“Then we will even the match,” Jahr’ad called. “Bring out the dragon whip. Two lashes ought to do the trick. We’d still like him a little healthy—oh, and leave him tied up. We’ll see if those stories about the jagamoor are true. We’re going to watch a fair fight after all!”
I cursed under my breath. Jahr’ad had gone too far this time. “What in the world are they thinking?” I muttered as I charged toward Maveryck and grabbed his tunic. Magic rippled through my veins. “You can’t let them hurt him.”
He glanced at my hand on his collar. “Do you think I have the ability to stop them?”
“Yes, I do. They’re going to hurt him, Maveryck. You can’t let it happen.”
“I assure you, if I had the ability to stop this, I would do it.”
Anger rose within me. “Fine. If you won’t stop them, then I will.”
I marched toward the crowd where Jahr’ad and Zariah gathered around a tall wooden post and prepared to tie Kull to it.
“Jahr’ad!” I shouted.
Keeping my magic trapped inside was no longer a possibility, so I let it flow from my hands and my heart, rippling in waves of amber and blue, so strong it distorted my vision.
Surprised, Jahr’ad spun around. I let my magic wrap around the man and tighten around his neck, slowly compressing his windpipe.
I am so sick of this stupid man.
Jahr’ad’s men grabbed my arms, but I kept my magic wrapped around their leader.
“So,” Jahr’ad gasped, “I should have known it was you. You… you’re no merchant. I know who you are, Sky King’s ward.”
I tightened the magic around his neck, and he choked on his words.
“Release him,” Zariah demanded.
“No,” I shouted back. “This has gone too far. I won’t let you hurt the king.”
I glanced at Kull as they removed his shirt and tied him to the post. Why wasn’t he fighting? Was he seriously okay with this?
Jahr’ad’s face turned blue. I didn’t care. Deep inside, in that place where I kept Theht’s consciousness, came a surge of excitement. What would it feel like to cause another’s death?
A cold sensation wrapped around my magic and snuffed it out. I stumbled and fell backward, hitting the ground, trying to make sense of what had happened to my magic. Zariah stood over me with red sparks dancing through her eyes. Her magic encased me, absorbing my own power until I had nothing left inside.
“I wouldn’t try that again,” she said.
Jahr’ad stood straight as he gasped for breath. “Tie her up,” he said. “And keep her powers away. We’ll deal with her after the fight.”
Rough hands encircled my arms. Jahr’ad’s men tied my ankles and wrists with thick rope that burned as it rubbed against my skin. I kept my eyes on Zariah. How had she so easily taken my powers? What sort of magic did she wield that would allow her to do such thing? I only hoped I could find a way to get my powers back.
Two of Jahr’ad’s men placed me on a bench in the corner. Maveryck watched from his spot in the shadows, and after the men had left, he came and stood beside me.
“I am sorry it has turned out like this,” he said. “I assure you I will do everything I can to—”
“Save your breath. You betrayed us,” I said. “What were you possibly thinking when you led us to this place?”
“The information we gain will be worth the price.”
“Worth the price? It will be worth watching Kull die?”
“I am confident he will not die. However, your stepfather will most assuredly die—and he will die soon—if we fail to uncover the mystery of the lotus cube.”
“I still think this was a horrible idea.”
“I agree these are not the best of circumstances, but you must trust me when I say it will be worth it.”
Kull didn’t scream as the men lashed him with the whip, but I didn’t expect him to. Brown watched from overhead as Kull’s blood dripped to the ground.
Chapter 18
Isn’t anyone going to stop this?
I watched helplessly from my seat in the corner as Brown leapt off his perch and circled overhead. Maveryck and Heidel both stood beside me. Heidel leaned against the wall with her arms crossed as she watched her brother struggle, tied to the post in the arena’s center.
Blood dripped from Kull’s back as two long slashes split his skin open. I couldn’t believe Heidel was doing nothing to defend him. What was wrong with her?
“Heidel, you have to help him,” I said.
“Help him? I hate him.”
“No, you don’t. You know he would do the same for you.”
“Only if it suited his own purposes.”
“That’s not true. How many times has he sacrificed himself to save you?”
She mumbled something under her breath. “Fine,” she said. “Perhaps you are right. But I fail to see what I can do to help him.”
“Unfortunately, I have to agree,” Maveryck said. “Jahr’ad’s men will do the same to Heidel as they did to you, or worse.”
“Then what are we supposed to do?” I asked. “Watch him die?”
The dragon let out a piercing roar. Red magic glowed from the beast’s scales, from the tip of its snout to the spines on its tail. Rage fueled the dragon’s movements as it circled overhead.
Kull was still tied to the post. My heart beat at a frantic pace in my chest. It couldn’t end this way. There had to be something I could do to stop this.
“Maveryck,” Heidel demanded, “you are the one who brought us here. If he dies, you will be held on charges of conspiring to murder the king.”
“I have done no such thing. And you underestimate your king’s abilities. You both do.”
I swore. If I’d had magic right then, Maveryck would have been a pile of cinders.
“I do not underestimate him,” Heidel said. “I am aware of his capabilities, and I am also very aware of his weaknesses.”
The dragon soared lower, flapping its wings and creating a dust cloud that obscured the
