Page 70 of Degradation

“The sentence for treason is death by hanging. Save yourself, caster Pogwid, and beg our Queen for mercy. She is Fair.”

Pogwid barked another laugh and tried to say more. The queen’s rage grew. Pogwid was purposely provoking her. Why? What did she hope to gain? A quicker death?

With barely a thought, I coaxed a sudden breeze that swept up the queen’s person, intent on distracting her so I could touch my power to Pogwid’s. However, the moment the veil lifted enough to see the queen’s face, I understood.

The queen had attempted to take Pogwid’s power, and the spell I’d cast on Pogwid had worked. Boils and blisters covered the queen’s face.

The queen flattened the veil against her face, but the damage had been done. She knew the crowd had seen. Her rage boiled over, and her power burst out like a whip. It demanded subjugation. Philip’s legs began to buckle along with everyone else in attendance, and I quickly fell to my knees beside him as if also under the queen’s control.

“Wretches! Knaves!”

Pogwid’s mad laughter redirected the queen’s ire from the crowd to her.

“I have given you more lenience than you deserve,” the queen said.

Lenience? She’d cut away pieces of Pogwid because she’d been unable to take her power. My anger boiled brightly, and I focused on the queen. Power pulsed around her but not from within her. Casting stones. She wore them all over her body. Stones to hold power that wasn’t her own.

The larger the stone, the more power it held.

I opened my senses to the stones, feeling them like I felt the fear in the people around me. Three of the larger ones were imperfect. Fissures ran through them, large enough for an accumulation of water.

It gathered in the small space, and I thought of the deep chill of winter.

Vividly colored sparks burst out from her wrist and neck, and likely her thigh, though that one was hidden by her dress. The multicolored dust floated around the queen, whose disbelief robbed her of her rage for a moment.

Yet, that was all it took.

Pogwid breathed deeply, and I watched the dust flying toward her.

The queen’s hand whipped out, but it was too late.

The power sank into Pogwid.

I touched my energy to Pogwid’s and felt her brief resistance before she recognized my power. The spell I’d cast had worked. She didn’t remember me, but at the familiarity of my touch, she understood what had happened—that I was the reason she couldn’t remember and that it was important for her to protect me and the kingdom. So, she let me see what she had since our last parting as the ropes fell away from her hands, and she healed her own tongue.

“Hear the truth,” Pogwid yelled.

“No!” The queen howled. “You used it! You used it all.”

“You desire power above all else, and I will gladly destroy all that I am to stop you from taking even a small measure of my power,” Pogwid said as I was still connected.

She nimbly stepped onto the stool in front of her and threaded her head through the loop.

“For the kingdom!” she yelled.

I felt her farewell and her plea not to intercede as she stepped off. In her heart, she knew I wasn’t yet ready to face the queen. If I had been, we would have already faced the queen together.

Gripping Philip’s arm, I willed myself not tofeel—to keep everything contained—as Pogwid’s energy winked out in an instant.

She was gone. The most powerful caster I knew was gone. Our hope to fight the queen and free Edmund and Brandle…

My need for Liam clawed at me. My anchor. My safety.

The queen visibly calmed and smoothed her hands down her skirt. She didn’t feel calm, though. She wanted to make someone bleed. However, the person she wished to vent her ire on was dead.

Needlessly… Uselessly… While I watched and did nothing.

The hold on my thin control began to fracture.

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