Page 26 of The Curse of a Kingdom
Resolve settled in her with each step she took toward the balcony in the room, the only connection she had with nature. Soon her eyes drank in the wonderful visuals of the trees beyond the garden. The sky was hazy. With smoke, perhaps? Knowing her dreams weren’t dreams, and the Zorren were causing havoc, only made her more eager to get out there.
She had no plan on how to get Arkimedes out of here yet, but at least she wasn’t standing still.
The light summer breeze hit her skin as she focused on a place behind the palace’s palisades. Closing her eyes, she allowed her magic to come alive, feeling weightless as the air carried her away.
She could taste freedom, so close as she floated over the banisters; however, her body just hung there, suspended in the air. She was stuck in between wanting to leave and being too afraid of not being able to get back.
Her energy dwindled at a fast rate, unable to borrow from nature. Her body materialized and then evaporated again.
In her panic, instead of going over the balcony, she backtracked inside her cell. She was unable to feel her limbs, and panic took over her senses.
Her body transformed into wind, pollen, dirt, and other organic things. It allowed her under the crevices of her door, and she rushed down the hall before her magic gave up on her.
She materialized with a pop and crashed onto the floor, pulling the runner with her. The skin of her knees burned from the friction.
A vase shattered as it hit the ground, and her blurry vision sharpened with the noises down the hall. Quick steps and deep voices approached. Nava was on her feet, looking around for a place to hide, but she found only long sections of unbroken walls and closed windows.
Other than the columns on each side of the hall, which provided little cover, there was nowhere to hide. Her heart pounded near her throat as she ran back toward the forest-green door of her room.
Nava closed her eyes and tried to transfer again, but her body remained solid and her anxiety wrecked her mind.Please, please, please transfer.
She reached for the forsaken handle but met resistance. The steps grew nearer as she pulled and pushed. Trying to get inside was proving impossible, but her body was too weak and her mind too panicked.
Her grasp became heated, but the handle didn’t budge. “Please, please.”
She could force her way in, but if she ruined this door, how could she explain such a thing? They would know the bracelet wasn’t working, and then surely she would get killed.
A couple of guards turned the corner and froze when their eyes met her. Nava’s stomach sank, and the ants that had been crawling over her scalp descended over her body.
They took off running toward her, and her adrenaline spiked. Not tired anymore. Before she could think twice, she bolted in the other direction.
“Stop there, witch!” one shouted, and she had a looming sensation of déjà vu.
Nava couldn’t hear their steps over the sound of her heavy breathing. She ran and ran until freezing air sent her flying forward.
The scent of magic surrounded her as she collided with the ground. This time, her arms buckled under her weight and her jaw hit the cool marble floor. Her teeth went through her lip, and all at once, pain erupted everywhere.
The hiss of burning crawled over her back, and she turned around, screaming, trying to put out the fire—or calm the freezing crawling over her skin. The metallic taste of blood mixed in her mouth.
Their steps brought them to her too fast. She opened her watery eyes and gasped when a gloved hand grasped her by the neck. The same icy touch of magic from her back extended down her neck.
Why did they always go for the neck? She wished she could scream at them that they weren’t that original.
Nava grasped his wrist and tried to pull him off as he lifted her from the ground, still choking her.
“You can’t kill her,” the other man said from the back, keeping his distance.
“For Herous, I should.” The man slammed her against the wall, and her head hit the rock with such strength, sharp pain rattled through her brain and black dots danced over her vision.
“The prince will kill you.”
“He can’t. We found her outside her room. The king will protect me.”
Their voices became muted, and the hand around her throat tightened. It wasn’t large enough to hold her entire neck, but magic aided him.
Nava’s hold on his wrists tightened as she clawed his leather glove, struggling against his hold like a fish out of water. There wasn’t any more air left and her vision closed in.
The man behind her assailant tsked loudly, taking a step back or forward, she didn’t know. “I don’t want to be a part of this.”
