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“I am sorry for the pain you will endure, but I have no doubt that you will succeed no matter how hard the circumstances are. You are strong, like your mother.”

I opened my mouth, but she disappeared.

I was left alone, staring blankly at the wall. When I shifted on the bed, the chains rattled, and I held up my hands. I could feel my darkness swirling inside of me alongside my fire magic, but it did not feel suffocated.

I brought forth my inner heat, causing the chains to slowly melt from my skin and drip onto the bed, leaving molten poolsof metal behind to harden. I kept my mind on the task at hand and refused to explore the idea of why I hadn’t thought to try using my magic. Slowly, I stood up and cautiously walked out of the room, expecting to see guards watching me. Surprisingly, there were none. It was going to be incredibly easy to escape. I knew that guards lined the horse stables, so escaping on foot was my only option. My heart pounded, and anxiety laced my insides as I made my way out of the castle and into the surrounding wilderness. My lungs burned with determination to get back to Cerithia, but not because I missed it. No, I wanted to break my curse. And Cerithia was the first step to doing that. I needed to fulfill the prophecy so I could make sense of my life.

Flashes of Cassius’ sad gaze earlier entered my mind unbidden, which made my feet slow down. I couldn’t understand why he took me or why he wouldn’t bind my magic. Was he not scared of me at all? Suddenly, Wisp appeared in front of me as if she were trying to stop me, but I ran right through her vaporous form.

In the distance, I heard Cassius yelling for me. I could feel my darkness suffering as it begged for me to turn around, but Della’s words swarmed my mind. I needed to go back to Cerithia and learn the truths I missed. So, I kept running.

Chapter 11

It took days of traveling, but I finally made it back. I never thought I would feel happy about seeing Cerithia’s castle until that very moment. I was exhausted. Sweat drenched my clothes, and my feet were blistered from running. What did my family think had happened to me?

A guard appeared in front of me as soon as I stepped through the tree line, staggering to the gate in the wall of the castle. His body stiffened, and he blinked rapidly as if he couldn’t believe it was me.

“Captain!”

He hurried over and tried to help stabilize me, but I swatted him away. The guard led me inside and escorted me straight to the throne room. The queen’s eyes frosted over as soon as she saw me.

Yeah, she looks devastated that I was missing.

My family stood at an entrance off to the right that I knew led to a ballroom. They were all dressed impeccably. Each oneof them wearing a crown upon their head. The other side of the door was loud with fae and music. I stopped when I realized that they were having a party. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, though; they had never cared about my well-being before.

“I see you all were devastated that I was missing,” I hissed.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic. We figured you ran away at your own accord.” Gwyn rolled her eyes. “You look fine.”

My eyes shifted to my father, who stood there like a coward, not saying a word to his wife in my defense. I did not look fine; I looked like hell.

“We're glad you’re alright, Thea, but we can’t stop royal duties. Besides, we knew it had to be Falgon guards, and you would be able to handle yourself.”

My head cocked to the side as I stared at my father. The contradicted everything Gwyn just said.

“Falgon guards?” I asked against my better judgment.

“Of course, who else would it be?” he scoffed. “We saw their dead bodies at the Crimson border.”

“Crimson,” I spoke. “Crimson would make the most sense. Besides, Gwyn just said you all thought I ran away.” They had to have sent guards to the Crimson border first, which meant they thought I ran to Cassius.

“Luren, we have a party.” Gwyn gave him a look that said he needed to ignore me.

“If you thought it was Falgon, why did you go to the Crimson border to find me? Especially if you thought I ran away.”They were lying to me.

Gwyn and my sisters gave my father a look that let me know I was asking too many questions. My father’s green eyes shifted from me to the space behind me. I turned to find Jesper there, only a few feet away.

“We were tipped off,” my father lied. My darkness could taste the deep fear he was trying to hide from me, though, showing me the truth behind his words.

“By whom?”

“Damn it, Thea!” My father’s voice echoed in the small space around us. “You do not get to question me.”

“Why not? Did you even send guards to find me besides the ones you sent to the Crimson border?”

“For one, you're his bastard child.” Gwyn’s blue eyes met mine. “You don’t get to question anyone. Now go away; we have things to do.”

“Fuck you,” I hissed at her.