Witch Queen (22 page)

“This is truly
her
quest. We are
merely here as her supporters and guides.”

The witches throughout the chamber took in a
collective breath. As one, all eyes turned to me.

I lifted my head higher. I would not show
fear. Not to anyone. Not even a king.

“Steel maiden?” laughed the witch queen, but
I saw a hint of panic flash in her eyes as she searched the king’s
face.
Why?
It was almost as though she feared something.

The witch queen’s lips tightened.

“Why don’t you return to the forests with
your savages, Fawkes. No one here is interested in your lies.”

The witch king’s attention had turned to me,
however, and I shivered involuntarily.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” spat the king after a
moment. “The last steel maiden died years ago, and the legacy of
her clan died with her. There are none left.”

“I assure you that she
is
a steel
maiden,” continued Fawkes.

“The familiars’ magic did not work on her. I
saw it with my own eyes. I swear on the Goddess—” Sharp intakes of
breaths rippled in the room. “—She
is
a steel maiden.”

The witch king shook his head.

“And what do you say to that, my queen?” he
asked, clearly not believing a word.

A cunning smile played on her red lips.

“Lies, my king. This elemental witch has
disgraced himself. I never thought it possible, yet he is here,
lying to his king.”

She turned to Fawkes and shook a finger at
him as though scolding a child. “You know better than to lie to
your king, Fawkes. I’m afraid you’ve gone too far this time.”

“I do not lie.” Fawkes’ voice rose
dangerously high. “She is a true steel maiden, and may well be the
last.”

I straightened, taking this as a real
compliment.

The witch king’s face was hard. “Remove your
cowl.”

Holy hell.
I slipped my cowl from my
head and hoped they did not see the trembling of my hands.

I looked up and met the witch king’s eyes,
but I didn’t understand what I saw there. It made my blood go
cold.

The witch king took a careful step down from
the dais. And when his small, black eyes found mine, I thought I
saw recognition there.

“Katherine?”

I winced at the mention of my mother’s
name.

“No, my name is Elena. My mother’s name was
Katherine.”

I feared that my voice had sounded a little
harsh and I quickly added, “Witch king.”

I looked sideways to Fawkes, and he stared
at me strangely.

The witch king searched my face as though he
hadn’t really heard me, as though he thought he saw my mother. The
longing in his expression and the desperation in his voice unnerved
me.

What had happened between my mother and the
witch king?

Clearly, he had loved her and was
still
in love with her after all these years. But after a
moment, I saw pain flash across his face as he realized I was not
who he so desperately wanted me to be.

“You’re her daughter?” His eyes rolled over
me, but still I could see the pain he felt.

“You look so much like her. You even sound
like her, and your eyes…”

He looked at my lips, and I felt the rush of
blood in my face. I shifted uncomfortably under the king’s intense
gaze.

“My king,” snapped the witch queen with
venom in her voice. The king turned his attention to her.

“Clearly, this is a trick. This
human
female is an imposter. She’s no witch. I can smell the human filth
on her. This is just a ploy. Fawkes wants to reclaim his place at
your side, to get back in my king’s good grace. He’s a liar and a
traitor.”

Her violet eyes caught mine and sent a chill
down my spine. But it was much worse than that. I knew I’d made an
enemy.

Sweat trickled down my back. Everyone in the
chamber had seen the display of affection that the witch king had
shown for my late mother. I knew the witch queen would make me pay
for that.

Something shifted in the witch king’s face.
The softness of his features morphed into something hard and harsh.
And when he smiled, his face had twisted into something barely
recognizable, something wicked.

“Kill them all. I want their hides displayed
in the Great Hall.”

CHAPTER 18

S
IX MALE WITCHES WITH hands branded
on their foreheads crowded around us. The pendants around their
necks glowed with yellow magical power. I shook with rage as I
pulled out my sword. Will, Leo, Nugar and Lucas followed my example
and brandished their weapons, too. Their usual determination was
gone, however, and I could see only fear and desperation in their
eyes.

I had murdered them. This was my fault. I
should have listened to Fawkes. My chest and throat were tight with
shame. They were all going to die because of me.

“Wait. Please, let me explain first,” I
cried and shielded the men with my body.

I couldn’t think of any way to escape. Even
if by some miracle we escaped from the king’s chamber, hundreds of
witches waited to kill us outside.

I looked to the dais in search of help. The
Coven Council looked as cold as stone, and the triumphant look on
the witch queen’s face showed that she savored every moment like a
sweet pudding. The prince’s expression was equally chilly. I would
find no help there.

“Fawkes, do something!” My voice broke with
panic as the branded witches began to close in.

Fawkes took a tentative step forward. He
extended his hands.

“My king, please command your coven guards
to back down. If you would only let the steel maiden explain—”

But the witch king whirled at me. His
nostrils flared like a bull, and he growled with primal fury. The
hate in his eyes was undeniable. Hate for me. The jewel around his
neck blazed with power, and with a flick of his fingers a shot of
black and gold filaments caught me in the chest and sent me sailing
backwards.

I slammed onto the granite floor so hard
that my breath was knocked out of me. I tasted blood and bile as I
struggled for breath, and I shook involuntarily as liquid fire
burned me inside. My vision blurred, and my eyes burned with tears.
I couldn’t hear anything. I thought that water had filled my ears,
but I realized it was blood when I wiped a trickle from my jaw. I
tried to cry out to Fawkes, but my throat was melting like wax.

But as the scorching tendrils of the king’s
magic pulsed through me, I realized that the searing heat was
familiar. I had thought it was
black magic
, like that of the
priests. But it felt different. There were no icy tendrils, and I
felt no evil suffocating me. The king’s magic was dark, but it
wasn’t a necromancer’s black magic.

Light flashed, and I could hear male voices
shouting all around me.

No!
I screamed inside my head.

With the last of my strength I rolled over
and lifted my head. I thought I would see the coven guards
slaughtering the men. Instead, I watched in horror as the witch
king struck Fawkes with powerful blows of his magic.

Fawkes staggered back a step and fought to
keep his footing. Although the king’s magic might have injured him,
it didn’t appear to be strong enough to kill him. And Fawkes did
nothing to counter attack or even protect himself.

The witch king smiled at Fawkes.

“You’ve changed, Fawkes, weakened. Years
ago, you would have never dared to bring humans to my court. You
hated the creatures just as much as I did then. You loathed them.
We killed thousands of humans together. Tell me, why now? Why bring
these humans here? Have you allied yourself to them? What have they
promised you? Land? Power? My
throne
.”

Fawkes winced. I could see the sweat
trickling down his temples. He was breathing hard.

“Have you forgotten what the humans did to
your wife and child? How they murdered them and put them on display
for all the witches to see? How they carved up your little boy?
Have you so easily forgotten your family’s sacrifice?”

Tears welled in Fawkes’ eyes. I saw fresh
pain that he couldn’t hide as the moisture filled his eyes.

Humans had killed his family. I finally
understood why he hated men so much.

“You know I can never forget or forgive the
past,” growled Fawkes. “But things have changed. This isn’t about
witches and humans. This is about all of us, all creatures. There
is a darkness coming, witch king. And you must prepare for it. The
high witch Ada of Gray Havens sent me word. Any delay will prove
disastrous—”

“Do not speak to me of that traitorous
witch!”

The witch king flicked his fingers and
another magic filament struck Fawkes. He stumbled back.

“She turned her back on her own kind years
ago when her strength would have made a real difference. And now
she’s banished. She’s where she belongs now, in the company of the
wretched humans she prefers.”

Fawkes staggered, but he still did nothing
to deflect the blows, like somehow he felt he deserved them. I
couldn’t let Fawkes be killed because I had decided to bring the
human men. I owed him my life.

The entire chamber had already forgotten
about me, but I wasn’t dead yet. No one noticed my chest rise and
fall because all eyes were focused on Fawkes and the witch king.
The proud smile on the witch queen’s face sickened me. She sprawled
in her chair, clearly entertained. She wanted to see Fawkes die
merely for the pleasure of it, for the distraction.

I growled, and Fawkes looked at me as though
he was waiting for me to get up, as though he
knew
I would.
As his eyes widened, I understood.

“You disappoint me yet again, Fawkes.”

The witch king’s eyes gleamed, and I thought
I saw some hesitation.

“After everything we’ve been through, you
and I. The wars we’ve fought. What we’ve seen and endured all in
the name of war. We both lost so much.”

Fawkes lowered his head, and when he spoke
his teeth were covered in blood.

“I apologize, witch king,” he said,
breathing hard. “I beg you. If you would only listen to what the
steel maiden has to say.”

“Can’t you see she’s dead, you fool?”
laughed the witch queen. “A real steel maiden would have survived
that blow of magic. But as she is an imposter—the human whore is
dead. Whatever scheme you had planned has failed.”

Her face twisted like a vicious animal.
“Enough with these lies. Kill him, my love.”

The witch queen wiped her brow with a long,
manicured finger.

“He was always too soft. His heart is weak.
He never had the stomach to do your bidding, my love. He left your
side all those years ago because he wouldn’t stand with a dark
witch. I’m tired of looking upon his weak, useless face. Kill
him.”

“Be quiet,” ordered the witch king.

A flash of anger showed in the witch queen’s
violet eyes, but then her expression softened as she appeared to
obey him.

The king turned on Fawkes again. But he
hesitated, and I could see him struggling with something. It was
clear that they had known each other a very long time. I suspected
the king wouldn't be so easily manipulated by his nagging wife. He
was a prick, but at least he could see through her horseshit.

I choked on my own blood. The king’s power
had staggered me, but my body had taken all that force into itself,
as if it were the most natural thing to absorb and recycle it. Now
every muscle in my body felt stronger than steel, and every bone
felt unbreakable. I moved my fingers and my feet. I kept moving and
stretching as my heart pounded with the most thrilling and purest
rush of power I’d ever experienced.

Just when I had thought the witch king’s
dark magic was impossible to resist, my own magic had coursed
through me and purged me of it.

I was iron. I was strong. And I would
not
be defeated.

My vision cleared, and I rose effortlessly
to my feet and wiped the blood from my mouth. I looked at the witch
queen first, and I almost laughed out loud. Her wide eyes and
gaping mouth made her look like a rainbow trout with swollen red
lips. I smiled my best smile at her.

The only other witch in the chamber who
seemed genuinely happy to see me on my feet was Aurion, the witch
prince. He smiled as much as I did and tipped his head in silent
congratulations.

I could hear other witches draw in their
breaths in surprise. If I hadn’t been furious and disgusted at
them, I might have taken a bow.

Fawkes smiled, too, and I was pleased to see
the relief on his face. I picked up my sword, sheathed it in my
belt and made my way towards the men. Will, Leo, Nugar, and even
Lucas seemed relieved at my miraculous recovery and smiled with
renewed hope.