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The pilot lowered the hovercraft to the ground, and I stepped out. I’d traveled to the west today. I hadn’t visited the lands in a long time—it was time for me to see my people.
I walked into a village with guards and warriors flanking me. I’d asked them to come along, not for protection against the people, but for protection against myself. I had no idea what Cyrene would do, and I was terrified that she would use me to do something evil, as she had twice already—once to kill Hazel’s garden, and once to stop freeing a group of Conjurites.
The Conjurites looked happy to see me. They left the fields they tended and the stalls they manned to see me, and they had smiles on their faces.
“Majesty, Majesty!” a child shouted from not too far off and waved at me.
I only nodded curtly at him.
“It’s a pleasure to have you visit, sir,” the village mayor said, coming to me with reverence. “If you’d let us know in advance, we would have prepared a feast in your honor.”
“That’s not necessary,” I said in a cold voice. “I won’t stay long. How are the crops?”
“Much better than we expected. Better than this time last year. There seems to be hope that the crops will offer a good yield this year.”
I glanced at the fields. The crops were meager compared to what they should have been, but the few plants that stood in a row, yearning for more sunlight than they got, looked much better than they had in a long time.
It’s a pity it all has to go to waste,Cyrene said, her voice clear in my head.
“Don’t,” I bit out.
“I beg your pardon?” the mayor asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing.” Telling him I had voices in my head would just make him think I was crazy. Maybe Iwasgoing crazy.
Destroy it.
“No.”
The mayor frowned at me.
I turned away from the fields. I wasn’t going to ruin their hard work. These people had done so much for the kingdom, for me, even though they hadn’t had it easy. Falx had ensured that they lived a hard life, and things were only getting better now. I couldn’t that away from them.
You’re ignoring me,Cyrene said, and I imagined her pouting.
“I’m not doing what you want me to do. You don’t control me.”
No one heard me as I walked back toward the hovercraft. I would have wanted to stay longer, but I was worried I would do something to hurt these people or ruin their hard work. I had to get away from there as quickly as I could.
I thought about Hazel and her garden, and how I’d destroyed it all after she’d worked so hard at it. I couldn’t do that again.
Power swirled at my center, growing stronger and stronger. It threatened to break free and obliterate everything in its wake. The power was uncomfortably hot, and it felt like broken glass and rusted nails on the inside of my skin.
She was doing this. Cyrene made it harder and harder for me to keep it in, so that I would want to get rid of it and let it out.
I fought her. I held it back, biting down on the magic, refusing to let it burst outward. I wouldn’t do that to my loyal subjects.
They all gave up the light. Do you really think they don’t know what it means to be Conjurites?
“I don’t care!” I shouted.
The guards and warriors glanced at me, unsure.
“I don’t care what they gave up by choice, I care what I’ll be taking from them against their will.”
Two warriors stepped closer, noticing I was fighting Cyrene and struggling to stay in control.
“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll come no closer.”
