Sweat streams down his face. “Lord Commander Rheon.”
I furrow my brows at him. “Thank you, Iywan.” I step back and inhale deeply, reveling in the heat of the flames all around us. Iywan’s head darts left and right, taking in the growing blaze so close to engulfing him. I want to watch him burn. I want to watch the skin melt off his bones and his bones turn to ashes.
“Your mother would be so horrified,” Iywan says.
His words douse me like icy water. I draw in a shuddery breath as the overpowering heat inside me flickers. “My mother would be horrified?” I ask. “Byme?” I point the dagger at my chest and he follows the movement. “Youkept her alive with magic, prolonged her suffering, turned the entire Council, the entire royal staff against her daughter. She trusted you.Itrusted you; you were once like the father I’d lost. You were supposed to be onmyside. You were supposed to help me.”
The fires around me begin to dwindle and Iywan slumps against the wall, hope washing over his face. “I did what neither of you could,” he says. “For our kingdom. For your own good. I did what I had to!”
FINISH THIS, the cold voice in my head roars, and that heat rises within me like the high tide.
“Well, then… I suppose you’ll understand that I’m doing whatIhave to.”
Iywan’s eyes widen, a question parting his lips. I step back and clench my fists, sending up a wall of flames that aren’t nearly as powerful as moments ago, but Iywan’s shrieks follow.
I back away, the flames behind me parting like water around a boulder as I make my way toward the door.
Iywan’s screams die by the time I’m past the charred bodies and ash of the councilors and out of the chamber. The doors slam behind me, and I press my back against it, trying to catch my breath as the cold presence within me fades away.
A tremor runs through me, jarring my bones, pain radiating everywhere. My face smarts, my vision spots, and my stomach churns. I double over and dry heave uncontrollably. I have nothing to give, but the heaving doesn’t stop for a while. I take a few steps forward and drop to the floor as sobs render me immobile.
I never want to sense that cold, alluring presence in my mind again.
Enchantress… it’s what Briony had called me and what I’d heard my own voice speak.
As if I’ve summoned her, Briony’s soft voice travels down the corridor. “Princess?”
I lift my head as she approaches. “What’s happening to me?” My head pounds in time with my erratic heart.
“The fulfillment of a prophecy,” she says.
My vision begins to wane, and I blink repeatedly.
“We need to get you healed. May I touch your face? You’re bleeding rather profusely.”
My stomach dips and roils as my body recalls Eefa slicing me across my face. I nod and everything wavers, my body becoming both heavy and light at the same time. Then I succumb to unconsciousness.
When I come to again, Briony’s face hovers over mine. I’m flat on my back, and the pain in my face is gone.
“Here, let’s sit you up. You need to drink something,” she says. She slides a hand beneath my shoulder blades and helps me sit up. Then she hands me a goblet that was sitting on the floor beside her. “Recovery elixir,” she says. “It’ll help a little as… everything wears off.”
Without question I lift it to my lips.
“Drink slowly,” she warns.
I take a sip and fight the urge to guzzle down the sweet, lukewarm elixir. After a few sips, I try to focus on the priestess through my dizziness. Slowly, my head starts to clear.
“Briony? Were you ever on Iywan’s side?”
She winces at the question. “Yes. I believed in the mission of the Zenith until I realized that they had it all wrong.”
“You called me Enchantress,” I say. IcalledmyselfEnchantress. I shiver.
“Years ago, it was believed that the Heirs of Dusk and Embers banished Enidwen from the realm. The jury’s still out. The truth is that she wasn’t banished right away. A lot is still left to discover, but what has been speculated for years among priests and scholars of the old religion, what has become startlingly clear, is that her spirit—in fact, hers and the Underling Prince’s—lived on. Passing through the generations, through the descendants of the Heirs.
“Her spirit has lain semi-dormant, but it was prophesied that one day it would awaken within one of Agryna’s Chosen—that is, one touched by fire. You bear the curse of Enidwen through your mother’s bloodline and firewielding from the sun goddess through your father’s. The Zenith has been looking for the one who is going to continue Enidwen’s mission to open the Veil. They thought they’d found her through your mother, but soon they realized there’s more than one person who shares her blood.”
My body is weighty and my mind too sluggish perhaps to fully process this new information. Agryna’s Chosen? Curse of Enidwen? A true descendant of the sun goddess?
