ALL US VILLAINS

Chapter Two

It has been a long time since Diana has felt clean. The first thing she had done when the prince escorted her to her new, excessively large bedroom was take off her dirty, ragged clothing. The bath was simple enough to figure out on her own. By the time she was finished with her bath, a servant had lain out new clothing for her to wear.

Now that she is cleaned up and fully dressed, Diana can focus on the problem of her powers— or the lack thereof, to be more precise. It has been four years since she has felt a tendril of her magic. Ever since the night of Prince Andrew's untimely death, Diana hasn't been able to access her powers.

It almost feels like they had died with her lover as a way to remind her of her mistake.

To this day, the night is a fuzzy blur of images. She cannot remember much of what had happened after the pair had drank the wine. Originally, she thought that they had gone to bed. Since she woke up next to the prince's dead body, clearly something else had happened that night. Something that her mind is unwilling to remember.

Her chest aches from dwelling on the painful memory. She does her best to push all thoughts of the dead prince from her mind by focusing on her hands. Four years ago, her hands had been the conduit for her magic. It's the only place that she can truly start due to her inactivity.

Staring down at her brown hands, Diana attempts to conjure a ball of flame. Fire and shadow manipulation had always come naturally to Diana. Without the chains around her wrists and ankles, it should be simple for her to produce either one.

Her magic does not respond to her command, making the woman feel frustrated. Since the deal had gone through, she still has magic within her. She's just lost touch with her access to it.

The door to her room opens. Diana spins around quickly, unsure of how she is going to fend off any attacker. She has quite a few enemies in this palace. Any one of them may believe that they have a chance to take her down now that she's free.

And in this unfortunate circumstance, they would be right.

Liam enters her bedroom uninvited and unannounced. His green eyes are full of anger and loathing while he looks at her. It was the same look he gave her while she was in her cell. She almost expected for the man to try and kill her before she heard of his problems.

"I don't remember hearing a knock at my door," she claims. Her eyes dart over to the young, scrappy guard that is following the prince around. She barely spares him a second of her time before she brings her gaze back to the prince. "Are you trying to see me naked, Prince Liam?"

He glares heavily at her, those blonde eyebrows of his scrunching together. "I would rather gouge out my own eyes." He swings the door to her room shut behind him. "We need to discuss strategy. We will be leaving in an hour to push the enemy line back."

Diana had expected more time to regain access to her powers. A few hours is not nearly enough. "I will not be discussing anything or going anywhere until I've had a proper meal," she states. She stalks over to the large, black chair in the center of the room. She drapes herself across it and smirks at the prince. "I'm thinking something fancy, like one of those cheese platters. Or perhaps that soup your chefs are famous for."

Annoyance is clear on his face. He doesn't want to interact with her more than he has to and her procrastination methods are only pissing him off. "I'll have food sent after we strategize."

She looks down her nose at the man. "The last thing I had to eat was a half moldy piece of bread last night. Unless you want me to pass out during our discussion, I suggest that I am brought food now."

They stare unblinkingly at one another for a full minute. Neither one of them moves a muscle as they battle for dominance.

Prince Liam is the one to break eye contact first. He looks over at the scrawny guard while releasing a sigh. "Could you please fetch the young sorceress some food from the kitchen? Something that's filling."