Vasili and Aspen, who hadn’t been affected by the devil’s breath. Aspen moved to scoop up the drugged Velora, and he gave me a wink before heading out the side door.
“Allemar. No, it can’t be!” King Pharell paced back and forth, distressed that his plan had backfired.
Allemar in Vasili’s body came forward. “In the flesh, or rather someone else’s flesh.” He gestured to his taller, leaner new body he now inhabited.
“What are you doing here?” King Pharell asked.
“Well, since I was never paid for the deal I struck, I released the curse upon your land.” He gestured with his head toward Tatiana.
“I never made a deal with you.” King Pharell seethed between clenched teeth.
“No, you didn’t.” Allemar bowed his head toward the queen. “She did.”
Queen Maris stood up and pointed a finger at him. “He lies. I did no such thing.”
“What did you do, Maris?” the king yelled, and the two argued loudly.
“Oh dear, this is going to get messy.” Allemar grinned and walked over to me. He placed his hand upon my forehead and whispered.
I screamed in pain as the blood in my body felt like it was boiling.
“W-what are you doing?” I cried out.
“I’m evening the odds by burning the devil’s breath out of your system.” A few agonizing seconds later, it was over. I fell to my knees—in pain, but clear-headed—no longer under the influence of the hated devil’s breath. He backed away. “Good luck, and may the craziest person win.” He waved his hand and disappeared in a cloud of fog.
“Here!” King Pharell pointed at me. “There’s my heir. Take her and be done with it.”
Tatiana laughed. “Fool, I am past the point of wanting your heir. Now I just want you dead.”
“You will pay for your betrayal.”
Neither of them seemed to have noticed the exchange between Allemar and me.
Tatiana’s head fell back, her eyes glowed, and she flung her fingers toward the air. The earth rumbled, and the white marble floor cracked and split as giant thorns erupted from the ground and rushed toward the king.
Liam jumped in front of the king, his sword drawn. Faster than I had seen him attack before, he took out every barb that aimed for the king.
One barb scraped across Liam’s face, creating a streak of red.
King Pharell spun to me, and ordered the crowd, “Kill her. Kill the witch.” Liam and Devin stepped in front of the king, each one of them fighting back Tatiana’s deadly thorns.
One by one, the compelled guests, armed with knives, spoons and whatever cutlery was available to them, stalked Tatiana.
“No,” I said, my voice cracking. Getting to my feet, I stumbled as I heard hundreds of thoughts at once. I winced as I tried to focus, tried to sort the lies from the truth.
Tatiana’s attacks turned to defense, the thorns swiping under people’s feet, the bladed barbs retracted as she focused on keeping them at a distance and not killing them. It seemed she was saving murder for the king.
“Well, stop her,” King Pharell stormed over to me.
“No,” I snapped. “I’m done being a puppet. You have no power over me.”
“Is that so?” he sneered. “Well, then what about your precious Liam?”
“Liam!” King Pharell screamed. “Draw your dagger.”
Liam, his eyes dull, pulled the dagger from his belt.
“Kill her.”
“No!” I cried, and with a flick of my wrist, I flung the dagger across the room, and Liam fell to the floor without being injured.
King Pharell snarled. “I’ll take care of you myself.” He reached for his closest guard and yanked the sword from his hand. He raised it to strike me down, but a branch wrapped around his legs, yanking him to the ground. The sword clattered to the floor.
An attack on all fronts, one soldier made it through and slashed at Tatiana, slicing her arm. She cried out in pain and I screamed. Feeling every emotion.
“Now, I will kill you all,” Tatiana cried out. Her hand flicked, and one thorn transfigured into a blade, and it pressed against the king’s throat.
Yes! Do it.
A flash of yellow. Intense joy filled my mind, and it was coming from the queen.
A blur of black streaked through the door. Shifting magic hit me and Maeve appeared before me, her eyes wild with fear.
“Stop her,” Maeve yelled. “Stop the witch before she brings the palace down on us.”
The thorns had gone out of control, growing in size, busting through the windows, crawling up the side of the walls and ripping through the roof.
Screams filled the courtyard, and I