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I was getting tired of waking up in places I didn’t know.

First the tower, then the mages’ house, not to forget about my little stint in their ‘servant’s’ corridors and the jail cell which made even the worst stockade look comfortable.

Now, while the bed beneath me was softer than a cloud, it still wasn’t mine. The only place that had been close to being mine was the tower, which I’d blown to pieces. Or, rather, the evil queen did.

I didn’t want to think about her or what she had done. But, at night, it was hard to keep the sounds of screams from filling my head as she threw fireballs at them. The look of horror on Master Tuck’s face before he disintegrated into a million pieces.

Worst of all was the rage. The hot boiling rage that swirled in my stomach just waiting for the moment I gave in. To let her come out and play.

Rolling over on the bed, I puffed out a breath before forcing myself to push up out of the bed. My feet sank into the plush carpet beneath me, my toes wiggling in place as I envisioned it was the grass outside.

One thing I missed about the past was the amount of time I was able to spend outside, just living in the fresh air. Everything here was hard and cold, and it was as if nature was not even a second or third thought. The few times I’d been outside since waking in my tower were to go to places.

I just wanted a moment to breathe, to feel the sun on my face, and the grass between my toes. I wanted peace.

The evil queen inside me wanted chaos. Death. Destruction. Revenge. Something I couldn’t control and wasn’t sure I wanted to.

The door to the bedroom opened. “You’re awake.”

My eyes bounced to the tall voluptuous woman who stepped into the room. Her curly red hair bobbed behind her, framing the dark purple dress that clung to her curves.

Rebecca.

I remembered, she was the one who got me out of that prison. The question was why? She called me ‘my queen.’

Pushing myself to my feet, my fingers curling into the sides of my ruined dress as I stared her down. “Why?”

Rebecca broke the stare first, sashaying over to the wardrobe pushed up against one wall. She opened it and flicked her fingers through a few of the clothes hanging there before glancing at me over her shoulder. “Come now. Eva, is it? You know why.”

My brows furrowed. “No, actually, I don’t. You’ve been nothing but disdainful of me since the moment you saw me and then you show up at the prison calling me queen and saving me.” I cocked my head to the side. “You can see how that doesn’t really make sense.”

“I’m not sure what kind of clothes you wore before, but this,” Rebecca ignored my questions and pulled out a long violet dress that’s fabric looked like the petals of a flower, “seems like your current style at least.” She splayed it out on the bed, fluffing it out so it laid flat. “It’ll get you out of that...” Her nose crinkled in disgust at the dirty leftover of my ball gown.

I huffed, realizing I wasn’t going to get anything out of her until I did what she wanted. Fine. I’d play along for now.

My fingers fought with the ties on the back of my dress for a few minutes before letting out a groan of frustration when they ended up into a tangled knot.

“Here, let me, my queen.”

My eyes lifted to meet hers, before I blew out a breath and turned around, pulling my hair over my shoulder so she could get to the ties. There was a steel rod down my back as her hands pulled on the ties, her presence so close to me making my insides squirm. What was her game? Rebecca was the enemy, wasn’t she?

“You know,” she began, her voice close to the back of my head, “when I found the diaries of the last Queen of Phrygia, I thought I’d fallen on the delusions of some fairy tale fantasy. The ramblings of a crazy paranoid woman who thought her step mother was some evil witch set to destroy everything she loved. Her father,” she jerked at the ties until they loosened, “her lover, and then her kingdom.”

I clasped the dress to my front as I turned around.

Rebecca’s eyes twinkled. “She was sure she was next.”

Clutching the dress to me, I swallowed thickly. “Is that so?”

Rebecca moved away from me to the vanity, opening and shutting drawers and jewelry boxes. With her back turned to me, I dropped my dress and picked up the one laid out for me. If I had the luxury of time, I would have gushed over the feel of the material. I slipped it over my head, my hands smoothing over how soft and silky it felt against my skin.

“Here,” Rebecca held out a box. Inside sat a necklace, earrings, and a small tiara all made of silver and set with amethyst stones. “It’s not exactly queen worthy, but it’ll work for now.”

I took the box from her, and something in my chest blossomed at the sight of the jewelry. I didn’t think I was the type to care about such frivolous things but the thing inside of me? She liked it. She liked it very much.

Hoping not to bring her to the surface, I pulled the jewelry out of the box, clipping the necklace on, before sliding the earrings into place. I held the crown in between my hands, shifting it from side to side watching it catch light.

“When Master Tuck, the blowhard, found out about the diaries, he thought he’d found the motherlode,” Rebecca began again, lounging on the chair at the vanity, one long leg crossed over the other. “Thought he’d found something that would get him the Arch Mage position without having to lift a finger.”

I shook my head. “I don’t understand. How did he even know I was there? How did you?”

Rebecca picked up a gold necklace and fiddled it between her fingers. “Your stepdaughter hated your guts. She raved and ranted about you for pages and pages. Had a real ball of rage in her, but she also wanted revenge. She wanted you to suffer. Suffer the way she suffered. By taking it all away from you.”

My lips ticked at the edges. “The tower.”

“Yep,” she popped the word out. “See, she somehow got it into her mind that what you wanted was power. The riches, the attention, the crown.” Her eyes darted down to the crown in my hands.

I sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, my hand falling over my face. “So the tower was supposed to take that away from me. Make everyone forget me, leaving me with nothing.”

“Exactly.”

I shook my head, my hair shifting back and forth. “What does that have to do with Master Tuck?” I could barely get his name out, the image of him falling apart in front of me rushing through my head.

Rebecca smirked. “Tuck thought you were some all-powerful mage. Someone that would feel like they owed him something for saving their life. Someone who would help him rise above Adam.” She threw her head back and laughed. “The way that idiot ranted and cursed when Adam and his friends got to you first.”

The image of Adam crawling through my window that fateful day floated into my head. “And who might you be, sweetheart? Or maybe I should just call you Rapunzel?” My heart warmed at the memory.

“Then,” Rebecca continued with a maniacal giggle, “after he found out, not only had he not been the one to officially save you, but you were human to boot. Oh, that really pissed him off.”

“I can imagine,” I murmured.

Master Tuck hadn’t been happy to see me at the hospital. Finding out I was human had messed up his little plan. Even so, he’d been desperate to get me to come with him. To get me away from Adam and the others. Now, I know why.

“Of course, Adam getting to you tweaked my own plan.” She pushed up off the chair and stepped toward me. “I’m sorry for the theatrics. I couldn’t let them know that I knew who you are, what you are.”

“And you do?” My pulse raced in my veins. The prospects of getting all the answers so close I could taste it.

She stopped before me. “If that bastard Tuck had just taken the time to read further, searched a little more, he would have found out the truth. Tuck and that fake queen—”

“Snow,” I provided.

Rebecca inclined her head. “Snow, right. They had you all wrong. You didn’t want fame and fortune. If anything it was a bother, a necessary evil to get what you truly wanted.”

Something inside of me purred at her words, the crown in my hands feeling heavy, an itchy feeling to place it on my head forced me to curl my hands tightly around it.

“And what is it that I truly want?”

Kneeling before me, Rebecca peered up at me with fire in her eyes. “Revenge. Against all the mages.”