Page 2 of Forged in Flame and Shadow

I laugh bitterly. “Right. What kind ofmonsterwould drug someone in their sleep?”

My voice is harsh to my own ears, but I can’t speak to him any other way these days, if I talk to him at all. A flash of emotion crosses his face, but I don’t analyze it. I refuse to be drawn into his attempts to provoke me.

“Step aside, Leon,” I say.

“You know I can’t do that, Morgana.”

Morgana. That’s what he calls me now. I’ve forbidden him from using Ana. Only the people I trust get to use that name, and that list of people is vanishingly short. I don’t imagine Leon willeverbe on it again.

“Let us go,” I demand. I use the rage bubbling inside me to find the heat of my sun beam power, letting the golden glow of it dance between my fingers. “I don’t want to have to use this,” I warn him, “but I will.”

“On the contrary, I think you’d very much like to burn my face off right now,” he says with a slight tilt to his head.

I shrug. He’s right, but that doesn’t mean it makes sense to do it. All Tira and I want is to be left alone, to find my old friend Will and lie low until we can figure out what to do next. Mortally wounding one of Filusia’s princes won’t help those plans. It won’t help us stay free—and that’s all I care about right now.

“You have no right to keep us captive,” Tira snaps. “Ana is the heir to the Trovian throne, no matter what her aunt says. You’re attacking Trova by keeping her here.”

“Your country has long misjudged what’s best for it, and Morgana is doing the same,” Leon replies before turning to address me. “For the hundredth time, it’s not safe for you to return to Trova without protection. You’ve still barely begun getting a handle on your magic and?—”

“Stop it!” I’m sick of his explanations, his insistence that he knows what’s best for me. I thought he was different from Etuscaand all the others who told me I needed to be locked up and held captive. But he’s just like them.

My yelling has woken the other soldiers, who swiftly jump to their feet, looking for the source of danger. Stratton is the only one who remains snoozing on the ground.

“I don’t need your protection,” I say to Leon. “I spent twenty-one years having my freedom kept from me. I won’t give it up now.”

“And what, I’m supposed to let you go wandering the Filusian countryside alone? You wouldn’t even be able to find the border again without our help.”

I stare at him, frustrated and infuriated that he doesn’t get how serious I am. Or maybe he really just doesn’t care.

“We’d find a way.”

He eyes us. “You know, we could just bind and gag you both until we get to our destination. We still have those dimane bindings from the border.”

I bare my teeth at his threat. “There’s a reason you didn’t try that with me before. You know what kind of damage I could do before you got those bindings anywhere near me.”

Leon sighs and drops his arms.

“Then what will it take? What can I say to convince you to cooperate?”

“Nothing. You can refuse to let us go now, but know that if you do, we’llneverstop trying to escape.”

He doesn’t look angry, more disappointed, and that unnerves me.

“I believe you,” he says. “So I’ll make you a deal.”

A deal? My anger flags as I struggle to figure out how to respond.

“What kind of deal?” Tira asks suspiciously.

“If Morgana can prove to me that she can defend herself, and therefore protect both of you, I’ll let you both go free. You can return to Trova, and neither I nor any of my soldiers will follow you.”

“I just have to prove I can defend myself? How?” I ask, wary.

“You’ll fight me, one-on-one. That’s better odds than trying to go up against all of us.” He gestures to his soldiers, who are gathering near us now. I see Etusca toward the back of the group, looking frightened.

I hesitate, weighing the offer. Even on his own, I know Leon is very powerful. Fighting him won’t be easy.

“So we go free if Ana wins,” Tira says. “What if she loses?”

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