Chapter 2

Luke

Because I was his only legitimately born son, the King of Alexandria was determined to prepare me to succeed him, whether I wanted to or not.

He provided me with instructors in war, history, and intrigue; he made me sit through endless council and war strategy meetings. I was forced to render judgments according to laws I didn't agree with, to order punishments that turned my stomach. I tried so hard to become the prince that he wanted me to be, but I failed.

The Queen tried to teach me to be a prince she could be proud of. She provided me with tutors in dance, society etiquette and even sexual relations, but all her efforts were unsuccessful.

At thirteen, I broke the dance teacher's ankle with a mistimed move, gave the majordomo an apoplectic fit by using the wrong fork, and was forced to bribe the courtesans my parents had hired when I had been unable to perform on command.

I tried to be the prince she wanted me to be, but I failed.

"Hopeless," my mother said, shaking her head at me as she looked at me after the debacle with the dance teacher. My father had expressed his own version of disappointment with my performance to the degree that it would be several days before I would be able to sit comfortably.

I hung my head. There was no love lost between the King and I, but Mother was a different situation entirely. I had seen the disappointment in her face when the King had sent me to her after my beating. I feared my father, but I loved my mother, and I hated to disappoint her.

Dancing just seemed like such a stupid waste of time to me. There were better things to do than learn what step went with which song. My mind had wandered during the lesson with the dance instructor and I'd lost track of the steps. I'd been thinking about a treatise that I had read on diplomatic relations in the ancient world and hadn't realized that the tempo of the music had changed. I tripped and fell on the poor man's leg. The sickening snap of bone as I'd landed had been audible to everyone in the room.

"They call him ‘Your Grace' because it's the only grace he'll ever have," my half-brother, Maalik, had said snidely to Aurelius, the King's Spymaster. They had all tittered appreciatively as I had flushed and tried to help the dance instructor until a medic arrived.

Maalik took great joy in pointing out every flaw I had, especially in front of my parents. He was the declared heir to the throne, being a blooded son of the King who had developed his Elusians powers. Maalik's problem was that even though he was Elusian, he was still a bastard and the only way he could ascend the throne was if I became Mageian or was disinherited. So he took every opportunity to discredit me in my father's eyes.

I was an awkward, gawky teen who was more at home with books and histories than people. Screwing up in front of Maalik just made my humiliation worse.

When Father found out, he'd bent me over his desk and beaten me until I could barely stand. Not because I had injured the dance instructor, but because I had embarrassed him in front of the court. Again. Then he'd sent me to my mother.

"Maybe she can find a way to make a prince out of you," he'd said as he dismissed me.

"Lucien, come here," the Queen said, her gentle words bringing me back to the present.

I stood before her as she took a seat in her salon. Her golden-brown hair was elaborately curled into an up-swept style that she had brought with her from Greece.

She was a hostage, a victim of the King's ambitions, just as much as I. She was the oldest child of the King and Queen of Greece. Her family had held the Greek throne for centuries and she had been given to the King of Alexandria to seal a peace treaty.

"My son," she said, sighing in disappointment, her normally vacant gaze sharpening. "You need to work harder, Lucien. If you are to succeed your father, you need to be able to shine in his world."

"I'm sorry, Mother," I said, staring at the floor. I think I would remember the pattern of the thick scarlet rug that covered that floor for the rest of my life. I had spent enough time staring down at it in shame that I had memorized it.

"But I don't—" I bit my tongue before I could blurt any more out. I'd almost said the thing I had secretly felt for years.

"You don't what?" she asked, reaching down to lift my chin gently, forcing me to look at her.

She looked so young, despite the fact I knew she was in her forties. Her hair was a golden brown, shot through with blond and red highlights, just like mine. The shape of our eyes was the same, but the colors were different. Hers shimmered greenish gray as she looked at me, sympathy evident in every line of her face. It was one of the few joys of my life that I looked more like my mother than my father. If I had to look at his reflection in the mirror for the rest of my life, I think I would go mad.

Mother rarely involved herself with anything to do with the King. She avoided him almost as much as I did. In front of the court she played the part of the empty-headed royal. In private I knew she was extremely intelligent and had her own brand of power.

I struggled to answer her. The forbidden words stuck in my throat, but her kindness seemed to cut through them. I choked and, like a dam breaking inside of me, I finally spat them out.

"I don't want to be king," I said finally. "Not if it means I have to be like him! He let Maalik get away with killing Erix! He's executed his own children! What kind of a man does that, much less a King?"

My rage was palpable as I gazed at her, my hands clenched into fists at the memory of all my father had done.

The ground seemed to tremble beneath us, and Mother's eyes went wide, a strange look of panic on her face as her gaze flitted to her ladies in waiting then back to me. Her hand shot out, slapping my cheek hard before I could avoid her strike. My eyes widened and my hand flew to my burning face. She had never struck me before and the shock of it alone was worse than the actual pain.

"Leave us," she demanded angrily of the servants. They hustled out of the door quickly and my heart sank. Father made his punishments public and humiliating. Mother's punishments were always in private, which seemed to make them far worse.

She waited until the last of the servants closed the door behind them before she stood, adjusting her long skirts, before moving forward.

"Lucien," she whispered, her hands gentle on my chin this time. "I'm so sorry, my dear."

I looked up at her in confusion, her eyes glittered with unshed tears.

"You can't ever speak like that anywhere anyone could hear. The King is a vengeful man. There are only two of you left who could run the kingdom: you and Maalik. The King is not afraid to execute his children," she whispered. "I could not bear to lose you."

I blinked the tears from my eyes. The year before, Father had executed one of his illegitimate sons, Evan, right after Evan had established as an Elusian. The Spymaster had presented evidence that he had been plotting to assassinate the King.

All the King's children had all been forced to watch the execution, from Maalik as eldest down to the toddlers. It had been…horrible. At first Evan had seemed strong and defiant, but by the time the King was done with him he had been a crying, screaming, keening mess of flesh and blood. The final blow that had silenced him had been a relief to everyone in the courtyard.

I suspected the "evidence" against him had been manufactured by Maalik, our half-brother, but I had no proof. Just as I had no proof of his involvement in the deaths of our other siblings. I knew for a fact that he had killed Erix when the boy had become Mageian and tried to escape. His twin, Elex, had disappeared that same night. Despite my best efforts I'd been unable to find out what happened to him. I could only hope he was still alive.

Erix was not the only sibling that had fallen to Maalik's machinations. I believed that Maalik had tampered with our sister Mara's saddle and caused her death when she was just thirteen. He'd poisoned Zeer and Terry, two of our younger siblings, with bitterroot wine. The only deaths of my siblings I could not lay at his door were those of Viv and Cassie, who had died from the Shaking Fever before they were five. The servants whispered that the King's bloodline was cursed.

I knew my mother loved me, and also that she remained distant to try to protect me from the King as much as possible. He was a jealous man and normally forbade me even a mother's love and guidance. I felt the ground beneath us tremble again.

"Give me your hand," she insisted, looking at me curiously. I held it out and she closed her eyes a moment, whispering words I couldn't understand. She opened her eyes, and they seemed to glow in the afternoon light. Her gaze searched mine for something, then she paled.

"Oh no…" she whispered, returning to her seat and dropping into it bonelessly.

"What is it, mother?" I asked, concern for her tingeing my voice, she had gone paler than I'd ever seen.

"Mageian. You're Mageian," she whispered in horror.

I recoiled, feeling my stomach plummet. Mother was human, but she came from a long line of Elusians. Her lineage was one of the reasons she had been accepted to seal the treaty between Greece and Alexandria.

"How would you-No—I can't—" I stammered. "I don't have any magic."

"You made the earth shake," she said pointedly. "That's why I slapped you in front of the others. I felt the earth move, and I couldn't take the chance you would do more while the servants were around."

"I—I…" I stuttered. I focused my thoughts inward, a sudden awareness flooding through me of the earth we stood on. I was aware of the foundations of the winter palace, the feel of the earth beneath me and, distantly, a slow, steady vibration of the land beneath us.

She pursed her lips determinedly, looking me up and down.

"There's no other option," she said. As if coming to a decision she stood and went to one of the many closets of her room and rummaged through it for a few minutes, before pulling out a box from the back.

"Come with me," she ordered. I followed her out to her gardens. As we walked, I saw a flash of orange and black. A small, green-eyed fox peered at me from behind an ornamental bush. I stared for a moment. I had spent many hours in these gardens, but I had never seen a fox in here before. Maybe it was a wild animal that had wandered in? I was hoping desperately it would find its way out before the groundskeepers sicced the hounds on it.

"I am not caught entirely unprepared for this," Mother said, oblivious to the small animal as I followed her to a seat along one of the walking paths. She set the box down and opened it. In the box were a number of tiny bottles, each with some kind of dark liquid within.

She pulled one out and handed it to me.

"Drink this," she ordered.

I looked at the small glass bottle warily.

"What is it?"

I glanced back over to where the fox had been, relieved to see it was gone. Good. Maybe it would manage to escape.

"Safety," she said simply. "It's an experimental drug we have been working on in Greece for many years," she said quietly, her fingers carding gently through my hair like she had when I was a child.

"It suppresses the development of Mageian powers for a time, and protects you from the worst effects of the Suppression, should you be exposed to it," she continued. "You will need to take one every month without fail."

"What good does that do us?" I asked. "If I'm Mageian, I'll be disinherited when he finds out."

Part of the elevation to Crown Prince was being subjected to Suppression by a group of Elusians. If the person were human or Elusian it was no problem, of course. If a person was to be found out to be Mageian in the ceremony the very best they could hope for was to be sent to the Legion.

"If he finds out," she interjected. "There is no reason for him to suspect you are Mageian yet. If we can keep him in the dark for a few more years I may be able to eliminate Maalik. With him out of the way, there is no reason you, ostensibly as a human, couldn't inherit. Accidents…happen. Once you are King, you can change the laws."

I looked at her in shock. My vapid, soft, frivolous mother who had always seemed more at home with feminine gossip and court activity was talking about assassinating the King and Crown Prince. Merely speaking the words were grounds for execution.

"But…" I stammered. "You can't! He'll know! He always knows!"

The number of plots my father had uncovered against his life were infamous. Each time he had carried out the execution of the accused with his own hands.

"He just wants you to think that," she said dismissively. "He cultivates that reputation so that all will quake in their boots in his presence. He's nothing more than a bully with a sword."

She sat back down and handed me the vial.

"I have no way to teach you how to use your powers here. We have to hide them until you can be trained. The risk of leaving them active and untrained is too great. This is the only hope we have until we are in a situation where I can eliminate both threats," she said. "Drink."

I looked at the bottle again, then back to her, unsure.

Her eyes bore into mine, and I saw that same glow again. I loved my mother. I trusted her. So I drank the liquid obediently and felt something in myself twist and burn. I was struck with a wave of dizziness and had to steady myself. I suddenly felt like the one time I had flown with my father in an aircraft. My ears felt like they needed to pop, and the awareness of the earth beneath me receded.

"The dizziness will pass," she said. "But you need to work on managing your temper, Lucien. Strong emotions make Mageian powers more powerful. Even with the drug, we cannot take the chance that you will lose control when someone notices. Fortunately, this area is known to be seismically active. I don't think anyone will have noticed this particular incident."

I nodded dumbly.

"What is it doing to me?" I asked, a wave of nausea washing over me.

"The drug will keep you from feeling the effects of the Suppression ability if it's used on you. It should help you pass as human for the time being."

"How did you know I was Mageian? What did you do?" I asked. "Your eyes glowed."

She smiled gently at me.

"There are other types of power in the world than Mageians and Elusians," she said. "Our family has many secrets, Lucien. One day I hope I have the opportunity to take you home to Greece to meet your Grandparents."

She refused to speak on it any further. We had repeated the ritual monthly for almost three years. She would summon me to her rooms, dismiss the servants, and make me drink the foul liquid that stifled my awareness. I watched for the tiny fox, but never saw him again. Until the day came when the last of the small vials were empty.

Though she had plotted against Maalik for years, none of her assassination attempts had been successful. He was far too wily and well-protected, and she didn't dare remove the King first, because Maalik as king would be a thousand times worse.

I waited nervously for her in her garden. She had summoned me for our monthly meeting, but she had been delayed by the King. I always started feeling especially fatigued as we got closer and closer to the time for me to take another dose of the medicine. It was almost as if the drug drained away part of my soul.

I sat on one of the concrete benches scattered throughout the grounds, my head in my hands. I was prone to panic attacks that only seemed to be getting worse as I got older. I'd had another attack that day and my head was pounding. I was learning to hide the physical effects they had on me from the courtiers, but I paid for it afterward.

The bright sun was beating down, the heat almost unbearable in the royal regalia I was required to wear. I didn't know how long I had been sitting there when I heard a strange sound. It was the sound of claw on rock. I was afraid to look up, thinking it would be one of my father's hunting hounds. Or Maalik's. Maalik had set them on me before.

I both heard and felt something sniff at my fingers and I looked over in surprise. I sat nose to nose with the little green-eyed fox I had seen so many years ago.

It was still a juvenile but his coat was long and full. It was beautiful, and I longed to reach out and touch it.

Those green eyes bore into my own, and I felt a strange kinship with the animal. I could see its ears swivel and it's tiny whiskers twitch as it took in sounds and scents from around the garden. Its small black nose was shiny and wet, and I watched it flare. Then it leaned forward, its tongue flicking out across the back of my knuckles.

I gasped and the creature started and ran for cover.

"Wait!" I called, forgetting for a moment that I was talking to a beast.

My mother chose that moment to stalk down the pathway, already muttering to herself.

"There is no help for it," she said as she approached, handing me the last vial of the potion in her hand. "I will have to convince the King to let me visit my parents to get more of the medication."

"Why not just have them send it to you?" I asked.

"It is too dangerous to take the risk. It is very difficult to manufacture, and we've only ever had small quantities available. It is far too rare and valuable to risk to a courier."

Her communications with her family were monitored, she explained. Attempting to smuggle something like this into Alexandria through other channels would be too difficult. As Queen, her luggage was exempt from inspection by anyone but the King, so it was the only way she could think of to get more.

The King surprised us all when he granted her request to travel home. He had had another son born to him by a slave and was in a particularly gracious mood. He even gave me permission to go with her, which had delighted us both. The thought of being away from the palace, away from them, sent a thrill through me. I had never known true freedom before, and this might be the closest thing to it I might ever experience.

The porters were waiting in my room as I completed a final check of my luggage to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything when the door flew open and Maalik and Aurelius strode in unannounced, two of their guards behind them.

Maalik had been named Crown Prince three years previously when he had developed his Elusian powers, right after he had killed Erix. He and Aurelius had convinced the King to give him his own personal guard after a botched assassination attempt and had swiftly recruited the most brutish, sadistic beasts to join it.

I looked up in surprise as the door bounced against the wall with a thud.

"Crown Prince Maalik," I acknowledged as I straightened to face them. I looked at his companion and recognized him with a nod. "Master Aurelius."

Aurelius watched me through hooded eyes, a wicked gleam escaping from beneath his dark lashes. I suppressed a shudder at that look. He had my Father's ear and Maalik's support, a dangerous combination.

"Your Highness," Aurelius drawled.

"Little Luke," Maalik said with a sneer on his face. Without the sneer he might have been considered beautiful by some, I suppose. He definitely took after our father: he had the same dark hair, the same cruel mouth, but his eyes were a muddy brown, something he had inherited from his mother. Agnes had been a slave who had been executed years ago. I didn't know the whole story, but I had heard she was killed the same week that Erix and Elex's mother had died.

I'd only been a child at the time, but rumor had it that she had poisoned their mother because Agnes feared the birth of another royal child might usurp Maalik's place. I wondered even now where Elex was, though I had my suspicions. Maalik had killed Erix, who had become Mageian and tried to escape. Rumors said Elex was dead, too, but I had hope that he might have just been sent to the Legion like Davidus had been. At least there he might still be alive.

Maalik stalked around my room lazily, picking up a trinket here and there before seating himself in my favorite chair. He picked up one of my few precious books that had been sitting on the table next to it and I sucked in a breath.

Books were rare in Alexandria. The King controlled the flow of knowledge into and out of the kingdom. While we might be able to watch recorded videos or the unrelentingly-positive news coverage on the networks, printed material was rare, and very valuable. I had borrowed the book from the Great Library to take with me on my voyage to Greece and had to swear on my honor to return it safely to Master Tarek, the Head Librarian of the Great Library.

Maalik leafed through the book, then dropped it carelessly into his lap.

"Get out," Aurelius snapped at the porters, and they rushed to obey him. The servants were terrified of both him and Maalik. They left the room quickly, the door closing solidly behind them. Shit. I was coming to regret not pushing my father to allow me my own personal guard. When I had made the request, Maalik had said he'd be more than happy to share his guard with me, and father had turned down my request.

"Come here," Maalik ordered me, my book in hand. My blood ran cold. This was not good.

"I need to pack," I said quietly. Fighting with Maalik was always a bad idea, especially when I was so close to escaping him for a few weeks.

"I am your Crown Prince, and I am ordering you to present yourself," he said with a sneer.

I sighed inwardly, but outwardly showed no response. In my dealings with Maalik I'd found that if he knew how much he bothered me he would only continue the harassment. Sometimes if I didn't fight, he would get bored and leave me alone, so I turned toward him, still staying as far away as etiquette would allow and went down on one knee.

"Your Royal Highness, what is your pleasure?" I asked, eyes downcast but teeth clenched.

"I just came to wish you well on your voyage, dear brother," he said, his voice making my skin crawl.

He stood and moved toward me, his hand reaching out to caress my cheek and I felt myself pale. Maalik had been unhealthily fascinated with me for years. Before he had been named Crown Prince, I had been able to avoid him; as a child of a slave he was almost beneath the notice of a true blooded prince. However, once he had developed his Elusian powers, he was, at least technically, of higher status than I was until I was acknowledged as human. A human true blooded heir outranked an Elusian bastard. That was the future, though. I needed to survive today.

Less than a week after he had established as an Elusian I had woken to a drunken Maalik pawing at my clothes in the middle of the night, the servants who normally waited on me shockingly absent. I had been able to fend him off that night, but there had been many others. I forced that memory down and swallowed hard. I couldn't afford to think about those nights right now. I had to focus on surviving this moment, on dodging Maalik's disgusting advances.

I couldn't fight, so I'd learned to hide. I rarely actually slept in my quarters anymore. I hid in the libraries, the endless offices that made up my father's palace, or sometimes the gardens. I think my mother knew, or at least suspected what was happening. She had ordered her staff to grant me access to her quarters any hour of the day or night and I sometimes saw members of her staff shadowing me at a distance.

Today, however, there was no such shadow. All of Mother's staff and my own were preparing for our departure. Maalik's oily voice made me wince.

"As to my pleasure…" he stroked his hands through my hair and I tried to force myself not to react, but I couldn't control the shudder of disgust that shot through me. His fingers tightened in my hair painfully and he jerked my head back. "Why, brother… One might think that you didn't like me."

I glared up at him from where I kneeled. He was pulling on my hair so hard that my eyes stung with tears, but I refused to cry out. It would only make him worse.

"He is such beautiful boy, isn't he, Your Highness?" Aurelius asked as he approached me.

"He's pretty enough," Maalik said in disgust, tightening his hold on my hair. "Too bad he's not a girl. He might have been some use to us if we'd been able to marry him off. Now all I care about is having those pouty pink lips wrapped around my cock."

He forced my head closer to him. His crotch was level with my face, and I could see the evidence of his arousal just inches from my nose as he yanked on my hair.

"Do it!" He hissed.

I glanced wildly at the two guards he had brought with him, but there was no help there. They were watching with evident glee as he manhandled me.

"Please stop, Maalik," I begged.

He simply laughed and used his grip on my hair to force my face into his crotch, the thick length of his arousal crushing against my face.

"You know you want this, mikros prinkipus," he whispered into my ear. "Little Prince" was his favorite name for me, and just hearing the words made we want to vomit. He ground his erection into my face as I struggled to pull away from him. While I had started getting taller over the last few years Maalik still outweighed me two to one, and his grip on my hair was punishing.

"No, I don't!" I yelled, jerking backward out of his grasp. I fell on my ass and scrambled backward on hands and knees until I felt my back hit against the trunks at the foot of my bed, where I lay gasping for a moment, my heart pounding frantically. For the first time I wished that I had access to my Mageian powers because the idea of dropping Maalik into the center of the earth was very tempting.

He took a step toward me, and I knew what he planned on doing, because he'd done it before, and the thought of it sickened me, especially when I was so close to escaping him for a time.

Maalik grinned evilly as his hands dropped to remove his belt, but at that moment the door to the room opened and Captain Allard of the King's guard entered the room.

He took in the tableau for a moment with keen eyes, Maalik standing in a fairly obvious state of arousal, me on the floor with my back to the trunks in obvious terror.

He just looked at us for a moment before speaking.

"I apologize for interrupting your…discussion…Your Highness, but the King is requiring the presence of Prince Lucien."

Maalik flushed angrily. Captain Allard was one of the few people in the household that Maalik couldn't intimidate. He was the King's personal Weapons Master and had the complete backing of my father. More so than either Maalik or I, in truth. At the order of the King he had punished both of us upon occasion, though he had never been vicious. His punishments tended to drive home a point and not be simply sadistic.

"Fine." Maalik muttered as he released his hold on my hair. "We'll finish this discussion later, Lucien. I promise."

With that final threat he left the room, his guards following along behind him. As Captain Allard approached me, I let out a shuddering breath.

"Might I assist you, Your Highness?" he asked, holding his hand out to me, his voice carefully neutral.

I took his hand and struggled to my feet, straightening my clothes.

"Are you all right?" he asked softly. While stern, Allard had always been kind to me. He was one of the few people other than my mother who I felt safe with.

I just nodded, my heart still racing. That had been one of the closest calls I'd had with Maalik. He usually wasn't so brazen as to enter my chambers when others were present, but my personal servants were busy loading our luggage on the ship that would take us to Greece. They weren't much protection, but I knew I could rely on them to at least tell my mother if Maalik came after me.

"Then come, your father does want to see you," he said.

A few minutes later I was squirming uncomfortably in the royal regalia. I had changed quickly because one did not wear traveling clothes to an audience with His Majesty. Allard had escorted me to the King's anteroom and then departed. I waited. And waited. And waited. I eyed the angle of the sun nervously. We were getting close to the appointed hour for us to sail, and I did not want to miss the boat. Literally.

Master Aurelius opened the door to the King's office, and my heart sank when I saw the knowing glint in his eyes as he looked me up and down.

"His Majesty will see you now," he said unctuously.

Aurelius was one of my father's personal counselors as well as his Spymaster. Aurelius and I had a hate-hate relationship. He had made it clear he didn't think I was good enough to be the heir, and I knew he was a sadistic, bigoted prick who was close friends with Maalik. Close personal friends, despite their age difference.

I entered the room and bowed to the King with military precision, then stood at attention. Father required perfection in everything.

He sat behind his desk, a dark wooden monstrosity that I despised. Many a time he had forced me to lay across it as he whipped me for some minor infraction. Prince or no, my body held the scars of my father's "education".

He ignored me for several minutes, continuing to read the papers in front of him. I had long ago learned the art of reading upside down, so I could tell that what he was reading was nothing of note. A few comments on trade taxes, a letter from a commandant seeking a commission for their son, a detailed history of the price of oil. So he was just doing it to make me nervous. I set myself to wait patiently.

Finally he set the papers down and looked up at me. His eyes were ice blue, and like always, seemed to bore into me, seeking any flaw. His hair was long and black, shot through liberally with silver. From what my mother had told me his hair had always looked that way, so it wasn't a sign of age, just a part of who he was. Only a few small lines creased the corners of his eyes.

"Prince Lucien," he said, acknowledging me finally.

"Your Majesty," I responded formally.

"Your mother, the Queen, is boarding her ship for her trip to Greece," he said.

"Yes, your Majesty. I am looking forward to seeing her homeland," I responded anxiously.

"I've decided you will not be accompanying her," he said sharply.

I felt my stomach drop. Did he know why she was making this trip?

"It seems—unwise—to have both the Queen and a potential heir out of the country at the same time," Aurelius interjected smoothly.

"But Maalik will be-" I began, desperate not to lose the escape.

"This is my decision, Lucien," the King snapped. "Do you question it?"

I flinched and then froze at the whip snap of his voice. I'd suffered his punishments enough to know that I dared not push him.

"Of course not, Your Majesty," I said woodenly, my heart sinking.

He turned back to his correspondence, but since he had not dismissed me, I was unable to leave. I was forced to remain standing at attention in his office for hours, watching the time tick away on the clock against the wall. He would have sent someone to Mother to tell her I wasn't going with her and every second was misery. I could only hope that she would have a swift journey.

It was late afternoon before he finally let me leave, and my legs were shaking. I didn't even remember being dismissed really, only found myself somehow in the Great Library, the place that I always went when I needed comfort.

The Library of Alexandria was one of the seven wonders of the known world, even in this day and age. Surrounded by the wisdom of the ages, I struggled to resign myself to my lot. Mother would already be on her way to Greece. I didn't begrudge her the few weeks of freedom she would have, I just wished I could have been with her.

Glancing at the light coming through the windows I guessed the ship would have already set sail. The bastard hadn't even let me say goodbye. I just needed to figure out how to get through the months until she returned. The medication would wear off some time after the next moon and I didn't know if she would be able to be back in time. The seas at this time of year were often perilous. While we had air travel available because of the Mageians who were enslaved, it was a very limited resource, and one the King would not spend on something as simple as a trip to Greece.

I found myself wandering down one of the aisles, fingers trailing over the spines of books that were hundreds of years old. We had begun archiving each book to protect it from loss, but it would be the work of several lifetimes to digitize all of this. It was a pity the library wasn't open to the people, but the King strictly controlled who had access to information.

I stopped at one ancient book of poetry I recognized and opened it.

Solitude

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;

Weep, and you weep alone;

For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,

But has trouble enough of its own.

Sing, and the hills will answer;

Sigh, it is lost on the air;

The echoes bound to a joyful sound,

But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you;

Grieve, and they turn and go;

They want full measure of all your pleasure,

But they do not need your woe.

Be glad, and your friends are many;

Be sad, and you lose them all,

There are none to decline your nectared wine,

But alone you must drink life's gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded;

Fast, and the world goes by.

Succeed and give, and it helps you live,

But no man can help you die.

There is room in the halls of pleasure

For a large and lordly train,

But one by one we must all file on

Through the narrow aisles of pain.

-Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I sighed as I read the poem. It was one of my favorites from before the breaking of the world. It seemed to define my life. The court sycophants were all too happy to surround me when I was in favor with the King, but when the wind blew the other way they disappeared like chaff on the wind. I had learned that lesson early.

"And do you wander ‘through the narrow aisles of pain', Your Royal Highness?" a musical deep voice asked.

I jumped and turned. Behind me stood a man of Moorish descent, his skin a chocolate brown, his eyes bright with good humor. Master Tarek was the Head Librarian of the Great Library and frequently served as tutor to the King's children. His physique, however, was not that of a scholar; his shoulders were broad, his arms corded with muscle and he towered even over my almost-six-foot frame. I had seen him wield a longsword in the practice yards as if it were a toothpick.

"Master Tarek," I acknowledged before carefully returning the tome to the shelf beside me. I would never disappoint my mentor by disrespecting a book.

"I am sorry you were not able to visit Greece," he said quietly. "I know you were quite excited to see the land of your mother's birth."

"That has to be a record, even for your network of gossips," I said, smiling slightly. "How did you find out so quickly? I've only just come from the King's chambers."

He shrugged slightly, his long saffron color robe brushed the floor, just above the leather boots he wore that were dyed to match.

"Knowledge is my purview," he said, spreading his hands in a deprecating fashion.

"You have better informants than the Spymaster does," I said conspiratorially. "Perhaps you should consider applying for the job."

"Ah, but I like my head attached to my body, Your Highness," he said. "Empty as this noggin may be at times, I've grown rather attached to it over the years."

His words made me smile. Master Tarek's head may have been many things, but empty it was not. I despaired of learning in my lifetime even a tenth of what he knew.

"Would that we all got to choose our professions," I said, sighing.

"Ah. Unfortunately that is outside of my purview," he said. "However, your education is within said area of expertise, and I have something to show you."

His words sparked my interest. One of the things my mother had cultivated in me was my insatiable curiosity and Master Tarek was always willing to help satisfy it.

I followed him as he led me through the aisles.

"As you know, I have a friend who is rather well-traveled," he spoke as we walked.

"Master Bacillus?" I asked.

He nodded. I had met Master Bacillus when his courtesans were hired to train me in the art of sex. Master Tarek had shared stories of his friend, ostensibly a spice trader who was, in reality, a procurer. Sex was not his only coin, however. He and his "family" of beautiful, exotic men and women traveled the silk roads of the world and collected knowledge. Knowledge which they were willing to share, for a price.

"My dear Master B recently sent me a package and I thought it would be of interest to you," he said.

Master B often sent Master Tarek bits and pieces of the oddities he found throughout the world. Occasionally he would actually come across some rare book or bit of knowledge that would thrill his friend. To the best of my knowledge, the men had never been lovers, but their friendship was unwavering.

He led me to his quarters, and I was surprised at the mouthwatering smells that were coming from his kitchen. Master Tarek was devoted to learning of many kinds, but his passion was cooking. We had spent hours in his kitchen trying recipes from distant lands and discussing history, philosophy, and politics.

If I had been able to choose a man to be a father to me, it would have been Master Tarek. He was firm but fair; he had a strong moral compass but was open and willing to change his mind if persuaded by the facts; he was insightful and compassionate. In a word, he was everything my own father was not.

"What is that delicious smell?" I asked, my stomach growling. I had intended to eat before our departure but the King's summons had prevented it.

He smiled, obviously pleased.

"Ah! A recipe my dear friend has sent to me. He claims it comes from the other side of the world, but…" he rolled his eyes as he leaned to open the oven. "We know how Master B is prone to hyperbole."

Inside the oven were two chickens roasting. Their skin had been basted with a dark red sauce that was just crisping on the edges.

"That looks delicious! What's it called?" I asked, my stomach growling again and reminding me that I hadn't eaten since breakfast.

"Unfortunately, part of his letter had some water damage. All I could make of it was ‘cue', so I'm calling it Cue Chicken," he said as he removed the birds from the oven. "When you are King, you really must do something to improve our postal service."

Next to the stove was a bowl with red sauce in it. Before he could stop me I swiped my finger along the side of the bowl and popped it in my mouth. The taste of tomato, honey, vinegar and sugar burst across my tongue.

"That's good!" I said, reaching for the bowl again, only to have his wooden spoon come down sharply on my fingers.

"Enough! We are not heathen savages to be eating our food with our fingers!" he declared. "Wash and set the table, young prince. Then we can have a proper meal."

I grinned impishly at Tarek. I'd been sneaking samples of his cooking for years. I washed quickly and set the table while he pulled out the roasted vegetables he had made along with the chicken.

I looked in surprise as he placed an oblong piece of a plant with strange yellow and white bumpy knobs on it.

"What's this?" I asked, looking at the strange thing. "And how do you eat it?"

"Another gift. Master B told me it is called ‘maize'," he responded, setting a crock of butter on the table. "Apparently there are multiple ways to eat it, but he recommends roasting it and basting in butter and a dash of salt. Then you can cut the kernels off and enjoy."

I looked at the odd food doubtfully, but Master Tarek was almost always right about these things. It took a few false starts, but eventually I was able to remove the kernels from the hard stalk that Tarek called "cob." My first bite was hesitant, but when the first burst of flavor hit my tongue I moaned.

"This has got to be the best thing you've ever made," I said.

"You haven't tried the chicken yet!" he exclaimed. "Taste it, then tell me that again!"

I laughed and tried the rest of the food. It was, indeed, delicious.

Finally I regretfully pushed back from the table, afraid I would burst if I ate another bite.

"Master B has certainly outdone himself," I said, waving at the meal. "May he send many more such educational experiences!"

"Oh, that is not all that I brought you here to show you!" he said.

He rose from the table and hustled over to a desk facing a window, his speed and grace defying his size. In front of the desk was a leather-bound trunk that had definitely seen better days, if the water stains along the sides were anything to go by.

"Master Bacillus has been traveling to the West on the Dawntreader and has only recently returned to civilized lands," Master Tarek said. "For years my dear friend has been following some ancient maps that indicate there were lands far to the West with which we have lost contact. He claims to have finally reached them."

I rolled my eyes at this, because Master B had also claimed to have found fairies, gnomes, and numerous wonders and oddities, few of which he had been able to show evidence of. Master Tarek opened the trunk and carefully removed several cloth-wrapped items and laid them on the table. There were three boxes of different sizes and one long tube.

The first box was the smallest and it held multiple small envelopes. When I picked one of them up the unmistakable dull clatter of seeds pattered within. Each envelope was neatly lettered and held a small drawing. I assumed it was supposed to represent whatever the seeds would grow into. Honeysuckle. Black-eyed Susan. False Indigo. Squash. Maize. Climbing beans. I had never heard of these before today.

"Something new for my garden," Master Tarek acknowledged when I raised an eyebrow at him. In addition to being a cook of some skill he liked to keep a small garden where he grew plants from distant lands.

The second box held a series of photographs of Master Bacillus and members of his "family". In some they were standing in front of buildings with foreign writing on them. Some they were meeting people who were dressed strangely in what looked like thick cotton pants and shirts of varying colors. Some photos were of cities that seemed to dwarf even Alexandria in size.

I looked closely at the writing on the buildings in the photos. The words seemed to have roots in either Greek or Latin, or a strange combination of the two.

"This one…" Master Tarek began, laying a hand on the largest box as I went to open it. "—requires you to guarantee me your discretion, young prince."

"Of course," I answered. "I would never say anything that could endanger either you or Master Bacillus."

He looked at me for a long moment, then gave me a single nod before stepping back and opening the largest box.

Within the box were books. Dozens of books. I picked one up and opened it, astonished at how light it was. As I flipped through the pages I gasped. My eyes sought Master Tarek's.

"You see it then, eh?" he asked, smiling.

"These weren't made by hand," I said in wonder, examining the lettering of the books. Some of the ancient books I had seen in the Great Library were similarly lettered.

Knowledge in Alexandria was strictly controlled. There were guilds that had passed information down from master to apprentice for centuries. Very little was documented in writing and each guild guarded their knowledge jealously. The Scribe guild was the only one permitted to create new copies of books.

All books and written materials in Alexandria had to be recreated by hand and were considered precious items because of the time and effort it took to create them. One of the reasons the Great Library was considered almost holy ground was because it contained the largest collection of knowledge in the known world, much of it irreplaceable. The current efforts to scan and digitize the information contained in each book were slow and laborious, particularly because the King restricted the number of people who could learn how to use the technology. The Scribes who were responsible for the project were trained from a young age to use the technology, and had their tongues removed as part of their initiation.

Most citizens, and even slaves, knew how to read, write, and do basic arithmetic thanks to the country's public education programs, but books were a rarity. Slates were used by children to learn. Particularly favored nobles or high-ranking merchants might be granted access to computers and printers through a scribe, but those were strictly monitored and unauthorized use was punished severely.

As a child of the King, I had enjoyed the luxury of access to the Great Library as part of my education. That library contained the work of the minds of some of our greatest thinkers: Archimedes, Galileo, da Vinci and more. It also contained all the historical records we had from before the breaking of the world.

The rulers of Alexandria had kept a firm grip on the distribution of knowledge, and all scribes were responsible to the King and required to provide regular reports of their work for their masters.

The videos that were shared across the country were created by the King's ministers. As a prince I had access to videos that existed in the Great Library that I didn't think anyone had watched in a hundred years, but that made me an exception rather than the rule.

I remembered hearing about a rural noble who had been fomenting rebellion by forcing his scribe to create copy after copy of his Lord's allegations and posting them throughout his region. When the King had inevitably brought his army to put them down, he had brutally tortured and executed both Lord and Scribe, even though the Scribe had been forced to accede to his Master's demands.

"Let this be a lesson," the King had said as he had addressed the nation, the bloody corpses of both behind him. "This Scribe feared his Master more than he feared me. He shouldn't have."

"You—you need to hide these," I hissed, glancing around anxiously, even though I knew we were alone.

He nodded soberly. "Sometimes I think Master Bacillus delights in putting me in positions that might make me lose my head."

He quickly closed the box of books up and set them aside.

"If those might make me lose my head, this might guarantee my damnation," he said, raising an eyebrow at me.

He opened the end of the long tube and slid the papers inside of it onto the table. One of the papers was a long, densely printed document. On the other side was a diagram of a machine of some kind. I studied them for a minute before swallowing hard and raising my eyes to Master Tarek's.

The diagram was for a rudimentary printing press. One that didn't need power or a connection to the King's network. The thought of mass-producing literature for distribution sent my mind spinning.

Master Tarek's warm chocolate eyes were sober as they stared at me, and I puzzled out the words on the back of the paper.

Emeis oi anthropoi… "We the People…" I translated.

"Fuck me," I whispered as I read through the traitorous document.

"Fuck us all," Master Tarek responded.

***

The weeks had passed without word from my mother. She had promised to be back within the month, but a series of storms had come up across the Mediterranean, and no word had come from her.

I spent my days with my tutors or in the Great Library. While I had trained to fight and defend myself, I had never been great at it. Elex and Erix had spent many hours working patiently with me when I was younger, but I soon lost interest. Books were far more interesting. I had done my best to keep up the skills they had taught me before they had disappeared but lately, I had been forced to start avoiding the practice yard because Maalik and his cronies liked to spend their free time there.

It had been almost eight weeks since mother had left for Greece. My fifteenth name day had passed with little notice. Usually at fifteen if one had not developed either Elusian or Mageian powers it was assumed that you would be human. As the true blooded child of the king I should have been named a Crown Prince along with Maalik, but no one had remarked on it. I assumed my father was delaying until my mother's return. At least, I hope that was the reason for the delay.

Rumors were rampant that her ship had been lost at sea and I struggled daily with the fear that she might have died. She had been the one good thing in my life since Elex and Erix had disappeared. I buried myself in my studies to distract myself from the fear.

At night, in secret, I would send the part of myself that was slowly unfurling out into the earth, trying to learn control of the power building within me.

I had been doing my best to stay out of Maalik's line of sight. Generally he avoided the Great Library, so that was where I spent most of my time.

I spent hours in Master Tarek's private study, examining the printing press diagram and reading the books that Master B had sent him, returning to my own quarters only late at night, if at all.

I was having some success translating the books we were sent. The words were often spelled oddly, or the syntax was strange, but with some effort I was able to decipher the language of these westerners Master B had met.

Their written works were a revelation of sorts. One of the books that had been included in the shipment had included a history of their country, which I devoured. As I read about the civil war that had split their country over the abolition of slavery and state's rights I was reminded of the war we had waged for years against Illyria. It was their "Declaration of Independence" that staggered me, though. Such a complex document with such world-changing potential.

Just the thought that government might derive its power from the consent of the governed was a radical idea. In Alexandria, the King reigned by divine fiat. In these "United States" it seemed that they had thrown off the yoke of some despot and created their own system of government. I dimly recalled reading a history book claiming that a land named Britain had been destroyed in the world breaking. It seemed likely that this was the Great Britain referenced in the document.

I was lounging in Tarek's quarters, engrossed in the translation of one of the books when suddenly the door to his rooms flew open. A flood of soldiers poured in as I looked around in alarm. Master Tarek had been out, having had a class to teach that morning, but I had a key to his rooms and had let myself in.

Master Aurelius strolled into the room, the sneer that seemed to be a permanent fixture on his face quite evident.

"Take him," he commanded, unable to keep the unholy glee out of his voice. "Now is the time you should really panic, my little prince."

His blow came out of nowhere and everything went black.

The next thing I knew two soldiers had me by the arms and were dragging me through the hallways.

"What are you doing?" I said groggily, trying to put authority into my voice as my mother had taught me.

"Release me!" I demanded, but they ignored me.

They dragged me to a small cell Aurelius used for his interrogations. I was chained spreadeagle with my face against the damp wall, my arms and leg stretched to the point that I couldn't move.

The hours passed. From other cells I could hear the sounds of cursing and howls of agony. I shook in my chains. Somehow, they must have figured out what I was. It was the only thing I could think of that would have brought me to this cell. But they hadn't tried to Suppress me, which confused me.

I tried to force my budding Mageian powers to work, but an underground spring ran beneath the prison. With the pain in my skull, drawing on my powers through water was almost impossible.

After what seemed like an eternity, I heard the cell door open and someone entered.

"Who's there? Release me!" I yelled, pulling at the chains fruitlessly.

"You're not going anywhere, mikros prinkipus," I heard Aurelius' voice say, and the breath caught in my chest. "At least, not until I'm done with you."

He trailed his hand over my body and I froze. Aurelius had never before dared to touch me. He must feel that whatever he held over me was ironclad. I felt the stone beneath my hands, ready to respond, but I knew I didn't dare call upon my power. He hadn't Suppressed me, so it was likely Aurelius didn't know about my power. If I had any hope of rescuing the situation, I had to make it to the King.

"U-unhand me, Aurelius," I managed to stutter.

"Oh, no, my panicked princeling. No escaping this time," he breathed into my ear. Terror filled me as he muscled his larger form against mine, pressing me into the wall.

"My f-father—"

Aurelius grabbed my hair and forced my head back so far, I thought my spine would break.

"Doesn't care what happens to you, now. He knows about your treachery," he hissed, spittle landing on my skin. Without warning her slammed my head forward into the rock. I saw stars as the piercing white pain hazed my vision, but I forced myself to speak.

"T-treachery? What treachery?" I managed to mumble.

"Oh, yes, he knows all about the treason you and your little librarian have been fomenting," he said, his hands running down my body, then squeezing my ass cruelly. Shit. Aurelius had always lusted after me, just as Maalik had. Surely, Maalik wouldn't allow him to do this.

"M-Maalik—" I began in desperation.

"Is so pleased with what I've discovered that he's giving me the honor of deflowering you, Lucien," he said. I felt the cold tip of a blade slide beneath the collar of my tunic. Aurelius slashed downward, splitting the cloth with hiss. A quick movement and the clothing was just ragged strips hanging off my spread body.

"Our panicked prince… Mikros prinkipus, you are mine," he hissed.

***

I don't know how long I was in Aurelius' cell, but when they came for me, I could barely stand. I couldn't dwell on the agony in my body from Aurelius' visits, so I spent my hours exercising my newly awakened Mageian powers, careful not to let the guards see. I knew that, eventually, they'd have to bring me to the King, and that would be my only chance to escape.

I began using my powers to create a tunnel beneath the earth. My hope was to perhaps find escape through the tunnel as an absolute last resort, but I wasn't sure where I should place the opening. I couldn't get past the barrier of water beneath the prison, so I'd have to plan to connect the opening to somewhere else in the castle that I might end up being taken. The most likely places were the main practice courtyard where punishments were carrier out, or my father's study. I knew if they took me to the courtyard it would be for an execution. If they took me to my father's study it meant he had not yet decided my fate.

When they finally came for me, they doused me in cold water, washing away the blood and other remnants of Aurelius' assaults.

I was only half-conscious as they dragged me naked through the palace halls. They had given me no food and very little water while I'd been imprisoned. By the time we made it to the King's office blood was pouring down my skin from a dozen reopened wounds from Aurelius' attacks. They threw me forward and I fell to my knees at the feet of the king, bloody and broken.

Familiar black boots swam into my vision, standing on the blood red carpeting. I struggled to my feet.

"Y-Your Majesty," I said, doing my best to bow to the King.

My father gazed at me and his eyes were like ice. I forced my fear down. I couldn't afford to lose control now, but my fear was beginning to make the earth tremble. I had figured out that when I had strong emotions I had to give the power direction and intent, or it would escape my control and I would be discovered. So I sent that power seeking into the ground beneath the palace to build the rest of the tunnel for my escape.

"Lucien," he acknowledged finally.

"H-how may I serve you, Your Majesty?" I asked as my power began its work, terror an empty pit in my stomach. He had not given me my title of Prince. This was bad. Really bad.

"You may serve me," he began, before moving to his desk and taking a seat. "By telling me exactly where these came from."

He threw a book and some papers forward and I felt the blood drain from my face. The book was one of the ones Master B had sent Master Tarek, the other was the diagram for the creation of a printing press.

I was saved from having to speak by more soldiers entering the room, this time with Master Aurelius at their head. I couldn't help but notice his knuckles were split and covered in blood. Dragged behind him was a man in filthy scholar robes that had been beaten bloody. Master Tarek.

"Here is the other traitor, Your Majesty," Aurelius said, pushing Master Tarek to his knees in front of the King. I moved to his side as quickly as my own wounds would allow and helped him to stand.

His face was battered and bruised. Cuts crisscrossed his visible skin. Whip marks, I guessed. His brown eyes found my own and were filled with tears.

"I—I am so sorry, my prince," he whispered hoarsely. "I never wanted this for you."

"It's all right, Master Tarek," I responded, pressing his shirtsleeve to his forehead in an attempt to stem the flow of blood from a gash above his eye. The cold wind sent goosebumps of terror across my naked skin. "None of this is your fault."

I turned my gaze on my father, Maalik and Aurelius at his side.

I straightened, my anger at the treatment of Master Tarek finally fueling my own.

"What is the meaning of this?" I managed to growl before adding a belated "…Your Majesty."

I saw my father's eyes narrow as he looked at me. He did not like being challenged.

"It seems your tutor has been harboring forbidden knowledge," he said, bringing his hands together and making a steeple of his fingers in front of him. "And he has planned the assassination of the Crown Prince."

"What?" I exclaimed, my heart racing as my power tunneled beneath the palace. I should have foreseen this. I knew what Maalik and Aurelius were capable of. I had just never thought they would attack through Master Tarek.

"That's impossible! Master Tarek is a man of learning, yes. As the Head Librarian he is often sent documents and books for translation, but he would never plot against the monarchy."

"Really? Maalik has brought me rather damning evidence of the fact," the King continued. "Including evidence of your participation in the plot to assassinate him."

This shocked me, though it probably shouldn't. I should have realized that with the other potential heirs dead I would logically be his next target.

"That's ridiculous," I spluttered, trying to buy time for my powers to work, desperately splitting my attention between the room in front of me and my nascent power burrowing through the bedrock beneath us.

"Oh? As ridiculous as this?" the King said, gesturing at the diagram of the printing press. Next to it were the notes I had painstakingly made as I had worked to translate the directions. "This is your hand, is it not, Lucien? And these books were found in your chambers. You know this type of knowledge is restricted to members of the Scribes Guild."

I ignored his question. I couldn't argue with the fact the notes were mine, though I knew the books hadn't been in my quarters. I needed to get him to focus on what was truly going on here if I had a hope of surviving this.

"These are lies, Father. Lies created by Maalik and Aurelius in an attempt to make him the only potential heir to the throne," I said, forcing myself to respond with logic instead of anger. I was literally naked in front of his power, but I couldn't allow him to sense fear.

"Don't you find it suspicious that he brings these allegations just as I come of age and would replace him as Crown Prince? Or that since he was named Crown Prince, four of your other children have died? Doesn't that seem at all strange to you?"

I saw a moment of doubt flicker across his face as he looked at me, and I hoped for a moment that I was getting through to him. Behind the King I saw Captain Allard looking at me with considering eyes. Then Master Aurelius interjected, "Those were accidents, Your Highness. Tragic, but accidents nonetheless."

I glared at the evil man.

"Oh, so Mara, an expert horsewoman, accidentally saddled her horse with a half-severed girth when she knew she would be riding over dangerous terrain? And Terry and Zeer just happened to accidentally drink bitterroot wine when they both hated the taste of alcohol?" I demanded. "So convenient for Maalik."

Father's eyes narrowed. Doubt was evident on his face as he looked from me to Maalik.

"It is no ‘accident' that you are fomenting rebellion," Maalik snapped. He grabbed one of the papers and held it up, reading my translation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident,

that all men are created equal,

that they are endowed by their Creator with

certain unalienable Rights, that among these

are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights,

Governments are instituted among Men,

deriving their just powers

from the consent of the governed,

That whenever any Form of Government

becomes destructive of these ends,

it is the Right of the People to

alter or to abolish it.

Maalik sneered at me as he read. The King's face grew thunderous as he listened.

"So, Lucien," he growled. "You would abolish my rule? You would treat every slattern and peasant as an equal? My gods, what has your tutor been teaching you?"

The King turned his attention to Master Tarek.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Tarek?" he asked.

Tarek drew himself up to his feet. I could see the resignation in his eyes. He knew that we were dead men. Nothing we said would change the King's mind now.

"All I have done has been for the good of Alexandria. It was all my doing, Your Grace. I set the young Prince the task of translating the documents without telling him what they contained," he said. "Whatever punishment you deem appropriate should fall on me, and me alone. The boy did not know what he was doing."

"No! That's not true!" I said, stepping between Tarek and the King. "The work was mine! Master Tarek wasn't involved. You won't find his hand in any of the translations."

The King swept his gaze back and forth between us. I had spread my arms wide, as if to protect Tarek from a physical blow.

"Please, Father," I said, going down on my knees. "Do not harm Master Tarek. All he has ever done was try to prepare me to be a good King. Maalik is lying."

As I stared into his eyes, willing him to believe me, my heart pounded in my chest so loud I swear I could hear it. I could feel the ground moving slowly beneath my feet, my mind only half in this room. Everything around me seemed too bright, too loud.

Master Aurelius stepped forward and whispered something into the King's ear, and the doubt was washed away from the King's face. His jaw clenched as he stared back at me, his icy blue eyes cold and alien. I was the only true born son of his body. Surely he couldn't believe I was involved. Just in case, though, I continued my work on the tunnel beneath us. It was close now.

"So the Queen was involved in your treachery as well? Hear my judgment," he began, his stance rigid. "Lucien Alexus, blood of my blood, I find you guilty of conspiring to assassinate your rightful Crown Prince and fomenting sedition. I hereby disinherit you. You are no longer a member of my household or my family. You have no claim on me or mine for succor or support."

I saw Allard standing behind my father, his eyes wide in shock. He knew the truth of what Maalik and Aurelius were. I thought for a moment he surely would speak for us, but the moment passed and he pressed his lips into a thin line, a look of surprise flashing through his eyes. The King's words seemed to vibrate through me and became a roar in my head. I saw Aurelius staring at me, a small smile on his face as the King disowned me.

"Tarek Baltim Wasil," the King continued. "I find you guilty of fomenting sedition and conspiring to assassinate your Crown Prince. The penalty for these charges is public execution by drawing and quartering."

It felt like the ground disappeared beneath me and I was falling. There was an intense pounding in my head that grew louder and louder. The guards stepped forward to take Master Tarek by the arms.

"Father, you can't restrict knowledge!" I said. "That's like trying to restrict the very air we breathe! The more you try and hide it, to push it down and bury it from the light of day, the more likely it is that it will escape! Why do you fear it so much?"

I knew I had miscalculated as soon as I spoke. Saying my father was afraid of something was like waving a red cloak in front of a bull.

"I am afraid of nothing!" he thundered, standing and striding back to the front of his desk, his long hair flowing over his shoulders.

I felt oddly lightheaded, and words tumbled from my mouth without my volition.

"You are afraid of everything, King Cyrius Alexus," I said, my voice ringing with a strange power that was not my own. "You fear the knife in the dark, the poison in the cup, and the false friend behind the mask. Hear the words of your Goddess."

By him saved, and by him bound

The truth shall rise and now be found

The tiger stalks its ancient prey

Heed now the Keepers of the Way.

Air shall rise

And earth shall quake

Water boil

And fire wake.

Release the truth

All shalt be freed

By the Sons of Hecate."

With each line I spoke I felt something rise up in my chest, something heavy and burning and strong. I felt my strange sense of the earth beneath me expand. Tarek looked at me, shaking his head and whispering.

"No, my Prince, you can't!" he said as if sensing what I was doing.

"I'm sorry, Master Tarek, I have to," I responded, a small smile on my face. I would not let them harm the man who had been more of a father to me than the King in front of me.

"Seize them!" Aurelius ordered the guards who had paused when I began speaking.

They looked at each other with uncertainty.

"Sounds like a bloody Oracle," one of them finally said, his gaze jumping nervously between the King and I. I realized suddenly he was afraid. Afraid of me. The power of that was a heady thing after my days of powerlessness.

They looked at me in fear and confusion, seemingly afraid to attack me. Aurelius, however, had no such compunctions. He stepped forward, firing a pistol at Master Tarek.

I gestured and a wall of stone and metal appeared to shield my tutor and the bullet ricocheted off. With just a thought, the sloping tunnel I had been creating since we entered the room opened beneath Master Tarek and he slid down into the darkness. I had created a long, sloped tunnel that led down to the sewers beneath Alexandria. He would be bruised and bloodied by his sudden fall, I was sure, but he would be alive.

Master Tarek had taken me to see the sewers as a child so that I would understand the infrastructure that supported our society. He knew his way around them, and I was sure he'd be able to find his way to safety from there. I dived forward to follow him, only to be struck by a searing pain in my head that sent me to my knees.

"Mageia!" Aurelius yelled as I stumbled, falling to my knees. "Suppress him!"

I couldn't breathe. I knew what this was, though I had never felt it before. It was the Elusian Suppression ability. It could be used against Mageia to punish them and prevent them from using their elemental powers.

My vision was going dark, the feeling of suffocation overwhelming me. I felt Aurelius grab my arm and twist it around my back in an iron grip. One of the guards seemed to have found his courage and grabbed my other hand. I stared wistfully at the sloping opening I had made with my power. In my weakened state there was no way I was going to be able to break their hold and escape, but I'd do what I could to protect Master Tarek. Despite the Suppression, I sent a final burst of power to seal the tunnel I'd created. At the very least they would have to bring in another Earth Mageia or some heavy machinery to get into the tunnel now. By the time they did so, Master Tarek should be long gone.

The feeling of the Suppression intensified and made me collapse. I rolled onto my back, trying desperately to breathe. The King stepped forward. From where I lay on the floor I could see him staring down at me in disgust as I clawed at my neck in a futile attempt to pull air into my lungs.

"Another Mageia! Elus blast it, why am I cursed with so many Mageian children?" he said, fury apparent on his face as he looked down at me.

"Queen Eurymenye has been arrested and confined to her rooms. She shall be tried for high treason at your will, your Majesty," Aurelius purred,

No! Dammit, we had been so close!

***

They dragged me back to my father following Mother's trial. Afraid of angering his Greek allies he had not executed her. He had, however, ordered her whipped through the streets. Only the fact that we still had a treaty with her homeland had saved her life.

My hands still shook as I remembered my father trying to force me to use the lash on her before she was exiled back to her homeland of Greece. It turned out that one of her ladies in waiting had been a spy for Aurelius.

I had spent what felt like weeks at the mercy of Maalik and Aurelius and every part of my body was in agony. It was the first time I had seen daylight in what felt like forever.

"Your Majesty, we can hold his execution at dawn," Aurelius said, his voice barely registering.

I was kept Suppressed by multiple Elusians at all times. The pain was so strong that I was beginning to wonder if death might be a mercy. I had never understood the suffering of the Mageia so clearly before.

"Actually," a new voice interjected, "He is no longer your concern, Master Aurelius."

Captain Allard stepped forward and into my area of sight.

"What do you mean, Allard?" Aurelius demanded, the pain of the Suppression lifting slightly as he directed his attention elsewhere. "How dare you contradict the will of your King!"

"Well, he is Mageia, as evidenced by his actions here," Allard responded, gesturing to the floor that Master Tarek had disappeared through. "According to the law, now that he is no longer needed as a witness, he belongs to the Legion."

"Preposterous!" Maalik exclaimed, stepping forward. "He defied the King! He threatened my life! He has to die!"

"The law says all Mageia go to the Legion," Allard responded before stepping forward and placing a hand on the King's shoulder. "No exceptions. I know your dedication to the law, my King. Let the Legion deal with him as they see fit."

I knew Allard and my father had served together years ago. They had been shield mates when had been in the army as young men and Father had named him Weapons Master.

The King held Allard's gaze for a long moment before he nodded and said, "Yes. We must abide by the law. Send him to the Legion. They will teach him his place."

***

"You okay?" Elex asked as I settled myself onto the low stone bed in the room he had dragged me to.

Finding out he was still alive had been the only good thing in this debacle.

I nodded, my hand going to the bruise forming on my jaw. He'd done what he had to do to convince the others that he could control me. In truth, the pain in my face was less than the pain in the rest of my body and I winced as I sat.

Elex spied the move, and his eyes went dark.

"Did they—did they—touch you?" He asked, barely banked fury in his eyes.

I knew what he was asking. I also knew when I looked into his eyes there was no way I could admit to him how Maalik and Aurelius had used my body. Not because of shame on my part, but because he would get himself killed going after Aurelius and Maalik, and I couldn't bear that.

"No," I'd whispered, rolling over on my bunk and pulling the thin blanket over my shoulders. "I just—I just want to sleep."

Whispered words haunted my nightmares, the sounds in both Maalik's and Aurelius' voices.

"Mikros prinkipus."

The words followed me into my new hell.