Her choice

A slow week had passed since Daegal locked Naomi in the castle for her safety.

However, she saw it as a slight. One that she wasn’t going to take. She had spent most of the week in the gardens and library, focusing on the magic coursing through her being and trying to find a way to break the barrier that Daegal had set up around her.

She couldn’t leave the walls of the castle, not even to go to the dragon arena. The third day after Daegal left, she hoped that the magic would have worn down but she was disappointed instead.

Vivid nightmares plagued Naomi each night. They always consisted of the same thing: Daegal being killed in battle by the machinations of Chief Topher or Nezetta.

As much as she believed in Daegal’s fighting skills and magic, it didn’t stop her from being scared.

When she had tried to tactfully order some of the mages that were left behind, to bring down the barrier, they refused and when she had asked for their reason, they had informed her that the emperor’s orders