Claire has lived a life of thievery and loneliness in the dark and gang filled streets of Camden, New Jersey. She's constantly hiding and sneaking through the streets and shadows. Her only friend is a wealthy daughter who took mercy on the troubled...
Trei stood in his cell, the dark stone wet with perspiration. A small window let in little light and the Prince watched it snow outside. He had never seen snow, having been born after the Stone War, after the Icers had been extinct for years. His fingers ran over the jagged skin that scarred his body. He had never been injured in such a way, his body protected by years of no war and palace walls. His jaw still ached from where Alex had punched him, his side still screamed in pain, and his mouth still tingled from where he had kissed Claire.
The memory replayed through his head on a loop. Her face so close to his, her eyes that captured his and controlled him better than his ever did. Her hands that gripped his cheeks, the pain that raced through his side. She had said that she cared for him, cared for him so much she was willing to turn her back on the King for him. Though he realized she had never had the devotion for the country that he had had. He remembered thinking that if he was going to die, he wanted to know what it would have been like, to kiss her how he had always wanted to. And she had let him, she had kissed him back. The passion sparked a fire of desire. He told her everything he was feeling in that kiss.
How he loved her. How he would forgive her for whatever she did. How he wanted to spend his entire life telling her exactly how he felt. He left himself bare and vulnerable, and she had saved him. Because on some level, she loved him back. He didn't care that she had murdered the King, it was odd for him, to not care. But he was simply happy she was alright, that she was safe. And he knew she would fight to regain control. He prayed she would. The sound of a stone door opening captured his attention.
"How long," Agathenia waltzed in and stared at her fingernails, avoiding Trei's murderous gaze, "do you think it would take you to break if I simply left you in a cold, dark cell to rot?" Trei's chest tightened at her words. He was surprised she had come to visit him at all, with as much that needed to be done when overthrowing a regime. Then again, he was the Prince, and being a Witch ran deep within her veins.
"Human's need company," she murmured. "They go a little crazy without it. You hate me so much, perhaps you'd prefer to be left on you own, hm?" Agathenia turned to face him, her head tilted ever so slightly. He wanted to say something, anything, but his tongue felt like sandpaper in his mouth.
"I always imagined that's what death would be like. A cold, dark cell, unable to move or do anything. Trapped in your own head with no one else to guide you out of the dark places you end up in. An eternity of conscious nothingness." She smiled. Trei felt for his power, but nothing came. It was a void, already proving the Witch right. For so long he had wanted nothing to do with his gift, and now, when all he wanted was to tell the Witch to go to hell and see her try, he couldn't.
"You wouldn't do that." He forced out, his body exhausted and his breath pushing against his newly healed wound. "There's no point keeping a trophy that no one can see."
"Let's make a bet on that, shall we?"
Claire made her way up to her room, carefully pushing the door open. Her room was melted, the entire thing ruined and stained with water damage. She hadn't felt the other two stones, they weren't in the palace. They had most likely been moved for safe keeping. Claire felt like Agathena would find out soon enough, and she also knew that she didn't want to be anywhere around her when she did. The thief from Camden that had once resided in the waterlogged room had been replaced as a haunted girl that had come from Asonia all along. Her past had been revealed, exposing that her entire life was a lie. That girl had wanted an adventure, to get back to her roots, and escape. Now all she wanted was to sleep, to make the pain of losing her friends, of killing the King, all go away.
Opening the balcony, she stared out over Asonia. The land that was about to be upturned by Agathena's rule. Guilt and fear wracked her body, she wanted to cry but the Caliburn stone was stopping her. Its energy was making her angrier, making her want to go back down and kill the King's guards herself, make a spectacle, show everyone the true power of an Icer. It made her afraid of what was inside of her, that she could no longer control the power that raged through her blood.
In the end, they were all made of flesh that could be cut, and bones that could be broken. Yet, Claire's heart was going to be the most damaged of them all.
End of Book 1.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
