“You-you tried to suffocate me!”

“No!” I exclaimed, aghast. “I…I didn’t. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I was just trying to control the air….”

She stood up, and where once her face had been pale, it was now flushed with anger. She was shaking. “You deceived Dorian. You already know how to use this kind of magic. This is all part of some elaborate plot.”

“No, no,” I said, standing as well. “I’ve never used it before-except once and only for a few seconds.”

“I don’t believe you. What you just did…you couldn’t have done that if you were as inexperienced as you pretended to be!”

What I’d done-aside from the fact it could have killed her-didn’t seem like it was that big a deal. I’d sensed air and moved it. It was hardly a hurricane, and it had taken a lot of concentration-so much so that I didn’t think I could repeat it anytime soon. I hardly had the effortless control she exerted over the wind.

“I’m sorry…I really am. I didn’t mean to hurt you. It was an accident.”

Ysabel’s only answer was a scowl, just before she stormed out of the room. As she passed me, I thought I saw both fear and tears in her eyes. Despite her bravado, I realized that what had seemed more like anger in her was actually terror. She was in the home of someone she saw as a rival, someone with a reputation as a warrior and a tyrant-and someone who had just tried to kill her. She was trapped here by Dorian’s orders.

“A terrifying feat, your majesty,” a voice near the doorway said.

I took a few steps forward and saw Shaya standing just outside in the hall, her pretty face grim.

“It was an accident,” I said, surprised at the trembling in my voice. “I don’t like her, but I don’t want to hurt her.”

“I know.” Shaya’s expression turned both gentle and sad. “But her fear isn’t unfounded. You learned that too quickly and too well.”

“It was easy! It’s the same as moving water around or any other type of air.”

“From what I understand, stealing someone’s breath-denying them air-is harder than simply creating breezes. You’re fighting against life itself. Those who suffocate others in this way usually require great strength and stamina. For you to be able to do it already…well, it’s a testament to your power-and that’s nearly as frightening as the act itself.”

The full impact hit me. “Wait…there are people who do that on purpose? Steal someone’s air so they can’t breathe?”

She shrugged. “Well, to those with the skill, suffocation’s an effective weapon.”

“It’s sick…it’s an inhumane way to die.”

“I agree. And most people don’t have that kind of strength, so it’s not an issue. Among those who do have the strength, most would never consider doing it to another person, enemy or no.”

I groaned. “Well, if that’s true, then she has to understand that I wouldn’t purposely do it to her either. She has to believe that it was an accident.”

“I don’t think you’re going to have a lot of luck with that.”

“Why not?”

“Because while most consider such torture unusually cruel, there was one person who enjoyed denying someone their breath-and who frequently used it as a form of execution and entertainment.” Shaya’s look was meaningful. “Tirigan Storm King.”

Ysabel couldn’t be coaxed out of her room, no matter how hard I tried. I even sent Shaya to do it, seeing as she tended to be a bit more personable than I was. No luck. Ysabel remained firmly entrenched and would only ramble over and over about how she was going to tell her lord about me and escape this accursed place.

Evening wore on, and I couldn’t drag myself back to Tucson. My feelings were in turmoil. I’d never expected to feel guilty about anything pertaining to Ysabel, but there it was. And as more time passed, I didn’t just feel bad about inadvertently suffocating her. As soon as I’d realized what I had done, I knew I had to cease practicing this kind of magic immediately. Storm King had used it to kill his enemies in horrible ways. Kiyo had warned that delving further and further into my powers would put me on a path I might not be able to turn away from.

And yet…that was the problem. I knew I had to stop…but I didn’t want to.

Sure, I didn’t want to learn air magic to kill. But after touching that power…I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I found my mind spinning, analyzing the air around me and how easy it would be to manipulate it. What had started as a seemingly small lesson from Ysabel was quickly moving into larger and larger implications as I grasped more of air’s patterns and how it worked. It was like I didn’t even need a teacher. My own nature and pull toward magic was running away and creating its own lessons.

My conflicted ruminations were interrupted when a letter arrived via the Otherworld’s equivalent of the Pony Express. It was from Leith. As I’d suspected, he’d devoured the engineering books. What I hadn’t expected was that he’d already developed a plan for how to implement some of the irrigation systems and was going to accompany some workers out to Westoria in the morning to get started-unless I had any objections, of course. If I didn’t, then he would be honored if I would come out to meet them.

He also added in his letter that he had investigated the towns near the Yellow River crossroads. None of them had any reports of missing girls. It figured, I thought. I either had enough bad luck to be the only monarch with runaway girls-or I possibly had an enemy specifically targeting me. Considering the number of gentry who resented my rule, the latter wouldn’t have surprised me.

Regardless, I decided I had to go out to see Leith tomorrow. Even if it was just an elaborate attempt to woo me, he was still going to an awful lot of trouble with this. Plus, I hoped that if I spent the night here, Ysabel might finally emerge.

So, I stayed over, giving me the opportunity to meditate with the land. While I noticed no ostensible difference in the morning, there was a strange, intangible feel to it…. It seemed healthier. Like always, I couldn’t exactly articulate why. Perhaps most disturbing of all, I found that staying over wasn’t quite the agonizing ordeal it used to be.

I was preparing to head out to see Leith when a guard announced that a rider was approaching. I wondered if it was a messenger-or possibly Leith himself. Instead, it was someone quite unexpected.

Dorian.

The castle servants fell all over themselves to welcome the Oak King, and he swept inside as though perfectly entitled to it. Which, I guessed, he was. Nonetheless, I had no time for his antics today and greeted him with hands on my hips.

“Not today, Dorian. I have things to do.”

“As do I,” he said. He had that typically laconic tone to his voice, but there was an oddly serious-and impatient-look in his eyes. It was not an expression I’d seen very often. “I’ve come to see my subject. I knew you wouldn’t welcome her with open arms, but honestly, my dear, your attempts at murder shock even me-no small feat.”

My jaw nearly dropped to the floor, both because of his assumption and the fact that she’d somehow gotten a message out to him. “Wha-? Dorian, it’s not true! It was an accident. I didn’t realize what I was doing.”

“May I see her?” he asked, not acknowledging my plea.

I could hardly deny him that, and he hurried off to her room without another word. She admitted him-no surprise there-and I found myself pacing the entire time they were together. It had been bad enough that Ysabel had thought me capable of assault. But somehow…the idea of Dorian thinking badly of me? Well, it struck me harder. I shouldn’t have cared what he thought-God knew I was mad at him more often than not. Yet, I realized that deep inside I wanted his good opinion. I felt sick to my stomach that I might have lost it.