Page 34 of Iris of the Crowned Flame

Zoya forced me to recall several moments where my adrenaline spiked in fear, not just from that night, but from moments where Amyra and I nearly got caught, while learning how to sneak around, and even from my childhood. I focused so hard on my memories, with Zoya walking me through the emotions. The fear, the pain of losing Mother, the anger at not being allowed to live authentically were all used to feed whatever was in me.

Without warning, I felt my body shake with a force I had never felt before. My breath left me, and I felt frozen, completely unable to process what had just hit me. Then a whirlwind of dirt and plants and the stones surrounding us with rose and started swirling around us, lifting me up. I held completely still, not sure what to do, afraid to take in more than a small breath. The debris rose above the tallest trees and formed a swirling, rocky vortex around us, with me hovering about five feet in the air, locked into my sitting position. I looked down at Zoya, who was grinning.

“What are you doing?” I whispered.

“Princess, that’s you.” She had pure joy in her voice. “Let’s get these back down. Take a deep breath and picture them slowly descending to the places they came from.”

She walked me through calming down, and I watched the air around us clear and return to normal.

Once it was safe to move, Lettie and Zoya bowed deeply towards me. “You just did something that took me years to have the strength to do. You are our Queen. The Gods will wake when you call them.”

I stared blankly for a moment, unable to process what Zoya just declared. “What do you mean?”

“You are naturally incredibly strong. With practice and training, you’ll be able to move land in ways I’ve never seen before. It took me a year to move one rock the size of this.” She held up a stone about the size of her hand. “We hoped for you to move a handful of dirt today, not create a tower of dirt visible from the sea. I was supposed to train you all winter, but truthfully, I’m not sure what I can offer for you.”

I breathe deeply, taking the time to process this. With my hands in the earth, I sat on the ground. I could feel what must be the magic flowing through me. It was a soothing feeling, helping me to calm my thoughts as they race around. If Zoya was right and I was already this powerful, then maybe that prophecy really was about me. What did that mean for me?

“What we can do,” Lettie started, “is head back to the others and see what they think should be done. While Zoya can’t help you strengthen, there are methods to learn control, so at least we can cover that information this winter, and maybe the others know more about how we can help you harness strength.”

She must have read my mind. I gave her a grateful smile and stood up. As I stood, dirt rose with me. I looked at Zoya in a bit of panic.

“Deep breaths, center yourself. It’ll drop. When you ground with the earth like you just did, it basically combines to your will. It will move the way you will it, which this time was the way you needed to move.” Zoya explained.

I listened, and as I took my third deep breath, the pebbles and soil dropped from the air.

“I have never been so glad to live in the castle before… wait, could I move the stones there too?”

Zoya shrugged. “Probably. Maybe not now, but I would imagine you could with time and practice.” Mischief glinted in her eyes. “Makes it much easier to hide things… or people.”

Our giggles echoed in space as we started back.

CHAPTER 22

That evening, Spencer snuck to my room to join Amyra and me for dinner. Ivy found reasons to not be there, conveniently. I was grateful for the opportunity to just be the three of us. I knew I could trust each of them with my life, and I hoped that they could learn the same for each other.

Dinner was mostly light conversation. We were all exhausted from the heaviness hitting us lately, and the conversation showed that. But once dinner wrapped up, I showed off a little with my newfound skill. In my bathing room, I had decorated with potted plants around my window to help provide some privacy. I grabbed one of the smaller pots and carried it to the sitting room.

I opened with, “Do you want to see something really wild?”

Amyra and Spencer nodded, curious to see how this would go. I sat the pot on the table and then stuck my fingers into the soil. I used the trick Zoya teased me with earlier and started thinking about the things I’d want to do with Amyra while I stared at the dirt. My thoughts shifted to kissing her soft, full lips, and how they always taste of raspberries and honey. I thought about how thrilling it is to hold her hair in my hand, tugging on it while I have my fingers buried inside of her, taking orgasms from her. I imagined what it tastes like to lickthose orgasms out of her, tasting her honey dripping from her as I hold her thighs open for me.

The dirt rose. I willed it to flow like a ribbon around my wrist and then up through the air, like how Lettie played with water this morning. I watched as it swirled in the air, dancing towards Amyra. It flowed behind her head, then laced itself around her arm in a spiral. I heard her breath hitch, like it was tickling her arm as it made its way down. When it reached her wrist, I willed it to reach out for Spencer’s arm, just a few inches from hers. I found it intriguing; my will seems to have taken on a life of its own. I watched the dark brown ribbons of soil flow around his arm, then dance along his cheek before wrapping behind his head to the other side of his neck, and then down his chest. Once it disappeared below the table edge, it seemed to beeline beneath the table back towards me, up my front and around my neck before finishing its circle around my body. All three of us had a ribbon snaked around us, tying us together. The poetic nature of the image doesn’t escape me as the dirt ribbon breaks into three and then flows around each of us before returning to the pot.

Once the last of the dirt returned, I removed my hand from the pot and finally looked at them. “I have a new skill.” I whispered, an excited smile on my face.

Amyra released a slightly louder squeal. “Lyla, this is so exciting! How does it work?”

She held nothing but pure joy in her eyes, and she reached for me. This woman was my biggest supporter in life, and it was moments like this that made me so grateful to have her by my side.

“I honestly don’t know. I just feel it inside me, and when I connect with earth and then feel powerful emotions, I can make it move based on my will.” As I shared that tidbit of information, I looked at Spencer and blushed. I basically just admitted that I teased him with my power. I didn’t mean to, but apparently, I needed to learn how to influence my will before my subconscious steals the spotlight again. Marrying Spencer wasn’t for love or lust or anything. It needed to be justfor satisfying the Council and apparently satisfying this prophecy.

Spencer noticed my flushed cheeks and his eyes darkened. He knew what it took to make that show happen. But it was Amyra who asked, “What emotions did you just channel to do that?”

I looked at her with my cheeky grin and wiggled my eyebrow. “Are you sure you want me to answer that?”

Her cheeks flushed with a bright pink, but she nodded.

“I thought about how delicious you taste when I get to show you the stars.”

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