Prologue
Why hadn’t I died?
That question was a mantra in my head. It had been for days. Suffocating stone walls knew my confusion, knew it as well as I knew my body was starving. Prison here at Flame Island was wearing on me.
I should’ve been executed weeks ago. I thought that was the plan. All seven of the crowns wanted me dead. So why?
The door to my cell swung open. Cool air, cooler than what consumed my cell, kissed my skin as the two men that guarded my cell came in.
“To what do I owe the honor of your presence?” I asked dryly, my voice nothing short of a rasp.
“The High Queen requests your presence,” one of the men answered gruffly. “And the Crown.”
My normally hot blood ran cold. This was it. I was going to meet my end.
They jerked me roughly to my feet by my chains. My vision unfocused as I was pulled to my feet too quickly, but I didn’t have the luxury of regaining my balance. They tugged me out of the cell and down the stone corridors where the stench of burnt oxygen and heat filled the humid air. Other Flames in the cells, starved as I was, emitted high heat from their fire, their breaths pure smoke.
Prison here was torture for a Flame, I couldn’t imagine any other Elemental imprisoned here.
The guards led me through the corridors, rounded bends, and out of the dungeons until we arrived at a chamber. They pushed the door open and shoved me through.
My eyes caught the Portal instantly.
“What…?” I gaped. “I thought the Portals were shut down years ago.”
“Shut up and go in,” the guard who spoke earlier snapped.
Smoke puffed out with my breath. One would think it comical, but I was close to bursting into Fire at this point. My chains numbed my power, since they were raw iron, but I was a Master. Even iron couldn’t numb Flame.
I obeyed and entered the Portal.
New guards were waiting for me and dragged me from the chamber and down the corridors of the Silver Palace. The air here was chilled, prickling my skin after years in the heat of Flame Island’s prison. They stopped when we reached a massive set of doors. One knocked.
“Enter,” a voice called from the other side.
They grunted as they pushed the doors open. The one on my left grinned. “Good luck, Flame,” he spat.
Fire boiled my blood. I pressed it down and stepped into the throne room.
The High Queen sat on her throne above the six other thrones: Fire, Ice, Water, Sky, Light, and Nature. Her purple silk gown glittered almost more than her crown, and her eyes were sharp as the metal points that reached from her head.
“Master Flame…” she drawled. “Welcome back. Have you been enjoying your cell?”
I bowed my head stiffly, standing before the thrones. “Your Highness.”
My lack of an answer to her question made her smile fade. “Straight to the point, you’ve always been. I admired that about you, Jake. Look where that admiration went.”
I said nothing.
“The Crown has come to a decision—”
“You’ve had four weeks to figure out how to kill me, Elira.” I glanced at the seven rulers.
The High Queen’s opalescent eyes flared. “Queen Elira to you. And no, you’re to be hung for your crimes.”
“Plural?” I questioned. “I thought it was—”
“Your son,” Queen Vanhi interrupted. Flames danced over her knuckles as her eyes locked on me. I could read the message them perfectly.
Why?
I stuttered at the mention of him. It was required for Masters to write their offsprings in the records. I didn’t. For his safety.
“I have no son,” I tried lying.
Queen Elira laughed and rose from her throne. Gracefully, she descended the dais and approached me. “Jake, you’re such a bad liar. You just proved you have a son.”
I gritted my teeth. There was no use in denying. Smoke streamed from my nose when I exhaled. “Don’t touch him. He’s just a child.”
“A forbidden child,” she snapped. “You had one rule to follow, Jake Walker. One. To not wed a human. But you did. And you had a child with that human! Do you understand what you’ve done?”
I clenched my jaw. I sensed a strong power in him when he was born, stronger than mine. I couldn’t sense it’s limit.
“He won’t be like that,” I bit out.
“Human blood and Master blood don’t mix well, Jake. Need I remind you what happened the last time a Master had a child with a human?” Elira said.
The shudders from the crowns could be felt from where I stood. I remembered the stories. It was before I was born. But there were many who lived that witnessed what happened.
“He can be trained, I promise. I’ll train him myself, just—”
The Ice King, Bylur, shot up from his throne. His blue tinted fingers balled into fists. “Why would we let you, a Master who broke his only law, train the boy that could be our destruction?!”
“Bylur, please,” Elira scolded, throwing a look at him over her shoulder. He scowled but sat, albeit stiffly. She faced the other rulers. “Would anyone else like to speak up?”
No one spoke. The King of Light turned away.
“Now,” Elira turned back to me, “you will be hung for your crimes. But first, we will keep you alive to find your son and end him—” my hands blazed with blue Flame, and Queen Talia flicked her wrist, shooting water to extinguish it, “—before he gets too strong and potentially let his Flame consume him.”
“He’s just a child!” I lunged at Elira in a fury. “Execute me for my crimes, but leave him alone!”
Bylur encased my body in ice, instantly sucking the energy and heat from my body. He shattered the ice and I collapsed to my knees.
Elira approached me, and hooking a finger under my jaw, she jerked my head up to look her in the eye. “He is a mutant and a danger to the Lost Isles. This is the consequence to your actions, Jake. Break a law, lose a child, and your life.”
My energy may have been taken, but my voice wasn’t. I screamed. Screamed at the injustice of it. Screamed at the desire of a heartless murder of a child in the name of laws.
I screamed at my own actions.
I screamed at my selfishness
And I screamed for a life I watched come into this world that was going to be taken from it.
