“Where am I?”
“A warded cell in my dungeon. We haven’t had to use this thing in ages. Druids are a peaceful people.”
“Why am I here?” I asked. “Where is Cypress?” Anxiety coiled around my chest like a knot. There was something within me that already knew—that already could predict the sense of doom surrounding me. It was like I couldn’t breathe. The more I took in my surroundings, the more trapped I grew. It was almost comical how the taste of freedom made me repel the idea of a cage. Before, my cell at the prison was all I’d ever known. It was my home.
“Do you remember what happened?” my father asked before dipping his mouth into a deep frown. I shook my head while trying to think what he was referring to. The last I remembered was the burst of pleasure that coursed through my body when I made it rain in the courtyard. Everything else felt like a blur.
“No.”
My father sighed and took a step closer to me. I didn’t want to fear this man who gave me life, but nevertheless I flinched. He paused at my movement before crouching to brush his fingers along the vine that was growing up from the concrete. “You are the most powerful Druid to ever enter this kingdom. I can feel it rolling off of you. Under different circumstances, I would be exceptionally proud. Gifts like this only come once in a lifetime. But I wouldn’t wish this burden on anyone, let alone someone I love.” He looked at me with moisture in his eyes. “And I do love you, my daughter.”
“What is going on?” I asked. None of this was making sense. Where was Cypress? I needed him.
“You haven’t been trained. You have a lifetime of pent-up power flooding your system. You’re unable to control it.”
Something dark within me flared to life. “You’re jealous.”
I spit the words at him, and what was worse was that I was both horrified I said them and also meant every word.
He shook his head. “I’m not. Sometimes, from what I understand, when power flows through a person the way it is with you, it can make the person feel off. I don’t believe you’re behaving like yourself right now, and I don’t believe that you were yourself when you ousted Cypress from the kingdom on a gust of wind sending him who knows where. Although you did me a favor in that regard.”
I had done what? “Is he okay?” I tried to stand and couldn’t, some of my anger cooling in my horror of the moment. I had ousted him on a gust of wind?
“I have no idea how he is. We’re going to handle this in a very structured way. First, we are going to find out how much we have to temper your powers for you to have total control of them. Then we will slowly start to raise that level, giving you time to catch up. Eventually, when you’ve learned how, you’ll send enough of your powers off to the world that you won’t have to worry. But we’re not there yet.”
What he said slammed into me. “You’re going to leave me in this dungeon.”
My voice shook, and a heavy presence hit my shoulders. That was the tempering. I could actually feel it. Slowly, it was draining me. “You can’t do this. You can’t just leave me here like this,” I stammered.
“I can. And I will,” he replied with a shake of his head. “Your mother and I already lost you once. I won’t let it happen again, and I definitely won’t allow you to put anyone in danger. Do you realize you tossed your little assassin from your window? If I had to guess, I’d say he didn’t survive. Though we have yet to find his body.”
My eyes widened and a sense of sobriety filled me. What had he said?
“No. I couldn’t have,” I stammered.
“You did. And this is why we have to keep you here. For your protection.”
My father inched closer toward the door, making me jolt into action. I started running toward him, my mind and powers flailing for a sense of control. “No!” I screamed as he expertly slipped out of the door and slammed it shut. I reached for the handle and tried to move it, but it was locked.
I cried out and slumped to the floor while clutching my chest. Power like a dark caress coalesced over my skin and filled the space. It was like the core of our planet was within reach, but I couldn’t access it. My powers were diminishing, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
I started in a cell, and I ended up back in another prison of my birthright. And this time, Cypress wouldn’t be able to rescue me.
It was funny how easily I slipped back into a sense of normalcy. They slowly slipped in comforts far more lavish than Nightmare Penitentiary ever could. I was allowed to bathe daily. I was given the finest silks. My father dropped off books about my heritage, but I couldn’t bring myself to read them. I didn’t want to know how dangerous I was. I was given decadent meals and desserts. Hours were spent brushing my long, green hair.
But the loneliness was the same.
I wasn’t sure how it worked, but as the time passed, my powers drained completely from my body. I couldn’t access that voice in my mind, nor could I access the will to strike lightning in my own heart. Passion was a fleeting emotion that evaded me now. I adopted the numbness I was raised in and embraced it with open arms.
It was easier to feel nothing at all. Not when I’d sent Cypress out of a window on a gust of wind and probably killed him. I
