Page 22 of Of Vows and War: Special Edition
“I am done making excuses for you. Done treating you like a little sister when all you’ve done is be ungrateful ever since Asta left. You want freedom so badly? Fine. Then I will give you eternal freedom!” he screamed.
A fierce pull at my chest forced a scream from my lips, and I realized with terror that Padon was trying to take my seed of magic. He was trying tokill me.
Panic seized me, and I could do nothing but will myself somewhere else. Somewhere safe.
The last thing I thought of before I was wrapped in the comfort of rose-tinted magic was Asta. Was her beautiful smile and her glowing silver eyes. My little sister in all but blood.
And then I felt myself portal.
My feet went from the soft carpet of my sitting room to a worn and cracked wood. I breathed deeply, trying to ground myself. Where had I gone? What would I do? How would I fix what I had just irrevocably broken?
Mere seconds passed, and then a deep and raspy voice shattered my focus.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?”
My eyes rose, meeting the gaze of the brightest blue eyes I had ever seen. And perhaps it was Eternity who had willed me there. Or maybe it was Asta’s soul, somewhere above, watching over me and pushing me towards my destiny. Either way, when I locked eyes with the male before me, I made my choice and sealed my future.
Straightening, I ordered my voice not to slur or stutter and spoke my fate into existence.
“Hello, Prince Bellamy Ayad. I am Anastasia, holder of Sin and Virtue. It seems I am here to help you save your world.”
Chapter Eleven
Asher
Day…
I was not sure what day it was.
Time felt as if it had both dragged and sped on. I could see the light of the fire through my closed lids, which burned so hot it looked like daylight. For once, the ground beneath me was soft. And warm. Had they given me a blanket? Was I being rewarded for killing Theon? I groaned, reaching up to rub my assaulted scalp. But instead of jagged hair and ripped skin, I was met with soft strands of thick waves. It felt just as it had before I had left The Capital. Silky and styled to look less wild. My eyes cracked open slowly, sticking together somewhat and confirming that I had been asleep for quite some time.
What I saw forced my body upright, my breaths coming so fast it made my head spin.
Gold. There was goldeverywhere.This was not my low level room or even my dungeon cell.
I knew those golden curtains and gilded floors. I knew the discolored spot near the end of my bed and the wall of windows that let in the sunlight.
They had put me in my old chambers.
My heart raced as my brain slowly caught on to what was happening. A silk slip that shone the most pure shade of gold graced my skin, my body half tucked beneath thick gilded quilts. A piercing scream filled the chambers—myscream. I dove off the bed, crawling away from it like a youngling who could not yet walk.
No, I could not be in here. I needed to leave. To run. To escape.
Both doors flew open before I could so much as stand, through them walking Mia. She wore a dazzling gold gown made to look like a tree. The trunk hugged her body before the leaves burst free at her chest, full and grand like a summer bloom. Her hair was immaculate, the crown of gilded branches perfectly in place atop her head. Cosmetics hid the freckles on her cheeks, but her eyes still shone the vibrant blue of Bellamy’s.
“Why am I here?” I asked with a hiss. Mia’s brow pinched, her hands reaching forward and fingers splaying as if she were taming a beast. If that was what I was, then it was because she made me so.
“My flower, you are ill. Please, get back into your bed so I can call for Tish,” she begged as she approached me. Her kindness was a surprise. To which I answered with a lantern to her face. She barely blocked it with conjured rock, but I grabbed the vase that had rested upon the side table and threw that at her too. She yelped as it sailed towards her, but that too she stopped beforeit could hit her, the dirt she chose to summon falling to the floor with the flowers.
“Get away from me!” I tried to stand, gripping at my throat in the hopes of ripping off the blocker despite knowing it was not that simple. But, the blocker was not there. My necklace also remained missing, lost on a gore-soaked battlefield.
“Asher, you have been asleep a long time, you need to rest so that we can be sure you are alright,” Mia urged, now mere feet from me. I backed up until I hit the wall, using it to slowly lift myself. This time, I would kill her. No manipulation on her part would see her surviving this encounter.
“I will not be swayed with your false pity, you monster! Put me back in the dungeons and let me rot or face me now. I will gladly give you the death you deserve!” I bellowed the threat, the vow of sorts. Mia stumbled back, gasping with wide eyes and gripping her chest as if scandalized.
“Asher, what are you talking about? I do not understand.”
“Oh, so you deny locking me in the dungeons and torturing me? That lie is rich, even coming from you,Your Majesty.”Her title sounded mocking from my lips, as I wished it to. As she blinked on in feigned surprise, I tried to find anything I could turn into a weapon. But if she had been foolish enough to remove my blocker, then that was her mistake. She also had Tish heal me, based on the lack of pain in my body. I could win this, even with poison in my veins. The queen had all but ensured that.
