AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 1
Calamity
“This year, he dies.” My affirmation lingers in the stale dungeon air. It’s not a binding vow, but it feels like I can’t take it back now that the elements know my secret–that I plan to kill the king.
This has to end. I’m tired of the false promises and the broken dreams of a life outside grungy dungeon walls. There’s only so much the paint and charcoal can do. My drawings will never hide the barred windows or the locked gate, just as they’ll never compare to the real thing, but these brush strokes help me pretend.
Sure, my living conditions could be worse. The other prisoners have nothing more than hay-covered stone floors. Mine has a bed. I have a shelf full of books that Asmo has procured for me over the years, clean clothes, and linens. I’m given three meals a day and have plenty of water. The other prisoners die in the scraps of cloth they came here wearing, and most don’t get a single meal before their execution.
Meg was the only exception. She was taken care of and like me, she was treated well by the dungeon guards. If it weren’t for hervivid descriptions of the outside world, the murals on my walls wouldn’t exist.
Gods, how I miss her.
Setting down the paint brush, I wipe my hands on a cloth rag and take a step back, admiring my work. Meg always wanted me to paint the crystal castle. It’s from one of her stories about a realm full of dragons.
She claimed the blood red crystals that peeked through every stone crevice made it magical, but it was the three sisters who lived within it that intrigued me. They could turn into dragons and each was blessed with a different gift but together they breathed life into the realms, allowing them to flourish.
The one blessed with an affinity for hellfire gave us the hell flame, a ball of light in the sky that never goes out. The one blessed with lightning gave us storms and everywhere her power struck crystals formed, bringing magic into the realms. The last was blessed with ice, and she created the triplet moons–modeled after herself and her sisters. Thus, every three days when the moons block out the hell flame, our lands experience nightfall.
Meg loved to tell me about them, and thought their stories would guide me to make the right decisions, to admire honor and sacrifice. She called them the furies–the first dragons.
It’s been three years today since she vanished. The woman raised me within this very cell. She braided my hair while her voice filled the dungeon with song–with hope. She brought life to this place, just as the furies did to our realm, and loved me as if I were her own.
It’s about time I found a way to honor her.
I never knew my biological mother and my father–the King of Solaria–banished me to this forsaken dungeon at birth. He only visits once a year, but it’s not to check on me. His only interestis to study my magic. Meg and Asmodeus, the dungeon warden, filled the void. They took care of me.
Since Meg disappeared, things haven’t been the same. I don’t even know what happened to her…Asmo knows. Whether he’s been commanded not to share the details with me, or if he’s just trying to protect my heart, I’m not sure. All I know is his lips are sealed on the subject, and Meg isn’t coming back.
“The king will be here soon.” Asmo leans a shoulder against the bars, his black hair catching the light as he brushes it out of his face. Dark circles have formed beneath familiar mismatched eyes, one golden amber and one pure white. He’s hundreds of years old and barely looks thirty, but being immortal tends to have that effect on people. However, what he doesn’t show in age, his scars make up for it, telling the story of a man who’s survived complete and utter chaos.
A weak smile tugs at the corner of his lips. He’s always weary around my birthday. It’s the only time the King of Solaria comes to see me. It’s also the only time I ever leave my cell. My father has me brought to the white room so he can run his tests.
“You shouldn’t worry about me, but perhaps you should worry about yourself.” I inch closer to the bars, nodding once in Asmo’s direction. “When’s the last time you slept?”
His lips falter into a thin line. “I’ll sleep tomorrow once I know you’re safe.”
“As if you’d be willing to go toe-to-toe with the king.” I shake my head. “We both know it’d be suicide for you to attempt to stop him.”
He follows my gaze to his wristband. The golden metal has been set with jewels, a sign of his status, but as pretty as it may be, it’s far more deadly. The cuff has been enchanted to stifle the wearer’s magic, and from what I understand, the king has forced them upon all of his subjects. They give him complete and utter control over everyone and with a single whispered command,the cuff will detonate like a magical bomb, leveling the wearer to ash.
It’s a death not even immortals can survive. Which means if Asmo steps out against the king, it won’t matter that he’s family. He’ll be incinerated before he even knows what hit him.
“Just be glad they don’t work on you.” Asmo crosses his arms, hiding the metal band from view.
I scoff. “Maybe if they did, the king wouldn’t be so paranoid. Maybe I wouldn’t have been locked away in the first place. He wouldn’t fear my magic—”
“You would still be a prisoner, Calamity. Inside the castle is prettier, but it’s still a cell. He’d never let you leave. Your gift is too rare.” He twists, gripping one of the bars. “You were a prisoner in his eyes before you were ever conceived. He created you on a quest for power, nothing more.”
“Not true. Had I been normal, he might’ve married me off.” My voice is nothing more than a whisper as I hold his gaze.
Asmo scrubs an open palm over the length of an old scar that bisects his right eyebrow and runs down to the apple of his cheek. “Regardless, you’re not. In a way, it’s a blessing, because unless he figures out how to replicate your gift, he needs you alive.”
He’s right. This conversation has only confirmed what I already knew. No more waiting on Asmo to come up with a way out or for someone to rescue me.
“Promise me something.” When he doesn’t answer or so much as flinch, I continue, “If today ends badly, promise me you’ll stay out of it. I don’t want you to die for me.”
“What does that mean?” Asmo narrows his eyes into slits and his voice takes on a grave tone.
