Zodiac Academy 6: Fated Throne

I stood by Clara’s side, locked in place by the shadows she wielded to stop anyone from making it close to attack us. Lionel paced before us, glaring down at the fight taking place in the pit while the sound of the rebels and Dragons clashing outside called to us where we stood in the royal box.

My muscles were rigid with tension as she forced me to remain utterly still, even my jaw locked tight against any words I might speak while Xavier received the same treatment on her other side.

“How long until my Nymph army arrives to crush these traitors?” Lionel demanded.

“They’re coming, Daddy,” Clara assured him, the shadows coiling around her wildly. “Some will be here soon. Some are very, very, very, very, very far away-”

“You’re the one who told me they needed fresh victims. I only sent them north because you insisted they be given the chance to claim magic for themselves and now they aren’t here when I need them,” he snarled, pointing an accusatory finger at her. “If they fail me now, you’ll be the one I blame.”

Clara whimpered pathetically, turning to me and slapping me across the face as hard as she could, making my head wheel sideways and my lip split as the shadows stopped me from fighting back.

“Your sister is making Daddy sad!” she shouted, pointing in my face and I just smiled at her to let her see how I felt about that while she still refused to let me speak.

Clara shrieked as she lunged at me but Lionel caught hold of the back of her dress to stop her before she could reach me.

‘This is unacceptable,’ Lionel snarled. ‘I won’t stand for it anymore. If the Nymphs don’t finish the job down there, then I’ll do it myself. Every single Fae who has shown up here to fight in defence of that Vega girl has proven themselves to be disloyal to the crown. They’re traitors and this is an act of treason, the penalty for which can only be death.’

My skin prickled at his words but I refused to let them fill me with fear. The Heirs were here, the rebels too. Darcy could make it out of this, I believed in her.

Clara parted the shadows so we could see down to the battle below and Orion shot across the sandy pit below us, swinging his sword with a cry of fury. My lips twitched in triumph as the Nymph he struck split apart into shadows with a shriek of agony as it died.

‘Enough!’ Lionel roared, his voice echoing off of the stands as the Dragon in him showed through. ‘Clara, get down there and end this now. I won’t stand by and watch it play out any longer.’

‘Yes, my King,’ she purred excitedly, moving straight towards the wall that lined the balcony and hopping up onto it before leaping over the edge.

Shadows rose up all around her as she used them to float down into the middle of the battle which was raging below us and I was left alone with Lionel and Xavier. 

My eyes locked on my sister as she fought furiously and that shadow whore moved straight towards her with a terrifying grin on her face as her darkness built and writhed around her.

The shadows released their hold on me as Clara focused on the fight and I gasped as I took several steps away from Lionel, catching Xavier’s arm and tugging him towards the door to the side of the balcony.

‘You can’t leave me, Roxanya,’ Lionel scoffed, not doing a damn thing to even attempt to stop me. ‘We are in the middle of a battle. My life is in danger. The bond will keep you by my side and ready to die in my defence whether you want it to or not.’

‘Then I hope I die,’ I spat at him. ‘And the last thing I see is my sister cutting your fucking head off.’

Lionel scoffed as the taste of those words on my tongue made me feel physically sick. I cursed the bond as it thrummed with life between us, urging me closer to him even though I knew in my heart I didn’t truly want that at all.

I tried to take another step, but found I couldn’t, the need to protect him building up in me until there were no other thoughts left in my head.

“Tory, come on,” Xavier urged, tugging on my arm but I shook my head as I threw a protective shield up over Lionel, easing some of the bond’s demands as I gave in.

“You go,” I choked out, the pressure in my skull lessening a little as I stumbled back to Lionel’s side and he smirked at me triumphantly.

“I’m not leaving you here,” Xavier growled but before I could try and insist, a blur of motion in the corner of my eye made me whirl around.

Caleb vaulted over the balcony and shot towards Lionel so fast I could barely even make out the movement. He bounced off of my air shield at the last moment and stumbled back with a furious snarl as my heart lurched with panic for my king.

‘Hey, sweetheart,’ Caleb said, holding one of his flaming daggers in his hand as he looked between me and Lionel for a moment. ‘Wanna step aside for me?’

‘I can’t,’ I grunted, moving to block his view of Lionel as the bastard laughed behind me.

‘Your mother will be so disappointed when I send her your head, Caleb,’ he sneered. ‘Whatever will she think to find out you’re a traitor to the kingdom you were raised to rule?’

Caleb didn’t waste time engaging in bullshit with him, shooting around me instead. He ripped a chunk of stone from the seats above us using his earth magic, raining the heavy lumps of masonry down over Lionel’s air shield.

My hands snapped out and I threw a fireball at Caleb before I could even consider holding back, the blast of magic exploding against the wall where he’d been standing and making my heart leap with fear for him.

‘Nice try, sweetheart,’ Caleb teased as he shot behind me and I sucked in a sharp breath as I whipped around to face him again.

‘I can’t let you hurt him, Caleb,’ I warned, holding my hands up again and coating them in air with the hope that at least I wouldn’t set him alight if he wouldn’t back off.

A blast of air magic shot past me as Lionel took aim over my shoulder and Caleb sped away again, throwing fire in a wild arc that crashed against Lionel’s shield.

‘Fight like a Fae!’ Xavier roared at his father, making the stone around us shudder as he wielded earth magic. ‘Stop hiding behind her and face your enemies yourself!’

‘As if a herd creature such as you would even understand the meaning of true power,’ Lionel spat as I was forced to shoot a blast of air at Caleb to stop his attack once more. ‘Using Roxanya is me being Fae. If you can’t even see that then I can see that there isn’t any hope for you. You’re nothing but a mistake I should have dealt with a long time ago.’

Xavier roared a challenge as he ran forward with his hands raised and I screamed a warning at him as he released a blast of pure fire magic which was so hot it seemed to set the air alight all around us. It crashed into my shield hard enough to make it rattle but it held and I swore, wishing I could have just forced myself to drop it.

There was nothing I could do to stop myself as I blasted him with a bolt of air and his lack of training meant Xavier hadn’t even shielded against me.

I cried out as the blast hit him with the force of a meteor, lifting him from his feet and slamming him against the wall with a sickening crack. Blood spilled and he fell to the ground unmoving as a sob lodged in my chest.

I caught a blur of movement shooting towards us again and fought with everything I had against the bond, trying to stop myself from shielding Lionel as I clung onto every reason I had to hate him.

A blast of fire shot from Caleb’s hands and I leapt in front of it, not even shielding myself as I threw all of my magic into protecting Lionel and my skin burned without my Phoenix to protect me.

I fell to the floor with a cry of pain and the flash of Lionel’s fire magic blasting over my head was all I could see as I quickly smothered the flames burning into my white dress.

I grunted as I healed myself, pushing to my feet again before I’d even finished, creating a whirlpool of water magic all around myself and Lionel to keep Caleb away from us.

‘That’s it, Roxanya,’ Lionel encouraged as he brushed my hair back over my shoulder and stepped so close that his breath made a shiver run down my spine. ‘Now prove to them where you true loyalties lie and kill him for me.’

The command was like an arrow piercing my heart and a fire lighting in my soul at once. 

The bond wanted to please him more than anything, urging me to destroy Caleb for daring to stand against my Ward while my heart ached and shattered at the thought of hurting him.

‘I won’t,’ I breathed defiantly as the whirlpool fell away beneath my command. 

But as I stood ready to face Caleb again, I held a dagger forged from ice in my hand and I was filled with the desire to plunge it into his heart.

Caleb eyed me warily as I positioned myself between him and my king, a tear slipping down my cheek as the need to kill him burned brightly within me and I silently begged my friend to just turn and run.

But of course he didn’t. He was an Heir. And they’d been bred to be cocky and self-assured until the very end. I just prayed I wouldn’t end up becoming that end.

“Oh, I think you will,” Lionel purred and I had the horrifying feeling that he might be right.