Sabine

My veins swelled with magic and the weight of Cara's attack stopped holding me down. As I stood, I held my arms out to the sides and I lifted her assault off the royal family. They were shielded beneath my power.

They stopped twitching and gasping in pain but the king and his children all collapsed on the floor. I could sense their exhaustion now that my magic was at its full strength.

"You can't hope to beat me!" Cara cried over the crackling sounds of her magic.

"Don't be so sure," I hissed. I swung my arms forward and clapped my hands together. A magical wave blasted toward Cara, pushing her back and breaking her concentration.

"No, that's not possible!" she snapped her fingers, and her mages jumped into action.

They swarmed around me, arms raised. Those creepy, shadowy arms that had bound me before reaching out across the distance. They bounced off my barriers, unable to find a way inside.

"Stand Down!" I shouted at Cara.

The air around me crackled and sparked with red energy, driving Cara further away from the royal family.

She kept trying to regather her power. Small spells flew at me from her mages but they glanced off and fizzled out around me.

"Who are you?" The princess asked, her eyes wide.

I didn't answer. I forced her into a corner and onto her knees. She struggled against me and she was strong but I was stronger. I always knew I was stronger than her. If I'd had my power when she kidnapped me...

A knife whizzed by my ear.

I rolled my shoulder back just in time to miss getting hit. The knife lodged in the wall behind me.

The mages were armed with more than just magic.

Inhaling a deep, long breath, I summoned a deep reservoir of power, separate from the force I used to overcome Cara. I lashed out with that second string of magic. A spherical ball of energy expanded around me and crashed into the mages.

They were thrown back into the walls and held in place by an invisible force. It took a lot of my mental concentration to keep them there but as long as I held that intention in the back of my mind, they'd be paralyzed.

I returned my primary focus to Cara. Her face was pale as she stared at me. I approached her slowly.

"Stop fighting. You can't win this," I insisted. I reached my arms out to her and made a motion of pushing her down.

She struggled until her shoulder blade cracked. I felt it reverberate through the magical force I imposed on her. Finally, she submitted and went face down on the floor.

"Guards, mages, everyone!" King Talis shouted.

Soldiers flooded into the dining hall. They created a perimeter around the royal family and held weapons at the throat of the mages I'd pinned to the walls.

Several royal mages came in and surrounded Cara. They put a binding spell on her. I felt it the moment she ceased struggling against me.

My collar activated again and my flow of magic ceased. Just in time!

"I need collars for all of these usurpers," King Talis said behind me.

More people came into the dining hall. Mages, servants, and medical staff. The medics ran to the princes and princess first and checked on General Wyatt.

He'd come to at some point during the fight. They wrapped one of his arms in a sling and then a mage came over to help heal him.

My legs trembled. I stumbled toward the table and leaned against it. That was the most magic I'd ever used at once. It came easily but now I could feel how much of my own life force I'd expended.

"Steady..." Prince Cole's words were followed by his hands on my arms. He guided me to a chair.

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I shouldn't have sat down while the royal family was about but I was too exhausted to resist the temptation. My hands shook and I rubbed them against my dress. Beads of sweat clung to my brow and slid down my spine.

"You saved us," he said, his voice low in all the commotion.

"I served the crown, Sire," I muttered, my lips aching as I spoke. I never knew my facial muscles could be exhausted. I bowed my head and closed my eyes.

He gripped my shoulder again. His rough, calloused palm was almost painful against my bare skin. The prince left me to attend to the rest of his family.

I looked around the dining hall and gasped. The mages had caused so much carnage. All the servants who were there with me were dead. Blood soaked the white marble in slick puddles, their lifeless bodies riddled with evident stab wounds in their light-colored clothing.

Two guards stood on each mage, their spears at their throats. The king went from one to the next securing collars to them that a mage handed him as she followed him around.

He didn't speak but he gave each mage a disgusted look.

My stomach twisted and clenched as each collar clicked on and the gemstone lit up for a moment, indicating they were activated. I reached for my own collar. What I'd done now subjected all these mages to my same fate.

"Bring these lowlifes to the dungeon," the king ordered. He waved as his guards and they rounded up the mages, shuffling them out of the dining hall. Then, he turned his attention to Cara.

King Talis snapped at the mages who put a binding spell on her. They lifted her with their magic and delivered her at the king's feet. His eyes narrowed and he bent down, glaring fiercely at her.

"You and your father think you can attack me and mine in our own home?" he snarled.

A muscle in Cara's jaw twitched and she spat in the king's face.

My heart quivered. I knew without a doubt that if I hadn't weakened her, King Talis's mages wouldn't have been able to bind and overpower her.

The king wiped her spit off his face with the flick of a finger. A servant ran over and handed him a towel. He dabbed at his face as he straightened up.

"Well, well. Don't you have some fire? I'll see what I can do about that." He held his hand out to the nearest mage and a collar was draped around his wrist.

"No. Please don't! I'll leave Telasia. I'll never come back." Cara struggled against the binding spell and kicked at the floor but she couldn't go anywhere.

I looked away as the king secured her collar but I could hear her cries and pleas for any other punishment. A lump formed in my throat and I clenched my fists at my sides.

The king put all their collars on himself. That meant he was the only one who could remove them. He didn't intend to sell them as slaves but if he meant to keep them as prisoners, would he torture them?

I shuddered and closed my eyes. Serving the royal family meant I had to protect them. I'd done what I needed to do. The aftermath wasn't my concern. I tried to convince myself but the pit in my stomach spread like a cancer.

When the king ordered Princess Cara to be taken away, I glanced at her one last time. She glared at me with a look of hatred. It melted when I met her eyes. She bowed her head and shook it, like a disappointed parent.

My stomach squirmed again. When I'd gone up against her magically, I'd sensed a strong familiarity in her power. It convinced me more than ever that we might be related. Now, I'd condemned another mage and possible family member to a fate as bad as my own.

Possibly worse.

"Cole," the king clapped his hands together loudly, his voice cheery, "I see your personal attendant has been holding out on us." The king rubbed his palms together as he approached me.

I stood up and bowed my head, clasping my hands behind my back. "It was never my intention to deceive you, Your Highness."

"No need to grovel, my dear. You single-handedly saved the entire Telasian royal family. That is power! And it deserves a fitting reward." he grinned, showing me his teeth. The sparkle in his eye sent a shiver through me.

I wanted to step away but I stood my ground. No matter what favor I'd done for the crown, I was still at his mercy.

"Come, come, I want this girl's collar removed, immediately." He snapped his fingers at a couple of mages.

They came to me and started pulling on my collar, examining it, and tugging me from side to side.

The dead bodies hadn't even been removed from the dining hall yet and the king had already moved on.

I sought the prince. He stood behind his father, his body turned slightly from me. He wore a dark scowl, made more ominous by the shadows across his face.

Right before he released my collar, he apologized to me. It didn't make sense to me.

My skin rippled as the two royal mages used their magic to unweave the spells around my collar. Without my former master, it was the only way. But the collars were designed not to be tampered with.

Sparks zapped my skin. I jerked and clenched my teeth. Each shock sent a spasm down my spine. I felt it all the way to my toes.

It felt like hours passed while each layer of magic was unwoven. As the spell on my collar weakened, I felt my magic returning. Slowly at first until...

The collar clicked and fell to the marble floor with a clatter.

I took a deep breath and brought my hand to my neck. The cool metal was gone, the heavy, constricting weight was gone!

Even when the prince allowed me to use my magic, it wasn't the same.

My entire body lit up with the insuppressible flow of my power. I flexed my fingers and my arms. My connection to everything around me blossomed and I could feel the very pulse of the earth beneath me.

"That's better, isn't it?" the king asked me, his eyes twinkling.

"Yes, much, Your Highness." I bowed to him.

"It's been a long night. I'm going to retire, and I suggest everyone else do the same. Tomorrow, my dear, your life will begin anew." He winked at me before leaving the dining hall. Several servants and guards followed after him.

Alistair and Rosalie were escorted out and the mages and medics gathered their supplies before leaving. Several servants came in and began cleaning up the bodies and blood.

Prince Cole remained with General Wyatt at his side.

I met his gaze for a moment and he quickly looked away. His lips were arched down in a deep frown, his eyes narrowed.

What was his problem?

"My father's right, for once. We should all get some rest." He made for the door and I followed after him.