Rian's warning and Lorcan's calculated dismissal had changed everything. I was fighting for my continued existence against a King who viewed me as a renewable resource. He wasn't merely demanding a life partner; he was demanding a life support system.
My next training session the following day was tense. Vesper, still silent about the King's intrusion, was unusually watchful. She laid out the Sunstone and the iron chain on the cracked marble, her movements crisp and precise.
"The King requires you to execute three perfect channels today," Vesper instructed, standing well back from the marble circle. "Precision is paramount. If you cannot maintain stability using the cold anchor, we revert to the pre-binding stabilizer, as he commanded."
Pre-binding stabilizer: the Sunstone. The threat was now meaningless, because whether I controlled my power or not, the stone was going to be used to turn me into Lorcan's battery.
But Rian had said: "You need to test the stone's true magnetic draw."
If the stone was merely a failsafe, as Lorcan claimed, it would only activate when my power became volatile. If it was an Anchor of Sacrifice, as Rian claimed, it would attempt to draw my power even when the flow was stable.
I sat down, taking the cold iron chain. I closed my eyes, but I didn't reach for Lorcan's distant shadow first. I reached only for the Sun-Fire in my core, pulling it up slowly, gently, maintaining a low, steady burn it was a perfectly controlled flow, like a candle flame. It was the best control I had achieved yet, completely stable and non-volatile.
I guided the slow, warm current down my arms, along the iron chain, and directed it toward the Sunstone.
The Sunstone didn't wait for the fire to hit it.
As soon as the heat left my fingertips, the Sunstone instantly flared with a low, hungry light. It didn't pulse defensively; it pulsed receptively. It began to draw the controlled, stable heat off the chain with an immediate, subtle suction, greedily absorbing the gentle energy.
It was a small, quiet, terrifying siphon.
Lorcan had lied. The Sunstone was not a stabilizer for explosive power; it was a vampire for stable power.
I immediately snapped the flow closed. The connection broke, and the Sunstone settled back to its steady, innocuous glow.
Vesper noticed the interruption. "What happened, Seraphina? You broke the flow. That was a perfect channel."
"My grip slipped," I lied smoothly, feeling a cold, calculated fury rising in my chest. I had the proof I needed. Lorcan planned to drain me slowly, politely, and legally.
I tried the experiment again. Stable, slow heat flow. The Sunstone flared and began to draw. Siphon.
I broke the flow and tried a third time, but this time, I decided to test the range.
I didn't channel the fire down the chain. I kept the power contained entirely within my hands, just outside the skin, forming a tiny, perfect sphere of controlled golden light above my palm. I held the light absolutely steady, a perfect example of stability.
The Sunstone remained dark, merely humming with its internal glow.
I slowly brought my hands, holding the tiny Sun-Fire sphere, closer to the stone.
When the golden light was about a foot away from the Sunstone, the stone reacted instantly. It flared a brilliant, acquisitive yellow and began to pull. The pull was physical, like standing near a massive magnet. I felt my light strain toward the stone, threatening to fly out of my hands and be absorbed.
It wasn't a failsafe. It was a trap.
I retreated quickly, breaking the magnetic connection. My heart hammered with the terrible certainty of Rian's warning. Lorcan had lied about the stone's purpose and his own intent.
"Seraphina, that was erratic," Vesper said, frustration coloring her tone. "The King has no patience for games. What is wrong?"
I stood up, shaking the adrenaline from my arms. I looked at the Sunstone, gleaming innocently in the center of the Pit. I looked at Vesper, whose loyalty to Lorcan was absolute.
I knew I couldn't survive the wedding ritual with that stone in the room. I had to destroy it.
"The problem, Vesper," I said, meeting her eyes, my voice low and determined, "is that this King is asking me to save him using a dead piece of equipment. This stone is faulty. It doesn't stabilize. It destabilizes. I believe it is contaminated with residual shadow magic from the previous attempts to break the curse."
I walked toward the Sunstone, giving Vesper no time to react. I focused on the core of my Sun-Fire, but this time, I didn't reach for Lorcan's anchor. I reached for the purest, most volatile heat I could summon, the kind that had cracked the marble.
"We need a new Sunstone, Vesper," I declared. "This one is a liability."
Before she could stop me, I unleashed the uncontrolled, raw power. Not a slow channel, but an explosion. The Sun-Fire burst from my palms like a focused torrent of magma, slamming directly into the beautiful, insidious Sunstone.
There was a catastrophic sound of crystalline collapse. The Sunstone shattered violently, fracturing into a million pieces of incandescent dust, which instantly oxidized and vanished in a puff of smoke.
Vesper stood frozen, staring at the empty space where the stone had been, her face a mask of utter shock and horror.
"You… you destroyed the relic!" she finally stammered. "The King will—"
"The King will be told the truth," I interrupted, standing tall on the cracked marble, still vibrating with heat. "The stone was contaminated and would have destroyed the bond. We need a new focusing mechanism. Until then, King Lorcan must trust in my innate power. Or he must delay the wedding."
I had just destroyed his battery. I had gambled my entire future on a single, rebellious act. The King's reaction would be swift, devastating, and entirely unpredictable.