The girl’s fate had been set from the moment her path had crossed that of the Damoras’. This was only confirmation of it. Still, it incensed Magnus that his father said such things casually when Amia’s death was anything but. The king was testing him— checking for weaknesses in his heir.
The king was always testing him.
They were silent for a while, Lucia the focal point between them.
“I need her to wake,” the king said, his jaw tense.
“Hasn’t she done enough for you already?”
“Her magic is the key to finding the Kindred.”
“Who told you that?” His growing impatience with his father’s decisions today made his words sharper than usual. “Some random witch with a need for silver? Or perhaps a hawk perched upon your shoulder and whispered—”
The sting of his father’s hand across his scarred cheek caught him entirely by surprise. He pressed his palm to his face and stared at the king.
“Never mock me, Magnus,” the king growled. “And never again try to make me look like a fool in front of others as you did today. Do you hear me?”
“I hear you,” he gritted out.
His father hadn’t struck him recently, but it had been a common practice in his youth. Much like the cobra, the official sigil of Limeros, King Gaius struck out violently and venomously when angered or challenged.
Magnus wrestled against the urge to leave this room since he knew it would make him look weak.
“I learned this new information from my latest royal advisor,” the king said finally. He moved to the opposite side of Lucia’s bed, his attention fixed again upon her peaceful face.
“Who is it?”
“That’s none of your concern.”
“Let me guess. Did this mysterious advisor also suggest building your road into the Forbidden Mountains?”
This earned Magnus a look that had regained some respect. He’d asked the right question. “She did.”
So his father’s new advisor was a woman. This didn’t come as a complete surprise to Magnus. The king’s last trusted advisor had been his longtime mistress, a beautiful if treacherous witch by the name of Sabina.
“You really believe the Kindred are real.”
“I believe.”
The Kindred was a legend—Magnus had never thought it anything more than that—four crystals, containing the very essence of elementia, that had been lost a thousand years ago. To possess them would give their bearer omnipotent power—the power of a god.
Magnus was tempted to think his father had gone insane, but there was no madness in his steady gaze right now. His sight was clear and focused, if obsessed. The king truly believed in the Kindred and he believed in the existence of Watchers. Until recently, Magnus had not shared this belief. But the proof of magic, of elementia, lay in this very bed. He’d seen it with his own eyes. And if a prophesied sorceress could be real, so too could the Kindred.
“I will leave you to watch over your sister. Inform me immediately if she awakens.” The king then departed from Lucia’s chambers, leaving Magnus alone with the sleeping princess and his own troubled thoughts.
Her magic is the key.
He was silent for a long time, his gaze focused on the balcony and the bright sunshine this afternoon. Potted olive trees waved gracefully in the warm breeze. He could hear the chirping of birds and could smell the sweet scent of flowers.
Magnus hated it here.
He much preferred the snow and the ice, which was what Limeros was best known for. He liked the cold. It was simple. It was perfect and pristine.
But this golden land was where his father believed he could begin his search for the very essence of elemental magic, not in Limeros. And if this beautiful girl who lay sleeping before him was the key to finding it, Magnus couldn’t ignore such knowledge.
With the Kindred in hand, he and Lucia would truly be equals in every way. He didn’t dare let himself hope further—that perhaps possessing the Kindred would cause Lucia to look at him differently. Instead, he reflected that if he managed to find this lost treasure, he would prove his full worth to the king and earn his father’s complete respect once and for all.
“Wake up, Lucia,” he urged. “We’ll find the Kindred together— you and me.”