The Assassin Princess (The Legacy Novels Book 1) by Blake Rivers Read Free Book Online Page B

so very young, growing up in magical ignorance.”
    He paused, the images of a lone child replaced in Ami’s mind by those of crowds lining streets, a parade of flags waving, cheering, music plucked and strummed.
    “By the time I was twelve, I’d begun to watch my father more closely; how he would walk the streets, holding out his hand to crowds, praising the children that were not his kin, giving them blessings, giving their mothers the wink of fortune. There were miracles for the masses, blessings for everyone except me. I’d started to realise that my hopes and dreams were faltering. Everything I’d assumed was wrong. My time wasn’t coming. I was only an honorary servant, unabashedly neglected, and beginning to doubt my regality and my heirdom.
    “When I finally asked my mother, ‘When will my time come, Mother?’ she told me quite plainly, ‘The heir of Legacy will never be born of Legacy. The heir of Legacy will come from another layer .’ And so it was true. I was only a neglected son, a lost soul who should have been regal, but belonged nowhere.”
    The fire behind her crackled and spat, but Ami’s eyes were blinded, filled only with the shining green orbs and the pale images they showed her.
    “I now questioned all around me. My father, the showman, spreading love and goodwill to all, building a kingdom for an heir that wasn’t me. I’d have to stand by and watch as all he created passed to another, would have to listen to him talk of building a legacy for his son to inherit, knowing he didn’t mean me.
    “A foolish man with a foolish neglect, for as time passed I realised that the power he wielded was not his alone. I had power also.”
    Adam’s body preened with green light and Ami slunk into the chair away from him, the rose crushed in her fisted palm, a thorn piercing her skin. It hurt enough for her gaze to fall from him, and the moment it did, the dangerous feeling inside increased. When she looked back to him, she felt the strength to resist his will building. Whose dream was this? Whose mind? If it were hers, could she not take control?
    She continued to listen.
    “I took to wandering the lands outside of the city, riding off into the hills, forests, and mountains. I stole horses from the castle stables and visited dark places I’d never been, deep in the hills of the Planrus Lands. I practiced with the power I had and found that through my seething anger and building hatred, I could kill at will. I killed just to watch death happen, to watch animals squirm and fall. Torturing them slowly, I watched the life drain from them.
    “I experimented. What more could I do? It was addictive and felt good. While my father held the hands of women and children, shook the hands of men and boys, I was out in the world destroying as I wished. Life was nothing. My father erected statues, revelling in the knowledge that one day his heir would come, while I walked the rough paths of valleys, the grass turning brown beneath my tread, the trees withering and catching ablaze at my command.”
    Ami saw the death, the senseless destruction, and dangerous fought against his gaze, trying to escape and pull away, yet she was enthralled at the same time—such power he held—did she hold the same power?
    “I was hungry for more and was set on taking Legacy from my father. I was so much more powerful than him, it would be easy. I entered the castle, entered his chambers. I challenged him. ‘Father, give me the land!’ I’d said, and raised my hand to him, threatening him with my power. He threw me with his power, defeating me and my weak effort. I was too injured in body and pride to retaliate.
    “He ordered me away and out of the castle, my anger and embarrassment so great that I made to leave the city. The Guard was dispatched to bring me back. I received no punishment and the matter was forgotten as if it had never happened. Even my most devious deed, my planned rebellion, was insignificant to my father. My