Page 13 of Lake of Sapphire

“Yeah. Shit.” Miles let out a breath. “He’s fucking powerful.”

I ignored the jab, I knew Vallie didn’t mean any offense. She had a habit of being brutally honest, and she was right. I’d never seen anyone use compulsion on another ranked Tennebrisian before. From everyone’s reaction in the Hall and at the tournament itself, I didn’t think anyone had ever seen this in their lifetime. This truly made Sie dangerous if he could compel anyone in the entire Kingdom. I swallowed hard. I didn’t want to think about what his total mind control ability could do.

Time seemed to freeze around Sie and Lunder. Sie’s body remained mostly golden, the only indication that Lunder was still being compelled. The King’s eyes seemed to be the only thing Sie relinquished control of. They widened, almost bulging out of his head, showing more of the whites than I thought possible. Sie still hadn’t moved. He didn’t advance as the sword was still pierced through hisflank, the tip of it jutting out of his abdomen. Sie just stared at him as if an unspoken conversation was going on between them inside their minds.

The rage from Sie and fear from Lunder was palpable as the announcer, Effin, broke the silence, “Well this is a wonderful turn of events! Sie has the gift of compulsion against our own kind. It seems he can use compulsion on the ranked Advenians of Tennebris. This power has not been seen since our ancestors lived on Allium. Our kind has long believed this ability to be… well, extinct. Lost like our beautiful planet. What a true gift we have witnessed tonight. A well deserving rank five indeed.”

I didn’t think I would call having a sword coming out of my back as wonderful, but Sie didn’t seem to notice Effin’s words.

“I hope he’s okay. I can’t believe King Lunder stabbed him,” Yuri mumbled, and for the first time ever, I agreed with her.

With King Lunder still frozen before him, Sie twisted and began to pull out the sword from his back. Slowly. Painfully. It was hard to watch. His face was growing paler, a sharp contrast to the golden designs over his skin. But other than scrunched eyebrows, he kept his expression placid while doing so. The blade seemed so much longer now as he drew it out of his own flesh.

I was in awe of him that he didn’t cry or make a sound, other than a small wince as the tip of the blade finally broke free. The once silver sword, now red, glistened in the sun through the air shield. With Lunder frozen, he couldn’t retract his creation. The sword was tangible in Sie’s hand as he pointed it at the King’s chest.

The pool of blood under Sie’s feet grew significantly. He was bleeding out fast, yet he made no move to strike or advance further. According to the rules of the tournament, Sie couldn’t kill Lunder. But he could still attack or do something to make this fight end sooner. Yet he didn’t. He was taking his time, letting his fury fester. Having it drag on did not seem to be in the best interest of Sie’s condition.

“Why isn’t he attacking King Lunder? He’s dying,” Vallie said with worry lingering in her voice.

Some of Sie’s golden markings started to disappear from his left arm. It looked as though he was letting off some of the compulsion just as King Lunder was able to move his head. He still didn’t seem to have full control over his body yet.

“You can’t kill me,” Lunder spat, speaking for the first time since Sie began compelling him.

Had Sie’s compulsion prevented Lunder from talking until now? The thought was horrifying to have someone take away your basic actions. My throat felt dry as I swallowed down the lump. Thoughts of what else Sie might be able to compel someone to do whirled inside me. Could he use his compulsion to force someone to stop breathing? Would their traitorous body have to obey? Would they die, or would their subconscious take over? Could someone fight against the compulsion and force their body to breathe? Deep down, I knew the answer. I knew his abilities could kill. I knew our bodies, my body, would obey him. His compulsion would win out over my own will just like it had when Kole forced me to eat the dirt beneath his feet.

“I know that,” Sie said cooly, still holding the sword out in front of him, “but there aren’t any rules about cutting off your feet? You can still rule without legs.”

The King paled as real terror flashed across his face. Sie’s markings faded faster. I couldn’t tell if it was intentional or if Sie was in worse shape than he realized.

The King threw his hands up, staggering backward, away from Sie. A look of sheer panic flashed in his eyes as he murmured, barely audible through the silent arena, “I surrender.”

Lunder tried to kill our Kingdom’s only rank five. I think everyone was shocked and confused by that. Lunder had killed a competitor in the past, but even if Sie didn’t win the tournament, he would have received a high-up career in the Kingdom. Even I couldn’t deny that he would be an amazing asset for the Dark Kingdom, an essential weapon against Lux if they ever decided to break our peace. An eerie thought, but it was true.

“Do you mean it?” Sie said, still pointing the bloodied, red blade in his direction.

“What?” Lunder whimpered, eyes terrified and narrowed on the sword Sie was still wielding.

“Do you really surrender or”—Sie narrowed his eyes at the sword Lunder held frozen in his hand—“are you going to throw another blade in my back as soon as I turn around?” Sie advanced. The tip of the sword poked Lunder’s neck, making a trickle of blood drip down his collar bone.

“No, I mean it. I mean it. I surrender,” Lunder replied, barely audible.

“Louder.” The voice that came out of Sie was cold and menacing. A chill ran up my spine, even though we were a screen away, watching from the Hall.

Lunder’s face showed pure hatred at the challenge from Sie. I almost thought he wasn’t going to repeat himself. Not many King’s Tournaments ended in surrender. Most Adevenians fought until they were unconscious or dying. To surrender was a show of weakness and power was everything here.

The audience seemed to be holding their collective breath as if they didn’t want to miss a second of it. But then Lunder finally said, loud enough to be heard across the stands, “I surrender.”

The crowd cheered as Effin’s voice echoed for the second time, “The winner is Sie Axel Noren. All hail our future King. Prince Sie will be supervised and guided under King Lunder, learning the ropes of our Kingdom, until King Lunder officially steps down. Prince Sie will undergo a six-month orientation before he can be deemed fit to rule. Then, Tennebris will host his coronation to the throne, officially marking the end of King Lunder’s reign.”

It wasn’t until Effin was done spouting his words that Sie threw the sword at King Lunder’s feet. Lunder shuddered before collapsing to the ground as Sie released his hold on him. The golden markings completely faded from Sie’s body, leaving only blood. A group, whom I presumed were Luxian healers, rushed out to meet him halfway, guiding him through a steel doorway under the arena.

“Why didn’t he just use his compulsion in the beginning?” Yuri asked once the tournament was officially over. “The fight would have been over within seconds, and then Sie never would have gotten stabbed.” Everyone paused, letting Yuri’s words sink in.

“Maybe Sie didn’t want everyone to know about his true power?” Miles suggested. I nodded in agreement. But I felt like Sie was still holding back, that he still didn’t show his true, full, raw power today, and that terrified me even more.

Everyone’s abilities in Tennebris were placed into an official record at the time of their rankings during the Trials. The rankings were public knowledge since they burned the number into your own flesh, forcing you to wear it like it was jewelry. But abilities weren’t so publicly known. Only the High Council and current and past royals had complete access to those records. An ordinary Advenian would have to fill out a form to get approval from the Council to look up someone’s abilities. Most of the time, the request would be denied.

I was told by Vallie that all the records were kept in a book. How Vallie knew that was beyond me, but we were both certain that it was heavily guarded at the castle.

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