Page 6 of The Queen of Ash and Magic

“Be good, my love,” he says softly. “I love you, Julianna.”

“I love you too, Eyrx,” she says. There is silence for a while before I sense my sister lying next to me. Her cries are soul-crushing, and I want to comfort her. I can’t mindlink. I can’t speak. I can’t move. They think it’s a coma, but it’s not. I have no way to tell them that this is a paralysis of the soul and body. At least I still have my thoughts, right?

Chapter Three

Lysa

“Wake up,” I heara voice shout at me. “You useless whore. Wake up.”

“Mmmm,” I groan and force my eyes open.

“Get up,” Mom demands. “Now.”

“Why?” I groan as I force myself to stand.

“You are moving rooms. Let’s go,” she says before turning and walking to the door. I quickly grab my small bear and follow behind her.

The castle is in absolute chaos as we walk to the main living quarters. We come up to Dad and Aldric and they look concerned. “What are you doing?” Dad asks.

“Taking her to her new room,” Mom says simply.

“Get her new clothes,”Aldric says.

“Come along,” Mom says.

I am so confused, but I know better than to keep asking questions about why she is doing this. “How long was I asleep?” I ask.

“Two days,” she says as she opens a door and walks in. When I step in, I see it’s a beautiful room with a real bed. Everything is clean and Petra is laying a dress on the bed. “I thought she might need something better to sleep in, so she doesn’t dirty the sheets,” Petra says, keeping her head bowed.

“Get her as clean as you can and give her something to let her sleep a while longer,” Mom says.

“Thank you,” I say quietly.

“You are not to leave this room, Lysa. Understood?” she asks, grabbing my face and making me look at her.

“Yes, ma’am,” I whisper. She leaves the room, and I look at Petra in confusion. “What is going on?”

“Let’s get you clean,” she says simply, before taking my hand and pulling me into the bathroom.

“What’s going on?” I ask in a hushed tone. “Why is everyone acting so weird?”

“They broke the treaty,” she sayswith a smile.

Sucks for them. Maybe the dragons will burn this place to ash. It was their fault for casting the spell, whatever that was. They should have been more cautious considering the castle is made up of nothing but wood, glass, and stone. If your enemy breathes fire, maybe don’t live in something that can be destroyed by flames.

Petra cleans my hair and body thoroughly before helping me dress. My body is still sore, but the potion she gave me helped tremendously. From what I can tell, the bruising is gone. All that remains is an ache. Thankfully, I don’t have to worry about my dad or Aldric ever getting me pregnant since my mom performed a sterilization spell on me at ten. I am saddened by the fact that I will never have kids, but I also don’t think I will ever find love outside of this hell.

“Didn’t she want you to give me something to…” she starts to say.

“If she asks, I did. I don’t want you unconscious when they arrive,” she says quietly. “I will find my way to you, okay? If you hear commotion, hide. I will come for you, Miss Lysa.”

“Okay,” I say. “But where will we go?”

“Where the dragons cannot find you,” she says.

“Uh… okay,” I say as she points for me to lie down. “Thanks?”

“Things will get better, Miss Lysa. I promise,” she says. I nod and she pulls the covers up to my shoulders. “Sleep now. We have time.”

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