Page 12 of Rapunzel Unchained
“Yes,” I glanced from her back to the ice, “it seems that I have. Unfortunately, that doesn’t do me or anyone else any good if I don’t know how to control them.”
Rebecca hummed in agreement.
I turned to her. “Will you help me?”
Her lips lifted into a proud smile. “It would be my pleasure, my queen.”
“Good.” I swept out of the bathroom. “Then let’s get started.”
Chapter 7
Trees sprouted out around us as far as the eye could see. The busy noises of the city were far enough away that only the birds and squirrels filled the air. It reminded me of home. Or rather the queen’s home.
A sense of peace swelled within me, and yet unease crept in.
“Are you sure we won’t get caught? What about those floating eyes?”
“Cameras,” Rebecca corrected me, stopping in the middle of a clearing near a small pond. A gaggle of ducks with their ducklings quaked and ruffled their feathers. “The floating eyes are cameras. And yes, in a fashion. I have placed a barrier around us so they can’t see us from below. It will protect us from prying eyes, but if someone walks through it...”
I rolled my lips and shook my head. “I’m not sure this is wise.”
“Unfortunately, it will have to do. I like my garden and my house, and your powers, while great, are uncontrollable as they are now.” Rebecca leveled a look at me. “Here, you will bother no one, and I will get to keep my home.”
I crossed my arms. “Tell that to the squirrels,” I muttered.
“Okay, enough talk.” Rebecca clapped once and rubbed her hands together. “Show me what you can do.”
Cocking my head to the side, I chewed on my lower lip. “I don’t know how. I mean, I don’t know what to show you.”
Rebecca hummed and looked off to the side before she gave me a wicked grin. “Fire.”
My brows shot up. “Fire? You want me to start a fire. Here?”
“Yes, like you did at the party.” She turned toward the wall of trees and muttered a few words under her breath. The shield she had placed around us shimmered and hardened. “There. Yourmagic will be contained. You won’t burn down the trees with the little birdies and squirrels down in them.”
I puffed out a breath, still not happy with the idea. I’d seen what the fire balls could do. I felt... icky about using them like the queen did.
But if I was going to control my powers, I had to know what I could do, and one thing I knew the queen could do was fire.
Quietly apologizing to the animals if this went wrong, I placed my hands in front of me, palms out, and focused on the magic inside of me. Like in the bathroom, it swelled and caressed me before pooling into my palms.
A burst of fire appeared in my hands, a tiny flame at first before it began to grow, an orange, a fist, a watermelon, it kept growing, and I couldn’t stop it.
“Control it, my queen. Control it.”
“I can’t.” The fire was so hot, so powerful. Just like in the bathroom, once the magic started, I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t make it stay in the ball of flame the way the queen had at the party. It wanted to eat everything around us and burn it to ash.
“If you can’t stop it, then throw it.” Rebecca stepped forward. “Throw it away before it gets any bigger.”
Gritting my teeth, I lifted one hand, pulling the fire with me and threw with all my might. The fire shot across the clearing and smashed against her barrier, sending a tremor through it before it shattered altogether.
I gaped at what I’d done and then locked eyes with Rebecca. “You were saying?”
Rebecca grinned. “Well, I’ll just have to make the barrier stronger. Now, let’s try again.”
We continued on like this for an hour, her making a barrier, me shattering it within moments, and then on and on again. Even though I’d been using my magic for an hour, I didn’t feel tired. At least, not physically.
Mentally, I was exhausted. Not because the magic was draining but from the lack of control.
