Page 65 of Queen of Legends and Lies
I knew the risks when we started this. Knew the danger we were courting in attempting to merge our elements. But with our enemies closing in and time running out, what other option do we have?
Even if the process kills us.
Chapter Twenty-Three
After two days of sipping Fusion Root tea and staying indoors, we both feel better. Not wanting to let too much time pass, we set up our schedules to have the next afternoon free. We’ve come up with excuses for the council, who keep demanding updates on what we’ve been doing at the training fields.
It’s not that we don’t trust them. We just don’t trust them to keep their mouths shut.
With a waterskin full of Alannah’s special tea, we head out to practice merging. Golden sunlight bathes the open field as Sterling and I walk through the west gate.
Out here, there’s no one to see us. The rural countryside stretches out in every direction, the tall grass swaying gently in the morning breeze.
Sterling extends his hands, brow furrowed in concentration. “Let me try directing it this time.”
“Works for me.” After a morning packed with paperwork and meetings, my mind is entirely too tired.
We get started. Once we get past the first couple unsuccessful attempts and really start to concentrate, the connection snaps into place.
A strange mist gathers, swirling around us.
At first, it looks like normal fog, but as it thickens, frost crackles across the grass and leaves a sheen of ice. Then the mist begins to drop, sizzling as it hits the ground in a rain of embers that smolder in the frozen grass.
“What’s happening?” Alarm rises in my voice as the frosty fire spreads, rapidly engulfing the entire hayfield. The mist both freezes and burns everything it touches. Tiny crystals form, and flames flicker underneath.
He shakes his head, eyes wide. “I…I don’t know how to stop it!”
I reach for his hand but jerk back with a hiss when the mist burns my skin. What in Ziva’s name have we created? Dread keeps me in place and seems to have imprisoned Sterling in the same way.
His body is rigid, his gaze fixed.
We can only watch helplessly as the fiery frost rages out of control, ruining the entire crop of hay before finally dissipating, leaving behind a field of charred and frozen devastation.
This is bad.
Really fucking bad.
I try to call the flames back, to snuff them out. But every time I reach for them, there’s nothing to catch. “Nothing’s happening. Can you try?”
“Working on it.” Sterling’s face twists in concentration. “Dammit. It’s like there’s no cold. No…hold on.”
“Be careful.” I shoot him a worried glance, but he’s too busy concentrating to pay me any attention.
Water bursts from the sky in a sudden downpour. The frost stops burning and melts.
The relief on his face is palpable. “That was scary. Let’s not do that again.”
I chew my lip. “We need to go somewhere else before we keep destroying shit.”
“Have somewhere in mind?” He motions for me to lead the way.
After a quick flight, we find a small collection of buildings for the craftsmen outside the palace walls.
It has exactly what we need.
The rubble field outside a stone mason’s shop. Large cubes of marble. Gravel pits of different-colored stones. Sand and salt pits. We don’t find anything too burnable, and no one’s currently working with any of the material.
With only a quick word to the craftsman, who’s happy to have the queen and her consort training near his shop, we resume our efforts.
