"I still wonder about it," I said.
His brow furrowed, eyes searching my expression. "Wonder about what?"
"Whether you're the villain in my story."
~~~~~~~
Mara Monroe is at the center of a war she wanted no part in.
But with her new throne she fac...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"B-Bayard?" My voice shook as I watched my tutor enter the ballroom.
"Mara," Andras whispered to me, "he's got the mirror."
In his hands, Bayard held the mirror— the missing piece that Cenred needed for the cauldron. The goddesses did so much to prevent the fair folk from making the same mistakes that Ceridwen and her lover made.
Cedric and I were born to be a built in fail safe so that nobody could use the power of the cauldron without a terrible price. Yet, Cenred was willing to make the both of us pay it.
"Bayard..." I whispered again, "what are you doing? Why are you doing this?"
My tutor wore his shame on his face as clearly as I wore my disgust. Cedric's eyes finally snapped to my face and I gave him a pointed look, trying to get him to open the connection between us again.
Listen to me! Cedric!
Nothing again. God damned it. Panic was starting to rise in my chest, just as the flames that had become my constant companion. They were contained, for now, but I felt them building underneath my skin wanting to be unleashed. It was that same static I felt on my skin when we first entered the Keep. The same type of energy I felt when I touched Cedric.
I looked at him now, and watched as he looked down at his hands. Small flickers of shadows appeared at the end of his fingers. He was feeling the same thing I was.
The cauldron was close. That was the only explanation.
"You bastard," Cedric shouted at Bayard. The knights surrounding him, readied themselves for his attack. "You betrayed her?"
Edwin snorted, beside my ear. "You're one to talk, little brother."
Andras was struggling against his binding beside me, but I knew it was useless. But as I looked at the rope binding his hands and then down at my own, I called the power that was caged inside and let it come to the edge of my skin. My hands warmed, all the way up my forearm. With it, came the faint smell of burning rope.
Edwin tugged my hair back, shifting his knife to hold it at my throat. It was the same knife, I decided, that I would use to cut his own if given the chance.
Cedric's head whipped desperately between where Bayard walked to his father and to me, struggling against the Autumn Prince's grip. My tutor handed the mirror to the king and as Cenred smiled, my stomach sunk lower.
"Why?" I whispered again, "you were my friend."
Cenred sneered, answering for the old man.
"He hates his curse more than he is loyal to you. I have promised to remove it for him in return."
The rope binding my hands was flickering away and I tried to keep the fire from attracting any attention. Luckily, and unluckily, the door opened again and two guards arrived carrying a large pewter cauldron into the throne room.
