Callista looked up just in time to see it start to fall. She rushed away from it, but it was too large and fell too fast for her to make it out in time. I made a fire explode below it, hoping to slow it with a wave of heat, but it was not enough. At the last possible instant, an intense, targeted wind blew through the middle of the great hall at high tornado speeds. The chandelier tipped and landed five feet away from Callista and Jorlan. Then it careened with momentum from the wind until it collided with a wall, sending a new set of vibrations and snapping,tearing sounds across the hall’s framework.
A wind of that power could only have come from one family. I caught sight of Koan and Jolter just in time to see them clap each other’s hands in a victory slap.
I turned my attention back to Guyan and Acantha. Guyan had followed my gaze and seen Callista. His mouth drew back in a smirk, and he pointed a dramatic finger at her, as if firing an invisible bolt of magic.
She had just handed Jorlan back to his mother and turned to check on us. Guyan’s magic was not invisible to her. Her jaw dropped and a hand clutched her chest. Koan and Jolter ran toward her as I turned my wrath on Guyan.
“Relax, Aedan. It’s just a bit of insurance to make sure you keep me alive.”
“What. Did. You. Do?”
He smiled and whispered. “Look at her. She is fine. Blood flowing and lungs breathing.”
Flames ignited around my entire body, giving a physical form to my anger. “I don’t trust those looks.”
He smirked. “You’re right.” He pointed again, and she fell to her knees. “Now you can see she’s struggling for air, but she will live, for weeks, like this.” He leaned toward me. “But kill me now, and know this: You’ve signed her death certificate as well.” He shrugged. “But maybe a few weeks with her is worth it.”
My own lungs hurt as she rubbed her chest and looked at us frantically.
And then Acantha struck. “That’s not true, Aedan. You don’t have to believe him. He wants your throne, so he will tell you anything to drag this out long enough to have anotherchance at it. Aedan!”
The intensity in her voice rose, so I turned to look at her, though all I could think about was Callista.
“Aedan!” Acantha demanded my attention. She fought for eye-contact. “Guyan killed your parents. He poisoned their blood so it would turn on their bodies but look like an ailment instead of magic. I did kill his parents, but it was because they were planning to kill yours. They, too, had power over blood—”
“Lies!” Guyan yelled. “You killed my parents so you could groom me in your own plots of treason. Do not try to blame them!”
Acantha’s words came faster, as if she was afraid of Guyan silencing her. “Guyan killed your parents and has been looking for a way past the curse to kill you for years. He blackmailed me into feeding him information. I didn’t help him a few minutes ago because I am on your side! Kill him, and Callista will be free from his attacks!”
A wave of power erupted from Guyan as he yelled at Acantha. “You told me to kill his parents! You fed me every bit of information necessary to destroy them! Told me how to dose them, how to manipulate their blood, and what to say to everyone who asked questions. Andnowyou would turn on me?”
“Aedan!” she shrieked. “I have always been your faithful advisor!”
I almost believed her. But then I remembered how she had just tried to get me to abdicate. How she had insulted Callista over and over even though she, too, was half fae. How she had set fire to the Dining Hall.
How she had set fire to Callista’s room.
A new section of ceiling erupted into loud flames, but anotherunnatural gust of wind blew it—and a pile of debris—out and away from any people. Most of the elves were finally out of the hall. The ones that remained looked ready for war.
Mylo led a group of soldiers and nobles toward the dais. Koan, Jolter, and Forten had gathered around Callista.
A streak of flames burst past me and landed on Guyan. Acantha had attacked him. He yelled out again. “If you don’t stop her, Aedan, you will die with me!”
My heart seized… but I wasn’t the only one. Acantha collapsed as I gripped the table, and Callista fell to the floor.
This had to end.
I raised a hand and summoned a beam of vibrant magic, intense enough to level the fortress. Before I could point it at Guyan, the strength in my legs failed from a lack of moving blood.
I growled, and tried to move limbs with no oxygen, but they refused.
Was this it? Were we all going to die together in one flaming event?
No!I screamed in my head, ignoring Guyan’s rants from the flames. I had to find a way to end this before I could not recover.
And then a surge of energy hit me. I whipped my head to the side and saw golden beams of light from Koan, Jolter, Shancy, Mylo, and a dozen other nobles pour into my back. The soldiers with them added more energy until my muscles moved out of obedience more than strength.
I pointed the pure energy at Guyan, and he burst into millions of streams of light that dissipated into the air above us.
