Page 12 of The Queen of Ash and Magic

“Force of habit, I suppose. I am just incredibly thankful to be here,” I say.

“This is not a vacation, witch,” he frowns.

A laugh slips out of me, and he grows as he steps closer. “I’m sorry… I just… this is kind of like a vacation. This is the best I have been treated in my entire life. If this is a prison, home is like hell.”

“You expect me to buy that? You are the daughter of a king. You expect me to believe your fucking sob story that your daddy raped you?!” he says as she shoves me against the railing and pushes me back, so I am laying across it, almost dangling. “I could kill you right now, witch. Wanna see if you can fly?”

“Sure,” I say simply. “Can I jump and find out, or is this like a baby bird situation where you push me out of the nest?”

“Gods, you are so fucking annoying,” he grumbles and drops me to the ground. I stand and fix my dress before looking back at him.

“What do you want from me?” I ask.

“Tell me why the spell was done?” he asks.

“I don’t know,” I say.

“Liar. You are just abusing our kindness, tell me,” he growls.

“I’m telling you the truth,” I say. “Maybe it was to try and get more Ignisium. I don’t know.”

“Why do they need that?” he asks.

“Because our land is wiped clean of it,” I say. “Electricity is scarce. Farming is suffering. I guess things are falling apart. I only ever hear bits and pieces, but they’ve been struggling for months with a low supply.”

“So, you attacked our king?!” he yells.

“I didn’t do shit,” I snap. “I don’t know what they even did. I don’t know why I’m here.”

“Fine. You want to see what your people did?” he asks before grabbing my arm and dragging me back into the room and out of the door.

“You’re hurting me!” I yellat him.

“Get over it,” he says as he drags me into a room across from mine. When we get in, I see Julianna sitting next to a large man asleep on the bed.

“What are you doing? Let go of her,” Julianna shouts at him.

“No. I’m done watching you baby her. Move,” he shouts back.

I ignore the bickering and move closer to the man. He is a little taller than Eyrx and his muscles are more pronounced. He has brown hair and a full beard. He is stunning. He’s not just hot. No, I mean, he is the most beautiful being that I have ever seen. I feel drawn to him, so I go to his side.

“What’s wrong with him?” I ask softly. I gently touch his arm and a jolt of energy surges through me, rewiring everything in its path.

“He’s in a coma,” Julianna says. “He’s been like this since the spell.”

“This is what your people did to us,” Eyrx booms.

“I am… so sorry,” I say softly. I still have my hand on his arm and looks like he’s sleeping.

“You’re going to fix him,” Eyrx says. “You are going to break the curse and bring him back to us.”

I sigh and turn to face them, and he looks angry. Julianna is focused on me, and I cannot discern what she is feeling. “Guys… I don’t have powers,” I say. “I don’tknow….”

“Bullshit!” Eyrx shouts. Julianna doesn’t move. It’s like she’s frozen.

“I never developed powers. That’s why my family is so mean to me. I’m a useless witch. What part of that do you not understand?” I ask. “If I could break the curse, I absolutely would. You didn’t deserve this.”

“Try!” he roars. “You’re a lying witch abusing our kindness.”

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