Page 151 of Orchid on Fire
Her heart stopped.
Her hands were shaking.
A cool, clammy touch pressed against her ankle. She looked down and saw a green snake coiled there, Octavia’s familiar. Its tongue flicking at the air as if tasting the faint sweetness that had bloomed from the letter.
Ella couldn’t believe the serpent was there, in her throne room, summoned by her suffering. “Godsdammit, Octavia. Not now,” she muttered, though her voice trembled.
Its scales pressed cool against her skin, steadying her even as her heart began to race again. As if it was sent to remind her of the two paths predicted by Octavia. As if the snake had been sent solely to gloat.
A flare tightened beneath her ribs, anger rising raw.
She was getting fucking tired of others finding her fate before she did.
Her Orchid sigil burned as she lowered her eyes and saw it glowing violet, the ink threaded with living light, a color her tattoo had never taken before. It pulsed once, twice, then steadied, a promise she didn’t understand, but had a feeling she would soon find out.
She looked back down at the letter, gripping it so tightly her knuckles went white. The scent of jasmine clung to the page,cloying and lush, and it didn’t fade when she closed her fist around it, crushing it beneath her fury.
My father doesn’t get to read this. He can sit on the wrong side of a secret for once.
Deep within her, a whisper began to stir.
It was a promise to uncover every last truth, to set ablaze anyone who would dare stand in the way of the reckoning she would bring. It was time to protect her kingdom, claim the path that had always been hers, and step out of the dark she’d been held in.
Ella vowed she would rise into the light. She would show the world the queen she was—or burn everything to the fucking ground as the Orchid On Fire.
