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“Stop right there. It’s not in Izral’s nature to aid with foreign matters.”
Heat licked down Tenah’s magical channels. “But it’s not a foreign matter. My father’s a threat to the entire isle, not just my kingdom.”
All life drained from the assassin’s eyes. “Then let the High Court deal with him.”
“Will they though?”
Vesara headed for the door, signaling the end of their conversation. “I can’t speak for the High Court’s lack of motivation as of late, but I can say that you would be wasting your time trying to pursue help in Denoden. Sorry to disappoint, fire girl.”
With that, the assassin shut the door.
What. The. Hell.After witnessing how the assassin had been received by Denoden’s guards, how could Vesara not hold some sort of authority here? Denoden should be fortifying their borders, at the very least.
Frustrated and itching from the blood, dirt, and sweat caked to her skin, Tenah entered the bathing room. She was instantly won over. Carved from pale gray stone and glass, the large room echoed like a cave. Clusters of lightbulbs hung from the ceiling. Heaps of untouched blue candles lined a vanity and a piece of cherry wood fitted over a stone basin.
While the basin looked inviting, she didn’t fancy swimming in her own filth, so she cranked on the spout in the glass enclosure. Steam billowed out, and Tenah grinned in anticipation of the sweet relief the hot water would bring.
Sweaty clothes peeled off, she stepped under the punishing stream of water and groaned. It hit knots along her back she couldn’t reach to knead out with her fingers. She rested her forehead against the warm stone wall. Dark blood and dirt slithered down its stony ridges and circled the drain.
How had her entire world crumbled in mere days? One moment, she’d been daydreaming about traveling outside the manor, and the next, she’d been forced into freedom at the cost of Vozarian lives.
At the cost of Ames’s life.
She focused on the burn of the water on her skin. Lifting a hand, she watched droplets of water trail down her ruined fingertips. No, she wasn’t truly free. This life came with shackles. Using Chaos had felt too good. Her hunger for it kept her mind cycling back to the idea of indulging fully in its raw, vicious power.
Your lack of commitment disgusts us, Chaos growled in her mind.Without our help, you will be destroyed again.
Again with the fucking voices. Was the death king behind this, or was this the will of the sentient magic alone?
She licked water from her salty lips.What do you want?
For you to explore the Void. You will find a path to your father. You will find what you desire, infinite magic prime for the harvest.
She squeezed her eyes shut, visualizing the beast that had crawled out of her rift in the Boglands. Diving into the Void was a risk she wasn’t prepared to take right now.
She let a ribbon of Chaos chirp between her fingers, just to get a feel. Her body shivered with euphoric heat. Her vision blurred, and her knee hit the hard floor. Cold, dark, thick air pressed in around her as she was sucked into a memory of the Void.
Silver eyes stared back at her, shining with fear.Help me.
She was maybe ten years old, still developing her magic and confidence. Though she reached out a small arm, she quickly snapped it back as Chaos swirled up the older boy’s robes, little crackles of lighting striking out in warning.
Tenah, please.
She didn’t move for him again, and his face crumpled as he came to understand his fate. Then a fury unlike anything she’d witnessed before took over his sharp features.
I knew you were on his side,the boy said.You wanted me dead all along. Murderer!
Chaos speared into his mouth and eyes, muffling his blood-curdling screams. The golden, leafy crown atop his auburn locks transformed into a band of crackling lightning. One eye bled into a terrifying shade of monstrous orange.
No! she yelled, lightning snapping from her fingers and slicing through the memory.
She was back on her knees in the bathing room, panting. Glancing up at the stone wall of the shower, she groaned at the spiderweb of black lines painted there with her magic. Damaging Vesara’s house would definitely not convince her to provide military support.
This was all just madness conjured up by Chaos. She’d never met the death king before the gathering in her home. Never even physically stepped into the Void before her fight in the Boglands.
Tenah slammed off the water and clambered out of the shower. Searching for the least revealing outfit she could find in the armoire, she dressed in a flowing red skirt and a matching beaded crop top.
Then she scribbled out a note to her uncle. Gadreel had eyes on most of the isle’s unclaimed lands. The desert. The Blackrock Cliffs. All territory otherwise unfit to cultivate. Establishing a line of communication with him might serve her well in locating her father. An alliance would be ideal, but she wouldn’t count on it.
