Wait a freaking minute. It wasn’t dust … it was ground up mecca stone. No wonder it was so powerful. They literally had mecca energy in powder form. It would make any spell a thousand times stronger. Still, I could barely touch the stone in the royal estate back home. Its power was immeasurable, so how had they turned one into a weapon?
The pain eventually faded away as I lay upon the freezing and filthy stone floor. I was naked, without weapons, and at my most vulnerable, but that wouldn’t stop me from fighting. I jumped to my feet, fists clenched at my sides, legs somewhat steady, staring the three down.
“You can’t break me,” I said, my voice quiet. I would show no emotion. That was what they wanted from me, and there was no way in hell I was giving their queen anything she wanted.
“Get dressed,” the magic born ordered.
As much as I wanted to defy her for the sake of defying her, I was freezing. The cold would tire me faster and I needed all my strength. I dressed quickly, keeping my eyes firmly locked on them. The man opened his wooden case. The dull sconces of light that were scattered up high above our heads caught the glint of sharp tools. I didn’t react, but on the inside I was rolling my eyes. Seriously?
I was a queen. Did they think cutting off my pinky would make me cry for my mommy? They were in for a surprise. I’d been trained to withstand this sort of punishment since I was sixteen. Heirs had a lot of luxury, but we also had to deal with some very painful training. If a queen were ever taken prisoner, we were to choose death over giving up any intel about our kind. Kade would be fine, Finn was safe, and Violet was on her way to healing. I could die now and it would be okay. My people were okay.
Finn! I had briefly forgotten one small point – my familiar was my literal soulmate. I couldn’t die, because Finn would die. Which meant I had to be strong enough to survive this and hope that I either figured a way out, or someone came for me.
It was weird that I hadn’t heard from him since I woke up. Finn…
Nothing happened. I felt a fuzzy reply but couldn’t read it, just like when I’d tried to contact Kade. Whatever magic was around, it was shorting out my bonded soulmates.
Taking a step forward, I was going to try my best to knock out the magic born. Without her, they would be weakened and I’d have a decent shot at escape. But before I could launch myself at her, the evil eyed man stepped in closer to me and pulled out a long, thin knife. I hesitated, unsure if he was about to attack or not. Instead, he reached down and picked up a dark block-like object and began to sharpen the blade upon it. The magic born and other guard – who I was starting to think was just here to carry the heavy torture device case – stepped back toward the entrance.
They bowed their heads, and I had a terrible feeling I knew what that meant. Sure enough, I heard the footsteps moments before the winter queen stepped into the cell, ignoring her genuflecting minions as she sort of stumbled closer to me. I was wondering what was wrong with her, when I noticed the child she was dragging behind her. Oh crap!
My chest clenched as the little girl, no more than five years old, fell to the floor in front of the queen. She was crying, the queen having a firm grasp of her long ponytail, her tiny pointed ears visible, huge blue eyes staring straight at me. This was so much worse than I had expected. They weren’t going to cut me. Nope, this torture was going to be of the heart and soul variety. They were going to hurt this random innocent girl and hope I wasn’t a typical leader, which unfortunately I wasn’t. I’d never been a big fan of sacrificing the one for the many, especially when that one was a child. A child that painfully reminded me of my little sister.
The queen dragged her even closer and I lifted my head to meet her cold dark gaze head on, letting some of my anger filter out. “You’re unfit to be a leader. A true queen protects her people, they do not use them in whatever sick game you’re playing. You will burn in the eternal fires of hell.”
Her minions flinched at my condemnation, and I knew that this wasn’t the first time Queen Crazy had hurt her people. But they didn’t move or say anything. They knew better.
The queen grinned. “Do you know why you couldn’t hold on to your crown, Arianna? You’re weak. A true queen knows she has to do everything in her power to get the job done. In the end, I sacrifice a few for the many.” Exactly what I had thought previously.
The little girl was squirming now, tears tracing down her cheeks as she tried in vain to pull from the winter queen’s grasp.
“Let her go,” I said, utilizing every ounce of mecca energy inside of me, trying to force her to obey me.
The man holding the knife starting grinding it even louder on the sharpening stone, making that nail grating sound.
The queen had to raise her voice to be heard over him, but she didn’t reprimand him. “I will let her go. You just need to do one thing for me first. Transfer that power you stole back to me.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “My essence? The power which was stolen from me, you mean? What makes you think I even know how to give it back? It’s part of me, my soul. How does one cut out part of their soul?”
Her face, which had been calm and genial except for her crazy eyes, suddenly turned cloudy and dark. Icy winds slammed against the walls. “That’s not my problem. You need to figure it out … and fast.”
She turned to the man holding the knife. “Cut her,” she said, as she casually tossed the girl at him.
Dropping the stone, he caught her in one swift movement, his huge hand wrapping around her tiny throat. Without pause, he brought the blade to the girl’s forehead. That’s when I lunged for him. Halfway to him, a blast of frigid air hit me and I was slammed back into the wall. I looked up at the ice queen and threw my own blast of mecca her way, but she easily deflected it.
The girl shrieked and I watched in horror at the man sliced a small gash in her forehead.
“Stop! Okay! I’ll do it! Just stop.” I placed my hands up, never taking my eyes from the child. She would not be hurt any more because of me.
The queen seemed satisfied, giving me a little smirk. I calmed my expression so that I didn’t bring any attitude with my words. “I wasn’t lying when I said I don’t know how to do this, but I have an idea. I will need a night to think on it.”
Total lie. I had no freaking clue, but I needed to buy some time.
The queen’s smirk morphed into a glare that took over her entire face. She started scanning my body, as if she could figure out if I was telling her the truth. “What way do you think you know?”
I stood frozen for a moment, and then blurted out the first thing I could think of.
“The mecca crystals. I think the power could be transferred through one.” I hoped to God it wasn’t true, because that meant giving this evil woman part of my soul, but … I couldn’t stand to see this innocent little girl suffer for me.