Prologue
Months after the touch of the fire stone.
The realm of The Lost Wailing known as, The Azure.
“I am my father’s daughter.
Serene Deskyiara.
I will follow the prophecies' footsteps and be crowned the Scorching Queen.
But will I be burned in the process?”
ASH KICKS UP IN THE wind, irritating the shit out of my eyes.
I suck in a deep breath, tasting the scorching heat that bakes my skin.
Damn it.Why did I have to touch the stones? I should have known better.
With an irritating glance, my eyes scan the arena. The crowd above watches me intently, their eyes glued on me. Most of them are waiting to see me die.
But I won't, the Gods cannot take me today. I won’t allow it.
Not when revenge is coursing through me, ready to combust at any moment.
Foam spilled from mead rolls down the bricks of the arena from the drunken bastards that have been here for hours, using these games for their own sick entertainment. They should know if their realm has the chosen victorian, their curses will vanish for a year. Yet here they are, childish and useless. They live life, freely, knowing the Queen would never choose them to fight. Maybe the curses should last forever, so they can slowly be tortured till the day they die.
“I can’t believe people die for this shit,” I mumble under a deep breath. “Just to protect those who are cursed, and theirRealm, only for a year.” My eyes lift, beaming a raging glare at them all.
But no matter how badly I want to run out from this pit, I’d never make it past the walls. They all swarm around me in the stands like predators ready to pounce.Hundreds of them.Most in battle gear, midnight-black leather suits with multicolored stones along their arms. Some in dresses, most likely those in cahoot with the Royals of Azure. All craving power.
Yet, I know none of them.
Most of them hate me. I’d hate me too.
The others want me to succeed in this test and yearn for my family line to continue to be warriors—the Royal bloodline.
Most of them are beginning to believe I am her.The one.
The tale of the one true Royal who would be able to take control of any of the four.
The one who would be able to ride them all.
Those of the Realm believe the one true Queen or King, would be able to connect on a deeper level with the gifts from the Gods compared to any others that walk this realm—most of the Realms believe I amher.
But in this moment, with the ash that floats across my boots and the flames that heat the arena around me, my body feels it may be scorched alive. I will fall,die, before I can ever rise to what they want me to be.
But I can’t be her. I just traveled here.
I am lost.
“I can’t wait to watch you die!” a man croaks to my right. His voice sends chills down my spine.
I don’t flinch.
I won’t give in to what they want me to do. Which is to feel weak.
To believe I cannot do this.
