The eyebrows came down sharply. She stepped closer to him. “This is not the way Summus behaves.”
His hands were balled into fists again, and he snarled, “Maybe it’s the waythisSummus behaves.”
She looked singularly unimpressed and not at all afraid of him. He couldn’t decide if she was brave or stupid, or maybe a foolhardy mix of both.
“Apparently, itisthe way this Summus behaves, and perhaps you should look to that behavior when you question why you aren’t gaining the respect that you wish from the other Mage Warriors.”
Fire and water.It was moments like these when he couldn’t figure out why he was friends with Delana. But then, everyone else had turned their back on him, had picked Perian over him. And what did it say about Cormal when people he’d been friends with for years picked a demon over him? He clenched his hands tighter.
She stared him down. “Iwilldrench you with water if you don’t pull your head out of your ass.”
She’d do it, too. There weren’t very many people who would dare, not since he’d become Summus, but she was definitely one of them. Most of the other Water Mages were giving him a wide berth, like they were worried he would act out against them just because he was a Fire Mage.
Because that seemed to be the assumption these days, that if he decided he didn’t like you, he might get rid of you.
“He’s a demon!” Cormal hissed furiously. “A carnalion. Wekillcarnalions!”
Why was this such a difficult concept for them to grasp? It just didn’t make sense. It was the basis of their very existence as Mage Warriors! Didn’t everyone remember what had happened the last time demons had been in the castle? Didn’t they remember how many people had died? Cormalhadto stop it this time.
Delana’s expression shifted to something else, somethingworse. Pity.
“Yes,” she agreed. “We have killed carnalions. But when you see something that doesn’t make sense, what do you do?”
He stared at her in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Do you try to figure it out?” she asked. “Or do you destroy it because it scares you?”
“I wasnotscared,” he told her.
She just stared at him for a long moment. “If you want to earn respect, maybe you should be worthy of it. Try to lead by example, and maybe work on that temper.”
His fists were clenched again. Delana stared down at them, flicked a very judgmental look back up at his face, and then turned and walked away. Cormal clenched his fists harder and didnotlet himself lose his temper and throw a fireball at her retreating back, because he was anadult, he wasSummus, and he might think that Delana was almost entirely wrong, but she was right about that much.
He didn’t think Brannal had ever lost his temper as Summus, not that Cormal could easily recall, anyway, at least not until the carnalion seduced him, and he had given up everything to be with him.
Cormal’s breath caught in his throat. Even then. When he closed his eyes, he could still remember that swirling vortex of the elements, fire, water, earth, and air all swirling furiously together, contained but just waiting for a mere thought to be unleashed and wreak havoc.
Brannal had been facing Cormal and the Queen, and Cormal had been perfectly aware that if Brannalhadlost his temper, Cormal wouldn’t have been able to withstand him. He’d just been coming to understand how far under the carnalion’s spell Brannal had fallen. There had been no reaching him, and the fact that the Queen and Cormal had done everything in their power to keep everyone safe by getting rid of Perian had been something that Brannal refused to tolerate.
If he’d had a temper like Cormal did, there was a good chance Cormal would be dead.
He was trying to live up to the standards of a man who’d walked away from literally everything that he’d worked for, who’d seen the choice between continuing to do his duty and protect Queen and country and everything he cared about or a carnalion—and he’d picked the carnalion!
YetCormalwas the one being judged.Cormalwas the one who was being ignored by the Princess. The carnalion had spent hours alone with herevery day. How could Cormal be one of the only people who was horrified by how dangerous that had been? How could no one else understand that they had to mitigate those risks immediately?
They were Mage Warriors. It was theirsworn duty.
Cormal was trying to do everything in his power to protect the inhabitants of the castle and the country. That was all he’d ever tried to do. And yet even Delana—hisonlyfriend, it seemed—did nothing but scold him these days. He’d been sure he could fix everything, that he could make the castle safe once more for everyone, and instead, everyone was angry and antagonistic, and Cormal was more alone than he’d ever been.
His hands were shaking again.
He stalked through the castle and headed for one of his father’s old offices and work rooms. Brannal hadn’t liked the space, preferring a much airier office on the third floor. He’d said Tramad’s old office always felt a bit like a prison. It was above the dungeon level, of course, but it did, perhaps, have some resemblance to the stone below it. And it had one very useful feature.
As soon as Cormal closed the door safely behind him, his hands were wreathed in flames, and he lobbed fireball after fireball at the stone wall that his father had reinforced and ensured could withstand the heat.
Sometimes, Cormal simply had to get the fire out before it burned him up from the inside. He was yelling, he realized,screaming incoherently as he hurled fire at the wall, so much fury built up inside him that he had to let it out somehow.
All he’deverwanted was to protect the royal family and serve his country.
