Page 124 of The Awakening of Essensia

“Your arrest was very public,” Axel said. “Erryn found us and filled us in on the details.”

Vaelira shook her head. “That’s not what I meant. How did you know I was to be executed this morning?” The words felt hollow.

Willem sat up. “What?”

“You didn’t know?” She stared at them.

They were silent.

“The King is dead,” she said. “The Queen sentenced me.”

A knot formed in her throat as they stared. Axel’s gaze dropped to the shackles. “We had no idea. We waited for the right guards to be on duty.”

“Holy tits,” Willem muttered. “Elijah is King.”

Vaelira nodded.

“The bastard,” he growled.

Axel nodded grimly. “He told us he had a plan to get you out, but something felt off.”

“He never planned to,” she said flatly.

Axel rubbed his temple. “If we hadn’t come—”

“I’d be dead.”

The door opened, and all three jumped. Jurah entered, Galfri trailing behind, his robes sweeping the floor. His eyes went straight to Vaelira. The expression on his weathered face made her chest ache. He knelt beside her, tracing the etched symbols on the shackles.

“Can you remove them?” she asked.

“I’ll try,” he said gently.

Everyone gathered in the living room to watch Galfri work. Ressa’s hand rested on Vaelira’s shoulder, Fang leaned forward on the sofa, and Reese and his wife stood in the doorway.

After a long silence, Galfri glanced up at them all. “Can I trust you?”

There were murmurs of assent, then he placed his hands over the shackles. A hum of power brushed her skin. It wasn’t hers. This was different. It felt older, gentler than her own fire.

The etchings glowed like embers.

Jurah cursed. Axel hushed him.

Galfri grunted as heat tightened around her wrists, so hot she had to bite her tongue to stop the scream that was building. Then the shackles fell to the carpet, blissful power surging forth. She closed her eyes, meeting it with restraint, breathing through the urge to unleash it, to give in to its fury at being caged.

When it quieted, she opened her eyes. Galfri’s palms were red raw, blisters already forming on the sensitive skin. She knelt beside him, cradling his hands in her own.

“Mage shackles,” he rasped. “They bind power and take it. Every time you tried to wield, they absorbed it. If someone tries to unlock them without the key, the power strikes back.”

Her stomach turned. “I did this?”

“Always so quick to blame yourself,” he smiled. “Don’t blame the kitten, remember?”

She laughed softly.

He handed her a small pouch, wincing as it brushed his palm. Inside was an amethyst, cold and smooth beneath her touch. Not the same one she had before, but she could imbue it.

“Without it, you’re like a bonfire in a windstorm, but with it, you’re a blade,” he said. “I must get back before anyone notices I am gone.”