“I’m not lounging around in a dungeon cell wearing an evening gown.” She turned away from him and began loosening the laces of her corset until she felt her ribcage expand. Her cheeks grew hot despite the fact that modesty was pointless in their situation. Still, she refused to meet his eyes as she marched to the cell door. There was no keyhole on this side, only solid metal. She hadn’t heard the scrape of a key after Morkai had shut the door, which meant the locking mechanism must be automatic. The barred window was far too high for her to reach through and try to pick the lock. And yet, it was a lock like any other. And the door…it was just that. A door. A medley of elements.
Closing her eyes, she pressed her palms to the metal.
And pushed.
* * *
Nothing happened.For hours, Cora sought the elements within the door. She should have been able to connect with them. In theory, at least. She’d heard tales of witches who could walk through walls, of Faeryn who could carve paths through stone with a touch. After what she’d done under the tree, she believed those stories now. Believed it was possible. The door was iron. Earth that had been heated with fire, transmuted into liquid, solidified with air. The same elements that comprised her body, animated her life force. She should be able to melt it. Move it. Seek the locking mechanism and lift it from its latch. She went through the same thought process she’d gone through at the tree, but not once did she feel a connection to her magic.
It was Morkai. It had to be him. She hadn’t felt her magic as strongly ever since he’d captured her. Not even her shields had felt as firmly under her control. The duke was blocking her magic somehow.
With a frustrated groan, she slammed her fist against the door.
“Are you going to do that all night?” Teryn asked. They hadn’t spoken more than a handful of terse words.
“I’m trying to get out of here,” she said through her teeth. She pressed her palms to the door, but her magic felt more muted than ever. Why had it been so much easier at the tree? She’d felt so strong afterward. Exhilarated.
Then she remembered why she’d done it in the first place.
She’d felt an internal nudge, a clairsentientfeelingthat told her to do what felt hardest in that moment. Her instincts had begged her to fight or flee but her magic had urged her to stay and hide. She’d faced a challenge and her magic had grown from it.
If that was the case, where was her magic now? Where were the great feats she’d allowed herself to believe in?
She closed her eyes and focused on her breath, stilling her thoughts until they narrowed on the feeling of air filling her lungs. The stench of rot threatened to shake her concentration, but she told herself the aroma was nothing more than air and earth and water and fire. She shifted her feet against the stone floor, letting it anchor her. She felt the damp air on her skin, could hear the trickle of water dripping in a nearby cell. She opened her eyes and studied the shaft of lamplight streaming through the barred window. With her connection to the elements made, calm settled over her. But there remained a heaviness that darkened the edges of her awareness, snagging her senses. She followed it, pursued the source, expecting it to lead her to Morkai.
It didn’t.
It led her to Teryn.
From her periphery, she saw him leaning against the wall, head lowered, arms folded. The darkness she’d sensed collected all around him, but it wasn’t comingfromhim. It was coming from her. She could feel it spilling from her chest in angry waves.
Morkai wasn’t blocking her magic. She was.
The realization was so enraging, she felt the darkness gather even thicker. She knew then what her current greatest challenge was.
Hands on her hips, she whirled to face the prince. “Why should I forgive you?”
He looked up and met her eyes. “I never said you should, only that I’m sorry.”
“Why did you do it? What great need did you—a prince—have for my bounty? Why was it so important that it compelled you to trick me into accepting your company, trick me into thinking you wanted to help the unicorns—”
“I did want to help them,” Teryn said. “Perhaps that hadn’t been my motive at first, but I was repulsed by what the hunters were doing. By what Helios had wanted to do. It’s just that…” He stepped away from the wall and rubbed his brow. “I thought you were a murderer, Cora. I thought you’d murdered the queen and princess.”
“You could have asked. You know,beforeyou betrayed my trust.”
“What would you have done?”
She opened her mouth but her answer died on her lips. Had he revealed that he knew who she was—knew she was wanted by the crown—she’d have fled at her first chance. And that was only if she hadn’t felt threatened. If she had, well…it would have ended in a fight. Her heart sank when she imagined how such a confrontation could have ended. “You still haven’t answered my question. What did you want with my bounty?”
“I told you about the scandal,” he said, voice hollow with exhaustion. “About the threat of war my kingdom faced a few years back.”
She nodded, trying not to think about what Morkai had said on that topic.
You could never be Teryn’s queen.
The unicorns. The mother. The child…
Do you know what the prince’s father did tohisqueen? He tried to have her replaced with his mistress. Teryn would only do the same to you.
