A Clove of Fates

10. Powerless

There was a shadow over me. My instincts kicked in and I grabbed onto the frame of my bed, channeling magic into it.

There was a pulse. Not as big as Aeska's had been, and not nearly as colorful, but large enough to put some room between me and the shadow.

My eyes adjusted to the dark enough for me to recognize that there were two shadows present. The other lingered in the doorway. The original shadow was already advancing toward me again, an object glinting in its hand. But I was ready for it.

I lunged, sprung from the bed and tackled the person to the ground. A grunt.

Realization: the first shadow was a girl.

Second Realization: She was stronger than me.

My advantage of surprise only kept her pinned for a couple of seconds before she was on top of me.

It didn't matter. Right now, the most important thing was keeping the pokey object away from my face. My hands gripped the wrist of her offending hand, forcing the arm to extend out to the right. She struggled and my fingers brushed the glass.

A shock. Faint, but familiar. I sept my magic into it, thinking hot thoughts.

Bingo.

She hissed, dropped the object.

We hesitated but a moment before scrambling toward it as it slid across the floor, ending up on our sides, chest pressed to grether and fingers extended. She kneed me in my gut, causing me to groan and curl up.

No fair.

"Aeska?" I groaned out into the darkness. But there was no response.

I heard the weapon as it scraped against the hardwood floors. She'd grabbed it. Dammit.

I rolled over into a crouching position. I looked my attacker head on. I knew her. The girl from the throne room, Elke's sister. I frowned. I knew that'd I'd really put my foot in my mouth back in that hallway, but is this really the way she was thanking me for trying to save her life?

Was this the reason I was never nice to people?

I swallowed. I was powerless. Crown Princess of Musteri, the Blessed City, and I was going to be assassinated by some girl who walked in off the street. I reached out for the dokkt stjorn with my magic. Perhaps it was this moment of duress, of desperation that I needed to activate it.

But I'd been desperate all my life. Just because this moment would be my last didn't mean that the talisman would be anymore merciful. It stayed silent.

Still, I wasn't about to give farmgirl and easy murder. She'd have my blood in her hair for days if I had anything to say about it. I lunged for her once more, and the weapon finally sliced through flesh.

Too bad it had to be mine.

Pain slashed across my forearm, the once delicately shaped appendage slick with crimson. I took a step back, staring down at it in surprise, unable to believe that she actually had the audacity to actually do that.

I also hadn't ever been stabbed before and I wasn't expecting it hurt this much.

But for some reason, the other girl cried out in pain as well.

I looked over to her to see her forearm mirroring mine. A dark red gash going from her wrist down to her elbow. The sight gave me a rush of magic like I hadn't ever tasted before. I took in a great gulp of air, my eyes widening.

She dropped her weapon. "What–"

I took the opportunity to grab the object from the ground, grasping it in both hands. I pointed it at her. "Who are you?"

"Bundin Salir." I heard a voice whisper.

I swiveled the shard of glass (which was what I realized it was finally) in the direction of the noise, remembering the second shadow. This one was male. The boy from the throne room, too?

Why couldn't they ever be cute and normal? "Who are you?"

"What's going on?" The girl hissed at him.

"Bundin Salir. Bound Souls. I'd heard stories, but I never thought—"

"What does it mean, Fraed?"

"It means that killing her is going to be a lot harder than expected."

What? "Killing me? No one is killing me!"

They ignored me. For the only person in the room with a weapon, I wasn't respected nearly as much as I felt I should have been.

"Fraed, can I please get some specifics?"

The boy shook his head. "There's no time. The guards'll be back here any moment."

The guards! Of course! I opened my mouth to yell, lowering the shard of glass for a second. "Help, in he—"

The girl clamped her hand over my mouth.

I didn't think I liked her very much.

"Fraed, can you magic us out of here?"

"No." The boy replied. "But Osvik can."

And then the dog appeared down the hallway. Quite possibly the most harrowing part of this whole experience. It locked eyes with me, and I stopped breathing for a moment. It bounded over toward us, and a scream was birthed and then died in my throat. The dog opened its mouth wide and barked.

And then we weren't.