Elara's POV
The dungeon door crashed open.
I jerked awake on the cold stone floor, my heart hammering. A figure stood in the doorway, backlit by torchlight.
King Cassius.
He was alone. No guards. No servants. And the crown on his head wasn't glowing that sickly black color anymore.
Get up, he said urgently. Quickly. We don't have much time.
I scrambled to my feet, confused. What's happening? Are you going to
I'm not going to hurt you. He pulled out a key and unlocked my cell. The crown's control is weaker at night. It gives me a few hours where I can think clearly. Where I can be me.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me into the hallway, locking the cell behind us. There's a hidden room two floors up. We can talk there safely.
Talk about what?
Everything, he said. The truth you need to know before tomorrow.
We ran through dark corridors, him leading the way like he'd done this before. Finally, he pushed open a door I'd never noticed it looked like part of the stone wall. Inside was a small room with books piled everywhere and a single candle burning.
He closed the door and turned to face me. Without the crown's black magic twisting his features, he looked different. Younger. Almost... scared.
Sit, he said. Please.
I sat on the floor, too nervous to speak. He sat across from me, running his hands through his hair.
Thirteen years ago, he began, his voice shaking, assassins murdered my father. I was sixteen. They put the crown on my head immediately because the kingdom needed a king. He looked up at me with haunted eyes. The second it touched my head, it took over. The crown is cursed ancient magic created by evil mages centuries ago. It controls whoever wears it.
My mouth went dry. Everything you've done
Wasn't me. His voice cracked. Every village I've burned. Every person I've executed. Every cruel order I've given. I was screaming inside my own head, trying to stop it, but the crown wouldn't let me. I've been a prisoner in my own body for thirteen years.
I thought about all the stories I'd heard. The Butcher King. The monster. But looking at him now, I saw the truth he was a victim too.
Lord Verin knows, Cassius continued bitterly. He discovered the crown's power years ago. Now he manipulates it to control me. He starts wars because they make him rich. He orders me to do terrible things, and I have no choice but to obey.
And the girls? I whispered. The other crown mages?
Pain twisted his face. They all died. Drained of magic within three years. I tried to fight it, tried to use less of their power, but the crown always wins. I've watched six girls die because of me, and I couldn't stop it. He looked at me desperately. I tried to save them. I swear I tried.
Tears burned my eyes. I'd hated him. Wanted him dead. But he'd been suffering just as much as the rest of us.
Why are you telling me this now?
Because you're different. He leaned forward intensely. Today you did something impossible. You refused the crown's command. No one has ever done that before. Which means you might be strong enough to break this whole cursed system.
Break it how?
Destroy the crown. End the magic. Free both of us. His eyes blazed with desperate hope. I've been researching for years, looking for a way. There's someone who might know how the Oracle of Ash. She lives in the Blackwood Forest outside the kingdom. But I can't leave. The crown won't let me go beyond the palace walls.
My mind raced. Then we force it to let you.
He stared at me. You'd help me? After everything I've
You didn't have a choice, I said firmly. Neither of us did. But maybe together we can change that.
Relief flooded his face. For the first time since I'd met him, he smiled a real smile.
We'll need a plan, he said. The crown's control comes back at dawn. Before then, we need to figure out how to get us both out of the palace without
He suddenly went rigid.
No, he gasped. It's too early. It shouldn't be
Black poured into his eyes like ink spreading through water.
I jumped to my feet. Fight it!
Can't... He stood jerkily, like a puppet on strings. It knows. It knows we talked. It's
His hand shot out and grabbed my throat.
I clawed at his fingers, but they were iron-strong. His face was blank, emotionless, completely under the crown's control.
Traitor, he said in that awful flat voice. You tried to turn the king against his council. Punishment: execution at dawn.
Cassius, please! I choked out. Fight it!
For just a second, his grip loosened. His eyes flickered half black, half his normal color. He was fighting the crown with everything he had.
Run, he whispered, his voice his own for one precious moment. The Oracle. Find her. Break
The black swallowed his eyes again. His hand tightened on my throat.
I couldn't breathe. Darkness crept into my vision.
Then the door exploded inward.
Guards poured in, grabbing the king and pulling him off me. I collapsed, gasping for air.
Restrain him! Someone shouted. The crown's gone wild it's trying to kill the Source!
Through my blurry vision, I saw them drag King Cassius away. He was thrashing, fighting the guards, but I couldn't tell if it was him fighting or the crown.
Lord Verin appeared in the doorway, smiling coldly.
Well, well, he said. It seems our little mage has been poisoning the king's mind. He stepped closer. Don't worry. We have special plans for you now. Plans that will make burning a village seem like a mercy.
He pulled out a silver collar covered in strange symbols.
This is a silencing collar, he explained. It will drain every drop of magic from your body over the next three days. Slowly. Painfully. And when you're nothing but an empty husk, we'll find a better Source. One who knows how to obey.
He moved toward me with the collar.
I had no magic left. No strength to fight.
And no idea how to escape.