All Chapters of The One: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Maerilee I don’t ask questions. I don’t stop to think or even take a breath. The moment Permiton’s words leave his mouth, I throw on a robe, my heart hammering in my chest, and run. The corridors blur around me as I race through the palace, my bare feet slapping against the cold stone floor. There’s no time to waste. Something’s wrong. Something’s terribly wrong.When I reach my mother’s chambers, my pulse spikes. The door is ajar, a cold draft slipping through the crack as if beckoning me inside. I push it open, my breath catching in my throat at the sight before me.She lies in her bed, deathly pale, her chest rising and falling with shallow, labored breaths. Her once radiant skin is ashen, and her eyes are closed as if she’s already begun slipping away. I barely recognize her. She looks so fragile, so unlike the powerful woman I know so well.I rush to her side, but her eyes are already closed, her

Maerilee“What do you mean by that?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper, but my question hangs in the still air of my mother’s chamber like a command.My father stands at the foot of the bed, his gaze steady as it meets mine.“You have enough power, Maerilee,” he says, his voice low but certain. “You must. You wouldn’t be where you are right now, wouldn’t have found your Ones, if the power wasn’t there. You can do this.”I blink, trying to process his words. I have power, yes. I can feel it, especially with Akin, River, and Brook close by. But enough to seal the entire room? To protect my family from whatever forces are marching on Altinna? The weight of his belief presses down on me, and I swallow hard, feeling the familiar thread of self-doubt pulling tight.“I’m not sure if I can, ” I confess, looking down at my hands as if the answer could be found in my own skin. “The most I’ve managed is a barrier around Duchess’s ball. I’m not sure I’m powerful enough to protect you all.”I

MaerileeI close my eyes, focusing on the magic coursing through my veins. The power is there, simmering beneath the surface, waiting for me to command it. I can feel the barrier beginning to take shape in my mind, a protective shell around this room, around my mother and family. But this time, I need more. It needs to be specific, targeted, able to allow some things in and keep others out. Food, water, air, those must pass through. But nothing else. Nothing that could harm them.The magic resists at first, slipping through my grasp like water. But I don’t give up. I take a deep breath, reaching deeper, pulling on the strength I know I have inside me. And not just my own strength, Akin’s, River’s, Brook’s, and even Permiton’s. Their magic intertwines with mine, amplifying it, making me stronger. With their power, I push through the resistance.Suddenly, I feel it solidify and obey.The barrier flares to life around us, invisible but undeniably there. It hums with energy, a quiet pulse

*Maerilee*We wait by the water’s edge, the air thick with unease. Brook seems weighted down with the reality of being banished from his kingdom. River, on the other hand, is incensed, muttering to himself about how unfair this all is.Akin is restless, eager to be moving. He tells us multiple times that he doesn’t like how exposed we are and thinks we should go back to the forest for cover until we figure out our next move. Permiton keeps telling him that our help will come soon.The vast body of water in front of us stretches endlessly, the deep blue surface unnaturally still. It reflects the gray sky above, creating an almost eerie mirror-like effect. I’m trying to stay calm, to trust in Permiton, but his cryptic reassurances aren’t doing much to ease my anxiety.“Permiton,” I finally say, unable to keep my doubts to myself any longer “are you sure about this?”He stands a little apart from the rest of us, his eyes scanning the horizon as if waiting for something only he can see. W

*Maerilee* The journey on the ferry takes several hours, and they leave us bound on the deck, the bright sun beating down on us. My wrists ache from the tightness of the amethyst cuffs, and my mind feels even more constricted, trapped in a loop of disbelief and betrayal as I watch Permiton making friends with the soldiers. He’s sold us out. The thought circles over and over in my head, like a vulture picking at the remnants of a dead animal. I keep replaying the last few days in my head, remembering the moment Mother first introduced him to the court, when he cornered me and told me that we would need to connect for my power to fully be realized. I want to retch as I think of him touching me, of him inside me. Was he planning this even then? Perhaps he was even in on the plot to poison Mother. After all, he’s from Ambrosia. Surely, he knew Diereken. They’ve probably been in on this