Witch Queen (33 page)

I thought of Jon. I could see his beautiful
lips, his dark sensuous eyes and lips, and I realized how much I
was going to miss him. I knew that I might die today. That this
might be the end of the road for me. Perhaps I’d see Jon again in
the afterlife…

I began to sob. I didn’t care if the whole
of Witchdom saw me cry. The warm, thick tears spilled down my face.
I cried for Rose. I cried for Jon, and I cried for me.

The pain suddenly stopped. My magic had
healed what it could, but there was too much damage. Even I knew
that I was broken, inside and out.

I pushed my body to a standing position. I
shook all over, as though a fit had taken over me. I knew it was
exhaustion. My magic was starved and exhausted, and I knew I could
not replenish it.

I didn’t know how or even if I could, but I
picked up my witch blade. I knew it wouldn’t help, but I felt naked
without it.

I faced the witch.

Surprise flared in the witch’s eyes.
“Stubborn human. Yield, and I will let you live.”

But yielding would be admitting defeat.
Yielding would make, Garrick, Max, and Leo’s deaths meaningless.
That couldn’t happen. I couldn’t live with myself if I backed down
now. And I wasn’t a coward.

“Let’s finish this.” My voice was ragged, my
throat raw and swollen, and I tasted the coppery tang of blood. Too
bad Fawkes wasn’t here to see me die.

The dark witch was so close to me now that I
could smell the garlic on her breath.

“So be it. Today, I will erase the last
steel maiden from this world forever.”

I narrowed my eyes. She had said
steel
maiden
like she believed it. She
knew
I was one. She
knew I was the last steel maiden. She wanted to kill me because the
witch queen had ordered her to.

My face warmed with anger. “You know. You
know I’m a
real
steel maiden.”

The witch tightened her lips, but it was
enough of an answer.

It was like a fire had ignited in my breast
and was spreading new strength and new confidence throughout me. I
controlled the power inside me again. If my magic couldn’t cast
spells, I knew it could still help me do impossible things.

“Kill her!”

I looked to the royal box. The queen was
practically falling over the ledge in her fury.

“Kill her! Kill her now and finish the
trials!”

I could see the king staring at his queen in
disbelief.

The dark witch roared with beastly fury and
lunged for me.

In a desperate attempt to save myself from
the worst of it, I threw my sword at her with the last of my
strength. My sword hit her magecraft pendant and severed the chain.
It fell to the ground.

The witch jumped back in surprise. Her hand
went to her throat like I had cut her. But there was no mark, and I
could see that my blade hadn’t touched her. I didn’t understand
why, but fear flashed in her eyes. The skin on her face sagged, and
she looked haggard, like she hadn’t slept in years. She suddenly
looked old and frail. She hesitated as though her magic had been
spent.

The faces of all my friends flashed in my
mind’s eye, and I knew what I had to do.

Goddess forgive me.

I thrust my blade into her neck where her
pendant had been.

The witch’s eyes went wide. Her mouth fell
open, and blood spilled out. I yanked out my sword, and her body
collapsed at my feet.

I looked over to the king. He raised an
eyebrow at me. It was the only emotion on his face, but he clearly
wasn’t displeased with what I had done.

The witch queen’s face showed hatred and
shock.

“Elena!”

I recognized the voice even before I saw
him.

Fawkes struggled and thrashed with the two
witch guards who held him near the doors to the arena. Finally he
broke free, and in a few great strides he was next to me and
holding me up.

“Fawkes,” I hissed, as it hurt to speak and
breathe. “Where have you…? Why weren’t you…?”

I couldn’t finish.

He seemed to understand and squeezed my hand
gently. He smiled.

“It’s not important. I’m here now,” he said.
“You did it, Elena. You defeated your opponents in the witch
trials. The king will have to acknowledge your claim.”

My eyes automatically went to the queen.
“But I’ve killed the rebels.”

Fawkes followed my gaze. “What do you
mean?”

I whirled on Fawkes and grabbed his shirt
for support. “The witch queen means to kill them. She killed…”

“I know.” Fawkes held me close. “I heard
what happened to Leo. And it wasn’t your fault, Elena.”

“Of course it was.” I started to shiver.
“The queen warned me. I don’t know why, but she wanted me to fail
on purpose. She said she’d kill the others if I didn’t obey. And
now look what I’ve done. I’ve killed them, too.”

I felt numb and no tears fell from my
eyes.

“Don’t worry about the men,” Fawkes’ green
eyes flashed. “I’ll take care of it. I promise.”

I almost smiled. I managed to take some
small breaths, even though the pain in my ribcage was still
excruciating. My body was bent and broken, but I managed to lift my
chin and meet the witch king’s eyes.

He rose from his seat and clapped once. I
knew what it meant.

I had passed the witch trials. I was the
last steel maiden.

CHAPTER 29

I
HAD JUST DOWNED another of
Celeste’s magic cocktails at breakfast the next morning when she
said, “The humans have miraculously escaped.”

I nearly choked.

“What?” I jumped to my feet and didn’t try
to hide my relief. I thought I had seen an unusual hop in her
step.

Celeste just shrugged. “No one knows how
they managed it on their own,” she said with a gleam in her eyes.
“It seems they just
vanished
after the trials. Like
ghosts.”

But I knew exactly who had helped them. I
couldn’t believe I’d forgotten that Fawkes had told me he would
take care of them. He had saved the men for me. The elemental witch
had been true to his word and had freed them. If he had been here I
would have kissed him all over his grubby face.

Celeste squeezed my hand. “I thought that
might cheer you up.”

I blinked the moisture from my eyes. “You
have no idea.”

Celeste slipped the empty vial into the
folds of her gown. “It appears you have friends amongst the
witches.”

“I doubt that very much.”

“Well, the entire fortress is bustling with
the news of your victory,” she explained. “Many higher witches are
anxious to meet you, and so is the Coven Council.”

I shook my head. “Of course they want to
meet me
now
. But I remember they chanted for my execution
just yesterday.”

I was left alone in my bedchamber for most
of the day, and I pondered how Fawkes had managed to get the men
out of the fortress without getting caught. Apparently he knew the
fortress well enough to sneak out a group of humans from right
under the witches’ noses. I had to hand it to Fawkes. He had balls.
I knew the witch king and queen would regard any help for their
prisoners as treason. But no one suspected him. The humans had
simply disappeared.

My heart raced when I finally heard feet
outside my bedchamber. I grasped my blade instinctively and
flattened myself against the wall next to the door. I strained to
listen, but after a few moments there was no other sound except the
pounding of my heart.

I released the breath I had been holding. I
knew that sooner or later the witch queen would come barreling in,
magic blazing, and try to send me to the afterlife.

I had ignored her threats, and I knew she
would try to make me pay for it with my life. I had to get the hell
away from this fortress
before
she had the chance.

As it was, I had been left alone and was
going out of my mind with boredom. I had sprawled on the bed and
was staring at a stain on the ceiling that looked like Jon’s face
when the door swung open and Celeste strolled in. Her arms were
spilling with bundles of fabric.

I didn’t pay too much attention to her until
she dumped the material on my bed. I sat upright immediately and
saw it. The beautiful gold and red Witchdom silk gown was made of
material so fine and so delicate that it shimmered like liquid
stars. I couldn’t stop staring. I could see a subtle but
unmistakable pattern of swords etched into the silk. The gown had
been sewn with the Steel Maiden clan colors and emblem.

“What the hell is this?”

Celeste looked suddenly worried. “You don’t
like it?”

I shook my head, regretting the tone I had
taken with her.

“No, that’s not it. It’s just…what’s it
doing on
my
bed? I mean on this bed.”

“You’ve been invited to dine with the royal
family tonight.” Celeste stared at me. “You defeated all the other
clans at the witch trials. You’ve earned your right to be here as
an esteemed witch. You are no longer considered a threat. In fact,
the rumors in the fortress are saying that the witch king wants you
to be treated as an
honored
guest.”

I sighed. “I’m not so sure the witch queen
would approve.”

I looked at the dress, but I didn’t dare
touch it. The last thing I wanted or needed was to dine with these
witches. My stomach churned at the thought. I knew it would be a
mistake.

“I can’t do this.” I swung my legs off the
bed and moved next to her. “How can I eat beside a group of witches
who have just tried to kill me? I’m just a joke to them, a toy. And
I won’t be played for a fool. Not anymore. They can eat without me
because I’m not going.”

Celeste’s face flushed. “I’m afraid you
don’t have a choice.”

“Of course I don’t.” A cold fury grew in my
chest. “Because I’m still a prisoner, no matter what the witch king
says.”

“It’s just dinner,” she said and held the
dress up in front of me.

“The gown goes amazingly well with your
coloring. I knew it would.” She smiled with satisfaction as she
spread the gown back on the bed.

“It’s probably just a dinner to discuss your
plans. I know Fawkes will be there. So it can’t be all that bad,
now can it?”

“I guess not.” The fact that Fawkes would be
there did still my anger a little. Just a little. One measly dinner
couldn’t hurt. But I couldn’t pretend to be happy about it. The
truth was I hated all of them.

“You hate the gown, don’t you?”

I sighed. “It’s not that. It’s just…I’ve
never worn a dress in my life. Ever. I’ve never had the opportunity
to wear one before. Why would I?”

My head sagged a little, and I was surprised
at the emotions I felt.

“I couldn’t afford clothes like that where
I’m from. We barely had enough to eat.”

I could feel Celeste’s eyes on me, but for
some reason I couldn’t look at her.

“Well,” said Celeste, and for a moment she
looked older than her years, “you’re going to wear it tonight. And
you’re going to look gorgeous.”

A few hours later, after a second bath, and
with the help of another witch maid called Luna, I almost made
myself believe I looked like witch royalty. Luna had found rouge
for my lips and had made my dark eyes pop with a thin line of kohl
over my top and bottom lashes.

And the gown, well, it
was
divine.

It had not fit perfectly at first because I
had been so unnourished. But Celeste was something of godsend as a
seamstress and within an hour had the gown fitting me like a glove.
She’d put in padding to fill out the breast area, for which I would
be forever grateful. I didn’t have voluptuous breasts like the
witch queen, or even like Celeste and Luna. My breasts were small,
and I had hardly any hips, but my waist was small enough to give
the
illusion
that I had fuller breasts and wider hips.

Celeste styled my hair down except for two
small braids around the top that joined at the back with a golden
clip. When everything was finished, I was surprised at the woman
who stared back at me through the mirror. Her olive skin was too
dark to be considered ladylike, her cheekbones too high, and her
eyes too small, but she was still beautiful.

“You look exotic,” said Luna with a dreamy
look on her face. “Just like in the stories of the witches from the
north. You look like a
real
steel maiden.”

I wanted to tell her I
was
a real
steel maiden, but I decided not to be uncivil with her. She’d spent
hours helping me get ready for this dreadful dinner.

“I’ve never looked this good, or even
thought I could look this good.”

I looked away from the mirror with a lump in
my throat. I wished Jon could see me like this. I smiled. He’d
probably rip off the dress and throw me on the bed. My face
flushed.