue.
“I am well in my right mind. I wish I could say the same for you.” His attention drops to the glowing randor blade at her hip.
“So shameless in your pursuit of power. I fear we’ve grown apart in how we wish to run our kingdoms. I cannot allow someone who has started delving into Felia-blessed magic so heavily to lead or guard my people. ”
“Ho ho, what is this, cousin? Are you jealous of my gain, perhaps even intimidated?” She sneers. The vein in Dahlia’s neck bulges. The randor blade begins to glow in a swirling dust storm of red as if affected by her rising emotions.
“I only pity the fool who feels the need to kill another for power. If you couldn’t rely on your own strength, then you were never a worthy opponent.
” The challenge is apparent in his glare, and I witness the glimmer of a man I’ve heard stories about, not of a king who is kind and fair, but one who is stern and lethal.
Tension crackles over the table as Master Kain continues.
“You will no longer be entitled to my estate or kingdom. I will offer you and your husband some family heirlooms for your children, which still hold value.”
“You are giving your entitlement to a mere commoner? A filthy omni greer at that!” I flinch under the words that are never spoken out loud. I don’t dare turn to look at Selena, but the soldiers standing behind her shuffle uncomfortably.
It’s a dangerous line to cross, since she is one of the six greers who bound me as a child, inducted by Master Kain. It is a cruel fate, really, to hate this woman so much, but also hold gratitude because she is one of the forces who still keeps me alive.
“To think you would begin to stir madness with such statements,” Master Kain says, indifferent. “You have lost your way, Dahlia, and the magic that you so desperately cling to blinds you to the wars that are happening past our continent and will find their way here.”
“Don’t lecture me or try to make me sound like I’m mad.
If you poked your head out for long enough past these walls, dear cousin, you would learn that the war is already on our doorstep.
Your inaction has proven that you are not fit to raise a kingdom, especially when its only trajectory is to fall,” she says, standing defiantly. The chair screeches beneath her legs.
The valther’s wings flap hysterically, trying to keep its purchase on her shoulder by digging its sharp talons in. Its red eyes watch me unnervingly as it begins to scream, the high-pitched noise enough to cause one’s ears to bleed.
Her cold, hard eyes land on me, the brown darkening to an almost black. “Let me warn you once, you will not survive this. Once people know what you really are, you will be hunted. These lands only whispered in shame for hiding something as diabolical as you.”
“That’s enough!” Master Kain yells, coming to his feet at the head of the table.
I stand at his side, my fingers curling in and out of my sweaty palm.
It takes everything in me to bite my tongue and not kick her ass for being such a bitch.
Then again, if anything fatal were to happen to Dahlia, it would be the catalyst to breaking the first chain of my binding.
As much as I despise her, letting my magic seep out and eat me alive is less appealing.
Selena slowly walks over to my side, purposefully drawing the attention of Dahlia and the valther onto her.
“Imprudent woman!” Dahlia bellows, raising her hand to point at Selena.
The markings at my throat burn with warning, instinct kicking in as I dive for Selena. Glass splinters behind Dahlia, forcing her to drop to her knees as the ornate window shatters.
Two arrows shoot into the dining hall, bringing chaos in their wake. Selena’s beneath me, rattled but okay. One of Dahlia’s soldiers screams as he’s punctured through the back, and he falls forward, lifeless.
Another two arrows shoot for Master Kain, but Blaze has already shoved him back, hiding him behind the wooden backing of his tall chair.
With lightning speed, Blaze cuts through the heads of both arrows, splintering them away.
His gaze burns into the exposed moonlight, looking beyond to the movement of dark figures on the opposing roof as they run.
“Stay down!” Barbados breaks into the room, keeping low to reach Master Kain.
“Blaze!” I scream to him, but he’s already locked in on his prey as he jumps onto the wooden dining table and sprints, throwing himself over Dahlia, huddled with her remaining soldier, and through the broken window. Then he’s gone.
Dahlia’s beast has since been recalled into her markings, protecting it, a few droplets of blood marking Dahlia’s shoulder where it once sat with sharp talons. My hand inevitably goes to my throat, silently sending thanks to my little beast who was so fast to sense the danger.
“Made some enemies, have you, cousin?” Dahlia barks, breathing away a piece of her hair and pushing the dead soldier off of her.
“We have to leave. Everyone, stay clear of the windows,” Barbados is quick to instruct as he pulls the wooden chair, using it as a shield to protect Master Kain, much like Blaze had.
Dahlia releases an irritated sound, not accustomed to being told what to do, and begins to chant. She takes the dancing flames from the candles and morphs them to grow into a fiery wall in front of the window like a makeshift gate.
“Nothing will penetrate those flames,” she declares, standing and dusting herself off. She looks down at the few red feathers that have fallen from her dress and onto the ground, infuriated.
Selena and I move across the room behind Master Kain and Barbados. I trip over my own dress, but Selena catches me in time. It does very little to hold down the growing rage that’s quick to come to the surface, and I kick the ridiculous heels off.
We’re under attack. Were they after Master Kain? Dahlia? Me?
“Close down the gates. Whoever is in the city will not leave tonight,” Master Kain orders, strong in his step as we follow him.
He begins commanding his soldiers who guard the door.
In the distance, the tower bell on the shoreline starts to ring.
We all look in its direction, my heart dropping. The seaside cliff? Why there?
Then the bell in the central tower in the city square rings.
“Sir!” A soldier bursts into the hallway. “A water beast has been spotted on the outskirts of our region.”
“That can’t be right. I have a protective barrier there.” Master Kain’s gray eyebrows dip.
The soldier swallows. “It’s heading toward the pier, sir.”
Any beast able to break through the king’s barrier is something to be feared.
“A beast? Here?” Dahlia’s ruthless glare cuts to Master Kain dangerously. “You’ve let yourself go, cousin.” She turns to her only standing soldier. “Have my men go to the pier. We’ll see what kind of water beast this is.”
“No,” Master Kain argues. “If it’s a water beast, then I should meet it head-on.”
“You do not govern me,” Dahlia snips, aggravated as her nose points slightly higher.
He ignores her. “Divide the troops. Rally greers to the docks,” Master Kain instructs Barbados. “Keep soldiers on our walls and have teams search through every dark corner of this city. No one leaves tonight.”
“Yes, sir.” Barbados immediately springs into action.
Master Kain begins to walk but comes to an abrupt stop when he notices me following him. “No.”
“No?” I challenge. “I want to protect our people too.” My heart pounds fiercely in my chest. It has been many years since any type of fight has broken out within our kingdom, and I’m not a child anymore.
Dahlia hovers at the door, watching us carefully as Master Kain puts his hand on my shoulder, imploring me to stay. “This is not training.”
“How can you possibly trust me to lead our people if you won’t let me fight for them?” I say, an immediate surge of adrenaline pumping through me, thrilled at the prospect of a fight. How can he expect me to stay to the side when I am a weapon to be used?
“They’ll all die.” The eerie warning of the Fates seems to laugh in the back of my mind. Were they warning me about this?
A loud horn blows in the distance, pulling the attention of all those who stand in the hallway toward the shoreline.
“You stay with me, and you listen to my orders,” he concedes.
I look back at Selena, her fierce orange eyes burning with determination. “Guide those within the castle to safety,” I instruct, and she nods, already on the move in the opposite direction.
My heart pounds through my chest as we break out into the madness of our city, people screaming and locking their doors.
Barbados is throwing instructions to various men, proudly wearing their armor. I briefly glance up at the rooftops, where only minutes ago, shadowed figures stood in an attempt to take my master’s life. Please be safe. I think of Blaze silently.
I tear at the bottom of this ridiculously long dress as we run through the city and down the shoreline, where we’re greeted with nine prepared boats that can fit up to ten soldiers each.
They look like ants scattering over the boats in preparation.
I follow Master Kain onto the middle one, positioned with four archers.
The wind angrily whips the few pieces of my hair that have fallen free, and I look out to the dark sea where black clouds roll in from the distance, thunder rumbling in its wake.