The Bound (Ascension #2)(87)

Discovering it for the sake of discovering it was one thing. That was what her master had always done. Pursuit of knowledge was her forte. But should all knowledge be pursued? When that knowledge could have catastrophic consequences, should it be given to people who would manipulate it for their own purposes?

No.

Maybe Master Barca was right.

His Bursts were enough.

No need to finalize the formula for the blast powder.

She would just try it one more time with a clear head and then get ready for the Eos holiday celebrations.

With a resigned sigh, she returned to her work room. Leaning over the various powders she had been working with, she started mixing them together.

Earlier that week, she had pilfered a few Bursts from the festival celebration and deconstructed them to get a better look at what her master had done. But it was difficult to determine when all the powders were already mixed in certain amounts for the Bursts. Not to mention, the blast powder she wanted to create needed to be much more highly concentrated.

She mixed together the ingredients that were used in the Bursts and decided to light it in a closed compartment. The Bursts seemed to pop open in the tightly concealed space. She fitted the powder into a small metal contraption that Master Barca had left on the table. He had a million different such objects floating around that she was sure he wouldn’t miss this one.

Carefully placing the object on a table away from her papers, she threaded a wick into the container and rolled it out. The powder itself burned pretty well on its own, so she wanted to make sure she was far enough away in case the fire increased. Luckily, the room was basically fireproof.

Rhea cut the wick and then lit it, standing about ten feet away from the table. The wick burned slowly as it traveled across the distance and then into the metal contraption.

BOOM!

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Rhea’s vision was blurry. Her ears were ringing. She placed her hands on them, but that did nothing to stop the ringing. She tried to stand and look around the room, only to realize that she had been thrown all the way across the chamber. Her back had collided with the wall on the opposite side, some thirty feet away from where she had been standing when lighting the fuse.

“What have I done?” she whispered.

But she was shocked to discover she couldn’t hear herself speak.

Everything hurt. She had to find a way to assess her injuries, but standing seemed impossible.

Then, there was Master Barca, leaning down toward her and softly cradling her. He was saying something, but she just shook her head. She couldn’t hear him. He tried to help her to her feet, but that didn’t go so well.

He motioned to her that he was going to go get help, and then he left at a hurried jog, which was really moving for him.

She leaned her head back against the wall and was resigned to her fate when someone else walked into the room.

Kael Dremylon.

An apparition. What would the Prince be doing here? He didn’t come to this side of the castle. He had been back only for a couple of weeks and had been all but locked in his own quarters.

No. There was no prince here.

Just a dream.

Dream Prince Kael said something to her, but she motioned to her ear. The ringing continued. She hoped this wasn’t permanent. What would I do if I lost my hearing completely?

Dream Prince Kael nodded and then unexpectedly bent down and hoisted her into his arms. Am I floating? This couldn’t be reality. She was too weak to protest.

Shouldn’t my Dream Prince know that I can’t move right now?

Apparently not.

Dream Prince Kael carried her from the room, as if she weighed nothing. Perhaps she did weigh nothing; it was a dream after all.

They walked through the corridors and then reached her small quarters a few minutes later. Dream Prince Kael gently placed her down in the bed, and as exhaustion took her over, she passed out on the covers.



Rhea came to again sometime later. She had the distinct feeling of being watched. Her ears were still ringing a little. And her entire body felt like…well, like she had just been blasted thirty feet across a room and into a stone wall.

“Hello?” she croaked into the stillness.

She could hear! Only slightly. Her voice warbled, as if heard through water, but her hearing wasn’t completely gone.

“Hello,” someone called back.

Rhea turned her head and saw Kael Dremylon sitting in the corner of her room. She had been sure that envisioning him was a dream. His presence made no sense to her.

She opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing in her room, but all that came out was, “Water.”

He smiled that charming smile. She was sure that she would have blushed under different circumstances. He was the prince.

He handed her a glass of water. “Here you are. I had a physician attend to you and assured Master Barca that I would fetch him when you were awake.”

“How long was I out?”

“Only an hour or two.”

“And you waited?” she asked in disbelief.

He flashed her another winning smile.

There was something different about him. Rhea couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She didn’t know him that well, but the prince she had seen before he had left for Aurum was…different. Teasing, flirtatious, jovial, conniving for sure, and manipulative. But this was other. He was somehow other. It was like a black shadow had fallen over his body, transforming the man before her. It made her shiver.