The glow of his evil reaches out for the pure magic inside me, as if whatever is left in him is corrupted and wishes to do the same to every other ounce of power. I won’t let it.
I will blot out his golden rule and swallow it into the shadows where, I will feast.
I simply think of the door opening, and it swings inwards, its locks falling to the ground as I step over them and across the threshold.
Lanterns light the room in a warm glow, the wind from my power making the flames flicker, and some die out. The stone room is a circular space, with open doors at the back thrashing from the power I’m oozing, revealing hints of outside. My power leaks through the room, searching for its target.
The ceiling is high, no doubt the highest point of the entire palace, and the room is sparsely decorated, as if it’s meant for something else other than the king. It’s a chamber meant for hiding, always prepared in case he needed to get out. Too bad for him, there’s no escaping me, there’s no escaping the monsters he harmed, and there’s no escaping the sins he committed on the halflings. There will be no mercy for what he’s done to my sister.
I look around the room, searching, and when I see the tips of his crown peeking out from behind the curtains of his bed, I snarl like an animal.
There he is, hiding like a scared little child on an ornate bed, his harem of stolen women before him like a shield. Fear dances in their eyes, and tears flow down their perfectly made-up faces, their skin displaying bruises and marks from his cruelty.
Golden collars tighten around their necks with his hold on their leashes.
For a moment, I hesitate, my eyes running over them and falling to her.
Kai.
She sits toward the back, her wide eyes on me. For a moment, I see the true her—the laughing, proud, incredible sister I sacrificed everything for. She looks to be so full of life before it’s doused like water on flames with the reminder of what and whom she belongs to.
With my eyes, I promise her freedom. Tonight, she will be rid of him. She will have a chance at a life again.
I cannot erase the scars of the king’s cruelty and ownership, but I can give her freedom and a chance at a better life.
A new life.
A chance at happiness, where she will blossom once more.
“Leave!” the king demands, his deep voice booming through the room.
But it’s just a voice, and he is just a man.
I am so much more. I represent the countless souls of those he has killed and stolen from, and when my voice comes, it lashes him like a whip. In it, he sees his destiny, his future.
His final reckoning.
“Not without your head.” I tilt my own, eyeing him. “You are weak without your fortress walls and willing soldiers. You are just a man, a weak, horrible man. Your power?” I lick my lips. “It’s nothing. I could eat it for breakfast. You feel it. I see it in your eyes. You feel the pure magic flowing through me—me, the poor peasant girl you tossed to the monsters, did what you were never able to do.” I grin. “I’ve harnessed magic. You failed, and I did not.”
“You are nothing,” he spits out. He brings a knife up and holds the glittering blade to a girl’s neck, her throat riddled with bruises in the shape of fingers. I don’t spare her a glance, and she doesn’t flinch. “I will kill you like I did all the others, like my father before me, and his father before him.”
“Because your lineage is built on the death of powerful women!” I snarl. “Oh yes, the old king, the one who started all this.” I lift my hand and let the magic bounce over my fingertips, shadows curling around them lovingly. “The man who killed his daughter and cursed our lands to wither and die. He started this war, this curse, but it ends with you and me.”
“You have no weapon,” he points out, fear winding through his tone, even as he tries to remain strong.
“Iamthe weapon,” I declare, a wicked grin splitting my lips. My monsters surround me, their own power fueling mine. Their hard eyes remain on the king who dares to hide behind powerless women. He uses them as a shield, but they will no longer be abused by this man. Not if I have a say in it.
I stare, and he stares back, but there’s a whimper, and my eyes dart to my sister for a moment. It’s just a moment, but he must see something in my gaze, because he throws the other girl away and drags Kai across his chest, pressing his blade into her neck.
An inhuman growl escapes my lips, and with it, all the flames, all the light in the room, blows out. The darkness comes to do my bidding as I step closer.
“Ah, ah, ah. Stop,” he orders, glancing over his shoulder as he clambers off the bed and starts to drag her toward the open door. “Or she dies.”
“Sister,” Kai gasps as blood beads on the blade, her eyes on me, even as her head is wrenched back. In her gaze, I see hopelessness and bitterness. She’s given into this land and the hold it has on everyone.
“Sister?” the king repeats, and he freezes, his cruel eyes locking on me and truly seeing me for the first time.
He looks beyond the power, beyond the magic, and beyond the threat to me, the once human girl.
