Witch Queen

by Kim Richardson

  Her smile faded, and she looked like I’d insulted her.

  “I’m sorry, Celeste,” I said quickly, hoping I hadn’t destroyed the only chance for the men to get some food. “I don’t know a lot about witches, this realm, or magic in general. This is all rather new to me.”

  I tried to reassure her. “I didn’t even know there were such things as maids here. I thought only the great and noble houses in Arcania had servants. You must have done something terrible to end up waiting on me.”

  Celeste shook her head and helped me to take off my wet cloak. Her face was flushed.

  “I serve at the witch king’s pleasure. All lesser witches do. This is a very good post for me. Many lesser witches would give anything for a post in the king’s service.”

  “What are lesser witches?”

  “Witches who have little or no magic in their blood, like me.”

  I remembered the high witch, Ada, had mentioned that not all witches could do magic, even the ones who weren’t like me. But it still seemed strange.

  I couldn’t look at her. “You…you can’t do magic?”

  Her situation hit home with me. In the same way that those born in the Pit were considered lesser human beings, so too were witches with less power regarded as servants. It explained why she wasn’t in her clan colors.

  “I did magic once,” she said. I could sense her smile, even though she was behind me, trying to untangle my hair from my cloak.

  “When I was six. I remember it well. With just a flick of my fingers, I grew a rosebush for my mother. My family is all from the Elemental clan, and I’m the only one who can’t do magic. But I am rather skilled in potions. My gift lies with brewing tonics.”

  I pictured Celeste stirring a giant cauldron.

  “That’s really impressive.”

  Rose would smile if I were able to sprout flowers from the ground.

  “I can’t do magic either. Never have. Never will.”

  “That’s not what I heard,” she teased.

  She gave my cloak a tug and pulled it free from the rest of my clothes. I heard debris falling from it. I could only imagine what had been stuck there.

  I turned to look at her. “What have you heard? I just got here?”

  She looked smug. “Well, you’d be surprised how fast news travels in the fortress. There’s not much else for witch servants to do around here, and we would trade anything for juicy gossip.”

  I raised my brows. “Such as…?”

  “I know you claim to be a steel maiden, but that it remains to be seen if you really are.”

  She smiled as she began to untangle my hair with her fingers.

  “I don’t have the magic that would enable me to sense if you have any blood magic in you. I know that you arrived here with humans, and that you traveled with a very powerful male witch from the Elemental clan.”

  “What do you know of him? Of Fawkes?”

  Celeste frowned as she successfully pulled out a clump of mud from my hair. “Not that much. Only that he used to be the witch king’s coven general, many years ago. They had a falling out, and he left and hadn’t been seen since then. Not until you arrived with him.”

  I had glimpsed the new coven general. He had stood next to the witch king when we had first been interviewed. He had none of the light or empathy that Fawkes showed in his eyes.

  Fawkes was a true mystery. There was history there that I wanted to uncover. The more I uncovered about what had transpired between him and the witch king, the more I would know about the king himself. I certainly did not trust the king in the way I trusted Fawkes.

  Something occurred to me. “I noticed that some of the witches wear jeweled pendants. The witch king and queen have them, and so do the coven guards. What are they?”

  The witch maid nodded. “Magecrafts. Only witches with powerful magic can wear them. It is a great honor. The magecrafts don’t always accept the bearer. The witch must have powerful blood magic.”

  “What are they for?”

  “They’re like conduits. They amplify a witch’s natural power and make them even more powerful.”

  But Fawkes didn’t wear a magecraft. Was it because the magecrafts didn’t accept him or was it that Fawkes didn’t want to wear one?

  “But not all witches wear them…why?”

  “Well,” said the witch maid, “the old teachings forbid the use of conduits.”

  “But the witch king wears one.”

  The witch maid nodded.

  “Yes. Things have changed over the years. The witch king altered the old laws and created new ones.”

  Celeste let out a frustrated breath. “I’m sorry, Mistress Elena, I’m afraid we’ll have to cut some of those knots from your hair. I don’t even think magic could untangle this mess.”

  “Cut it,” I said. “I’m not here to pamper my vanity. I don’t care about my hair.”

  I let out a shaky breath. I wanted to share my feelings with this witch. I felt I could trust her because she appeared to be like me in many ways. We were both different, and neither of us could do magic like the other witches. We were both lesser witches.

  “Well,” she said after a long pause. “I can layer it so it won’t show. And then I’ll braid it together after it’s washed. It’ll be fine. I’m sure there’s a beautiful young woman somewhere under all that grime.”

  Celeste led me to the bathing chamber and once I’d peeled my blood-encrusted clothes off and tossed them in a corner, I sank into a glorious hot wooden tub. Unlike the concubines back at the golden temple, the witch maid’s touch was gentle. She rubbed lavender-smelling oils into my hair, and together we managed to rub and scrape away a month’s worth of grime.

  When we were done, she gave me new underclothes and pulled a long white shift over my head.

  “You’ll need this, too,” said the witch maid. She wrapped my shoulders with a soft wool robe and tied it with a belt.

  “It gets really cold here in the fortress. Even with a fire going, the chill never seems to want to leave.”

  She handed me some soft leather slippers, and as I slipped them onto my feet, there was a knock at the door. We both looked at each other.

  “Are you expecting visitors?” asked Celeste.

  I shrugged. Maybe the witch king had changed his mind, and I was about to be tossed into the oubliette.

  Celeste walked across the room and opened the door.

  Prince Aurion sauntered into my bedchamber.

  “Good evening, Elena.”

  CHAPTER 21

  MY HEART SLAMMED INTO my chest, and I had to catch my breath.

  The prince had changed into a black silk robe that glistened like liquid night. His pale skin and sparkling hair stood out like stars in the night sky. He had braided his long silver hair so that it came over his shoulder, and the low vee in his robe revealed muscles that must have taken years to develop. He looked ready for bed, unless he was ready for something else…

  There was no denying the prince was unnaturally beautiful. Everything about him screamed masculinity and sensuality. Female witches probably threw themselves at his feet. And there was something intriguing about his eyes, too. When I realized I’d been staring for too long to be appropriate, I blushed and turned away. If my heart hadn’t already belonged to Jon, I would have been tempted to rip off his robe, just to take a peek inside.

  But my heart did belong to someone else. And that would never change, no matter how delicious the prince looked.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I yelled once I found my voice. I doubted that he cared whether or not I used the proper decorum.

  Celeste’s pale face flushed a deep red. She fell into such a low curtsy that I was amazed she didn’t fall over.

  “Prince Aurion,” she mumbled and then something else I couldn’t catch.

  I straightened up and said, “Get out, witch prince. You have no right to be here.”

  He laughed heartlessly. “I have every right. This is my
home.”

  His eyes gleamed, and I felt my face burn a little more.

  “Every room in this rather gloomy fortress belongs to me and my family. You can leave us, witch maid.” His voice was rich and easy on his sensuous lips.

  Celeste stole a hesitant look at me, and I could see that she looked frightened.

  “Wait,” I said to her. “Please don’t leave, Celeste. I still need you to help me—”

  “Yes, please leave,” ordered the prince.

  He gestured towards the door. “You’re dismissed for the night.”

  His boldness was causing me to panic. What the hell was happening?

  Celeste curtsied even lower and stayed that way as she backed away and closed the door behind her.

  “Her name is Celeste,” I hissed. I felt protective of her. I wasn’t in the mood for this pompous prick.

  “Whose name?” said Aurion.

  He ventured deeper into my bedchamber and made a cursory inspection of the furnishings. His black robe swished against his long, toned legs as he strolled barefoot around the room.

  It infuriated me that he couldn’t care less about learning the names of the witches that served under him. He was as arrogant as the nobles from Arcania.

  But I was more infuriated that he thought I might be easily bedded.

  I clenched my jaw, and my blood ran hot. I didn’t know much about the rules of witch etiquette, but I was pretty certain that princes didn’t pop by to visit prisoners at this late hour unless they wanted sex.

  “What do you want?” I snapped. “Shouldn’t you be ordering witches around or something? Don’t you have princely duties?”

  I didn’t care how handsome he was. I would never betray my Jon. Never.

  The prince turned.

  “What do I want?” he purred.

  The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as he looked over my body, very, very slowly. He moved from my hips to my breasts to my lips and finally came to rest on my eyes.

  I crossed my arms over my chest, not that I had much to hide, but I couldn’t hide the blush on my face. I was angry that my body betrayed me and let this pretty boy excite me.

  The prince smiled. “I can see why my father’s infatuated by you. You’re even more beautiful with your hair like that.”

  His voice was low, erotic, and sensuous, and I continued to blush.

  “You mean, clean?” I glowered. “Flattery won’t get you anything. There’s nothing for you here, witch prince.”

  Aurion raised his eyebrow. “Feisty, daring, brave, all the qualities of a true steel maiden. No witch has ever been so forward and bold with me before. It’s refreshing and…exciting.”

  I stood with my hands on my hips and glared at this fool.

  “Get out, or I’ll…I’ll…”

  “You’ll what?” mocked the prince as he sauntered farther into my room.

  “Scream? Go ahead. Scream. I dare you.”

  He glanced around the room casually. “I haven’t been in this part of my father’s fortress in years. Ever since…”

  His eyes clouded over for a moment, lost in some thought, and I could almost see a trace of sadness there.

  Part of me wanted to ask him what, but my gut told me he was trouble and that I should stay as far away from him as I could.

  He whirled around, stalked to the bed with feline grace and hauled himself onto it in one fluid movement. He lay comfortably on the bed with his fingers laced behind his head. His robe slipped a little from his right shoulder and revealed his smooth hairless chest and part of his right nipple.

  Goddess above. He was beautiful, too beautiful. His cheeky grin showed that he knew exactly the effect he had on women—the kind that got them into trouble.

  It took all my strength to stare back into his eyes. I raised my chin. “I won’t.”

  The prince laughed—low, intimately, and mischievously. “You won’t what?”

  “Stop playing games.” I rubbed my temples and let out an exasperated breath. “I’m tired. I’ve just crossed an entire country and barely survived. Your father has scheduled these witch trials for me tomorrow, so I need my rest.”

  “Ah yes, the infamous witch trials, my father’s idea of entertainment. I’ve always found them quite barbaric, really. They will make or break you.”

  Aurion watched me intensely. His gaze was haunting.

  “I don’t know why my father’s so obsessed with whether or not you are the last of the steel maidens. What difference will it make? But he is the witch king, and we must obey our king.”

  He patted a spot on the bed next to him.

  “Come,” he breathed. “Let’s talk about your trials tomorrow. I promise I won’t bite…not unless you want me too.”

  I let out a harsh laugh. “I don’t think so. Let me just tell it to you straight—nothing’s ever going to happen between you and me.”

  The prince raised his brows and smiled.

  “I can’t imagine what it must have been like, to have been raised in that dump you call the Pit. It must have been terrible for you to have been a witch and lost in that part of the human world. I can’t imagine what atrocities you suffered.

  “Come.” He patted the bed again. “Come and tell me about it. I love a good bedtime story.”

  “If you’re trying to seduce me by flaunting your naked body,” I said, doing my best not to look at it, “it’s not going to work. You might as well leave now before anyone knows you’re here. You wouldn’t want your reputation to be soiled by being seen alone with a tainted human from the Pit.”

  The prince’s eyes traveled slowly across my body again before he murmured, “But the bruised fruit is the sweetest part.”

  Goddess help me. My face burned, but I tried to look indifferent.

  “Besides,” purred the prince, “your human blood is what I find most intriguing and unique. Human and witch all bundled up in such a tempting package. It’s just too perfect, too beautiful to pass up.”

  Something flashed in his eyes. “I always get what I want.”

  “There are probably loads of witches, all hot and bothered, waiting for you in their beds,” I said, exasperatedly. “Can’t you just go to them? I’ll never give you want you want, so you’re wasting your time.”

  I let out a sigh. “I’m really, really tired, and that’s the truth. I don’t have time for this. Please, please leave.”

  The prince shook his head and looked stunned.

  “Is that what you think? That I’d whore myself with any willing idiot? That I sneak into unsuspecting witches’ bedchambers in the middle of the night for a little roll?”

  Aurion laughed, and it surprised me how genuine he sounded. “Come, come, Elena. I’m not that witch. Trust me.”

  I laughed incredulously. “Trust you? Hell, I don’t even know you.”

  He sighed sensuously and smiled.

  I raised my brows in a silent question.

  “No, no you don’t,” he answered.

  He raked his right hand through his hair, and I could see a large golden ring set with a jewel on his index finger. A magecraft.

  “Your magic won’t work on me,” I said quickly.

  He caught me staring at his ring.

  “Do you want to test that theory? How about we have our own preliminary trials? Just you and me? I want to get to know you—”

  “Horseshit.”

  I was so exhausted that I wasn’t even certain this was happening. I needed sleep. I needed to prepare for tomorrow. Why wouldn’t he just go away?

  “Please,” I sighed. “Please just go away. I’m too tired for this.”

  I held my face in my hands and closed my eyes.

  I heard the squeaking of wood, and the prince left the bed and strode across the floor. I feared he was going to grab me and moved automatically to reach for my sword, even though I had been disarmed. I balled my hands into fists, but the prince walked right by me and went to the door.

  I watched him go with mixed emo
tions. I was glad that he was finally leaving but perplexed as to why he had come here in the first place if he had not wanted to get me into bed with him.

  “So why did you come then,” I asked and lowered my hands. “If not to seduce me with your charms?”

  The prince’s face hardened as he stood next to the door. “To give you a warning.”

  “What warning?”

  “Watch out for the witch queen,” he said seriously. “She will stop at nothing to kill you.”

  I was amazed at what he’d just said.

  “You would warn me against your own mother? You don’t even know me?”

  The witch prince’s eyes gleamed mysteriously, and his expression darkened.

  “She’s not my mother.”

  The bedchamber banged closed, and he was gone in a flurry of robes.

  CHAPTER 22

  I HAD BEEN TOO wired to get more than a couple of hours of sleep. I couldn’t stop thinking of Prince Aurion’s warning. Why the hell did he care what happened to me? It didn’t make sense.

  So, the witch queen wasn’t his mother. Had his mother been killed? Was the new queen responsible?

  I wasn’t here to get involved in the royal family’s drama. I had enough on my mind as it was. And yet, something deep inside me told me that the prince had been truthful. The witch queen’s violet eyes had shot daggers at me, and she had demanded my death. So it came as no surprise when Prince Aurion warned me about her. I’d have to watch my back.

  My body ached, and my head pounded from lack of sleep. I felt like I’d been beaten by wooden swords. I was in no shape for any kind of trial. Even my healing magic could not heal my weariness.

  Celeste forced me to eat a little bread and water, but I threw it back up moments later. My nerves wouldn’t let me hold anything down. I’d nearly burst into tears of joy, however, when she told me that she’d been able to slip the leftover food and water from last night to the men in the oubliette.

  Because my other clothes were still with the laundress, and apparently not suitable for the trials, Celeste helped me dress in what she called traditional steel maiden garb. It consisted of a soft, red leather band that crisscrossed over my breasts and left my midsection exposed; a pair of golden leggings from a material that had the slick softness of silk but the strength of leather; a pair of soft leather boots that reached my mid thighs; red leather arm bracers emblazoned with golden swords; and finally a pair of thigh bracers that I strapped over my boots.