Page 3 of The Fractured Prophecy

“Rune?” The question cracked from my throat as I stared at my sister’s visage, reflected in a full-length mirror that had appeared in front of me. A glow surrounded her, filling the space and blotting out whatever lay behind her.

“I’m here. I’m so sorry it had to end this way,” she said, voice soft like petals on the wind, yet her words felt like shards of ice stabbing my heart.

“Why is it an end?” I asked, rushing toward the mirror and reaching out only to touch the smooth glass. It was similar to when we’d communicated in my dreams as I traveled with Rivven and prepared for the Imrati, where I’d fought my way to the final contest in the hopes of freeing Rune from our father’s clutches. Now I felt like the prisoner. But who would rescue me? “Where am I? What’s happening?”

“You are part of me,” she said. The wringing of her hands was the only sign anything was bothering her. “You’re tucked in my mind.”

“Part of—but I’m here. I’m whole.” I ran my hands down my sides then back up through my tangled mess of hair to make sure it was true. “I’m separate. This is your mind?”

She cocked her head. “I’ve kept you separate, like yourself. I didn’t do it to hurt you. You can make this space however you like. You can have whatever you want, just think of it and concentrate. But…you won’t be able to bring people here.”

“Then I’m alone? Forever?” I asked, taking in the sight of my sister with her expertly coiffed hair and lace gown of pale yellow. Her alabaster skin appeared as smooth as the surface of the mirror. “You can’t leave me here. Please. Let me out. I can still finish this. I can kill⁠—”

“I told you, you cannot,” Rune interrupted harsher than I was used to hearing her. “It was a mistake to release you in the first place. I only ended up hurting others. That poor man you brought with you.”

“Rivven? Why? What’s happened? Is he…is he dead?” I held my breath for her response.

“No. But he may wish he were. He’s in the dungeons.” Rune stared over my shoulder, her beautiful crystalline eyes, so like mine, refusing to watch my reaction.

We both knew what the dungeons in Centos were like. I’d seen enough down there to have nightmares for years. Torture, rape, starvation, and finally death—the only freedom prisoners received.

Bile rose in the back of my throat as I sank down once again, defeated. There was no point in trying to stop the trembling in my body or the tears that never seemed to cease. It was my fault. I’d led him to his death even if unintentionally.

“Please,” I begged quietly, “Please, Rune, let me out. Let me try to save him.”

“Creating a shadow hand was Illio’s mistake in the stories,” Rune said. “He’d used his incredible gift for selfish reasons. I thought, since I wasn’t power-hungry like him, it would turn out differently for me. I thought of you as a person and not an illusion. But I was wrong. Only heartache can come from releasing you again. I’m sorry, Nye.”

“What then?” My face contorted into a sneer. “You leave me here to go mad alone? Why not just destroy me?”

Rune recoiled. “I need you. You are the only thing that’s kept me sane and alive through father’s torture.”

“You’ll use me to visit like a…a pet?” I spit.

“You’re angry. I get that. I don’t blame you. I suppose I’m angry at myself.” Rune waved a hand and the room around me transformed into a copy of her own bedroom, roaring hearth, soft woven chair, furs on the ground and four poster bed with canopy, everything in pastels that clashed with the emerald and gold of the curtains, rug, and mantle. “There, that should at least make you more comfortable.”

I hated it.

“Tell me what’s happening out there,” I begged when she backed away as though ready to abandon me to my fate.

She turned, something like pity on her smooth face. “I am to be married soon to Prince Torvo, winner of the Imrati, so that I can provide an heir as is my duty.”

Torvo. He was a good man who had worked with us against the king. But if that wasn’t what she wanted…

“Are you happy?” I asked, stomach twisting at the worry and compassion I still felt for this person who had both created and destroyed my life.

Leuruna straightened her small shoulders and tipped up her chin. “It is my duty, and I am happy to do my duty.” But her quivering bottom lip told a different story. “Goodbye for now. I will visit again when I can.”

“No! Wait!” I shouted, reaching toward the mirror, but in a flash, it was simply a reflection of myself, hair once again long, dark, and disheveled, eyes rimmed in red. I still wore the cerulean bodysuit from the Imrati trials.

Sinking to my knees, I shrieked to the heavens, knowing it would fall on deaf ears.

Two

Leuruna

Nyah was mad at me. But I couldn’t disperse her, she felt too much like a real sister, a real person outside myself. And wasn’t she? She’d made decisions so different from what I would have done in her shoes. How was that possible? Was that really what I’d do if I had total freedom?

I shook my head. It was too overwhelming to think about now. At least Nye would be safe in my mind. Until my father drained me of all my magic. But he couldn’t do that until I’d provided a child, so I had a little time at least.