Page 89 of Magic Forsaken

She paused long enough for me to prompt her with my own sarcastic, “Or?”

“Or I will inform the other delegates that the shapeshifter king is employing an elemental assassin, which breaks the sacred terms of the Symposium and nullifies his authority.”

It took a few moments for me to fully absorb her threat, and then a few more to consider its implications.

But once I did… A feeling of lightheadedness swept over me, leaving me almost giddy with shock.

Callum was right—Talia was afraid of me. She wanted me gone. The question was why. Because she feared me undermining her authority? Or because she wanted to be able to sabotage the Symposium?

The latter simply didn’t ring true, and even my stupid, useless hunch magic didn’t respond to it. Talia might be insecure, but she was not our saboteur.

She also didn’t get to tell me what to do.

“I’m not an assassin,” I told her flatly. “And that’s a difficult accusation to prove. What Icanprove if necessary is that I’m not just an elemental. I’m also a shapeshifter. I have dual magic, which allows me to function as a part of the shapeshifter court if I choose.”

I saw when the shock of my announcement slapped her, and she literally took a tiny step back.

“You’re lying,” she whispered.

“Maybe I am,” I agreed coolly. “But do you really want to start this Symposium by accusing Callum-ro-Deverin of lying as well?”

“I will not be manipulated by a traitor,” Talia responded fiercely. “Nor will I be treated like a child by some adolescent shapeshifter with delusions of power.”

I ought to have been afraid. No one was watching, and Talia was twice my size. But in that moment, as I faced the enraged elemental queen, I found myself curiously unafraid of her threats. Not only because I was telling the truth about being a shapeshifter. And not because I knew I could hide behind Callum’s protection.

No, this was something more, and I lifted my hands to stare at them as the first tiny seeds of confidence took root in my heart.

For the first time since unwelcome magic flamed to life between my palms, I’d chosen to own this unwieldy power and let it be a part of whoever I was becoming. But I still had to take the next step. To accept the scars of my past, lay my guilt to rest, and do more than simply exist from day to day. Do more than cower in fear of a future that might never come.

I was alive, and I was free. Now it was up to me to stop living as if I were still a prisoner. To set my feet on that road and not look back.

Talia might still attack me if she chose. But never…neveragain would I simply curl up in a ball and wait for the attack to be over. Even if I wobbled, even if I fell, I had to start by getting back up.

I opened my mouth to tell her so, and was stunned when my wayward hunches suddenly flared to life, and for once, actually gave me something useful.

Talia, unlike many of the other delegates, had a deep, personal interest in the outcome of these proceedings—she hoped the new laws and cooperation between the courts might help find her missing daughter. Considering her behavior so far, she seemed to believe Elayara might have been responsible. So no matter how much she hated me, she was unlikely to provoke any kind of disagreement that would hamper her ability to search for her child.

Suddenly, I could see how insidious this siren power could be in the wrong hands, and I vowed then and there to never use it for my own gain. But in this case? Maybe it could help us learn to understand and respect one another.

“Your Majesty,” I said, looking her in the eye without a trace of sarcasm, “no one here is your enemy. Not even me. And believe it or not, I actually want to help you find your daughter. You wouldn’t know it, because you never asked me, but I was taken from my parents when I was only eight yearsold. I grew up without a mom. And since I know what that’s like, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone else’s daughter. So, is there any way you can choose to view our disagreement from a different perspective? Maybe let your argument with me wait until after the Symposium is over?”

The elemental queen looked like I’d kicked her in the gut.

“How old is your daughter?” I asked quietly.

Her voice was almost robotic when she answered. “Chesney is twenty-three. If she is still alive.”

If.

I knew, possibly better than anyone else in this room, how uncertain that answer truly was.

“Then I will hope with you that she is, and I will fight with you to make sure she stays that way.”

Talia’s nostrils flared. Her eyes flashed with blue fire.

It took a brave person to choose to set aside offense. To look past their own hurt and humiliation and grow.

In the end, the elemental queen was up to the challenge.

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