Gathering all my magical power, I shot a Spellbreaking spell at the door to break down its magical lock.
SLAM!
“Karina! Are you all right?!”
“Princess!”
Harold and the others stormed into the room.
Elena tutted in anger, waving a hand in their direction.
A thunderbolt appeared out of nowhere and burned the rug at their feet, filling the air with a horrible smell.
“Stand back, Princes!”
Ed stepped forward, ushering Harold and Daniel back. Then he cast a protective shield in front of them.
“Elena, that’s enough! What’s your motive for doing all of this, anyway?” Harold was peering over Ed’s shoulder, glaring at Elena.
“Shut up!”
Completely cornered now, Elena glared back at Harold.
“You’re to blame for it, all of you. If you’d just left us alone, none of this would have happened.”
Elena’s voice was high and trembly. She looked like a crying child, and I felt a pang of pity for her.
“You should all just disappear!”
I felt another surge of magical power from Elena, but I barely had time to feel fear. My Magic Stone had gone from pink to white.
The blast from Elena’s magic shook the entire room.
At the same moment, the magical shield in front of me shattered.
“Princess!”
Before Elena could strike, someone grabbed me tight in their arms. Enveloped in the warmth of their arms, I heard and felt another blast.
Then there was silence. Horrible silence. I opened my eyes.
“Ed?”
It was Ed who’d leaped in between Elena and me and shielded me with his body.
A pillar of flame leaped up all around us, but he cast ice magic to dispel it.
Next, she tried lightning magic, but he counterattacked with earth.
RUMBLE!
The ground was shaking beneath our feet.
Ed and Elena were locked in a furious battle of wills, staring each other down.
“Just give it up! You can’t win like this.”
“So I should just go back to letting these people use me as a puppet?! They stole my family and made me a slave!” Elena roared back at Ed in fury. “Once I learned how to use Transportation magic, I returned to my village. Just once. The houses and fields had fallen into ruin, completely abandoned. A rich boy like you—the special favorite of a princess—could never understand how that feels!”
A tear spilled down Elena’s cheek as she continued to scream at Ed.
Ed drew in his breath.
“…You’re mistaken, Elena.” It was Prince Harold who spoke next, as he watched what was going on from the doorway. “With our gratitude for raising such a gifted magician, your family accepted better land elsewhere, along with a huge cash sum. The reason your village has fallen into ruin is because your people have abandoned it and moved.”
“You liar! That’s not true! You threatened my parents! You told them if they didn’t do exactly what you said, you’d lock them up!”
“No, it’s the truth. Your family is alive and well as we speak. But if there was any misunderstanding, we’ll take full responsibility. I’ll dispatch men to your people’s old village to make sure.”
Harold spoke calmly and reasonably to Elena, who’d been acting so emotional and enraged moments before. But now, hearing Harold’s words at last, her fury seemed to be subsiding.
That’s when Daniel spoke.
“If you don’t believe them, I’ll go along to check. I’ll go to the old village of your people and the new one. I’ll check to see if the daisies are still blooming where you grew up.”
“How…do you know…about that…”
Elena seemed stunned and blinked rapidly at Daniel.
Daisies…
Those beautiful, white flowers.
I suddenly remembered when Elena came to Najir…
Ed had offered Elena a daisy that he’d conjured with Transference magic, and she’d lit up with a smile for the first and only time.
“I still don’t trust you, though. You betrayed me. I thought you were nice! But you’re not.”
Elena glared at Daniel.
But Daniel merely smiled wryly in return.
“Well, if it turns out I’m lying about any of this, you can put a collar on me.”
“Yeah, I will!”
“Go ahead. That’s fine with me.”
Elena tried to call Daniel’s bluff. But he wasn’t bluffing.
Daniel offered his hand to her. She stared at it for a long moment before tentatively reaching out toward him…
Just as their hands were about to meet…
“Don’t!”
Daniel suddenly yelled out in panic.
For a second, I thought he was yelling at Elena not to touch his hand, but then I realized what was really happening.
One of the guards snuck up behind Elena and swung his sword…
Blood sprayed out, drenching the rug.
Elena fell to the ground, her hand missing Daniel’s on the way down.
“Someone get a doctor!”
Daniel was yelling. Harold stumbled out into the hallway, looking for help.
“There’s no time for a doctor! We have to use healing magic!”
I hurried forward and tried to cast healing magic on Elena. But I’d exhausted most of my magical energy in my fight against her, and I couldn’t call it forth.
“Ed!!!”
“I’ll do it.”
Ed dashed forward and began casting magic on Elena. But the wound wouldn’t close, and she remained lying on the carpet. Ed frowned down at her, looking stressed out.
“It’s not…”
It wasn’t working.
Ed’s voice grew low and indistinct.
Healing magic can’t do everything. It can heal surface wounds, but it can’t keep people alive if they’re on the verge of death. No magic can.
“I knew it…you’re all liars…all of you royals.”
Blood sprayed from between Elena’s lips.
“I…”
Ed shook his head furiously, realizing that magical power was beginning to emanate from Elena.
“Don’t! You’re just bringing death closer!”
It seemed that, even now, Elena was trying to cast magic.
But the effort was killing her.
Still, Elena continued to gather forth her magical power.
Then, with a flash, the blood-stained rug beneath her body began to glow.
“It’s a… Magic Sigil…” I muttered in surprise as I stared at the glowing shape.
Elena had conjured a circle around six feet in diameter, filled with glowing lines and symbols.
I’d learned a bit about Magic Sigils since starting my life in this timeline. I thought I’d seen all the specific types. But I’d never seen a Magic Sigil that looked like this before.
Ed didn’t seem to know this one, either. He quickly tugged me away from Elena, outside the Magic Sigil’s borders. Then he gazed down at the ground, his red eyes wide with surprise.
I just wanted to be happy.
Elena’s lips moved. Her words were almost imperceptible, but somehow, I knew what she wanted to say.
“You’re all liars. I hate you all…”
I heard that last part, though. We all did.
The Magic Sigil flashed, enveloping Elena in its glow.
It was so bright, I couldn’t stop myself from closing my eyes.