He nodded, eyes streaming, and crawled over to another shelf, pulling out dusty piles of paper for her.
“Don’t get blood on it.” She commanded, as he handed her Katelyn’s files, and then Georgiana’s. Her heart softened at the thought of her old nurse, who was living somewhere, the files would tell her where. “Is this everything?” She demanded.
“Please!” He mouthed “Mercy! Please!”
His last words hadn’t finished forming when she summoned a blade of fire and used it to cut both his hands from his body, while cauterising the wounds to bloody stumps.
He yelled out, a hoarse and gurgling sound now that he no longer had a tongue, and she heard footsteps. But she didn’t rush; instead, she shored up the door with air and smiled at the man who had once scared her.
The next target, his eyes, which she burnt in their sockets, then she burnt polka-dots every two inches across every piece of skin.
By the time his head rolled to the floor, detached from his still upright body, he had been begging for death. But it hadn’t taken much.
She teleported everything from her shelf back to her rooms, before she let the guards attempting to charge the door through.
“My apologies gentlemen,” she informed them as they stood open mouthed at the sight of the slave master’s severely burnt body, “But you will need to find a new master.”
One of the men openly threw up, and she walked past him as she left the room, walking along the corridors with her hood down, who cared about her identity, everyone was sure to find out anyway.
Chapter Sixteen
PUNISHMENT
When she got to the dragons, they nodded sadly, and she mounted Icarus again, flying straight back to the Isle, where Kate was waiting for her.
“What the hell did you think you were doing?” Kate yelled. “You just flaunted your identity to hundreds of people! You killed a prominent man in society! You even had the nerve to announce your title to the world! It’s supposed to be a secret.”
“You wanted a face of the isle, right? Well you got one.” She yelled back. “I can’t live as a secret; people were recognising me in Morendor, and that prominent man in society was a rapist. I just delivered his karma.” But she calmed down enough to think by then. “How did you know?”
“The slave shop has a magical recording system trained to pick up on anything unusual. The moment you landed Ash and Icarus you were recorded and your images sent straight to Morendor, the prince just issued a warrant for your arrest.”
“More likely he just wants to talk about my behaviour.”
“We’re having a talk about your behaviour!” Kate informed her. “Why the hell are you acting like this? Is it stress? Are you hurting? Come on, sister, talk to me.”
“I couldn’t let him live Kate. What he did to me, I couldn’t stand the memories anymore, and when I went with Ash and Icarus to get the thing of my mothers, I saw him and I knew. I just couldn’t live when I knew I could feel that scared.” She trembled.
“You can’t take this back, you do understand that. You are now the world’s first public wytch queen perhaps that makes you braver than all of us.”
“Or more stupid,” She retorted. “But I’m not sorry.”
“You do realise you will have to be punished.”
“Do it.” She told Kate. “Sentence me.”
“You must go to Marten, and you must accept his mark.”
“What?” She screeched. “You want him to bite me?”
“Didn’t think you’d like it.” Kate told her. “We decided on it as a solution to your recklessness. That way, Marten will have to deal with you when you make a mistake.”
“I don’t plan on making mistakes.” Romana replied. “Besides, Marten won’t bite me as a punishment.”
“We know that he’ll only bite you if he’s jealous. But we have a plan.”
“Don’t you always?” Romana muttered. “What is it?”
“We’re going to cover you in another man’s scent.”
“How, and why?”
“Marten’s jaguar won’t be able to ignore the fact that you are covered intimately in another man’s scent. If you add a few well-placed innuendos there, then bang one possessive animal halfling.”
“Who says I’m going along with this?”
“I do.”
“But I don’t want him to bite me.”
“Tough. You’re not supposed to like your punishment.” Then Kate splashed her with something.
“What the hell?” She asked, coughing and spluttering as the water dripped through her clothes.
“Just a little batch of man-scent I picked up.”
“You mean watered down cologne.”
“Nope. I created this batch from a lock of hair from none other than Keenan himself.”
“You’re going to get Keenan killed and me bitten.” She informed Kate.
“Well, good luck with that. Now to artfully dishevel your clothing, don’t worry I’ve already told Marten that I’m just going to teleport you from wherever you are straight to him.” Kate waved her hand across Romana’s dress and immediately the straps on one side slid down her arm, while the fabric creased in all sorts of places. “Your hair is already messy; now let’s just smudge that lipstick a little.” She swiped a finger across Romana’s lips, dragging the colour slightly towards her cheekbones. “Lips need to swell a little I think.” Another brush of her finger, “And how about a little stubble burn here?” She swiped her hand in front of Romana’s chest and instantly her cleavage became slightly pink. “Now, don’t forget to say ‘what the hell’!” Kate beamed as if she was having fun
“What the hell?” She asked, surprised, just as Kate teleported her from her caves…and directly into a dungeon cell.
“Sorry to interrupt your…activities.” Marten said from the other side of the cell. “But we have a murder to discuss.”
He was standing facing the wall opposite her, shirtless with both hands braced on the tiling above his head, his hair was longer than ever, and Romana had to resist the urge to go to him right then and there.
“Not mine I hope,” she replied, attempting to straighten her clothes, only to find that she couldn’t move them. “Damn Kate.”
“Yes, she was helpful in getting you here.” Marten replied. “Wytch queen, huh. When did I get to know?”
“Too many people already do for Kate’s liking. Hence my punishment is getting stuck here to ‘atone’ for my unruly behaviour.”
“So does Keenan know?” He asked, and she could hear the carefully hidden threat behind his words.
“Maybe. We have been spending some time together recently.”
“I can smell him on you, Romana.” Marten told her. “And I am trying very hard to convince myself that it isn’t anything intimate.”
“Why would it bother you if it was?” She retorted.
“Is it?”
“Why should I tell you?” She asked indignantly, saying more because of her annoyance at his possessiveness than because Kate wanted her to. “Who I do and do not have fun with, is none of your business. And Keenan knows how to make a girl feel good. Very good in fact.” She finished the last with a little smile, as she tried again to budge the straps up her arm. “Damn Kate.”
Marten finally swung around to look at her, his eyes turning animal the instant they zoomed in on her dishevelled clothing, smudged lipstick, stubble burns, swollen lips and messy hair. A growl erupted.
“Tell me you didn’t sleep with him.” He ordered. “You did not sleep with that thief!” He said the word ‘thief’ as if it was dirty.
“Maybe I did!” She retorted “Maybe I like Keenan better than a snarly prince who hasn’t had a civil conversation with me in an age! Maybe I liked being with a man who treated me special.”
“Gods woman! Do you have no sense of self-preservation?” Marten roared. “My animal was this close,” He held up two fingers an inch apart, “this close to taking you before, but now! Yo
u are mine! We promised each other that we could belong to each other! Why break that? Why?”
She was about to answer when he kissed her, and it was no tender kiss. She wheeled in confusion even as she opened to him and he took what she offered and more. His hands roamed the material of her clothing.
She wanted him to stop, but she wanted him to continue. Oh Ancients was punishment meant to be so confusing?
He bit at her lip. She bit him back and he…purred?
Pulling away from her suddenly, his lips traced the unmistakeable path to her neck, but instead of pushing him away, instead of stopping him, she hugged his head to her neck and kept him there as his fangs slid down to pierce the skin.
What the hell was she doing? Letting him bite her?
“I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.” She whispered as she felt herself freeze in place; going limp under his mouth.
When he finally pulled back, he softly kissed the mark he’d made before sweeping her off her feet, literally, and carrying her from the dungeons.
I didn’t. She told him as he carried her along corridors. I didn’t sleep with Keenan. Kate judged that my punishment for killing that monster and showing all those people who I was should be that I should stop hiding. I’m permanently assigned as the face of the Coven. I’m at your disposal.
“Why lie?” He asked.
I didn’t. You assumed everything; I simply inferred that it is my choice who I choose to be with. Kate covered me in Keenan’s scent and changed my appearance to look like I’d been with him. I haven’t seen him since I took the girls to the Isle.
“Did you want me to mark you?” He asked, eyes wide as dinner plates as he stared down at her in astonishment
Maybe a little bit. She admitted, then when she saw the satisfaction on his face she scowled, or would have. Don’t let it go to your head, you without a shirt is just unfair to the female population. Maybe I only let you do it because I was close to drawling on you. She was a little bleary by that point; things were getting a little mixed up.
As if Marten sensed this, he changed course. “You probably need sleep. You can use my rooms; yours are under refurbishment.”
They arrived outside his rooms, and he held her with one hand until he’d gotten the door open. Of course to get to his rooms, they had to go through the study.
“Not now captain.” Marten muttered as they passed through.
“You are not serious!” The captain practically yelled. “That woman just brutally tortured a man, and you want to put her in your rooms. Do I have to remind you that she turned him into a polka-dot canvas before she decapitated him? Would you like to re-watch the part where she burnt away several key parts of that man’s anatomy, not least of which his hands!”
“No. You don’t need to remind me.”
“Then why the hell are you bringing her here? Lock her up; kill her while she’s down!”
Marten laid her with the utmost care on the bed, before turning to face his captain.
“Romana is mine. No-one touches her.” From her limited viewpoint she saw the captain cowering. “Remove the warrant, inform the guards to patrol the streets and ask the families of any missing children if there was anything unusual about their child. I want to know how long this has been going on for. Also, tell the Isle that their ambassador is safe and I will personally ensure her safety. If you get time, appoint a new slave master, and do the personality checks this time. I want a report in four hours in the conference room, bring out the large chalkboard, because we need to map these problems.”
“Your highness, you sound like you’re talking about war.”
“I am. But I fear that our enemy has been planning it for far longer than we realise.”
“Should I send out notices to the other cities?” He asked.
“Not yet. If I am proved right it will be when the man behind this tries to go after bigger fish. He’s been biding his time, and his powers will have grown stronger with every girl he took.”
“Your highness.” The captain bowed in respect, before leaving the room.
“You can sleep now.” Marten told her.
No silly. She replied. Can’t fall asleep, not safe.
“You’ve got me. What better safe is there?”
He had a point, she thought, even as sleep tugged more insistently at her. She felt herself give in, even as she saw his look of satisfaction.
Chapter Seventeen
CONTROL
When Marten shook her awake, it was to a colourful dawn sky over the horizon.
“Good morning, sleepyhead.” He smiled at her. “I brought breakfast.”
“You better have.” She told him, pushing herself up onto her elbows and spying a tray laden with eggs, bacon, sausages, tomatoes and toast. “You are my new favourite person.”
“I shall have to remember the way to a woman’s heart is through food.”
“Why did you wake me?” She asked, tucking in.
“I’ve had guards combing the sewers for more small bases.”
“You found one?” She guessed.
“Along with three more girls and another woman, but this time she had shields, we couldn’t hurt her, but we did get the children out. They’re refusing to listen or talk to any of us, but maybe you might have some more luck.”
“Any ideas what their powers are?”
“Oh, we have a fairly good idea.” He rubbed his head. “One of them has been bombarding us with mental screams for hours.”
“I probably didn’t hear them because of my shields.” She guessed. “I’ll see them as soon as possible.”
“Another one has a talent that terrifies animals whatever it is. The other, we have no clue.”
She finished off breakfast and stood up, checking her reflection in the mirror, before using air to comb out any knots in her hair.
“Ready yet?” Marten asked. “Or would you like a moment to get a pedicure?”
“Five seconds.” She replied, burning away the makeup Kate had given her earlier and healing the stubble burn. “Done.”
He nodded, and led her down towards the same room that the other girls had been in. As she got closer to the door she began to hear echoes of the screams, Marten’s face was scrunched up in pain, and he was clearly hearing more than just echoes.
“You can go.” Romana offered. “I’ll tell you when I’ve got through to them.”
“You’re a saviour.” He told her.
“I know. You can worship me later, now go and see what those architects have dreamt up.” She had another epiphany, “If I’m not there then talk to them about getting greenhouses set up next to the building.”
“And if I run out of things to stall with?”
“Call for tea.” She replied, walking forwards while shoring up her mental shields.
She heard him move away and buckled under the next wave of mental screams, apparently, this part of the castle had been abandoned and she was now the sole target of the screams.
She made her shields even tougher, diverting the majority of her power into them. Then silence ensued.
She unlocked and opened the door to find all three girls huddled in the corner, all teenagers this time, all scared.
“You’re that wytch!” One of them screamed, “The one that tortured and killed the desert man. Did they send you to kill us?”
“No. They didn’t. And for your information, that desert person was a rapist and a torturer. I gave him a taste of what he gave me.”
The echoes of screams grew again.
“That won’t work on me.” She informed the one who’d just spoken.
Then another one walked up to her, and reached out a heavily shaking hand pulling away the long black leather glove as she did so and giving away her power instantly. Romana pulled up a shield of fire between her and the child straight away, and the healer shrank back.
“I’m not interested in having my organs turned to a pulp.” She informed the girl. “And what are you going to try
and do to me?” She asked the third.
“Can’t.” The third girl was shaking, obviously afraid of her own power. Her ebony hair framed a tear stained face that could be no older than thirteen. “Mustn’t. Killed so many.” Her face was draining of colour. Cautiously, Romana extended a mental probe, only to withdraw immediately, this girl was truly dangerous, she realised, perhaps more so than even she knew. Romana would be able to survive an attack made by her, but whether she could do it without killing the child, or rendering her insane, was another matter.
“I’m not here to hurt you.” Romana soothed, trying to calm the girl before something happened that couldn’t be undone. “But please stop trying to hurt me. I’m a friend, and an aide to Prince Marten, I can help you. You were taken by men who would have stolen your powers, killing you. I want to train you to use them, okay? I can take you to a place where you can control them.”
“Control?” The third girl asked in astonishment. “There’s a way to control this?”
“Yes.” Romana replied, knowing how much the idea had to appeal to the terrified child. “There is even a way to learn to use it.”
“I can use mine.” The girl with the screams told her. “I don’t need your help.”
“You do. Without me your powers will grow, eventually ending your life or stripping you of your sanity.”
“You can teach me control.” The third girl confirmed, her body still shaking.
“Yes.” Romana promised. “The place is called the Isle of the Gifted; there are many wytches there with similar powers to your own who lead wonderful lives thanks to their gifts.”
“Mine isn’t a gift. It’s a curse.” The girl replied. “I’m bad. I hurt people.”
“The Lady of the Isle will be able to block your powers until you can control them fully.” Romana told her. “There is nothing for you to fear there. The veil protecting the isle has never been breached. Your mentors will protect you, give you shelter and teach you how to control your powers.”
The healing girl pulled her black leather glove back on. “I’ll go with you. If there’s good food and a roof over my head who’s I to say no?”
Kate's Legacy (Soul Merge Saga Book 2) Page 12