Page 15 of Ties of Shadow

Stepping up to the cauldron, the prince closed his eyes and dropped a piece of paper into the cauldron, speaking the words written on it aloud. “How can the battles with the Shade be stopped?”

The room brightened suddenly as a narrow beam of light surged from the center of the boiling water and straight to the rune on my forehead. The silence in the room was only broken by the bubbling liquid. The light vanished.

“Who can save us all?” He tossed another paper into the water. Again, the light beamed toward my head. I stepped to the side, but it followed me still.

Leon wrote the final question out on the stand before he said aloud, “And how will she save us?” When he tossed the paper into the cauldron boiled over and turned a dark, deep red.

The seer stuck her finger into the potion, then brought the liquid to her mouth. “With a bond. From the color, it appears to be a bond of blood, Your Highness.”

Blood bond? There were only soulbonds. What dark magic was this? I froze as the prince took one step toward me; his face looked happier than before. “With your blood, Aelia, you can save us all. It won’t be much, Aelia. A quick prick would be enough.”

“It would require it all, Your Highness,” the seer corrected.

My heart stopped beating, and the prince stopped moving, his face contorting to horror. The room fell to harsh murmurs and the shuffling of guards.

“Surely not.” My father cast his arm before me, his elbow nudging me backward. The white scar on his arm glinted beneath his cuff. “Can’t we transfer the sacrifice to the goat?”

Tilting her head side to side, the seer tossed one more question into the cauldron, and a black beam pierced the goat, who fell to the ground instantly. Dead. The cauldron boiled higher, and shards of light shot chaotically around the room.

“The sacrifice was not accepted,” she said.

My mouth was agape, and I had to return my eyes from the goat to the prince. “I-I can’t, my prince, my-my king. Why would you… How could you ask this of me?”

The king stood, the power of his presence filling the room as he paced toward me and guards pressed in behind me. “You always said you would serve the crown. Serve the kingdom. Serve the queen. Now is the time for you to save us all. You can stop the fighting. You can save her life. The end of the fighting would mean healing for Her Majesty. You could protect us all.”

My hands quivered as I clasped them to my chest to still them. He was right. I always helped. I served. I obeyed. I was able and capable and wanted to do everything I could for those around me. But…this. To die? My breaths quickened. I looked at my father, but he was stricken, frozen. Then his shaking hand reached for his flask.

“Prince Leon, tell her.” The king gestured toward me.

My prince, my friend, stared hard at the monarch, his mouth opening and shutting several times before he straightened his spine and took my hand. His voice was harsh and laden with guilt, but it didn’t stop his determined tone. “I’m sorry, Aelia. I—” he glanced again at his father, who shook his head. The prince swallowed, then straightened his shoulders. Any compassion that was once there became stilted and frozen as he spoke with a kingly air. “We will make your death quick and painless. The people will celebrate this day in your name. You will be their savior.” His voice broke. “And Mother will live.”

Was this where our friendship had led us? I searched his face and the seers’ faces behind him. Was this how my years of service would be repaid? My heart raced as I stepped back. Could I do this? Was I willing to give my life to save my kingdom? To obey the king? To help the prince? To save the queen I so dearly loved? My gazefell on the goat.

For the first time that I could remember, I shook my head. “No.”

Then, ripping my hand from Leon’s grasp, I ran.

Chapter nine

Nowhere Else To Go

“Stop her!” the king bellowed as I bolted to the exit, smearing the rune on my forehead before they could use it like they did on the goat—if that were possible. The guards collapsed over me at once; one grasped at my wrist, but I wrenched it away. Ducking past another, I tripped and crawled toward the door. The prince dove and pulled on my ankle.

“Leon!” The king yelled.

“Please, Aelia.” The prince yanked me back toward the center of the room.

A surge of fury rose within me, hot and caustic. “Get OFF!” I kicked and landed a blow on his face. When his grip loosened, I scrambled past the others, tripping one man until I reached the threshold. My skirts wrapped around my legs, and I raised them as far as I dared. The men ran to the prince’s side.

“Leave me. Go get her!” Prince Leon’s shout was muffled as he held his bleeding nose. “Just keep her alive!”

A knife flew past and grazed my forearm, slicing through the thin fabric. I cried out and tried to cover it with my other hand, but then my skirts tangled as wind magic came from behind me swept around my feet. The guards seemed out of practice at chasing human targets,so their magic was chaotic, and their efforts didn’t slow me at all. Abandoning the hold on my arm, I swept up the fabric again. A guard at the door threw a whip of water that soaked my clothes, but I twisted and lost my balance, falling down the side of the hill. My descent rent me from the water’s grasp. The grasses were tall near the bottom, slowing me enough to pick myself up and sprint again. A zip warned me just before an arrow pierced the tree beside me, and I lurched to the side—so much for not killing me.

I reached the deciduous forest, the razewa trees still tall and regal…and well known to me. I spent more time here than anywhere in the castle, and I knew I could lose my pursuers. Their longer steps approached, but I knew my way through. The wind was useless here, and there was very little water for the washers to attack me with. For once, I was thankful for the dry earth.

The clouds swirled and darkened above me, and the world went eerily dark. The canopy darkened the forest floor the rest of the way. I felt the heat of the prince’s flame as he formed a fireball for light. I nearly tripped over the root of the hemty tree but caught myself just in time.

If the cries behind me were any indication, the men had run into each of the forest’s traps, and were now hindered by the roots, tripped up by the deep cracks of the earth, or held by the arms of the naked trees. My relief was short-lived—I had nowhere to run. I had no friends or allies outside the castle. I couldn’t ask Chef to put her life at risk to help me. The queen wasn’t strong enough to protect me. The castle was no longer safe. I had avoided the villagers—most nobles did—and knew no one who would be willing to stand against the king.

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