Page 7 of Rapunzel Unchained
“Well... hopefully, you’ll find some common ground.” Rebecca stared down at her nails as if they were of great interest. “That or someone will die. Either way, you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet.”
I frowned at her words. “Huh?”
She shook her head. “Never mind. Just don’t practice in the house.” Rebecca fingered the scorch mark left on the bedding. “I’d like to keep my home in one piece. Come with me.”
Pushing off the bed, I followed her out of the room. I hadn’t left the room since I’d woken besides my little mind trip to the others’ house. Based on the Rebecca I knew, I thought her house would be extravagant. Overbearingly so.
However, while it was large in size, the furnishes were basic. Something I’d seen in a few shops. Nothing gilded or costing a small fortune.
My eyes locked on to the back of her head. What was her game? She played the role of villainess to everyone outside her home and yet her humble dwelling told another story. Did she really hate the mages or just the council?
She had implored me that not all mages were bad, herself included in that, I would assume. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but hold a grudge against this woman who had treated me like garbage from the get-go.
I blew out a breath and shook myself off. I had to learn to let things go. It wasn’t as if she hurt me. Words were easy to say and that much easier to forget if you let yourself. Besides, her story about her lover was true enough to show me she wasn’t what she pretended to be.
“Here.” Rebecca led me out of the house and through a garden, passing by peonies and dandelions until we reached a fountain in the middle. Rebecca stopped before it, trailing her fingers through the water before muttering a spell to freeze it. “Most mages need a spell, words of some kind, to cast a spell.”
“I don’t know any spells.”
Rebecca snorted and released her spell. “I don’t suppose you would. Though, those fireballs you threw at the party... you didn’t seem to need a spell then, did you?”
I cocked my head to the side, thinking back on it. The queen had taken over, but I still remembered what happened. The queen hadn’t said any words, she’d just made it happen. If I could grasp what she had done, maybe I could replicate it.
“Alright.” Rebecca turned from the fountain. “I’ll leave you to it. You can wander the ground if you want, but I wouldn’t leave them. We never know who’s watching. Those vultures probably sent out their spy drones to search for you. I have a barrier up, but you never know.”
I inclined my head, staring up at the fountain. A lovely woman depicted holding a bundle of flowers, her mouth open wide and it was almost as if I could hear her singing now. Her eyes were sad though, peering up into the heavens. I wondered if this was Rebecca’s lover.
Sitting on the edge of the fountain, I let my fingers play in the pool of water. Cool to the touch. The remnants of Rebecca’s magic lingered. I blew out a breath and closed my eyes, imagining the water getting colder, thicker, harder.
Magic trickled from me and I gasped, my eyes opening. A thin layer of ice lined the top of the water. It wasn’t like Rebecca’s, which had hardened the water completely into solid ice.
Weak.
My magic might be abundant, but I was too weak to use it properly. I smashed my hand into the surface, breaking the ice with ease. I had to get better, stronger.
How did I reach that part of me that’s closed off by the queen? This power inside of me was an uncontrollable force.Something that needed to be controlled if I planned to do anything to help the humans, and I did want to help them.
I didn’t have the anger and hate the queen had or even Rebecca, but I didn’t like what I’d seen. Humans with their heads down, trailing after the mages as if they were dogs. The few interactions I’d had with shopkeepers told me all I needed to know about how the humans were treated even on their own. Ridiculous.
I wished Zane was here. He’d know what to do. If anyone knew what it was like to have something inside them they couldn’t control, it would be him.
While I wasn’t sure how Zane uses the demon that was inside him for power, I was sure he would be able to help me.
Chewing on my thumbnail, my eyes darted toward the house. Rebecca told me not to leave the grounds. They were looking for me. Who knew what the council would do if they found me? If I wasn’t immediately executed, they might torture me to get information or worse.
I needed to see Zane. I had to know more, and he was the only one who could help me.
Abruptly standing, I paced back and forth, thinking on how I would get to him. I couldn’t take one of their moving carriages, cars, that was what they’d called them. I didn’t have any money to pay one and who knew if the driver was discreet.
Walking there was out of the question. I didn’t even know where we were, let alone how to get to Zane’s house.
Hopelessness and desperation gripped at me. A need to see Zane filled my body completely. I couldn’t sit here and do nothing. I had to see him. Zane. It was the only way to find out more about myself and my powers.
Where? Where?a voice echoed in my head.
My magic gathered with my panic, wrapping around me in a sparkling purple smoke, jerking me off my feet and leaving nothing behind but the trickling water of the fountain.
Chapter 5
