Page 7 of The Sunbound Princess
The buzz in the air intensified, the Covenant’s magic brushing my skin.
Helios darted to my other side. “If you cross, you’ll lose your magic! And I can’t follow.”
Fear and frustration gripped me. “You think I don’t know that?” My ancestors’ contract was clear: magic didn’t thrive in Andulum. Helios was pure magic. If I stepped through the barrier, I’d do it alone.
The anchor in my chest dragged me forward, the pull so strong I tripped and almost went sprawling. A yelp escaped me as I barely stayed on my feet. I was running now, my pack bouncing wildly.
“Ezabell!” Helios hissed, his hair shooting higher on his head.
Shouts carried across the barrier, a man’s deep voice booming in the air.
“Last chance!” he said, his voice ringing with authority. “Will anyone pay these men’s debts? If not, they hang!”
Magic jerked me toward the voice—ahumanvoice. My heart pounded. Blue filled my vision. I stumbled forward, fighting the pull, but it was useless. The Covenant’s surface rippled like water as I crashed into it, a scream lodged in my throat.
“Ezabell, don’t!” Helios cried.
But it was too late. The boundary parted around me, its magic tingling over my skin like a thousand tiny needles. A flash of brilliant blue blinded me, and then I was through.
My earspopped.
I staggered and then fell to my knees in a patch of scrubby grass. A forest surrounded me, its trees thick with green leaves. Birds chirped. Late afternoon sunlight gilded the grass around me. Blood rushed in my ears. My magic wasgone, and its absence was a curious weight, as if someone had thrown a thick blanket over me. My body felt heavier. Hollow and cold. Gasping, I pressed a palm to my chest, where the Dokimasi’s pull still thrummed.
Twisting on my knees, I looked at the Covenant over my shoulder. “Helios?” I whispered.
Nothing. The wall was intact, its blue haze climbing hundreds of feet into the air.
I stood, straining to make out Helios’s fiery shape.
“No one?” the booming voice called.
I jerked around, my heart pumping faster.
The unmistakable jeering of a crowd drifted on the air. The magic in my chest yankedhard, tugging me forward so sharply that I thrust out a hand to stop myself from face-planting in the grass.
“Not one taker?” the man shouted.
More jeers.
“Get on with it!” a second voice yelled, followed by cruel-sounding laughter.
Another tug. Muffling a cry, I scrambled to my feet.
The sunstone.It had to be close! The histories said nothing about the stone hiding itself in Andulum. Then again, every Dokimasi was different.
With trembling hands, I dropped my pack and rifled through it, yanking a cloak from the bottom. I swung it around my shoulders and tugged the hood over my head, concealing my pointed ears. The cloak’s long sleeves covered my sigils.
The Dokimasi yanked the second I slung my pack over my shoulder. “I’m coming,” I grumbled, letting the magic hurry me forward.
Fear pounded in my chest as I moved through the forest, following the sound of the crowd. My magic was gone, but I retained my reflexes, and my steps were soundless as I neared a clearing.
Humans gathered around a crude platform. A barrel-chested man with a bushy beard and a shining badge pinned to his chest stood at the platform’s base, one hand resting on a thick wooden lever.
Two men stood in the platform’s center. A beam rose over their heads. Nooses descended from the beam and fit snugly around their necks. Their hands were bound behind their backs.
Both men were large and muscular, and both were handsome, although their looks were a study in contrasts.One was dark-haired, with tan skin and deep brown eyes that scanned the crowd. His shoulders were wide, his arms packed with muscle under a simple linen shirt. His leather pants were the same shade as his hair. A slight smile touched his lips, as if he found the crowd and his predicament amusing.
The other man was even more broad-shouldered. He wore his hair longer than his companion, the golden-blond locks pulled back from his face and secured in a knot at his nape. Scruff a shade darker than the hair on his head covered his square jaw. He glowered at the bearded man with narrowed blue eyes.
