Page 86 of When Day Breaks

She needs to be restrained until we can figure out how to proceed with her.

"Kacian, can you take Ameliana to the-"

"Ameliana?" Nathairia interrupts me.

I look to see a staggering expression form on her face before I respond to her confusion.

"She's the former queen," I state. Not sure what kind of answer she was requiring.

I see Amy start to get nervous, fidgeting once more against Kacian.

"I know who she is. But-" Nathairia's response is disrupted as Ameliana shakes herself from Kacian's hold and turns around. In the same breath she holds her hand out to him and forces him on the ground.

Kacian reacts with the same debilitating pain that Nathairia provided Zharus. Lucynda pleads from behind me, "Help him!"

Travois and I start to act but we're stopped.

"Stay back!" Nathairia shouts to us before raising her hands and combating whatever is being done to Kacian.

Ameliana freezes before her own agony awaits her, caressing her skull in a sharp ache as she cries, slithering to the floor.

diminuere et expellere

vim extermina

Nathairia chants her spell as she stalks slowly toward Ameliana who crumbles with anguish.

"What's going on?" Troian's confusion travels through all of us as we watch the witch diminish the woman before us.

Kacian stands back, his head clear of whatever had been done as we watch Nathairia take up more space, causing screams to barrel out of Amy and simultaneously unarming whatever abilities she seemed to possess while she grits out a shocking reveal.

"That's."

Amy's cries start to turn to a screech as Nathairia twists her hand in the air.

"Not."

Another scream, her pain reverberating off the cold walls.

"Ameliana."

A final twitch falls from the witch's hand as Amy is brought down to the ground in a slow collapse, silence now permeating as her voice is subdued and her body torpid.

We all watch with bated breath. I can feel Lucynda's hope evaporate, likely wanting to have another chance to know her mother. The twins don't move as they observe the person that lays on the floor, taking in the words Nathairia just spoke.

In a single gesture, the witch jerks her hand in a circular motion before pulling it back to her, triggering Ameliana's body to be yanked to her. Nathairia reaches out to a necklace that adorned her neck and pulls it from her, breaking the chain in two.

I blink and suddenly, the image changes.

Almost like a spirit being stripped from its soul, a ghost leaving its body. But the image of Ameliana dissipates and all that's left is…

"Birdania?" Troy's voice echoes as she blinks in skepticism.

Her blonde hair trickles down her back against the yellow dress that is now clear as day. Utter shock riddled on everyone's face. She stands before Nathairia and dusts off her dress before turning and facing my sister.

"Oh, don't be so fucking surprised." Her snarky tone causes my ears to nearly bleed. Frustration floods me once more.

"How did you…" I hear Lucynda question, letting her words slip into the air as she tries to imagine the different scenarios that could be in play.

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