Stone Prison (2 page)

Wiry white hair framed her haggard face. She smiled softly while rubbing her hand over the lid of the stone box. Dark power comes from many places, child. It is not innate. Power must be attained and then channeled. My powers dwindle, and you know how important it is that I have them to take care of you. Without me, you would surely die a horrific death. If the kingdom knew what you were what you've done... Ella, they wouldn't just run you through with a spear. They have ways of ridding their lands of evil. Ways that would make you cry out in fear.

She shook her head slowly, while keeping her palm on the top of the box. I won't tell you what they do. It will only terrify you tonight when you have to face those people. But remember, remember when you look into their smiling faces and see them for what they really are. Remember that they would have you skinned and set aflame before they ever accepted you. Or me.

For we are the same, child. And we both know what will happen to us if we fail tonight. I nodded, not fully understanding what she was implying. Swallowing hard, I wrapped my arms around my middle and kept my eyes fixed on the box, on the source of her power.

She continued, The greatest power comes from blood.

Blood is power. It always has been. It always will be. The old woman's lips twisted into a smile when she slowly pulled back the lid. It opened in her hands, revealing a stone case lined with gold. There was something dark contained within a beating heart. It was small and withered. Black veins spidered across its surface, like mold on cheese.

CHAPTER FOUR

I gasped. My hands flew to my mouth to drown out my scream. The heart was no larger than a child's fist. It beat once, as if it was dying and then shuddered another beat. A tiny drop of blood dripped onto the golden box from the heart. Then it beat no more. The witch took her finger and pressed it across the crimson drop. She raised it to her mouth, placing the precious drop on her tongue and swallowed.

I'd never seen her do this before. In the fifteen years that I'd been in her care, I never knew the source of her power. She said, I will accompany you this evening, for this night is unlike the others. You are of age, and that will change things. But first, I must alter this. She gestured to herself. She was more terrible than I'd dreamed. She drank blood from the heart of a child!

Before I had time to consider anything else, the old woman's appearance began to change. I'd seen her alter her appearance years ago, though I'd never seen how she did it. I'd never witnessed the magic firsthand. Now that I was, I wanted to get as far away from her as possible. The source of her magic was deplorable! Where did the heart come from? Who did it belong to?

My heart banged against my ribs, as a wave of emotions slammed into me. The air was stiflingly hot. White haze thick like fog surrounded the witch, distorting her ancient form. It molded her body back into that of a younger woman. The witch's hair sprouted from her scalp in thick waves of gold and fell down her back. Her weathered skin smoothed, adding curves to angular bones that had been protruding from sagging skin. The sorceress looked old enough to be my mother, but not my grandmother. In no way did she resemble the old hag that had stood before me moments ago.

Within seconds, the magic transformed her completely. And the woman who killed my father was standing in front of me.

She arched a dark eyebrow at me as she folded her arms across her chest.

I stared at her. Then at the box. I didn't know what to ask. I wanted to berate her. I wanted to hammer my fists into her face for what she'd done to me. The memory that stole my childhood and all my hope was alive and standing in front of me, and all I could ask was, What was that?

Her voice was different. Younger. Lighter. You know very well what that was, Ella. And, you know that adult hearts are larger than that one, so yes it was from a child. A powerful child. One that disappeared nearly twenty years ago. Her ruby red lips pulled into a smile.

My throat tightened, as I stared at her in horror. There was a famous story that spread through the land. I'd heard it every year at the ball. There was no way to live in this place and not be aware of it.

I answered, Twenty years ago the prince's brother disappeared in the woods. They found his little body torn apart by wild beasts. They'd devoured his organs, and taken his heart... But as I spoke, I knew I already knew what she'd done. There were no beasts. It was her. She was a murderer.

Even before she met my father, she had killed an innocent.

What she'd done was an act of pure evil bestowed upon a child.

She laughed like it amused her. The witch turned her back to me, moving to the small mirror in my room. Her hands worked quickly, piling her thick golden hair on her head. To some we are beasts, but to others of our kind we are gods, Ella. She turned to me suddenly. Her gaze was intense. They were too cowardly to do it. They would have never harmed a royal, but not us. That is why we survive and they have been destroyed. Blood is power. She turned, and continued to twist her hair and pin it. Beautiful loops and twisted golden locks were piled on her head in an elaborate style.

I continued to stare at her, trying to fathom the depths of her dark nature. But out of all the things she'd said, only one thought kept floating to the surface. She compared us, but I didn't know why. I was a good person, torn from my family stolen from the people who loved me and taken to this retched place. A's she pinned another lock of hair, I felt bold and angry. It came out in my question. I no longer cared if her hand flew.

Why do you keep saying us? I am not like you. I moved across the room and stood at her back. I have no power. I'm no witch.

CHAPTER FIVE

My pulse raced in my ears as I waited for a reply that didn't come. Instead the sorceress continued to weave her hair, and threaded precious jewels into it. The jewels appeared in her hand, forming from colored mist until they took a solid shape.

Then she plucked the gem from the mist and threaded rubies, pearls, and sapphires into her golden mane.

Courage and insanity collided within me. I didn't want to be like her! I couldn't be. She spoke lies. Hear me, old woman! I am my father's daughter! A mortal. He did not kill children and rip their beating hearts from their tiny bodies. He was a good man and would still be alive today if you didn't slash your blade through his gut! I screamed the words. I'd held them inside of me for so long, never daring to speak them. But no more. The witch slowly turned. Her gray eyes sparkled as she looked up at me, amused. I snapped, We are not the same.

Deny it all you like, child. But we are alike for one reason and one reason only. She tilted her head, pausing before she spoke. Do you really have no idea? After all this time, do you not see it?

There is nothing to see. I bit off the words, hating her.

It's only more lies more carefully crafted lies to make me submit to you. I'd had more to say, but she didn't allow me to finish.Before another word fell from my lips, the witch grabbed me by my throat and pressed my face into the glass. The mirror cracked as she screamed, LOOK! Tell me what you see? I am now as I looked when I bore you. Notice the eyes your father's dark eyes but the rest is mine. Your figure. Your hair. Even the delicate shape of your face. See it, Ella. I am your mother.

She released me. Horrified, I stared into the shattered glass seeing dozens of tiny reflections. I was standing closest to the mirror, with the witch behind me. The tension that lined my body made me utterly rigid. She was right. We were the same.

My face was a copy of hers. I could see it much more clearly now that she had restored her youth. Everything from the shape of our bodies to the way we stood was identical.

Through narrow hate-filled eyes I stared at her in the broken glass. That night you came back. That night you slayed my father what were you fighting about? I heard you. He kept telling you no, but you wouldn't listen...

She laughed, You! We were fighting about you, stupid girl! She huffed and turned away from me. Crossing the room she pulled an object from the wooden cabinet. It was an emerald green snake. She hung the beast across her shoulders. It hissed in her ear, ready to strike, when she reached out and snapped its neck. The bone cracked in her hand, and she didn't even pause.

A spell fell from her lips and transformed the dead beast into a gleaming green gown made from the finest silks.

She continued to speak while she crafted her gown. I know that they won't accept you, because you and I are the same. We are dark creatures with dark hearts. We thirst for power the way mortals thirst for water. Our lust for conquest is insatiable.

Uncontrollable. And yet... her voice softened as she gazed at the floor. Her eyes seemed unfocused as she remembered, I had hoped that I'd found one that could accept me. He was a kind man, seeing all of me and not just the darkness. He'd said it was worth the risk to be with me. And so he did. He took me as his wife, though his family shunned him. They didn't even know what I was. They just assumed I was a peasant after his gold. So they expected me to leave when they retracted his fortune. But I did not. Besides, your father was a self-made man, and we didn't need their money to survive. And that was all we managed, but it was enough.

And I was happy. I was happy, Ella... Her eyes were glassy when she looked up, but the expression on her face was deathly cold. Until we had you. That was when the fighting began. You were a witch, a sorceress daughter and you needed to be groomed properly. It's a trait as obvious as the color of your hair, but your father didn't see it.

Eventually, he sent me away. I wasn't allowed near you.

He feared for you when he discovered the source of my power the contents of the stone box. She laughed, The fool. As if I would kill my own daughter. But he didn't understand. He didn't accept me as he promised. And I knew, once you were able to walk on your own, that you wouldn't fit into his world.

They would destroy you when they found out what you were. A witch cannot be hidden. It would be like trying to hide the sky.

Being able to channel power as we do is an inherited ability. But it must be controlled, taught. Or you would have died. And they would have traced you back to me. Your ignorance would have risked both our lives. I could not tolerate it.

That is why you were locked here. That is why I destroyed him that night. He turned on me, Ella he turned on us. There is no place for our kind in this world. Never forget it.

CHAPTER SIX

Though our coach was built for comfort, I could not relax.

Anger coursed through me tightening every muscle in my body.

The witch was my mother. I was like her. I was her daughter.

I would have given anything to be anywhere else at that moment. Instead, I was sitting in an elaborate gown crafted by the witch. She'd plucked three swans from the sky and made them into my dress. The skirt billowed and moved lightly. It looked as if I was flying when I walked. The silvery gleam of the creatures white feathers made my gown shimmer. The neckline swooped low, showing my ample curves. The witch had crafted a necklace of white gold and pearls that hugged my neck in front, and draped across my bare shoulders in back. The corset of the gown sat so low that it exposed more skin than I was used to. As was the style, white gloves adorned my hands and stretched up my arms. Instead of fabric draping off my shoulders, the witch used more silver and pearls, adding rows of soft, glistening gems. My hair that was so like hers in its golden color and thickness, she pinned up more elaborately than I'd ever worn. Braids, twists, and tucks made the most beautiful style I'd ever seen. It showcased the skin on my long slender neck, skin that hid the witch's blood that flowed through my veins beneath.

The witch snapped, Sit up straight. I complied and glared at her. Ella, this is your destiny as well as mine. If you make a mistake tonight we both die. I do not have enough power to overtake them. If they discover you, you are on your own until I can come for you.

If there's enough time, I added, staring at her.

Her voice was low and menacing as she leaned toward me in her fine green gown, What do you mean by that?

I glanced callously at her face. Blood is power, but you have no more. Royal blood fuels your dark magic. You wanted me to win his heart tonight, but that's not enough, is it? My voice had grown louder.

If there had been a real coachman, she would have scolded me. But there was a corpse driving the carriage, animated by the witch's magic. His fine clothes and the thick night shadows hid his rotting flesh, and the spell disguised the stench.

The witch smoothed her skirts. Of course it's not enough.

And the blood is necessary for both of us to survive. What do you think sustained you all these years? You have ingested blood from the heart as well. Witches need it to survive. And young witches that come of age are especially hungry. A witch in her seventeenth year could slaughter a small village and still not feel sated. That is why I am here tonight. That is why I will help you. She spoke sternly, scolding me. However, the only thing I heard was blood. She'd fed me blood from that heart, and I'd unknowingly swallowed it. I nearly wretched, but the woman said a spell, sealing my lips, and stilled my stomach.

Really, Ella. You do not grieve when I feed you the flesh of animals, but the blood of one boy sickens you. You're too soft. Too much like your Father. Thankfully witches are born, not bred. You will develop a taste for it over time. Tonight you won't have to do that part. I will kill the prince. That is why I came with you this year. When the prince chooses his princess, he will take her to the royal gardens first, at the eleventh hour and no later. During that time, I will do what must be done.