The crowd roared in contempt, and I squeezed Mother’s hand tight.
Wrong…this feltwrong.
“That is why, citizens of Otacia, I will be putting a kill order in place for any and all witches.”
Silence.
“It is time to put an end to their kind, once and for all.”
My whole body went numb. My hearing became muffled. The words that proceeded to fall from the King’s lips did not register.
No.
No!
Ulric lit a torch as his speech finished, his eyes intense on Amatta, and handed the flame to Silas.
My Gods…he is going to make Silas do it?
Amatta was still shaking, flailing her body as hard as she could, but as Silas neared, she sagged in defeat. He hesitated for a moment before he lit the wood beneath her, and even with her mouth gagged, her horrific screams filled the entire kingdom.
Flames crept up her legs, up her torso, over her face. Smoke swirled upwards, and the nauseating scent of burning flesh permeated the air.
Silas just watched with an apathy in his eyes that sent chills down my spine, a coldness I had never seen on him. The crowd boomed, and my hand shot over my mouth in disbelief at that barbaric act before us. Mother tugged at my wrist and gave me a look that said,“Don’t show emotion.”
I couldn’t see Torrin, but I heard his panicked voice.
“Tonight. We must leave tonight.”
This. This was what Kayin warned us about. Mages—we were no longer just to be banished. Our existence was now to end entirely.
I couldn’t accept it. Accept that I had to leave. Accept that the home I had grown to love could’ve changed so much, so fast. Mother clasped my hand, and we tried our best not to appear suspicious as we hurried home, the sound of the brown-haired woman's screams fading to nothing as her body melted away.
“We leave tonight,” Mother said frantically, slamming our door and locking us in our cottage.
I couldn’t even argue. I was numb.
“You heard the King,” she continued, her body shaking as she began packing our things. “There is a kill order on us, Lena. I will not have us be sitting ducks in a kingdom with such a sick leader. This is what that woman Kayin must have been warning you about.”
“But…but Silas—” I felt like a shell of a person. This couldn’t be real. This couldn’t be happening.
“Is the son of that evil bastard,” she snarled.
“So, what?” I clenched my fists as reality began to set in. There was now a kill order on all Mages. We get caught, we are dead. “You don’t care that we are abandoning him right after he has suffered this loss?” The rational part of me knew we had no choice. “And what…I…I tell him I’m leaving—about who we are?”
She whirled towards me. “Absolutely not!” She grasped my shoulders. “I know you love him, but we cannot take that risk.” She resumed her packing. “We will fake our deaths. Set fire to our house. I will conjure up false bodies so they think we died in here.”
“Do you hear yourself?!” I asked incredulously.
“This isn’t just a simple banishing and running. This is truly life and death.” She wiped a tear that had fallen out of her eye. “I care for Silas greatly, Lena. I said before he’s like a son to me. But he is the Prince. He cannot escape his fate any more than we can. It is no longer safe here, and I know that Silas would desire your safety over anything.”
I knew that, too. But to leave with no explanation…to make him believe I was dead…
Find Torrin. Go to Ames.
I felt sick that the day had finally fucking come.
“I…I have to see him before we go.”
