Marithyda Skyelorn has learned the hard way not to trust royals, but to defeat the wicked King Harlan she may have no choice but to turn to the ruler of a mysterious kingdom across the Sea.
*****
With the help of an unexpected ally within the castle...
"Of course I'm alright. I'm the new Commander, in case you haven't heard."
"Oh," Paolin said, and Taileen watched the walls spring up inside of him. He shook his head. "I need to know where Laila is."
"The charade is over, Maxx. We know it was Marithyda Skyelorn in disguise all along." The look of horror that passed over Paolin's face was almost comical to Taileen. Did he really fool himself into thinking she'd never be caught?
"Where is she? Was she ...?" He gulped, unable to finish the sentence.
"Killed?" Taileen finished. "No, we aren't all so fortunate. She and Carthage managed to escape from the dungeons last night with help from a traitorous guard."
"Sabin is alive..." Paolin muttered. "Princess—I mean, Commander—what happened during the last act of the Exposition?"
Taileen remembered it like a blur: tying up Marithyda beneath the stage; torturing Sabin with his own power; the witch bursting up from the stage floor, wreaking havoc on all of the soldiers; Benjamin, struck down by the witch's dagger ...
"None of that matters now," she said, and she wished it were true. "The reality is, Marithyda Skyelorn is still alive and on the run. That's not acceptable."
"Wow." Paolin whistled and raked a hand through his bedraggled hair. "Now I think I understand why you're here. You want me to track her down again, don't you?"
"Precisely."
"Well, you must be mistaken, then, Princess," Paolin spat, crossing his arms. "Because there's no way I'd ever do that."
Better now than never. Taileen closed her eyes and tapped into the well of her magic, which had sat dormant for so long, and directed it towards Paolin. She gasped out loud against her own volition.
Every time she ever used her magic – which wasn't many times – it surprised Taileen how ... good it felt. It was simultaneously a release, a connection, a way to scratch an impossible itch. Taileen balled her hands into fists until her nails dug into her palm, drunk with power. To be so completely in control of someone else's body, an intricately-made living thing ...
Effortlessly, Taileen imagined Paolin clambering to his feet. And he did.
"Wha—?" Paolin said, alarmed. She flipped her hand and forced him to walk over to the opposite wall. She could almost feel the sharp aches shooting up his legs, as though they were her own. "What the hell is going on?"
Taileen forced herself to release him, but it was hard. When the tether fell, she felt for a moment as if a part of her were missing, and then her face blushed with shame. She wasn't like the rest of them; she didn't want her magic.
Didn't she?
"Surprise," she said.
"You're Touched!" He spluttered. She tensed for a moment, bracing herself for the barrage of hatred her father had told her to expect. However, he just stared at her in wonder. "How long have you known?"
She quickly changed the subject, feeling off-kilter. Why wasn't he screaming curses at her, telling her what a hypocritical monster she was?
"Maxx, you have no choice but to accompany me on my pursuit of Marithyda Skyelorn and Sabin Carthage. If you refuse, mark my words: I will do something much worse to you. We leave this evening." Before Taileen lost her nerve, she walked over to the cell door.
"I really thought you were different from the rest," Paolin muttered, staring up at her with a look that she instantly wanted to forget. Even in the dark, his blue eyes shone like Lake Heylweay in Summertime. She diverted her eyes from his scarred face.
"You thought wrong." The door swung shut behind her.
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