“I said that if Commander Rath kills you, the storm will be unleashed and kill him anyway.”
“No.” The room suddenly becomes crystal clear, all of its corners and lines stark in my vision. I pick myself up and plant my hands on the translucent panels at the side. Elise’s elegant form is reflected in them, but I stare past her into the silent, dark Vault beyond.
“On the day that the storm first spoke to me, it told me that my husband would kill me. But it never said anything about being unleashed. In fact… wouldn’t it be happy to be free? It wouldn’t warn me about it so that I could stop it from happening.”
“What are you saying?”
I whisper, “Baelen won’t die, because the storm won’t be free.”
Elise gapes at me. “Princess, I don’t follow.”
“If the Elven Command knows about the curse… or even created it…” I shudder. “Then that’s why they were desperate to eliminate Baelen. That’s why they’ve done everything they can to have one of their grandsons take my power. They don’t want Baelen to win because they can’t control him…”
“Princess Marbella Mercy, you need to start making sense right now!” Elise stomps her foot, but worry chases the anger off her face. “Because you’re scaring me right now and I don’t mind admitting it.”
I itch for my weapons belts, wanting the comfort of knowing I can unleash the storm’s power.Mystorm power. The power that, for some reason, I’m the first to use as a weapon.
I say, “If I yield to Baelen, I’ll marry him, touch him, and transfer to him the power to control the storm. As soon as I do, the curse will be triggered and he’ll kill me. But the storm won’t be unleashed because he will control it.”
Elise’s jaw drops. “He’ll be the first Storm Prince.”
