A Wicked Game [The Crown Saga II] (Under Editing)

Ruin

I dropped the spoon into the empty bowl, forcing the last serving of cold soup down my throat.

A moan of distress pushed past my lips. I pressed my tongue against the roof of my mouth and pinched my nose to endure the disagreeable taste.

Faye had left not long ago, summoned by the madam after an incident in the Parlor. I'd wanted to resume training right away now that I'd uncovered the mystery of summoning the power I'd sought. However, my growling stomach had refused to allow me the needed silence until I'd replenished my energy reserves. Unfortunately, the stale soup had been the only option.

I shook off the repulsion and got up to retrieve the tuning fork. It took me a few minutes to work past my wind energy and tap into the source of my sound powers. However, once I found it, the tines instantly began moving, filling the room with its song.

Joy surged through me. I'd completed the first step, but I wasn't done yet.

Clenching my teeth, I focused harder to intensify my power until I could no longer hear the melody singing. The second step had been surprisingly easy to accomplish, but I quickly found that the final step didn't come as effortlessly.

***

My feet carried me down the corridors, my breath strained to keep up with the absurd pace I'd set. I needed to show Art what I'd achieved.

I smiled as my body hummed with anticipation and a touch of confidence. Art had regarded me unsuited for wielding my weapon, but how could I be unfit to master my main element when I'd grasped the first stages of sound in a matter of days?

"Art!" I exclaimed, barging through the door to his study like an impatient child. "I did it, Art. I—"

I stopped in my tracks when I saw Art facing Caiden while clutching my training staff in his hand. Anger painted his ashen face with creases.

Caiden stood with a dazed look of bewilderment, his hands resting firmly on his waist as if Art had just informed him of something horrid.

"Did I arrive at a bad time?" I asked, cautious not to startle them.

I stiffened when their gaze snapped to meet mine.

Caiden's hardened face softened, but Art's stare blazed with a fury hotter than the scorching sun. For a brief moment, I worried that his wrath was my doing—as if he'd somehow found out I'd spilled my secrets to Faye. However, the wrath didn't cut my skin. It didn't make my guts squirm or my breath lodge. It wasn't my doing that had provoked his anger.

"Will," Caiden said as he started to approach me. "I think someone might—"

A strong wind interrupted Caiden before he could take more than two steps as Art vanished from his spot. I twisted on my heel as my master reappeared in front of the only table that wasn't cluttered or turned over.

He grabbed the draperies hanging behind him, yanking them down with one fierce pull to reveal a glass case much like the one encasing the weapons I aspired to wield one day. However, this capsule contained only one weapon that resembled my staff.

I winced when he furiously cut the air with a tense hand, unleashing a wind that lifted and tossed the heavy glass casing into the wall to his right. That was heavy enough to stand anchored through countless of my savage hurricanes.

Caiden stood indifferent as I squirmed at the sound of the shattering glass, but he didn't appear unaffected. Wrath seemed to pulse through his veins, too. However, unlike Art, Caiden's anger could only be perceived by the shade of his white knuckles and the pumping muscles in his clenched jaw.