“No one.” Lucenna yanked Klyde out of the way and hissed at him, “Stay back.”
She could feel her uncle’s Essence crawling through the air, filling every breath she took. He was far past the level of any mage she had faced, including her father.
“Halt!” A group of Shield Guard dwarves in golden cloaks came running into the square with their battle axes drawn. “Detention of refugees is illegal in Dwarf Shoe. Stand down or be?—”
Magnus idly flicked his hand. The awful sound of bones snapping rang clear as all their necks broke at once. The dwarves dropped dead.
Lucenna stifled a curse. She knew her abilities, as well as her limitations. And she wasn’t ready for this fight. With the little Essence she had left, her only option was to detain Magnus. For a moment in time.
And it was going to take everything she had.
But Lucenna had to distract him first. “Did my father send you?”
“No.”
She chuckled drily. “Ah. So yourmasterdid.”
Magnus’ electricity crackled around him, his mouth pursing. Yet the insult had made him fall still, and that was all she needed.
“What did he promise you, uncle?” Lucenna canted her head as she subtly wove her magic through his. It was slow, like water trickling through the thin fissures in the ground. Unnoticed until the damage was too great. “A place in his council? Or my father’s seat as Head of the Lunar Guild?”
His glowing eyes stayed on her. Cold and unwavering.
“Something more? I wonder how generous the Archmage will be once you return forty Enforcers short.”
The tension eased from Magnus’s expression, and it was his turn to smirk. “Why do you assume the Archmage sent me?” His glowing eyes dropped to the ring on her finger.
Her heart dropped. No, it couldn’t be. Magnus would say anything to make her falter.
“He sent me here for you, Lucenna. Is it not time for this to be finished?”
Her magic dimmed, her thoughts tangling as she went still.
When it’s finished, I will find you…
That’s what he promised on the eve of their wedding when she was caught escaping out of her bedroom window.
“Prince Everest is waiting for you.”
Her chest heaved with a shallow breath.
Magnus stepped closer, and his voice dropped to a lulling tone that made her vision sway.“All obstacles in your path will be removed. You don’t need to run anymore. Return to Magos and take your rightful place beside him—as his queen.”
Klyde’s hand closed over her arm, and the haze in her mind instantly cleared.
Lucenna hissed at Magnus, fury rising in her blood. “You attempted to use cognitive magic against me.”
And it almost worked.
Magnus’s eyes narrowed on his hand. “What are you doing?”
He couldn’t understand how a non-mage had broken his spell.
“He killed half of the Enforcers, father,” Artem told him.
Magnus stared at Klyde with furious outrage and said to her, “Are you withhim?”
“He is the least of your concern.” Lucenna snapped her fingers.
