| |
“Impeccable timing, husband. Please, bring me my daughter.” She held out a hand.
“Victoria,” Jakob said in warning.
“Imagine my surprise when I learned that my darling daughter was being smuggled out of the country—without so much as a goodbye note. I didn’t want to believe that my own mother could be plotting against me. But now, I guess the proof is in the pudding.”
My heart pounded in my chest.
“What have you done to Annalyse?” I asked.
“Nothing.” Victoria waved a hand. “After I retrieved what was mine, I let her continue on her way. But she’ll get what’s coming to her. Then, her entire nation will also—when I take Taramur by force.”
I sputtered, my mouth dropping open. “Don’t even say such a thing. This is madness, Victoria.”
“On the contrary. It’s genius. Although many say, the two are closely related.” She gave me a sardonic little smile. “Anyway, when the time is right, I will have it all.”
“But why?”
“Because I deserve it. I am the most powerful ruler this world has ever seen. I want everyone to know it. And you, you deserve to be dropped like a rock to the bottom of the ocean for what you’ve done to me.” She sneered angrily.
Victoria was cracking before my eyes. The version of her I saw in my visions was emerging here and now.
In a cruel twist of fate—instead of preventing it, I was the cause of it.
My stomach churned.
Isla’s cries drew my attention again as Randall came and stood behind Victoria. She turned to Isla. “Stop crying.”
The child immediately quieted.
Prying my eyes from Isla, I looked at my daughter. “Stop this. Now.”
“This was an impressive little device,” Victoria said, ignoring me as she plucked the glittering necklace from Randall’s hand. “I think I will hold onto it.”
She held her arms out. “Give me my child.”
My heart thudded in my chest.
“Victoria, she’s just a baby,” Jakob said, speaking out again from my side.
“Did you really think I was going to let you imprison me, Daddy? Take my magic from me?” She pouted. “Tell me. How long does your little protective spell last?” She smiled.
My breath stilled. I wasn’t sure, as I’d never had the opportunity to test it. There was a good chance that I was about to find out that my safeguard had expired.
“I’ve determined...” She paused for effect. “That it’s time for a change in leadership.”
At her words, my Elite jumped into action, moving to shield me from any attack.
“Stand aside,” she ordered, her frigid magic swirling in cyclones about the room. My heart sunk when they obeyed—Victoria smiling all the while.
Our only chance...wasted.
“Come here, Mother.” I paled as ice-cold magic wrapped around me like a vice, forcing my body forward against my will. Victoria’s smile widened. “Looks like your time’s up. Kneel.” She pointed to the floor.
Frustration coursed through me. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—give up. But, I was powerless against her commands.
“Tell you what,” she said slowly. “I’m going to give you a choice on who receives your punishment. You...” She pointed at me. “...or her.” She rubbed the back of her fingers down Isla’s cheek.
“If you harm her, you may lose your powers,” I said quickly.
Victoria froze, turning to face me.
“Explain,” she commanded.
The words poured out of me, forced from my tongue. “Your powers were brought forth when you produced an Heir. How do you know her death won’t banish them?”
Victoria’s face turned red as she seethed. She spun, handing Isla back to Randall.
“Take her and go. Send in the others.” He stiffly obeyed, giving me a pained look as he left.
Victoria circled back toward my guards. “Take my father to the holding cell. The one without magic.”
With drawn faces, they moved to obey her will—some with tears leaking down their cheeks.
“Victoria, please. I need to be here with your mother,” Jakob pleaded as my guards seized him. “Listen to me! This isn’t the way!” He fought to get free, but he was no match for the Elite. Jakob had never been a fighter; he was an academic.
I looked at him. “Forever and for always,” I mouthed with a lump in my throat, guilt eating away at me.
He nodded, tears filling his eyes. I lost sight of his face as more guards surrounded him and dragged him out of the room. His shouts soon faded.
Still on my knees, I turned my face back to Victoria.
“What will you do to him?” I asked.
“I’m not sure yet. But I guess you will never know.”
My eyes burned. “Victoria I—”
“Don’t.” My mouth slammed shut, nearly biting my tongue in the process. I stared at her with blurry eyes—my body quivering with a mixture of anger, sadness, and despair.
Victoria sighed, “I’m sorry, Mother, but you just don’t fit into my plans any longer. You’ve proven that you can’t be trusted.”
I glared, my jaw clenching.
How could I have created this monster?
Victoria rolled her eyes. “You brought this on yourself, you know. When you betrayed me. That’s right. You betrayed me. I know that child is your spare heir and all, but you can’t simply get rid of me, Mother. I am just too powerful.”
A man walked in, and Victoria nodded at him as he stepped forward, holding up a frosty black case with golden latches. Victoria squatted before me.
“Do you know what that is?” She gestured toward it with a nod of her head. “I’ve been saving it for a special occasion.”
I knew what lay inside. It was called the ‘Midas Rose’. Instead of turning one to gold, it turned their blood to ice.
“Hold out your hand.”
Trembling, I did as she bade me.
I did this. This was on me.
She reached up, unlatching the case. Placing her hand under mine, she lifted the crystal rose by the stem. Gently shaking it over my hand, an icy blue petal fell into my open palm. Wrapping my fingers around it, she covered my hand with hers.
Guilt, shame, and regret burned through me.
“Any last words?”
Finally, able to speak, I said the first thing that came to mind. “She will stop you, you know.”
Victoria huffed, her disheveled appearance only added to her newly-minted psychotic persona.
“Rest assured; she won’t.” She paused, tilting her head to the side as she watched the Midas Rose begin to overtake me.
“Goodbye, Mother.”
Ice trickled up my arm, spreading from my shoulder, across my body and down into the rest of my limbs. I felt heavy. My body tingled, a prickling sensation jabbed every part of me before numbness overwhelmed every other feeling. My tears turned to ice on my cheeks as my head sagged forward.
I’m so sorry, Isla.
Dark smoke with flickering red embers overtook my vision, slowly clearing as figures emerged.
Victoria circled the final man, then paused, holding a hand out to her side. A guard rushed forward, placing a knife in her open palm—bowing before moving away. She flipped it in the air, catching it by the blade, then held it forward.
“Take it.”
The man complied. He had to.
“Let’s start with your eyes...”
The vision faded as ash and black smoke curled around me, clouding my sight. It cleared again as another premonition took shape, then another. Fresh tears streamed down my frostbitten cheeks as I witnessed flashes of a devastating future unfolding before my eyes. I watched in horror as my daughter, my Victoria, forced mage after mage to do despicable things—both to themselves and one another.
Years of abuse and torture, of pain and fear.
I tried to prevent this—all of it.
The blackness consumed me, pitching my world into utter darkness and silence once more. For a long while, the darkness continued its dance, so I waited—a lone consciousness in the void.
Finally, a light blinked in the distance, blinding me momentarily as a new vision took shape. Hope stirred within me, and my heart leaped with joy, for the tone had changed.
The scene began slowly, picking up speed as fragments of Isla flashed before me. Each time, Victoria watched from afar as Isla laughed, became beloved to her people, and responded to life with grace and kindness. She was fierce. Courageous. Everything I imagined her to be.
Then, the vision shifted, slowing once more.
I beheld a stunning, grownup version of my beautiful Isla as she bravely stood up to the one person all mages feared. She looked to be in her early twenties, with her beautiful dark hair flowing around her. She radiated an air of confidence and determination.
“I’m here to stop you, Mother,” Isla said calmly.
Victoria visibly paled, her expression shifting to one of fear.
White smoke crowded my vision. I closed my eyes as everything faded into a warm, incandescent brightness.
I smiled.
THE END
If you liked this story, you don’t want to miss grown-up Isla taking on her mother in The Counterbalance, the first full-length book in the Ruling Magic Series! Keep reading for a sneak peek!