by Megg Jensen
Ella’s eyelids remained closed. I gathered a wad of my skirt in my hand and pressed it to the wound to stop the bleeding. I couldn’t let her die. Not because of something this stupid.
“I only know a little.” Ivy placed her hands on Ella’s temples and closed her eyes. I laid my free hand on top of one of Ivy’s. Maybe if she knew what to do, I could amplify it with my gift. Maybe between the two of us we could save Ella.
Ivy’s gift radiated in my hand and the warmth spread up my arm. It had to work. I couldn’t let Ella be a casualty of my uncontrollable life. At least now I had some way to contribute to her healing. I tore my eyes away from Ella’s still face and focused, instead, on Ivy.
Her eyebrows were drawn together in concentration and sweat trickled down her cheeks. She’d used her gift plenty of times in my presence and not once did she seem so focused. If she could save Ella, bringing back one of my dearest friends, I’d consider believing she had truly changed. What would be the point of such an elaborate game? Alia was that cruel, but was Ivy?
I continued to press my skirt against the wound and pray for Ella’s recovery. I’d seen wounds like this before as a child. After an uprising in a nearby village, some of the soldiers were brought back to the castle for treatment. I’d been dispatched to the sick rooms to assist the healers. There were too many wounded and not enough slaves to help.
Spending three days in the presence of men whose lives were only hanging on by a thread was a humbling experience. Most lived. A few did not. I saw men recover from massive wounds and saw some die from the tiniest, infected scratch.
One man fell into a coma and did not recover. He simply slept day and night, never opening his eyes. I didn’t understand how someone could be alive, but so cut off from the world at the same time. Eventually he died in his sleep. Only the lack of movement in his chest had changed. To me, he’d already been dead.
He looked like Ella, who rested on my lap and couldn’t wake up.
The sweat on Ivy’s face mixed with the tears that spilled from her eyes.
“Reychel, it’s not working. I don’t know if I have enough power to save her. I don’t even know if I’m directing it properly. This is so far beyond anything I’ve ever done.”
Her hand trembled under mine. It wasn’t from the power coursing through her. I was sure it came from frustration. Ivy never handled failure well. It seemed that part of her hadn’t changed. I removed my hand from Ivy’s and ripped a strip of cloth from my skirt, pressing it against Ella’s wound.
“Then we have to take her to Johna,” I said. “We don’t have any other choice.”
“You can’t do that! If Alia comes back and Ella’s gone, she’ll know that I’ve been helping you. She might even guess that you’ve finally harnessed the power of your gift. You can’t risk everything for Ella.”
I tilted Ivy’s chin up, so I could look in her eyes. “Everything I’m fighting for is lying in my lap right now. Life, Ivy. Nothing is more important.”
“Your judgment is clouded because Ella was your friend. Will you really put her before the rest of Serenia? I put my life on the line for you Reychel. I could have easily done what Alia asked of me. I could have told her that you gained power over your gift. I didn’t. I chose to fight for everyone. I sacrificed myself for them.”
I tried not to get frustrated with her. Ivy didn’t know everything I’d been through either. I couldn’t expect her to. “I’ve spent the last year doing what everyone told me just so we could set Serenia free. But, Ivy, I can’t let Ella die for that cause, not when I know I can save her. She didn’t ask for this.”
I took a deep breath and let go of Ivy’s hand. The power had already drained from her. She’d given up, or given all she had. I wasn’t sure which.
“I’ll send both of you away, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m not going to leave you behind.” That’s when the tears burst from Ivy. So she thought I was going to abandon her to Alia’s whims.
“Thank you,” Ivy whispered.
I reached my hand out and flicked my fingers into the air. The portal shimmered in the room, pulsating with the power of my gift. I let go of the portion of my skirt that staunched Ella’s wound and eased her into my arms. She was still tiny, probably always would be, and I was grateful. Instead of helping me, Ivy took a step backward.
“Does it hurt?” She pointed to the portal. I nearly laughed until I remembered my first trip through a portal. It did hurt the first time, but now I felt nothing. It was just as easy as walking through a doorway.
I shook my head. “Just help me with Ella. You’ll be fine. I promise.”
Ivy reached out and helped balance Ella in my arms.
“On the count of three,” I said. “One, two, three.”
Chapter Nineteen
I held Ella tightly, knowing Ivy would probably collapse when we stepped through the other side of the portal. Just as I’d thought, Ivy fell to the ground. She grabbed her stomach, moaned, and then threw up all over Krissin’s rug. I winced, seeing how close she had been to the tile floor, which would have been much easier to clean. I pulled my fingers together and closed the portal.
“What in the name of Eloh? Who is that and why is she vomiting on my rug?” Krissin squealed. Then she looked up and saw me holding Ella in my arms. Her wound continued to soak through the piece of my skirt that now hung from her head, partially stuck to it by the gooey blood. Her voice fell to a whisper. “And who is this?”
“Ella,” I said. “You have to get Johna to help her. I have to leave.”
I hurried to Krissin’s bed and laid Ella down, knowing the vomit on the rug would now be the least of Krissin’s cleanliness worries.
Krissin stuck her head out of her chamber door and screamed for someone to find Johna. Feet pounded down the stone hall. No one moved slowly when Krissin screamed.
“Don’t leave just yet,” Krissin said. “Who are these girls? You can’t just bring them here and leave without an explanation.”
I sighed. “The girl on the bed is Ella.”
“Your friend, Ella?”
I nodded. “Alia threw her against a wall and she won’t wake up. Johna has to heal her. We already tried.”
Krissin glanced down at Ivy, who was still writhing on the floor in pain, her arms around her stomach. “And that? Who is she?” Her nose wrinkled as the smell of vomit wafted up from the floor. Krissin waved her hand in front of her nose.
“Ivy.”
Krissin’s eyes narrowed and held out her hand. Before I could stop her, she lifted Ivy with her gift and pinned her against the wall. “I’ll kill her,” she snarled.
Ivy’s eyes widened as she struggled against Krissin’s gift. It only took her a moment to figure out that she couldn’t escape and her muscles sagged in acquiescence.
“Don’t,” I said, placing a hand on Krissin’s arm. “Let her down. If it wasn’t for Ivy, I’d probably already be dead.”
Krissin lowered Ivy to the ground, but didn’t release her from her gifted prison. “I can’t believe you’re being so stupid Reychel. What’s wrong with you? This girl tried to destroy your life once before. How do you know she’s not trying to do it again? For Eloh’s sake, you’re far too trusting and you’re going to get yourself killed.”
I looked at Ivy, curled up on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees. Everything Krissin said was true, but I’d had no reason to doubt Ivy yet. She’d proven to me that she’d changed.
“I can’t fully explain it,” I said. “I honestly believe she wants to help us.”
Krissin rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you’re doing this. I can’t let her go after everything she’s done. If nothing else, she should be tried for her crimes.”
“She didn’t commit any crimes in the Southern Kingdom. You have no power over that,” I said. “She’s under my protection, as the reigning ruler of the Northern Kingdom.”
A snort escaped Krissin’s lips. “You? A ruler? What does your fath
er have to say about that? What about that fat pig, Blorn, who was above him in ranking?”
“They’re both dead. The North is mine now.”
Krissin opened her mouth, but then slowly closed it. I had her and I knew it. We weren’t just equals in our gifts, we were equals as rulers. Unlike her, I would never take the title of Princess. The thought of it made my stomach curl.
“Ivy is to be protected while I’m gone,” I insisted.
“She’ll be perfectly safe in the dungeon,” Krissin mumbled.
“Krissin!”
She let her hand down and set Ivy free. “Thank you,” Ivy said, rubbing her arms. “I’m sorry I got sick on your floor. I’ve never been through a portal before.”
“Whatever. Just clean it up.” Krissin pointed to a pitcher of water and a waste bucket near the table.
Ivy scurried across the room, grabbed the items and a nearby towel, and set to cleaning up the rug. Krissin’s seized my arm and pulled me to the side.
“If she screws everything up, it’s all your fault, Reychel. I won’t have anything to do with this decision. And if I have her guarded twenty-four hours a day, you can’t get angry. This is my kingdom and my castle. I won’t have a former criminal wandering around like she belongs here.”
“Just be kind to her.”
Krissin rolled her eyes again. “Fine. Whatever. Did you at least get all of the information I asked before you left?”
“Some, but not all of it,” I said. “The emperor is in the dungeon. I need to see him first. And I have to do it now. Who knows when Alia might come back and figure out that we’re all gone? She’s unpredictable.”
“So once she knows you’re missing, we have no more time left to plan.”
“Exactly. I need to go see him now and find his role in all of this. If he’s been captured, who controls the army? Does it all belong to Alia now? The one thing I do know is that her entire gifted army is at my father’s, I mean, my castle. Once she’s ready to execute the emperor and me, she’ll send them out to designated spots to show everyone in Serenia simultaneously what’s happening.”
“Then you’d better leave now. I’ll speak with my father, Mark, and Ace while you’re gone. It seems our attack on the enemy has come earlier than we thought.”
I glanced down at Ivy one more time. “Do you promise you’ll be nice to her?” I whispered.
Krissin nodded her head. “For now. But if she tries to use her gift on me, even once, I can’t guarantee what I’ll do to her.”
“Fair enough,” I said. I grabbed Krissin’s hand and squeezed it. “We can do this, right?”
“I can. I don’t know about you.” Then the unthinkable happened. Krissin smiled and winked at me.
I smiled back. “I’ll be back soon. Tell Mark I can’t wait to see him.”
Chapter Twenty
I stepped through the portal and into the dungeon. Unfortunately, I was more familiar with it than I cared to admit. A guard stood off to the side, snoring lightly, his chair tipped back against the wall. I considered tiptoeing past him, but chances were too high that he’d wake at some point and find me. Lifting my hand, I sent a blast of air toward him. He fell out of his chair and hit his head on the floor, but not before letting out a wild string of curses.
My gift was working well. If I’d had this much control when all of this started, things might have turned out different. There wouldn’t be a war and Ella wouldn’t lie dying in Krissin’s castle. But then I wouldn’t have met Mark or Krissin. I didn’t regret one moment. I prayed Johna would be able to save Ella.
I made my way through the dungeon, surprised at the silence. Alia wasn’t holding many prisoners and at this rate I’d be able to find the emperor quickly.
A deep, rasping breath caught my attention from the cell just down the hall. A throat cleared and then a voice bellowed, “Get me out of here, you interminable witch!”
I smiled, sure I’d found what I was looking for. I peeked in the bars and a man sat on the floor, his feet planted firmly in the dirt and he knees hitched up to his chin. He looked up at me, glaring.
“Who the hell are you?” he asked. He squinted and cocked his head to the side. “Great. Just great. Not only do I have to deal with those three banshees, but now the Prophet has decided to torture me. I didn’t even know you were still alive. No matter. What do you want from me? I have nothing to give you.”
I closed my eyes and remembered what Krissin taught me before leaving her room the other night. While some actions only worked with specific hand motions, more powerful gifted people could use their minds to accomplish almost anything. Johna told me the day I was rescued from the castle that I was one of the most powerful gifted people ever found, but I’d never been able to access my gift in that way. Until now.
I concentrated on his essence. He was a powerful man and his aura spread out far beyond his body. I tapped into my gift and focused on him. All I wanted was truth. I did what I could only assume Ivy did when she soothed someone, and willed him to answer my questions truthfully.
“I want to know where your army is stationed.” I laced my fingers through the bars and stood on my tiptoes. My gift was powerful, but I didn’t trust a seasoned army veteran like the emperor to behave himself during questioning. I was happy to have a solid door between us.
He laughed, catching me off guard. “Army? What army? My men have all been sent home, scattered. The last I heard, most of them had been put on a boat and set adrift. I just hope they all reached another island and didn’t die at sea. Those gifted witches think they can conquer this country without a strong army behind them. They’re wrong. They’re going to cause their own downfall.”
“You’re talking about Jada, Alia, and their mother? You’re sure they’re the ones running this whole operation?”
He chortled again. “Isn’t it obvious? Of course they’re doing this. Who else would have the balls to put me, the emperor, in a dungeon? No one. Just those women.” He spat after the last word, punctuating his exact feelings for them.
“Make sure you tell the new emperor, if there is one,” he said, “never to choose his wife because she’s gorgeous. Make sure he checks out whether or not she’s a lying, cheating, psycho, gifted witch first. You Serenians thought I was bad? Good luck with her and her people. They’ve been plotting against the rest of us since the first damn prophecy was made.”
Emperor Larnack was Alia and Jada’s father? I couldn’t fathom it.
He shuffled to his feet and stormed over to the door. “This is your fault! If that last stupid prophet would have kept his mouth shut, they never would have formed a plan to fight you. While your people have been sitting on their rear ends staring at the clouds for the last seven generations, mine have been trying to find a way to use it to their advantage. They did, alright.”
I didn’t back away from the door, or remove my fingers. He reached up and lightly ran his fingers over mine. I held back my repulsion. I couldn’t let him know how unnerving it was to be so close to him. Even though I knew my gift held him in thrall, I still wasn’t sure how strong it was.
“What did they do?”
“Our people were never supposed to mix. Malborn and Serenian children were considered an abomination, punishable by death. My people would never let something like that persist. But somewhere along the line, a couple generations ago, my people became lax with the law. The Malborn are supposed to be conquerors and force the Serenians to assimilate. Not the other way around.”
He took a deep breath.
“Then the first few were born and their gift manifested young. Our leaders took notice and sheltered these children, studied them, and came up with the plan to turn their hidden gift to our advantage. Not every combination of Malborn and Serenian child had the hidden gift. But those who did mated with others like them to keep the lines going.”
“How did they capture you?” I asked.
He looked away and muttered, “It’s never a good thing to be caught w
ith your pants down.”
Instead of laughing, which was my first instinct, I actually felt a little sorry for him. So his wife and daughters had done this to him. She entrapped him with her beauty, used him to have children, and then threw him in the dungeon when she was ready to take over.
Except one fact was wrong. If it took two spark-free gifted people to have sparkless babies, then the emperor couldn’t be the father of the two girls he’d raised. There were many lies told and so many lives ruined. Our land might have been better off if everyone had only told the truth. It wasn’t a hard thing to do, really. Unfortunately I’d learned most people didn’t like to do the right thing, just the selfish thing.
“Thank you for all of your answers,” I told him. “Go back to the floor and rest. I promise. I’ll try to save you when we attack, but I can’t guarantee anything. Deep down, I think you’re a good man.”
“You can believe whatever you want, sweetheart. I don’t think there’s an ounce of good left in this body.”
He ambled back over to the wall and slumped down on the floor. His position was nearly identical to the way it had been when I’d arrived. I hoped he wouldn’t remember any part of our conversation. Too much of it showed how easily unmanned he’d been. Alia’s mother had taken the best pieces of him and ground them into dust. Most men never recovered from the manipulations of women. They were the stronger sex, but we were far crueler.
I flicked my fingers and opened the portal. Just before I stepped through, a guard ran around the corner.
“Hey, you!” he yelled. “Stop!”
I jumped through the portal, not looking behind me to see how close he was. As I landed in Krissin’s chamber, I snapped my fingers shut behind, but not before a dagger flew through the portal, straight at my heart.
Chapter Twenty-One
The dagger whistled through the air and I turned at the last second, just before it embedded in my arm. I reached up and grabbed the hilt of the dagger.
