| |
I hated being in the stupid luxury box overlooking what Father called “entertainment.” We were in a stadium that had rows of elevated seats. My seat was overlooking the stage. Nina and Karen, two of my sisters, were fencing one another. Never mind that neither of them were professionals. This insane crowd was enjoying the action. The people who placed a bet on Karin groaned when she was hit in the chest with Nina’s dull-tipped sword.
I was hoping that my sister would run around the stage and tap Karin’s chest for the last time. But then something horrible happened. Nina jerked as Karin’s sword pierced her, the patting that covered the weapons’ tip resting uselessly on the floor. Karen screamed when the sword slid into Nina’s body. My heart nearly stopped when my innocent sister fell to the floor. Nina, the person who was quick to comfort and nurture, was lying there, her life draining out of her. She didn’t deserve what happened. This wasn’t right.
“One bastard down, another one to go. I knew the plan would work,” Lady Valera said in Nerth. The glee in her eyes caused rage to twist in my gut. My hands lit up as I stared at the monster who was happy to see an innocent person fall. She was terrible, despicable, uncaring. She played games, poisoned people, hungered for others to fail. This woman abused people she was supposed to protect. Because of her status, she was untouchable. Rage flooded every ounce of my being, and the only thought that reached my brain was that this cruel woman needed to pay.
I sent the wave of power into that monster and she was no more.
No! Christian mentally shouted to me. I felt fire burning in my body, and then I was somewhere else.
***
Blazing pain wrapped around my wrist, causing my vision to grow fuzzy. I took a deep breath, trying to focus through the agony. Father shot me after I killed Lady Peirc, I thought to myself. Maybe the guard the evil lord ordered to terminate me failed. I probably found a way out of the estate. That part made no sense, since my slipper-clad feet showed no signs of a desperate run through the castle. Either way, I was on the platform, standing beside an orange flyer. If only I had the skill set to pilot one of those stupid things, I could get away. Too early. Christian’s words made no sense.
Nina is dead, I mentally said, the anger giving way to despair. Nina’s life was over, my mother was on Janton, and me... What in the hell was I going to do?
“Don’t move a muscle,” a male voice warned. Crap. A guard caught up, interrupting my attempt to escape.
Sorry, Gwen, I couldn’t get you far enough. The blictar is interfering with my powers, Cristian mentally explained to me.
What is blictar? I mentally asked him.
Focus. You aren’t going to get away today. But I’ll figure something out, Christian promised me.
Don’t leave me, I pleaded. I didn’t feel the warmth of Christian’s mind, which was unsettling.
“You can face me, just hold up your hands first,” the guard said. Cooperation was key. I turned to face the guard, who was tall, lanky, with black hair and golden-brown skin. His eyes were violet, a shade that was more common on Neretha than on Earth. His expression was neutral, but his grip on the laser rod let me know that he was going to shoot if I made a sudden move. My energy was nearly depleted, which meant that I couldn’t take this man down in a fight. Besides, if I attacked, what would be my next course of action? I would need to toss myself on Lord Peirc’s mercy in hopes that a better way would reveal itself.
“What are my orders?” I asked, knowing that a lot of pain was in my future.
“Who gave you a Hyndroyl crystal?” His question brought my mind back to sitting in Lady Valera’s sitting room, writhing in agony as my crystal was destroyed.
“No one. This power comes naturally to me,” I answered, figuring that being honest was the way to go.
The guard frowned. “I was told that humans were a dry species.” “Dry” was what they called a species that didn’t possess innate magical abilities. I shrugged, not understanding what was happening. My wrist stung again, and I hungered to peer at it. But the movement was most likely going to cause this guard to fire his weapon.
“Lord Peirc wants me to lock you in the dungeon. Will you go willingly?”
“Yes.” What other choice was available to me? I could blast this guard into next week, but then what? I had no clue how to pilot a flyer. David was the only sibling I was comfortable enough to take rides from, and he was nowhere in sight. Besides, he would never help me out of this situation. His-number one priority was his mother. He couldn’t risk Father punishing her to send a message to him.
“Lead the way. If you try anything, I’ll shoot you,” he threatened.
“I won’t try anything.” Hoping that father was greedy enough to keep me alive, I made the trek to the dungeon.
The dungeon was nothing more than a high-ceilinged hallway with rows of closed doors on either side. The name was given to this place because it was a torture chamber of sorts. There were tables where father could strap someone down and deliver different levels of light punishments, no bleeding required.
“Room nineteen,” the guard said. I walked down the hallway and stopped when I spotted room nineteen. The guard pressed his palm against the door jam and the door vanished, revealing a room with two twin-sized beds. Lex rested in one of them, his hands and feet holding chainless restraints, a cutting-edge device that father splurged to put in some of the rooms. The devices made it impossible for someone to move their arms and legs. Father enjoyed that there were no chains involved. He liked his walls bare of bolts required to attach them to the wall. Besides, the restraints were portable and were controlled by a remote, making it the perfect restraint to use for torture.
“Get on the bed,” the guard ordered.
Lex glared at the guard. “Let me out of here. I’m telling you, Vanessa shoved me in here for helping Lady Valera with something.” Lex was a despicable human being. He deserved to be in the dungeon.
“If the lord wanted you out of here, he would have freed you,” the guard replied, sounding annoyed. I ignored Lex and sat on the bed.
“Lie down,” the guard ordered. Sighing, I followed his instructions, and was surprised when the guard nodded and left the room. The door reappeared, leaving me alone with my very unhappy brother.
Your father won’t risk using a device on you. He’s worried that you’ll destroy his equipment, Christian telepathically told me.
Who are you? I asked, desperate to gleam more information from the man in my head.
You’re not ready for that answer yet, Gwen.
How do you know?
You could have taken out the guard. He was alone, and I could have taught you how to fly the flyer. But you’re conditioned to obey your father, despite how angry you are with him. His words pissed me off.
Like I knew that you could have taught me how to use a flyer. Christian, I don’t know you or what you’re capable of! I mentally shouted at him.
Fair enough. But you aren’t prepared to kill to defend yourself. The only reason why the lady was dead was because she admitted to the stunt with Nina, Christian argued. The moment that the sword slammed into Nina’s chest filled me with so much rage that I swore I could have destroyed the stadium with one pulse of light. Now that I was trapped in the dungeon, I was mentally and physically drained.
Nina isn’t dead. Karen used a stolen ability to heal her. Great, I acted too soon and was going to pay for it. Dammit. All I needed to do was wait a moment, and I would have seen a miracle unfold, right in front of my eyes. But then my mind focused on the second part of Christian’s statement.
What do you mean by stolen ability? I asked. Christian’s warm presence abandoned me for a second time, and Lex’s voice reached my ears.
“How did you land in here, Gwen?”
“I killed Lady Valera,” I flatly responded, hating myself for the impulsive move. It turned out that avenging Nina was all for nothing.
“That must have felt good,” Lex replied. “But it was a stupid move. You’re screwed.” I was about to tell Lex to shut up when the door opened. Moments later, Lord Peirc stood in the doorway, a scowl twisting his features.
“I would give you a light punishment, but it will only make you destroy the room. So I decided to do something else,” he said. Terror filled me when Father stepped aside to reveal a terrified-looking Claire. I wanted to vomit, having the feeling that I knew exactly what Lord Peirc’s intentions were. Lex glanced my way, horror in his brown eyes. Claire was dressed in black, a bruise on her cheekbone. She’d fought whatever guard took her from her quarters.
“There’s no need to hurt Claire,” I said, desperate to reason with the evil man.
Lord Peirc laughed. “If Rose were still here, I would do this to her. I figure since Anastacia is one of your closest friends, this will hurt.” Claire made eye contact with me, nothing but acceptance on her face. I needed to do something. I wasn’t completely helpless, dammit. I sat up and attempted to reach my ball of light, but nothing happened.
Your power is being blocked, Gwen. Sorry, there’s nothing you can do, Christian said, sorrow in his mental voice. No. This couldn’t be happening! There had to be a way to get out of this.
“You don’t have to do this. I had no idea that my power would react that way. Hell, you took out my Hyndroyl crystal, I’m not supposed to have abilities. I—”
“Shut up,” Father screeched. “My wife is dead and all you can say is it was an accident? Gwen, you murdered the lady of this house in front of the Nerethian elite. I’m the laughingstock all because I couldn’t control one of my daughters.” The guard who had escorted me to the dungeon returned, carrying a sword. Oh, no, he was going to chop off Claire’s head.
“Damar, terminate the female,” Lord Peirc ordered. The man swung, and Claire’s head was removed from her body with one strike. I closed my eyes, not desiring to see the rest of the carnage. Claire was gone, and Anastacia was none the wiser.
“Open your eyes,” my father ordered. I slowly opened my eyes and deliberately focused on the face of my despicable father. “If you do anything to embarrass me, I’ll kill Lex’s mother next.” Lex sucked in a horrified breath.
“Understood,” I rasped out.
“Damar, send the cleaning crew to take care of this mess,” my father instructed. Then he stormed out of the room.
