by Serena Nova
“You did what you had to,” Cian said, his hand landing on mine. He made me stop twisting my hands. My body started to react to his soft touch. It was so different from the big man that sat next to me. I looked at him. His green eyes were radiant and so full of comfort, it made me swallow. Another hand landed on my leg, I looked to the hand and followed it up to the person it belonged to. Finding that it was Averey, I heated up. Two Kings touching me. At the same time . . . I spaced out for a moment.
I jumped up and walked away from them, leaving them with their hands hovering in the space where I had been. I twirled around, using the lingering anger to suppress the feelings they had both awakened in me.
“I had to do it because you guys decided this was the way to go. You guys made me do it.” I pointed at each of them. And that, apparently, was the wrong thing to say.
Averey got up from his chair. “Listen up. We didn’t make you do anything. You swung that sword, you killed them. And no, we didn’t decide that we wanted the Selection changed. It was fine for our ancestors, and it is fine for us. No, don’t start blaming us.” He moved closer with everything he said until he was right in my space. I wasn’t short for a woman, but still he had to lower his head a little, so he could look into my eyes.
Oh, those beautiful grey eyes, now showing a storm of emotion, making them a place you wanted to disappear in. Be swept away in.
I focused on his mouth, wrong idea. So, the tip of his nose had become the next safe place on his face. He was too gorgeous to be real. And I wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn't been standing in front of me, so close that if I had leaned in, I would have been touching his neck with my nose. I could have sniffed him. The idea formed in my head, and I had to use all my willpower not to do just that. I stepped back.
He breathed in for a second before he continued. “Look, we didn’t know that they changed the Selection process. You two are the first to come to the Castle. Nobody else.”
“You mean there are no other Selection members?” Astra asked from the dinner table, her hand in front of her mouth. I read what she was thinking on her face. And I wasn’t the only one.
“No, we didn’t hear of Witches being killed or turning up dead,” Cian said. Relief flooded over Astra’s face.
“Yeah, only, what if the Selection didn’t tell you guys that, either?” I asked, the thought had popped into my head. Because if they didn’t know that the Selection had changed the test, they wouldn’t necessarily have known that there would be dead Witches.
“No, if a Witch dies in the school, the Head of the school is under strict orders to report that. We can’t lose any Witch or Elemental,” Rayan said, his happy smile was no longer on his face. He looked so much older with his face all serious–and so much hotter.
Astra and I both released a deep breath. “Okay, if what you guys say is true, and you didn’t know about this, who arranged the tests, put the Ilunias in captivity, and made sure you guys were all in the dark?” I'd already had an idea, and that idea walked through the double doors behind the dining table.
Before I even moved a muscle, Averey’s hand was in the air, pointed towards Icas Nox. Who now hovered above the ground, eyes wide.
“Was it your idea?” Flynn growled out, when he shoved his chair back and walked up to Nox.
Nothing came out of his mouth.
“Averey, loosen the air, man,” Rayan said to the King in front of me. We all heard the breath of air Nox sucked in.
“What do you mean, your Highnesses?” His eyes moved fast over all of us, lingering on Astra. It made my blood boil. Then they moved to me, and stayed on me, giving me a creepy feeling. I shuddered a little. In that moment, Averey moved in front of me. Before my sight of Nox was blocked out by the back of Averey, I saw a smile creep over his lips.
I stepped around Averey as fast as I could and moved closer towards Astra. She was now next to Rayan who appeared to have moved closer to her, too. I stopped before the raised dais and looked at the man hanging there.
“You know what we mean. You are the high council member, you are the High Selection member. We want to know why you changed the Selection process, why you endangered those Witches,” Averey said, his voice low.
Icas Nox looked again at me and then at Astra. “My Kings, I don’t think it is a good idea to discuss that here.” His eyes moved between me and Astra again.
“Oi, you pig of a bastard,” I said and stepped on the dais, my own magic coming forth. “You start talking and fast, otherwise you will find out that I’m a real big problem,” I told him. Fire had started licking my fingers and up my arm. His eyes followed the fire, and I swore I saw his eyes flash with something dark for a second. I blinked, and it was gone. Thinking I had projected it on him, I shook my head. He was still the blond-haired motherfucking A-hole that he had been from the beginning.
“Fine,” he answered. With that, Averey lowered him to the floor. I looked at him, shocked that he would let him go. He shook his head as if he read my thoughts. I looked back, just in time to see Flynn hitting his face with a nice right hook. I looked back over my shoulder to Averey and gave him a big smile and mouthed ‘thank you,’ he nodded.
“What was that for?” Nox spit at Flynn.
“You don’t talk to me like that,” Flynn said, widening his stance, I moved before he could land another punch, grabbing his arm while it was in the air.
“Wait,” I told him, “save some for me?” I looked up at the dark eyes of Flynn, the pain burned into me, and I took a deep breath. I wanted to take that pain away and make his eyes shine like his sister’s had. He nodded and stepped back.
“You need to start talking, Nox,” Averey said when he moved next to me and Flynn. Rayan and Cian also moved closer, Astra was still next to Rayan.
“We–”
I cleared my throat.
“I, decided that we needed a better way of testing the Witches, of knowing who was stronger, what they would do in an attack, and how they would use their magic. To find out which ones would fit best with the Kings,” Nox started.
“And why didn’t you talk with us about that?” Averey asked, his arms crossed in front of his chest.
“I didn’t want to burden you with that decision. I’m High council member and High Selection. That would be enough,” Nox answered.
“And the others, did they agree?” I asked, wanting to know what role Bun Lady had in this all.
“No, they didn’t at first. They needed some persuasion,” he said, his white eyes focused on me, and again, they flickered black. I looked at the others. If they had seen it, they didn’t show it.
“There is also the matter of finding Queens for all of you. I told the other members that. That it would be important to have the strongest Witches presented to you, so you could bond with them.”
My whole body froze. ‘Bond’ with them? Before I could interrupt him, Averey did.
“Nox, we, indeed, need strong Queens, however not at the expense of Witches dying.”
“Oh, no, your Highness, nobody died,” Icas Nox said. “We kept them safe.”
“Not that last time,” Astra sneered at him, her fist clenched next to her. Rayan laid down his hand on her shoulder, which seemed to shake her out of her anger. She relaxed a little, and I turned back to the A-hole in front of us.
“Yeah, that was a mistake. We miscalculated some things.” Icas dared to chuckle a little with that.
“You son of a flying potato’s head,” I said and moved, punching him in the face. My magic rose, filling the room. Icas turned white from the feel of my magic.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“None of your bloody business. If you ever decide that it would be a good idea to threaten any Witch, kill anybody again–”
“We didn’t ki–” he started, and I punched him again.
The crunch of my fist against his nose was amazing, and when I pulled back, I finished what I was saying. “I will find out and hunt you to the end of this wor
ld and further. And believe me when I say, it will not be an easy death.” My magic pushed against him, he stumbled back. I had him pushed out of the hold Averey had on him.
“Isadora,” Averey growled at me. My fist was in the air, ready for the third punch, but my name stopped me. “Stop.” Averey commanded. And with that, I pulled my magic back, all of it, and the room took a collective breath. I turned around and walked towards Astra, took her hand and waited for what the Kings would do with this, this . . .
“Icas Nox,” Flynn started. “You are stripped from your duties as a High Selection council. You will stay on as a Council member.”
“Wait, what?” I asked him. Averey turned around and pinned me with his eyes, thunder storming in them. And I swallowed.
“We will have an investigation into this all. And we will send the other Selection council to the schools, again. To test the Witches, again, now in the old ways.” Flynn turned around and moved to stand next to Averey.
“You will not come near these two women, you will not come near the Witches that will come here for the Selections. You are solely allowed into the castle for Council matters. Otherwise, keep to your house,” Averey said, his voice filled with anger, not everything was for Nox. Most of it, though.
“You are dismissed,” Cian said. And with that, it was over. No throwing into the cells, if they even had them.
“Wait, what? Is that all?” I asked the Kings when Nox left the room.
“Yes, that is all.”
“Why? He did something behind you guys’ backs, he almost killed people. He killed people!” I threw out, my hands flying into the air with my anger.
“What do you mean?” Flynn asked, he was standing next to me then.
“I was talking about the Witches, they could have been dead.” I didn’t want to tell them about the wives, about what Mara told me. It was not the time.
He narrowed his eyes at me and moved towards the sofas. The others did, too, leaving me standing. I started walking around, too pumped up to sit still right now.
“And we stripped him of being a High council member, and we removed him from the Selection. We can’t do more yet, we need to follow the rules. And with him being an Heir to the house, he can’t be shoved aside when we want to,” Rayan explained. He looked up at me, his blue eyes understanding. It made me bristle, so I started moving around the room, around the sofas.
There was something wrong with Nox, and I needed to figure out what before things blew up. That was one thing I knew for sure. When I stopped moving, I stood in front of the fireplace, my fingers on my lips. Another thought entered my mind.
“When are you expecting the other Witches to come here for the Selection?” I asked them, my mind was running around with plans, things I needed to do. And I needed to find out how long I had before this castle would be too busy to sneak around.
“In four days, maybe sooner,” Cian said.
Purple teapots, that didn't give me much time to roam around the Castle.
“Okay, and do you guys have a number that will accompany Astra in the Selection for Queen?”
“Isa,” Astra hissed at me, I pulled up my shoulders in a ‘yeah, what?’ gesture.
“We normally have eight,” Rayan said, there was a ghost of a smile on his lips.
“You have one now, and you guys need to find four in total.” I held up four fingers to them. “So, you guys need seven more for you to choose the four from.” I gave Astra a sad look, that meant less chance for her. She shook her head at me.
“We have enough for now. We don’t need to choose now. The other Witches will come to the Castle, and we will see then,” Averey said, the anger in his voice had remained.
“Nuh-uh. Not enough. We need to move this whole thing up. You guys need a wife,” I told them again. Something was pushing me, rushing me. They needed to bond, that emotion was running through me and had clouded my mind.
“Isadora, shut up for a second, and listen to Averey,” Cian said. I looked at him, an amused smile was on his face.
“We have time to find the Queen selection members, it isn’t easy. They need to be bonded with us, we need to be compatible. And until the others are here, we have you two.”
That left me with my mouth open, and my head cleared in seconds. They meant me.
“Oh no, hell no, shit, no, no, and no, no.” I wagged my finger in front of them all and then turned around and stormed out of the room. It was time to get my stuff and leave.
13
“What do they think I am? Some stupid bimbo who they can woo or order to stay? They may be the most handsome men I have ever seen. Actually, they are some of the few men I may ever have seen. And they are Kings, but so what?” I said to myself in the otherwise empty room. I had rushed out of their private quarters as fast as I could after hearing that.
“Me in the running for Queen? Did they hit their heads when they woke up this morning?” I was almost done with my bags. I placed my last weapons in the right one and zipped it closed.
“I got Astra here, that was the whole point of this all. Now is the time to leave,” I mumbled to the room again. I moved towards the bathroom, there was one thing I wanted to take with me from there. I grabbed the shampoo bottle out of the shower. I loved the smell of it, cedarwood and lotus. I popped the cap open and smelled it. “Mmh, the only good thing here,” I said when I walked back into the room. My eyes were closed, so I could enjoy the smell even more.
“Are you sure?” I heard.
“Shit stickers! You should knock,” I mumbled, and he laughed. I opened my eyes and found myself looking at Averey. He stood in my door’s opening, leaning against the doorframe, his eyes roaming over me, and then they moved towards the bags on the bed.
“What do you want?” I asked while I moved to my bags, placed the shampoo in it and picked them both up.
“We need to talk,” he said while he moved towards me.
I side stepped around him and moved out of the bedroom. He grabbed my arm and halted me. His magic moved around me, it made me relax for a second, made me feel free. Almost as if I were running around in a lightning storm with the winds whipping around me. Air, his favourite magic.
For one second more, I breathed him in. He smelled like a storm, the electric of the lightning. I knew for sure if I closed my eyes, I would hear the thunder. Before I could lose myself in him, I shook myself loose and walked towards the door of the living room.
“Wait,” he said. I didn’t listen and pulled the door open. If I started listening, I would have wanted to stay, stay for the feelings he and the others had brought up in me. I had noticed them, that longing for them to be close. “You just met them, freaking donkey.” I mumbled to myself when I walked into the hallway. Nobody was there, and I was grateful for that. If one of the other Kings would have been there, I probably would have caved. Who wouldn’t? Maybe I was a stupid bimbo after all.
I walked down the long hallway, until I reached the main hall with the stairs, and then I walked down. When I reached the last step of the stairs, it dawned on me that he hadn't followed me, he hadn't called after me. My breath hitched, and I could feel my stomach turning. I swallowed, trying to moisten my suddenly dry throat. Tears welled up in my eyes at the sudden emptiness I was feeling. I shook my head, I hadn't wanted this in the first place. I wasn’t going to cry about it then. I shook my head again and walked with strong paces towards the door. All the while, I was trying to convince myself that it didn’t matter that none of them had come after me, that this was what I wanted, and that I needed to leave. I needed to leave.
When I reached the door, there was nobody to open it for me, nobody to say goodbye to, even if it had been a servant. My hand moved to the door handle, the iron cold against my clammy palms. I took a few quick breaths to calm my racing heart and pulled down the handle.
“Isa,” I heard behind me and released the door handle; my hand shook a little when I placed my bags on the floor, so I could turn around and look at
Astra.
Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail high on her head, and she looked flushed, like she had run there.
“Yeah?” I asked as I placed a hand on my hip. I didn’t want her to see that I was happy with her calling me out. “You came to say goodbye?” I asked her.
“No,” she said and moved closer to me. “I came to stop you. You can’t go.” She placed her hands on my shoulders and lightly shook me. I let out a breath, and a small giggle escaped with it. I quickly shut down my emotions, not wanting to show her how relieved I was.
“We . . . I need you here,” she started. “I don’t want to go through this alone. I need you with me, Isa.” Her voice lowered, and I could see her swallow.
That had me concerned. “What is it, As?” I asked her.
“I’m . . .,” she started then dropped her hands from my shoulders.
“You can tell me, As,” I told her softly. She looked at me, straight at me. Her blue eyes bright, and love shone through them. It made me smile a little.
“Tell me, As, I can’t read minds,” I joked.
“I’m scared,” she said, and this broke my heart for the umpteenth time that week. I pulled her in for a hug. “Why is that, As? You are in good hands here,” I told her.
I could feel her shake her head, so I moved back, looking at her.
“You need to tell me more then that , As. I can’t stay because you are scared. You are strong, I know you can beat what comes your way.” I waited for her to answer.
She swallowed and nodded at me, and for a second, my heart sank into my toes, scared that she had agreed with me that I couldn’t stay there, until she started talking.
“I’m scared of Nox.” She shuddered with that name. “He talked about things when I was in his house. About magic, taking it and using it to destroy. I’m not sure what or who or why. He didn’t say much when he found out I was listening. Isa, he scared me, I always found him creepy. But more now, with that. And you saying you saw King Flynn’s sister there? That freaked me out more.”