by Serena Nova
“You already spoke to the Kings?” Thalia asked.
“Yes.”
“What would they want to talk about with you? You aren’t even a real Witch.” Her voice pitched higher. I turned around to look at her, her nose had wrinkled up, and her eyes bore into me. I really didn’t like her, she was so exhausting.
“You don’t even agree with yourself, Thalia. First, I was a Witch in the Arena, now I’m not. Make up your mind. I’m not here to do it for you. I know who I am, and I don’t care what you think. And yes, they talked to me. Go unpack your shit, Thalia, and leave me alone,” I told her and turned back towards the Protector at the door.
“Thank you, let them know I got the messages,” was all I said and moved into my room before Thalia could start talking again. Someday, I would do more then punch her nose. I moved towards the bathroom, I still hadn’t showered after the training with Flynn, and I still smelled like sweat. I undressed and moved towards the shower, turning it on and letting the warm water relax me.
Cian
“Sirs, I relayed your messages,” the Protector said when we called him in to enter.
“What was her answer?” Rayan asked him, sitting up straight in his chair. We were in our Office, things still needed to be taken care of when you ruled a whole World. And with the Gate, it wasn’t always easy. I looked from the papers that lay in front of me up to the Protector standing in the office.
“She thanked me and said to let you know she received the message.” His arms were behind his back, the same stance Isa had taken the first day we had met her. She had been the best thing to walk into those doors for the first time in years. The thought of her made me smile, the way her eyes moved over us the first moment she had met us. The way she went against us, almost bossed us around. The way her brown eyes lit up, with intelligence swirled in them. A woman after my own heart. I wondered if she liked to read. She carried a lot of weapons on her body. It made me doubt if she would care for reading and knowledge. Things I loved, fighting was one thing, knowing how to protect yourself another. However the bigger fights, they were won with knowledge, that was the real power.
Rayan pulled me out of my thoughts. “That was all?” He threw his hands in the air, which made the Protector smile a little. Almost as if he had known our secret; that we really liked her, that she was my Natural Bonded. I had felt it the moment my eyes found her. The pull towards her, my magic that had wanted to wrap around her and keep her close. I had wanted to wrap my arms around her and keep her against my body and more. I needed to focus.
“Thank you, you can go back to your post,” I told him and focused on the papers in front of me.
“Uhm, excuse me, Sirs,” the Protector said instead of moving out of the room. We all looked up at him again.
“Yes?” Averey answered.
“The other Witch who arrived today. I forgot her name, ugly girl.”
“Keep the language nice,” Averey said.
“Sorry, Sirs, she is just a handful. She insulted the Chie . . . Miss Isadora, in the first minutes she saw her standing in front of her room.” He looked at us all.
“Okay?” Rayan asked, his eyebrows pulled up high, a questioning look in his cute blue eyes. I chuckled at my own thoughts, I had told him that once. He got mad at me, didn’t want to be cute.
“They seemed to know each other, and Miss Isadora kicked her butt.”
We all stood up at once. The Protector chuckled and held his hands up. “No, not literally. She told that lady. What’s her name?” He placed a hand under his chin.
“Thalia Ranteau,” I said.
“Yes, that girl. She told the girl to stick it. Sort of, not in those words.” The Protector was now rambling.
“You can leave,” Averey said and moved his hand in the direction of the Protector, indicating he really should leave.
We all sat down on our chairs, I looked towards Averey.
“That means she is staying.” I held up my hand to him, stopped him from speaking. “Yes, I know you said you didn’t really think she would leave. Only, knowing it for sure made me feel a hell of a lot better.” The others had nodded at what I had said.
“Okay, did you find something out about her?” I asked him. He chuckled and shared a look with Flynn.
“I know you and Flynn know something that Rayan and I don’t know.” I narrowed my eyes at them, showing my displeasure in not knowing what had been going on. I had always known what was going on. I was the smart one, most of the time.
“I thought you would have figured it out by now,” Flynn said with a smile on his face. It made me forget what we were discussing. Flynn hadn’t smiled at all in the years I had known him, and it made his face light up. My brother was changing. And Isadora was the source of that change.
“I have an idea. But I need to look it up in some books. Something I will be doing tonight,” I told them.
“Good. If you know who she is, we let Rayan in, and then I need to discuss something with you guys. Something huge and important for the World and the fight against the Dark-World creatures,” Averey told us, he looked back at the papers on his table. He was searching for new Protectors to enlist in the castle. We needed as many as we could get then, since the Gate had started opening more. We needed our Queens, we needed more magic to close the Gates further.
We had never closed it fully, we didn’t have the power for that. And we had been searching for a way to find that power. I looked at the spot where the Protector had stood, my mind drifting back towards Isadora. Maybe we had found that power.
I got up from my desk and moved towards the door, mumbling to the others about the library. I heard a chuckle from Averey as I closed the door behind me and went in search for the books. I needed to find to figure out just who she was, to find out what Averey and Flynn seemed to know.
Isadora
I showered for a long time, wanting to wash off the feel of that slithering voice, from meeting Thalia again–all of it. Just a few days earlier, we had been in the same school. Only, it had felt like I had left there years ago already. I was more at home at the castle than I thought. Whether it was because my ancestors had lived here or because of four handsome Kings that kept bothering me in the most perfect ways.
I stood there, the warm water cascading down my body. My mind lingered on the Kings and what they did to me. I felt my nipples harden, and my mind drifted off. Them naked, seeing their muscles, their sculpted bodies, feeling their strong hands going over my body, followed by soft lips kissing me. I rubbed my upper thighs together, trying to release the pressure that had started building in my center. I opened my eyes and looked at the shower. It had another showerhead, a smaller one that was connected by a hose. This one had an adjustable head. I grinned and grabbed it, turned the shower over to this head, which ended the water that came out of the over-hanging rain showerhead above me.
I switched the water jet on the head in my hand to a strong focused one. And held it down between my legs, the jet hitting my clit, and I moaned at the feeling. I moved it around in small circles, hitting the right spots while I imagined it was one of their hands. My other hand moved to my breast, and I started kneading, rubbing over my nipple. All the while thinking of them, naked and hard; thinking they were the ones touching me. My breathing became shallow, and my center started to tingle, the pressure built. My toes curled inward, and I pinched my nipple at the moment I reached my high. I shuddered when I came. I kept the showerhead there a little longer, riding out my orgasm. Finally, I moved it away and opened my eyes. After I had caught my breath, I placed the showerhead back and turned the Rain shower back on. I smiled at the showerhead, happy to know that this one was even better then the one we had in school. I turned the shower off, all the while smiling. Maybe I could handle all those heated looks I got from them, with this shower.
When I stepped out of the shower, I dried myself off and got dressed. After that, I sat down on my bed. I needed to think things over.
I
needed help, except from whom? I hadn't wanted to involve Astra in this. My mind thought back at what I knew from Icas and his house. Then it landed on Mara. Would I have been able to summon her here? I had never used my powers for that, or known if I could do it. I had seen her, she was there. Meaning that she would be in this world.
“Okay, Isa, let’s do this. You need answers, and you need help,” I said to myself before I closed my eyes. I needed to focus and relax. I breathed in deeply, held it for a second, and let it go. I continued until I felt myself slip into a light trance. I was never the best meditation student, but that was the best I would reach for now. Hopefully, it was enough. I reached inside, to that spot where my magic was. The light that filled me and allowed me to use the elements how I wanted, to use the magic around me. I pulled a small line, pulled it up and up, towards my hands. Letting it float there, concentrating on it. I called out.
“Mara,” I said first. Nothing happened, I focused more on her, on the feeling she had given me. The twinkle in her eye, the way she had looked like her brother. How tough she was, how she had wanted to help and save Astra. I focused on her energy I had felt from her that night.
“How did you do that?” I heard a little voice say. When I opened my eyes, there she was.
“What do you mean?” I asked her. She looked around confused.
“You pulled me from the house, I could never leave the house before,” she said, and a smile crossed over her face, lighting up her eyes.
“Did your uncle capture you?” I asked her, concerned about her.
“Yes. I don’t know,” she said finally, after she had focused back on me.
“Mara, can you help me?” I asked her, I had really wanted to ask her how she was doing. However, I didn't think you should ask a ghost that, especially a ghost that was still twelve years old.
“Yes.” She nodded her brown curls bouncing around.
“Good.” I gave her a smile and told her my plan. When she got it, she disappeared, and I let my magic go. It was then time for me to go and find out more; time to go to the library and see if I could find some things that would be helpful.
With a newfound energy, I then picked up my swords and walked out of the room.
19
I walked out of my room to see more women in the hallway. I didn’t glance their way, not wanting to notice them or be noticed by them. Before I could sneak past them, Thalia had spotted me.
“Isadora, why not meet the rest of the Selection?” she asked, with a sneer-filled voice.
“No, I’m good,” I said and strapped my swords on my back.
“You said she was a Witch. Why does she have weapons?” a voice asked.
“Because she pretends to be a Protector,” Thalia answered the person.
“Why would she want to do that?” another asked.
“Because she isn’t strong enough to only be a Witch,” Thalia mocked. I wanted to stop walking and kick her ass again. She knew how strong I was. She had seen me fighting the Ilunias. But I knew that was exactly what she had wanted from me. I walked towards the door of the Kings’ Quarters. Another Protector stood in front of the door, this time it was the woman who had stood next to me in the training. Her eyes focused on the Witches in the hallway, her brow pulled low and her mouth pulled even lower. Smiling upside down, a trick I never could learn. It had me chuckling, and then her eyes moved towards me. They widened when they landed on me.
“Chief,” She said softly.
“Don’t, not a Chief,” I told her, standing next to her with the big doors still closed.
“Where do you think you are going?” I heard Thalia demand, her voice much closer. I turned around and found her standing a few feet in front of me, her arms crossed in front of her chest.
“The library,” I answered back. I looked at the other women that stood behind her. None of them were people I recognized. Some looked at me with disgust written on their faces, others just stared. There were seven in total. That meant they had reached their eight, with Astra included. They were fast getting them here. Disappointment filled me with the thought that the Kings would be spending time with those other Witches. Some were beautiful, a redhead with hair that curled down her body and green eyes that sparkled. Another with short brown hair, a face that was heart-shaped, and lips that every person would have wanted to kiss. They were all beautiful, and that got to me, the Kings would definitely find a Queen amongst them.
“You aren’t allowed in there, those are the Kings’ Quarters,” one of them pointed out. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a bun, high on her head. She wore a light-pink dress. Her grey eyes bore into me–they weren’t like those of Averey, hers were grey like the stone walls of the castle; boring and dull.
“She is allowed,” the Protector next to me said, I looked at her. Her eyes softened a little towards me.
“Why?” Thalia asked.
“That is none of your business,” the Protector told her. She turned around to open the door for me.
“You their whore?” Thalia sneered as she moved two steps closer.
“Sorry?” I asked and turned around to face her again.
“That is the only explanation for why they would let you go into their Quarters. You slept with them, you are their whore.” She pointed at me, bringing me right back to the fight in the Arena.
I heard others whispering, I heard them saying whore.
“Thalia, are you sure you want to point that at me?” I asked her while I let my power fill the hallway.
“You are a whore, Isadora, a common, plain whore who hoped to get something out of this. You will not. I will become Queen, and I will see to it that you are placed by the Gate. And–”
“You really want to go there?” I asked her, I knew she wanted to say ‘be killed right away.’ Her face had turned red from the anger, her eyes spewed hate to me. I saw the others reacting to my magic that had filled the hallway. I saw some of them swallow, while others stepped back a little. Except Thalia hadn't noticed it, or she was just stupid enough to ignore it.
“I will be Queen. And I will make sure that you will disappear from this world. And that little friend of yours, too.” She gave me a smile, showing me that she believed she had won.
“Oh, girl, you are so stupid,” I said and let go of my magic, I pushed her to the other end of the hallway with my air. She didn’t even have time to scream, it happened so fast. I set my hands on fire and walked through the group of Witches, which scrambled out of my way. “You can hate me, wish me dead, or even try to kill me. Only, you will never ever touch Astra,” I growled out. She hit the wall at the end, I pulled at the stone and cuffed her around her arms and legs. Her face was white, her eyes wide open in fear, and I could almost have seen her heartbeat beating out of her chest.
“You. Will. Stay. Away. From. Astra,” I growled the words out one by one. She needed to learn, she needed to understand that you didn't threaten what was dear to my heart. And Astra had a large part of that, she was my family, my chosen blood, and she was my sister. The fire around my hands licked towards my arms. I fueled it, letting it move over my arms like a lover would; kissing his way up them.
“And if you don’t,” I said to her when I was right in her face, “I’ll make sure that what you have seen now will be nothing compared to what I will do to you then. Got it?” I smiled and looked at her. She nodded, her eyes still wide. “Good,” I purred out and started moving back. She was still in the stone shackles I had made. When I had gotten halfway down the hall, she said one more thing.
“I know Astra is gay!” she yelled. I spun around quickly, using the air to fly towards her. My swords were already out, I crossed them in front of her throat. I saw real fear in her eyes as a tear streaked down her face.
“And what are you going to do about that?” I asked her, my voice low, cold, and unforgiving.
“No-no-nothing,” she stuttered out. I smelt the urine that had flowed to the ground.
“Good,” I said and
pulled my swords back, making them slide over each other. The sound of steel on steel cut through the air. I placed them back in their sheaths, the sound followed by a deafening silence that had filled the hallway. I walked back towards the Kings’ Quarters, the Protector stood there, her own weapons in her hand. She was holding knives, and I nodded at her in thanks.
Most of the Witches had moved out of my way, a few of them even bowed to me. I rolled my eyes at them, stupid girls. When I reached the door, I turned around and looked at Thalia, at that moment, I had felt sorry for her. Until she looked at me, and I saw the hate in her eyes. I flicked my wrist for show and let her go from the wall. She stumbled down towards the floor. One Witch had moved towards her to help, the others had just looked. When I pushed open the door, the Protector bowed. I arched up an eyebrow at that. “Don’t,” I whispered. She stood upright. “What is your name?” I asked her.
“Liv,” she answered me.
“Thank you for having my back, Liv,” I said to her and moved through the door, letting it go after me.
“You will regret this!” I heard Thalia scream. I sighed, and the doors closed behind me. I walked towards the library, my shoulders slumping a little, the weight of what I had done hung heavy on them. That would have consequences, I had threatened another Witch, in the house of the Kings. And I would have done it all again, and I would take the punishment with my head held high. I pulled my shoulders back and walked into the library. The smell of books and wax filled my lungs when I breathed in. It was darker here, to protect the books from the sunlight. A few windows had their curtains pulled back. It was silent; just the place I needed to be, my escape.
I would wait to see if Thalia would go to the Kings, something inside me told me she would. The moment I had rushed to her, I knew that this would come around in a bad way. There were a lot of things you could do to me and say to me, but threatening Astra–that’s the one thing you didn't do. I looked down to the floor, letting my head hang.