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A verdict like
that would have been laughed out of court because it was
ridiculous. Do these people still live in the
18
^th
Century? Married? A child? She was a virgin for crying out
loud. There was no way she was going to be forced to have sex and
then have a baby. No way. Not now, not ever.

“
If yer dae
not dae this, lassie, then yer coven will be forcibly disbanded,
and each of yer will be separated.”

This comment
made her coven fire up again.

Jack cursed,
turning the air blue. Ayden was now being held back by a member of
the Leeds coven who obviously could see that this was escalating.
Eli, having decided he wanted a bit of Alastair, was struggling
with Tavish. Ember and Tabitha were both furiously putting their
points of view across. Before Cora could say anything, the room
suddenly went black.

The comfort of
Jack’s arm had disappeared. She was standing alone in what seemed
to be a cold, dark place.
Where had the
room gone?
The people?
Cora shivered just as a dark shape flittered across her
vision. Her heart kicked up a notch as she held her breath, fearing
what it may be. Her hands were held out in front of her,
ready.
What is here with me? Where the
hell am I?
This had something to do with
Alastair, she knew what his element was.

Before she
could command the wind, her hands were suddenly bound by the
darkness. Thick, sticky treacle- like fingers held on and crawled
up her flesh. Cora thought of Akina’s element and knew that this
was worse. Her breath was coming in short gasps. The figure moved
again. This time Cora knew that her mind wasn’t playing tricks on
her. It pushed itself at her. A growl sounded around her as a face
formed in the treacle. Cora’s heart dropped to her feet.

Cora couldn’t
grasp her element. The sticky liquid was forcing her hands
together; her fear was rendering her useless. Before she screamed,
something heavy smashed into her cheek sending stars winking in her
darkened vision. Then she fell into the darkness.

Cora awoke to
commotion and soft hands holding hers. She sucked in a breath
trying to hold back the scream that was clawing at her throat in
its desperate attempt to escape. Her eyes shot open and found
Tabitha was at her side, as was Ember. Jack wasn’t with her. Where
was he? She looked up and found Jack was flying through the air
towards Alastair. Ayden was hot on Jack’s heels.

“
What
happened?” Cora whispered.

“
Alastair used
his power on you,” Tabitha said with some concern. “Are you
okay?”

“
I’m okay, I
just need to get up off this cold floor.”

Tabitha helped
her to her feet, and she saw for the first time how the room was
reacting to the events that were unfolding.

The Scottish
coven was helping Alastair, obviously they would. She found that
the Leeds coven seemed unsure of what to do. They were on their
feet but they’d yet to make a move. Some were looking at her with
concern.

“
Did I
leave?”

“
Yes, you were
no longer with us. It had to be a second or two and then you
dropped to the floor,” Ember told her.

A second? Cora
felt liked she’d been in that place for hours. The rest of the
covens were seated, watching with several expressions of interest
and confusion etched onto their faces.

Now that Cora
was back on her feet, she gave Tabitha a quick nod. Tabitha stepped
aside understanding what Cora was going to do. Cora needed to do
this, needed to feel her element punch him. She took a deep breath
and then lurched towards Alastair. She nearly reached him but was
suddenly held back by someone forcefully holding her arm. Cora
turned to see Tommy holding onto her. “Let. Me. Go,” she snapped
through gritted teeth.

“
No.” He shook
his head. “This is the not the time or the place.”

Cora pulled
her arm free of his grip and looked back at Alastair. Jack had been
apprehended by Tavish. Ayden, two of them, were held up against the
wall by two coven members, ones she couldn’t remember the names of.
Tommy was right, Cora couldn’t do anything. Yet.

“
You cannot
disband this coven,” Tabitha protested. “You do not have the power,
and if what you say is true, then Cora is the leader, therefore she
can decide what to do.”

“
Aye, that is
true, but A hold the power for nou. She can only be given full
control when she fulfils the task that we huv set. Cora, did yer
like yer little time away from this room?” Alastair lifted one busy
eyebrow and smiled at her.

Cora’s stomach
turned thinking of the complete darkness. Thinking of the figure
that was lurking ready to pounce. Jack growled, pushing against
Tavish in his bid to attack Alastair. Ayden also fought against the
hold.

“
We dannae
want tae make yer do it, Tabitha, but if yer refuse then we will
make yer.”

“
How do you
plan on doing that? We have defeated the Corenthio Coven, what
makes you think we cannot defeat you?”

Alastair’s
eyes slitted with anger. Cora shifted her footing. She hadn’t
walked into this room and expected to fight, but she was ready if
needs be.

“
That was all
a bit ov luck,” Alastair said flippantly. “Anyway, we will separate
yer and then, even then, if yer don't comply yer will face the
consequences. Time alone in an eternity of darkness or perhaps, to
maybe erase the problem...”

“
You will kill
one of us? You will sink as low as the shite they called the
Corenthio Coven.” Eli smashed his hands on the table and sent one
of the vacant chairs flying across the floor at
Alastair.

“
Yer will
control yer power in here,” Ayden snapped. “A didnae say anythin’
aboot
killing,
but
we will dae whit is necessary to disband the coven if yer don't do
as we say.”

This final
statement was greeted with silence.

Cora’s feet
were planted as the wind that was pulsing around her body began
feeding off her anger. They were in a pickle. Her coven was
trapped, and she knew that they couldn’t fight this, not at this
time. Alastair knew this. He saw the realisation cross Cora’s face
and simply smiled at her.

“
Who said the
Scottish coven have to be in charge?
Do
none of the others want to lead?” Eli asked, looking around the
table.

Eli’s comment
was greeted with silence but there were several murmurings around
the room. It appeared to Cora that there may be several cracks in
this apparent solidarity of covens. Why weren’t they standing
together? Surely not all of them believed the verdict handed to her
and her coven was fair? They could outnumber the Scottish coven if
they banded together.

“
This is whit
the covens have decided. Nou, the covens have decided that yer must
become pregnant by one of ar own.”

“
No,” Cora
said through gritted teeth. Simply hearing the words leave
Alastair’s mouth made her feel sick. She felt the rush of bile
flood her throat.

Ignoring her
comment, Alastair continued. “We have ways tae make yer become
pregnant quicker. Magic is a wonderful thing,” he said with a
sickening grin. “If only the commoners knew. Anyway, each coven
will pick a member who can court you-”

“
No! No way!”
Cora shouted louder this time. This was
absurd
. This couldn’t happen. She
wouldn’t agree to this.

“
Why does she
have to be pregnant and engaged? You cannot force that upon
someone. It is a person’s right to choose their own path! You
cannot thrust this stupid notion on her, you disgusting, perverted
man! What will it achieve in the long run?” Tabitha
demanded.

“
The Corenthio
Coven were easily disbanded-”

“
Easy! You
call what we went through, easy?!” Ayden shouted.

“
They had nae
person tae follow in their footsteps.” Alastair continued, ignoring
Ayden. Cora knew Alastair couldn’t respond. If it was considered
easy, it would have been done years before.

“
They have
you!” Ember snapped.

“
We feel,”
Alastair continued as though Ember hadn't spoken, “that wi' Cora's
pregnancy and soon tae be marriage, it will guarantee the
leadership tae carry on through the generations.”

Cora didn't
know what to say, she was quite literally at a loss for words. She
felt Jack grip her hand harder.

“
She will not
be
sold
in this
way, because that is what you’re doing, selling her to the highest
bidder. I will not allow this to happen. She has rights, God damn
it, and she will choose when she marries, who she marries and when,
or if, she wants children in her life. A creepy man like you should
never be allowed to decide such a thing.”

“
Yer have nae
say in this, Jack Whittle,” Alastair warned.

“
The hell I
don't! You can't just pick men to date my girlfriend! I will not
stand by and let this happen!”

“
We can, and
we huv. If yer dae not allow us tae dae this then yer will
be...
eliminated,
and another member of yer coven can step forward. Nou, Cora,
someone from yer coven can step forward as yer match.”

She couldn't
think clearly. She couldn't make the words form in her mouth. Cora
was sure if she opened it, she would throw up.

Cora felt the
bubble of laughter push its way up her throat. It wasn’t a funny
situation, it was a laugh or cry moment. And she wouldn’t cry.
She'd told her coven they couldn’t face anything worse than the
Corenthio Coven and she’d lost two important people in that battle,
but to not go along with this ridiculous thing would mean she’d
lose them all. She couldn’t lose them, the thought of being without
them was worse than death itself, in her opinion.

Yet, her head
was instructing her to fight. It was ridiculous to demand that she
be pregnant in six months and then to be engaged. She didn't want
to have a child this way. It was
hardly
romantic, and she was too
young to be married.
I don’t want this to
happen
, she thought. How many times could
she say that in her head? It didn’t matter. It wouldn’t change
anything.

Cora’s
attention was brought back to the here and now when she literally
heard growling coming from Jack. His hand was cutting off the blood
flow to her hand. Jack was looking at Clay with a fierce expression
in his eyes.

“
Don't you
even think about it,” Jack snarled at Clay. “I will step forward as
her match from this coven.”

My God, this
was actually happening. Why had Jack done that? They could have
continued to argue against Alastair’s decision.

“
So be it.
Cora yer will know of yer matches soon enuff. Good luck tae yer.
Meiting is over.”

“
Good luck to
me, is that some sick joke? Are you insane?” Cora pushed away from
Jack and stalked towards Alastair. “Who do you think you are? You
do realise that I’ve done nothing wrong? Since I found out I was a
witch, I've had nothing but grief, death threats, actual bodily
harm, the loss of my mother, two of them, and now this ludicrous
meeting to deal with. I’m going to say, with confidence, that life
as a witch has been pretty shit for me.

“
When the
Corenthio Coven came I did nothing other than fight for my life
because they’d decided I should die, and for what? They didn't have
viable reasons to come to my home and kill my mother! They knew
nothing and you know nothing. None of this was my
fault!”

“
It was yer
fault. The situation could huv been different-”

“
That’s rich
coming from you!” Cora spat. “The situation could have been
different if you’d reared your ugly head, and it is ugly by the
way, and come to help us. You have a coven member who can see
events in the past by touching an object, and you didn’t do
anything! That coven member could have been there to help us. You
all could have been there, but where were you? And now, you sit
here giving me this stupid verdict.” Cora turned and addressed the
room. It was brave of her but she was so pissed, she didn’t
care.

Several
shocked faces looked her way.

“
Well I ask
you, what would you have done in my shoes? If your coven had been
attacked, if your mother, your sibling, had been brutally murdered
right in front of your eyes for something that had happened in the
past, would you sit back and let them kill you? I know you
wouldn’t. You’d fight to live, and yet you sit here and blame me
for doing exactly that.”

She turned to
Alastair whose mouth was opening and closing like a fish. All the
other coven members were silent, watching how Alastair would
react.

“
Yer walkin'
on thin ice, lassie. We ar the law nou so yer will follow the
orders. If yer don't, then yer know whit will happen tae yer.”
Alastair snarled at her and then left the room.

Several coven
members rose and started murmuring as they followed Alastair out of
the room. Cora knew those members to be from the Scottish coven,
and they were following their master like little
puppies.