Page 18 of Tale of the Heart Queen

Linden shoots a look at the king, her eyebrow arching, clearly wanting to disagree, but she lets it lie.

“Come,” she says. Then she starts marching away. When I don’t immediately follow, she stops and pins me with a dark look over her shoulder. I cast one more glance at the Alluvion Coral, cycling through a hundred ideas of how I might access it before following her pointed footsteps through the palace.

I’m escorted to a gorgeous room that contrasts vividly with my prison cell. Maybe I should be grateful they’re not making me sleep down there, at least.

After Cyan bids me goodnight and Linden threatens to feed me to the sharks, I’m left alone, though she informs me two guards are stationed outside. Great. I’ll have to earn enough trust to be allowed free movement around the palace. Or I’ll have to deal with the guards in a possibly messy way.

My room overlooks the ocean, reflecting under the light of the moon. It expands as far as I can see, and I clutch the diaphanous white curtains and breathe out a sigh laden with anxiety and exhaustion. I’ve lost an entire day already, and I can practically feel the tick of the clock vibrating under my skin, echoing in my ears like a hammer striking glass. The Coral. I need to find a way to talk to the Coral.

Can you hear me? I ask in my head. Nadir. Are you there? Are you okay? I miss you. I love you.

We had so little time to explore the possibilities of our mate bond. Does he need to be close to hear me? In the same room? I’m assuming he does need to be alive, and I try not to let his silence add to my worries. Zerra promised she’d keep him safe while I carried out her unreasonable task. While I have no actual reason to trust her, I also don’t have much choice.

My gaze wanders behind me to the giant silver bed covered with white sheets and blue pillows. It looks so inviting, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep. My stomach is twisted into too many knots.

I can’t stop worrying about Nadir, and also Tristan and Willow. What did Cyan mean when he said a riot broke out? How can I be doing this again, wondering if they’ve survived while I’ve been stolen away to another kingdom?

Next thing I know, Cyan will surprise me and tell me I’m here competing to be his bonded partner. But he seems to already have his hands full in that department.

I strip out of my dirty clothes—I can’t believe they ate dinner with me in this state—and pad into the bathroom, where I take a hot shower and wash my hair for the first time in days.

It feels like a lifetime ago when I stood in Aphelion’s throne room and felt all that power coursing through me. I stare at my hand, watching the water sluice between my fingers. They curl into a fist and then open again as I try to channel out a small slip of magic.

Sparks of red lightning dance between my fingertips, and I grit my teeth as it surges through my limbs, cresting into a torrent. A moment later, the shower’s glass walls shatter as magic blasts from my fingertips, rendering the entire thing into razor-sharp fragments.

Shouts rise from the bedroom, and two guards burst through the door, their gazes falling on the broken glass and then me. It’s at that moment we all realize I’m completely naked, and I use my hands to cover myself as they both direct their eyes to the floor.

“Sorry,” one of them says. “Are you all right, my lady?”

No. I’m not fucking all right. I finally have my magic back, but I can barely use it. It’s like a cannon blasting through parchment. All or nothing. What am I supposed to do with this?

“Can you get me a towel?” I ask, trying to sound dignified without much luck.

One of the guards shuffles to the side, keeping his gaze averted as he retrieves one from the hanging rack. Then he approaches me with his eyes still on his feet and holds it out towards me like a shield.

When he’s close enough, I snatch it from his hands and wrap myself up. But my feet are bare, and we’re surrounded by broken glass. The guard looks at the floor and then up at me.

“Would you like me to carry you?” he asks rather reluctantly.

Gods, this is humiliating. “Yes,” I say. “But keep your hands where I can see them.”

He raises them in surrender like he has no intention of dishonoring me, and then he scoops me up and carries me across the room. To his credit, he’s an absolute gentleman, and once we clear the doorway, he deposits me gently onto the carpet.

My bedroom is now full of people, including a cleaning staff who’ve arrived to sweep up my mess. Cyan appears in the doorway with Linden and Anemone in tow—they’re all barely dressed—and I’m pretty sure I’ve just interrupted something.

“What happened?” Cyan asks with genuine concern. “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” I say. The glass left a few small cuts on my arms and legs, but they’ll heal quickly, and other than my wounded pride, I’m fine. “I’ll be okay.”

“What were you doing?” Linden asks, understandably suspicious. I just tore apart an entire bathroom and can’t really claim I was up to nothing. I’ll have to come clean. Ha. Pun intended.

“I was practicing my magic,” I say, hating that I have to reveal any measure of vulnerability to them.

Cyan raises an eyebrow. “You have no control over it?”

“I’m . . . I’ve got some.”

“Why?”