She felt a hand on her forehead, and another one holding her hand. The dream she had been caught in was slipping away, though the outline of it lingered in her mind. It had been soft, like a green forest, and strangely significant. She didn’t want to lose it, but the waking world crept closer, pulling the dream into nothingness—a loss that left an aching emptiness in its wake.

  “Sasha?” Ivy’s voice sounded worried, the hand squeezing hers too clingy.

  The memories of what happened came back, and she groaned. She had failed. Not only had she not been able to save her sister, but she had also been captured and lost her power.

  “Where am I?”

  ‘You’re at my home, in our finest guest room,’ a male voice replied, and Sasha’s eyes snapped open. Two figures sat on the large double bed where she lay.”

  “Elias?”

  Sasha pushed his hand away, frustration rising inside her—not just at him, but at herself for not realizing sooner that the hand on her forehead was far too large to belong to Ivy. She sat up, taking a moment to steady her thoughts as she surveyed her surroundings.

  It was a beautiful room, with a fireplace and several big windows facing a garden. Opposite the bed where she lay was an exact copy, with a canopy and yellow linens.

  “How do you feel?” Ivy asked.

  “I feel... I feel weak,” Sasha confessed. Just sitting up had cost her.

  “That’s expected,” Elias said. “My mother gave you back the magic she took and forced some more upon you. I hadn’t expected you to wake up so soon.”

  “She did what?”

  “You feel pain?” Elias asked, his hand brushing her forehead.

  “Yeah, my head feels like a balloon.” She probably had a fever.

  “You shouldn’t have run away from me,” he sighed. “I could have kept you out of this had you let me.”

  Elias took a glass of water and handed it to her.

  “Why is she still hurt?” Ivy insisted. “I thought you healed her?”

  “It’s the extra magic speaking. It will subside, but it won’t go away completely until she learns to master it.”

  Elias rose from the bed, pacing back and forth in the room. Sasha squeezed her sister's hand, her mind a whirlwind of confusion. She couldn’t seem to gather her thoughts, let alone start figuring out how to fix the mess she was in. All she could focus on was the throbbing pain in her head.

  “I can smooth the edges, sister,” Ivy said.

  “Not now,” Sasha whispered. She squeezed her sister’s hand harder. “What has she done to you?” Sasha could cope with the pain, but what she couldn’t cope with was the uncertainty. Sasha didn’t want to know, yet she had to. Her sister had been all alone in the lion’s den.

  “Nothing. The queen has been nice. That is, until I saw what she did to you.”

  “Mother adores your sister,” Elias interrupted. “Ivy is an exact copy of herself, minus the magic. My mother thinks she’s gotten a puppy,” there was distaste coloring his voice. “You’re pretty lucky not being gifted with magic.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “Well, things are not always what they seem, are they, Elias?” Ivy said. Sasha flinched. Her sister never talked about her ability. Hinting at it now was beyond stupid.

  Elias looked Ivy square in the eyes.

  “I will lift your deepest suffering if you help my sister with the pain to come,” Ivy said.

  “You know nothing about my suffering,” Elias said.

  “I know all about it. By all means, I am the firstborn, after all.” Ivy had the look of a queen. She had always had it, the frail and the almighty, all in one.

  “Then how will you do what I can’t?” Elias insisted.

  It must have been bothering him if he was willing to listen to Ivy. Sasha looked dumbstruck. She didn’t recognize the cocky knight in front of her.

  “I will not, but I will guide the events if you follow my directions. If not, you will lose her,” Ivy said, pointing toward Sasha.

  “Me?” Sasha said, now even more confused.

  “And why would I care about Sasha?”

  “Yeah, why would you?” Sasha agreed.

  Ivy giggled.

  “You don’t, but when you lose her at the marketplace, it will drive you nuts.”

  Elias looked away from Ivy, searching for something in Sasha’s eyes. She knew that look and nodded. Of course, her sister was crazy. He should pay no attention to what she was talking about. And later, she would reprimand Ivy for letting her tongue loose among enemies.

  “Mind if I have a word with your sister alone?” Elias asked Ivy in a gentle voice. “You might want to bring her some soup, get her to recover faster.”

  “Not at all,” Ivy said, and to Sasha’s utter disbelief, left her alone.

  “I hate you. All of this, it is your doing.”

  “It hurts, doesn’t it?” Elias put his hand on her forehead. It felt as soft as a cold blanket, and she sighed. “You’re such a whining little princess, you know.”

  Sasha knocked his hand away. The pain was immediately tenfold.

  “I should have known you never traded the orb.”

  Sasha looked away. So, he had seen. She wished he had not.

  “You will take it back?”

  “I will, eventually,” Elias said, putting his hand back on her forehead. He sighed. Sasha didn’t care; his hand was a blessing. “I would prefer if you just gave it back.”

  She laughed out loud. That for sure was not going to happen.

  “But until then, I will train you,” Elias said.

  “You will train me?”

  “Yes, my mother wishes for you to learn to use the magic she has forced upon you. And I think I can shape you into a real good knight.”

  “And you will just do all of this because she asks?”

  “No, I will do it because you need it. You’re a spoiled brat, misusing your magic. You badly need the training, Sasha!”

  Elias’s voice was angry, and the hand on her forehead went stiff. There were no soft strokes, just his hard hand, laying there, taking away the edges of her pain. She exhaled. Finally, she recognized the man in front of her.

  “You are a healer.”

  “Yes, I am,” Elias answered. “Glad you noticed.”

  “But how?”

  “You ask too many questions,” Elias said, and through his fingertips, the magic started to flow.

  This time there was no pain; there was just this familiar magic, and she gulped, swallowing what he gave, feeling the familiar sensation of the magic she had lost. To her disbelief, Elias gave back her magic.

  “This is enough for this time. You will get no more until you master this one.”

  “This? It’s just baby magic. I’m as weak as a five-year-old!”

  “You’re as mature as a five-year-old. Quite fitting,” Elias said. “Starting by mastering what you should have already learned is the first step. And princess, a thank you wouldn’t be too much to ask.”

  Sasha knew she was being ungrateful. She was weak as a toddler, not only in body but in magic. He had no reason to give back anything, especially since she had not. She really ought to thank him.

  “Bastard,” she said. She was spoiled. She wanted it all—the might and the glory, all the magic she had lost, all the magic that was stolen.

  “Indeed,” said Elias. “Just a small thank you would have been enough.”

  He bent down and placed a kiss as light as a feather on her lips. She wanted to cry.

  “This is entirely your fault,” Elias said, and he took his hand away. There were sparks of green in his yellow eyes.

  Sasha sobbed. The pain stabbed her. She longed for his healing.

  “Please, Elias.”

  “Please what?”

  Sasha laid her hand around his neck and pulled him down to her. She had to have it rough, not soft, not gentle, not as feathers.

  He pulled his lips away, the oath on his lips one she had never heard before.

  “I hate you,” she said.

  “I know,” he answered. “You keep saying so.”

  And he left the room.