For She Is Wrath

by Emily Varga

And when I thought of the boy who had stolen all that, I wanted to tear down every stone that surrounded me and bury him beneath them.

Even just thinking his name had anger thrumming through my blood like the gathering of water behind a dam threatening to break loose.

Maz hadn’t just taken my freedom, or my father’s reputation. He’d taken away one of the few relationships I believed was safe, true. And he lit it on fire and smiled as I burned with it.

“Mazin was someone I trusted when I should have known better. Someone who was always going to betray me, in the end.”

Though Mazin’s swordsmanship had needed work, in the end he was the only one who could match me. Until he’d bested me in our final battle, the one we’d had without swords. The one where I’d ended up in prison and he had walked free.

We hadn’t known each other long, but our relationship had been forged in the dirt of a prison that had meant to kill us, and instead we’d left with bloodied hands.

Because if I stopped moving, if I stopped plotting, I’d have to face the reality of life without him.

Kindness was seductive.