Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 323: Frozen

Chapter 323: Frozen

Daphne smiled diabolically as she caught sight of the brief look of fear on Alistair’s face. To see him be afraid of little old her, his once-useless little sister, gave her a heady rush of adrenaline and power.

At that very moment, she felt like she could do anything. The world was hers. Atticus had lopped off his hand, and Daphne knew that she could do one better― she would take an arm, or perhaps a leg. It was not enough to kill him but she wanted to maim Alistair to ensure that he would live the rest of his life in disgrace, paying for his crimes.

She sent another wave of water in his direction, causing him to splutter. Unfortunately, the water only had the effect of stunning him, battering him with force. She wasn’t drawing enough blood for her taste.

And Alistair, for all his fear, was refusing to give up. His pride wouldn’t let him beg for mercy, and there was still a part of him that believed he could outlast Daphne.

Perhaps if the water had become ice... Daphne pictured herself freezing the water at Alistair’s legs and up his body, but her attempt only led to a pulsing headache. She could do it but with her weakened body and lessened stamina, attempting something new seemed impossibly out of reach.

But it didn’t mean she couldn’t try.

"You’re insane," Alistair said.

His look of anger slowly but surely morphed into maniacal laughter, cackling as he held his forehead. With his drenched clothes and messed up hair, Alistair — the once dignified crown prince of Reaweth — looked like nothing more than a drenched cat on the streets one rainy night.

Even though he sounded absolutely deranged, Daphne didn’t feel even an ounce of fear in her. To her, he just looked pathetic.

"You’re one to speak," Daphne coolly replied.

She turned and nodded to Zephyr, who now had Nereus in his arms. Zephyr nodded back in understanding, subtly moving under the water to grab Daphne close. The water — thanks to Daphne’s over-display of power — had already risen to their chests and was only still rising. The pipes had burst and everywhere was flooded.

The cracking walls of Alistair’s temporary home would soon prove to be disastrous if they didn’t get out soon.

And get out they would.

Daphne tried again. She pushed past the foggy pain that was starting to build up in her head and focused on imagining icicles forming at her fingertips. If Atticus’s theory was right, and her hydromancy was indeed because of the weird mix between her father’s fire and her mother’s ice, then she should be able to tap into cryomancy as well.

She just needed a trigger, just like when she had first learned how to wield flames.

A foreboding groan echoed through the tunnel, followed by the sound of stones dropping into water, causing droplets to splash. There were sharp snaps and pops that rang through the air, causing Alistair and Zephyr to look up and around in fear.

"Uh... Daphne?" Zephyr called out unsurely. "We need to go. Now. Now now now."

"Not until I have him dead," Daphne muttered under her breath. She could feel the stones on her ring cooling down even further, nearly freezing against her finger.

Then, it was as though time stood to a still.

The very air around them turned so cold that a single breath out of Daphne’s lips emerged as a puff of white smoke. Even the water that had been leaking through the walls paused. They began to crystallize, forming frozen fractals, accompanied by a tinkling chime.

Frost began to creep up the walls, freezing the water in place. They held the building’s bricks in place, halting the low rumble that foretold the crumbling of the structure.

However, as soon as Alistair felt the relief of the roof’s restored structural integrity, he felt the water temperature around him drop. He looked down a moment too late and within seconds, the water body that surrounded them had frozen into a huge block of ice, imprisoning him in the glacial cage.

"You really think that this can cage me?" Alistair roared, cackling madly. His eyes were bloodshot and Daphne could even see the veins popping out against the skin of his neck. "You forget― fire melts ice. Your newfound cryomancy is still inferior!"

"You can melt it," Daphne replied calmly. "Go ahead. Heat the room up. Melt the ice on the walls." She pointed to the layer that clung to the stone, preventing more water from seeping in and bursting the entire structure open. "I dare you."

"You think I wouldn’t dare―"

"You wouldn’t," Daphne firmly said. She had the luxury to walk around freely, having only frozen the water around Alistair. Yet, of course, it didn’t mean that the water that surrounded her wasn’t freezing cold. "If this tunnel caves in, we’re both dead. You wouldn’t kill yourself just to get me. Besides," she smirked, "you need me alive, don’t you?"

She nodded at Zephyr and in one swift pull, he lifted both Daphne and Nereus out of the water. Their damp clothes made it harder for Zephyr to support both their weights, but he still managed to stay in the air.

"Zephyr, get us out of here."

"Yes ma’am!" he said.

Ignoring the heated glances from Alistair, Zephyr began to fly towards the window behind the trapped prince. He flew a little slower due to the weight of two people and was careful enough to stay as far away as possible from Alistair just in case he did anything to attack from behind.

Zephyr’s worries weren’t for naught.

Alistair gritted his teeth, huffing in indignance the moment the damned bird flew past him, bringing Daphne and the horse in tow. He was so close.

So fucking close.

He just needed this one thing to go right and his hand would be fine.

Then, a sudden thought flitted through his mind. It was Daphne’s words.

’You need me alive, don’t you?’

But did he? He had already perfected the potion. Even if he couldn’t get more blood from the kelpie to make more potions, he already had a perfect result out there in the open, safely in the palace.

Slowly, a grin spread across Alistair’s face. He didn’t need Daphne alive after all.

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