Ch 21: The King's Bargain

Five days that were supposed to be spent celebrating the return of the Prince had been turned to hell and horror. No one outside the Advisory and the royal family had any idea though. To keep the people from panicking, things had carried on as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

And so, while Astasha and Calder had been suffering and fighting for each other and their lives, the people of Trenue had drank and sang and danced. And now, as Astasha sat in her room, a prisoner to her circumstances, the closing festivities were in full swing.

Once back in her chambers, she had immediately used her fire to pull energy, but the power that flowed into her, for some reason, burned harder and brighter than before. It was strange, but then, all of this was strange. Helia had been able to piece together part of what was happening, but there were still so many things that hadn’t been explained.

After cleaning off the grime, and sweat, and blood of everything that had happened, she ap