Free Evanescent by Andria Buchanan

me. “Oh, be quiet. If there is one thing I cannot tolerate it’s a sassy, know-it-all queen. I had enough of that with your idiot of a mother.”
    There was a flash of light as dark magic forced my lips shut, sealing them together, while a sudden pressure formed around my voice box like it was being held inside an oversized toddler’s fist and squeezed like a grape.
    “That’s better.” He brought his hands together in front of his chest like he was praying and then tapped his fingers together.
    I felt a slight push and my body toppled backward onto my throne. I scrambled upright, but before I could stand again the pressure on my mouth spread across my entire body, pushing me firmly back into my seat, pinning my arms and legs so that I couldn’t move. Trapping me.
    He gave me a wicked smile and stepped closer. “Now you can do what I’ve needed from you since the beginning. Stay silent, sit still, and listen to what I have to say. Exactly like the good little girl I would have raised you to be without your silly mother’s interference.”
    I tried to scream, but the rush of air through my throat felt like flames. I made nothing more than a muffled grunt as I squirmed on my throne, trapped. I took a deep breath through my nose and tried to scream again.
    “That’s not going to help you.” He shook his head at me indulgently. “No one can hear you, and even if they could there’s nothing they can do about it. They’re frozen.”
    I let out a strangled yelp and he responded with a self-satisfied grin.
    “I could kill you right now, and no one would stop me. Lop off your head and leave you here for them to find. I won’t, but you should remember that I could have. One of these days I might just”—he pinched his fingers again, and I felt my throat tighten—“change my mind.”
    I tried to shriek, terror flooding through my system, desperate to get a sound out or get free or do something. If the Fate Maker wanted me dead, right now there wasn’t much anyone could do about it. My people were frozen, I was trapped, and he had all the power. Just like when I’d first come here.
    “Oh, isn’t this fun?” The Fate Maker clapped his hands together and came toward me. “You on the throne, like I always imagined you’d be. A perfectly wooden princess, brought out to do my bidding. Do you know that the day you were born I slipped into the hospital and saw you?”
    I tried to shake my head, and tears built behind my eyes as I struggled harder, fighting with all my might against the bonds holding me.
    “Your mother was asleep, and I just held you. I sang and sang, and all you’d do was laugh and blow spit bubbles at me. You were completely helpless then. I have to say it was probably the time I liked you most, all things considered. Helpless but essentially silent.
    “With one look I knew that if I could keep you exactly as you were you would be a glorious queen. A ruler who would make wizard-kind strong again. We could have conquered the dragons, the trolls, put the mermaids in their place, and imprisoned the ridiculous Nymphiad. We could have been gods. ”
    He stepped onto the dais and leaned forward so that we were nose to nose, and I fought the sob that threatened to burst out of my chest. Tears filled my eyes and he smirked at me, his eyes flaming cruelly.
    “But you had to go and screw it up.” The Fate Maker shook his head. “You had to meddle and try to fix things. You just had to…”
    He wrinkled his nose as if I smelled like three-day-old garbage left out in the sun. “Grow a conscience. Of all the practical skills that you could have brought to this realm, instead you bring me a bleeding heart and a sense of right and wrong. Do you think those are in any way useful for ruling an empire?
    “You’re scared of me, aren’t you? Terrified. A pathetic, scared little girl. A child. I would wager if I removed your gag all you would do is whimper like a whipped animal. Let’s see, shall we? Are