“You do realise that if this is your favour, then the wytches will be staying homeless and take up residence in your ballroom.” Romana told him.
“I just want you to come to the ball with me.” He said, smiling at her disgust, but in his eyes, the slightest sliver of hurt, hidden as quickly as it had surfaced. “I wouldn’t ask you to marry me; I’m not the only one in this room uncomfortable with being tied to a maddeningly infuriating spouse.” Romana’s mouth flew open and she intended to give him hell for that statement, but he cut her off. “The trouble is, the term ‘ball’ in this case will most certainly include a day or three of hunting and then maybe a week of balls to go with it. Grenov does nothing small. And throughout this, my mother will almost certainly set up as many romantic things between us as possible.”
“Romantic how?” Romana asked.
“Let’s put it this way, we’ll probably be sharing a room, and a bed, and a bath.”
“Does she think we’re that intimate?”
“Word has somehow reached her that you carry my mark,” Marten told her, his gaze going to the four dots that inhabited the delicate region between neck and shoulder. “She seems to have presumed that it requires a level of intimacy between us.”
“And so that means…”
“If we pretend to break up, she won’t believe it, but if we refuse to marry, she’ll be even less inclined to believe it.”
“So where does that leave us?”
“In an uncomfortable truce. We ask for more time, and we use the time to figure a way out of this.”
“This ball, what should I wear.”
“The grandest gowns you can find, even for the hunting. Outshine my mother as much as you can.”
“I suppose I do have a thread wytch on my side.” Romana murmured. “So your condition to allowing us to rebuild our homes on the Isle of Clouds is that I attend this ball.”
“Yes.” He replied. “I trust you wytches will make your own way there.”
“Where are the construction materials?” Romana asked.
“We’ll purchase them from Coal Mountain, its closest to the Isle of Clouds and they share a border.”
“Could you tell the dwarves not to be alarmed if the materials we need just disappear and to charge you for anything that we take?”
“You’re being maddeningly infuriating again.” Marten told her. “I’d have to send a letter by hawk which could take a day or two.”
“Or I could just take you there now and you could explain it to the dwarves.”
“That could be quicker.” He told her, “But they wouldn’t be expecting me.”
Romana teleported his crown directly onto his head, and then with a sneaky wave she teleported him directly outside of the mountain stronghold that was home to the dwarves. Imagining the faces of the dwarves when he just turned up out of nowhere, she laughed, then teleported to where the other wytches were. Kate was addressing them from the top of the marble stairs, and Romana came up to stand behind her.
“Sisters, it gives me great pain to tell you that the battle with the dragons was the last for our isle. The Isle of the Gifted is no more. The dragon queen’s last act was to topple our island to the waters that surrounded it.”
The outcry at this was enormous; screams of pain echoed through the room, the guards stationed along the walls covered their ears for a moment until Kate held up her hand for quiet.
“Let us hope, that Romana has brought us good news.” Kate added, motioning her forwards.
“Sisters.” Romana addressed them. “I share your sorrow in the loss of our home, but I have bargained with the prince of this realm. He will give us the ownership of the Isle of Clouds and building materials from Coal Mountain, where he has made an unexpected visit just now.” She showed them all a mental image of Marten outside the gates attempting to explain his situation, and they laughed, lifting the veil of sadness a little. “We will go there as soon as he returns. Our powers will ensure that our houses are built overnight, so we will stay for one more day in this palace. Thank-you for your time.” She ended, feeling awkward even as Kate dragged her aside, even as clearly injured as she was their leader still showed strength.
“What did you bargain with?” Kate asked her, her face all business.
“That will take some explaining.” Romana told her. “And I’d rather do it while I checked your wounds. If you follow me we can talk in the gardens.”
Kate nodded, and they left the room, Romana stopping as they went to ensure that Katelyn and Averna were well. When they reached a part of the gardens that adjoined the woods, Romana used her air magic to check for spies. She found two in the trees, and levitated them before her.
“We wish to converse in private, rest assured we are not plotting against his majesty.” She told them, even as she levitated them to the courtyard some way away.
“What did he ask of you?” Kate asked, getting down to business. “Money? Your extended stay at Morendor? What? I won’t let you heal me until you tell me.”
“A while back, I had to pose as a lady he was pursuing.” Romana began, “His mother and father met me, and they liked me, now they’re under the assumption that with my being an elven princess and a wytch queen, a marriage between myself and Marten would be beneficial to them in terms of alliances.” Kate nodded her understanding. “To add to things, they’ve heard I carry Marten’s mark, and the queen believes that it means we share a certain level of intimacy. She’s requested Marten and I attend a ball in Grenov, where Marten is convinced she will attempt to force him to propose to me.”
“What did you agree?” Kate asked; worry tinting her voice and face.
“Let me see the wound first.” Romana countered.
Kate lifted the hem of her shirt, exposing a wound that still meant much of her side was missing. The sight was cringe worthy, and Romana felt the blood leave her face. Kate wouldn’t want the worry though, she only wanted answers. Romana wanted to know how the hell she’d still been standing with a wound like this.
Romana ringed her hands in her fire, placing them against the area as she continued.
“He told me that it would be impossible to break up our fake romance, but it was also impossible for us to refuse to marry when I wore his mark, the queen wouldn’t believe either scenario.”
“You’ve trapped yourselves in a relationship when you don’t really know the other person. It was foolish.”
“The ball is for his birthday, his payment is that I come with him, and we both ask for more time.”
“That will stall the issue, but it won’t stop this.” Kate replied. “There is one solution. But you might not like it.”
“What?”
“You die.”
“You mean pretend to die?” Romana asked, “Fake my own death, and never speak to him again.”
“You could take Katelyn and Averna with you. We could pretend that Kobos sent someone to kill you while you slept.”
Romana removed her hands, glad to see that Kate was whole once more, except for the pink skin that marked where the wound had been.
“And when there’s no body?”
“We’re wytches, there’ll be a body. It’ll give us a chance to hunt Kobos’ men anyway. We don’t let Marten view the ceremony, you create a big fire and tornado on the new island, and you’re free of this.”
“Why not tell Marten?”
“Because his grief has to be real.”
“Could I pretend to be a ghost or something and visit him?”
“You do know how rare ghosts are?” Kate asked. “It’s probably best that you disappear completely, stay on the isle, we erase all memory of you from the population while we can.”
“A world memory spell? That would take so much power!” Romana replied. “We’d need to erase everyone’s memory of my seal and my being a wytch queen, to alter so many people’s memories like that would take every one of us, and leave most of us fully exhausted.
“Except you and I.�
� Kate replied. “You need to conserve a bit power in order to keep a constant anti-detection shield around you and the girls. I have no limit to my power.”
“Kate?” Romana asked a possibility occurring to her, “why didn’t you heal yourself?”
“My familiar was injured in the first wave.” Kate told her, I spent a lot of power keeping her alive.”
“What is your familiar?” Romana asked, curiously.
“The hikari koi fish that lived in the fountain.” Kate replied. “She was hit by falling rock; I had to teleport her to the lake and heal her there. I’d never been as scared as I was when she was crushed. She nearly died.”
“You nearly died.” Romana replied, taking Kate’s shaking hand. “How long should we wait till it’s my turn?”
“You’re agreeing to this?”
“It depends. How do I get to die?”
“I was thinking poison.” Kate said “A little blood out of your mouth. Ash will have to heal up your mark again. You will have to die soon, maybe tonight.”
“That quickly?” Romana said, “So little time to say goodbye.”
“We’ll have to ensure you die quickly. We’ll disguise a man from the village and get him to take you, Katelyn and Averna tea while you’re in a small dining room with me and some others, preferably Marten as well.”
“Will it hurt the girls?” Romana asked.
“Probably. We can knock them out though. Once the poison has taken good enough effect, we’ll remove his highness from the room telling him he’ll get in the way. We heal you, we create duplicates, and you become incorporeal and teleport Averna and Katelyn to the caves. You teleport to Ash, who’ll heal your mark away, leaving you impervious to Marten’s tracking. If you shield everyone, then he won’t be able to get the magicians to find you, even if he doesn’t believe you’re dead.”
“We’ll be saving him from being stuck with me forever.” Romana consoled herself. “It’s worth it, am I right?”
“But, you do know that his parents may use this as an excuse to pair him with the next best choice.”
“Better that than be stuck with me.” She replied. “I won’t want him the way he wants me.”
“You mean the way he wants you when you’re not looking and he gives you the look.”
“Exactly!” Romana replied. “That look is exactly why he doesn’t need me around, plus all those reasons that I gave you when you showed him my entire life story.”
“I still believe that your stubbornness is the only thing keeping you away from him.”
“But you’ll help me do this anyway.” Romana realised.
“Yes.” Kate sighed. “I have the poison already. It’s best to have these things on hand.”
“You carry poisons around with you?” Romana gaped, astonished.
“Yes, I always have.” Kate told her, shrugging it off. “I’ll take care of everything, but in the meantime, you have people to see to. You understand that this isn’t reversible. You’ll have to remain ‘dead’ until both the king and queen die, possibly longer. And you also know how hard it will be for Marten to forgive you.”
“He doesn’t need to forgive me for something I did to help him.” Romana replied. “I’m going to tell Icarus and Ash of the plan.”
Kate nodded, and teleported away, while Romana teleported herself back to the barn.
“Boys.” She said gently, nudging at their foreheads. “Wake up.”
First Ash, and then Icarus dragged their groggy eyes to look her in the face. “What time is it?” They asked in unison.
“I have something I need to discuss with you.” She told them, capturing their attention instantly.
Chapter Twenty-One
MADDNESS ENROACHING
By the time evening had arrived, Romana had spent several hours talking with every one of her friends, and even her brothers had come over by portal to see her for a while. They were shocked and happy to find out she was their sister. They’d searched for her for ten years before duty had called them back, and as they spoke to her of things that had happened in the past, Silver had passed through snippets of information, memories which Romana had managed to use.
But she still wasn’t ready when she walked into the dining room.
The other twenty-nine wytch queens were already seated, along with their students. Romana guided Katelyn and Averna to the table and towards seats with the other children, while she moved to sit next to Kate, a seat directly opposite to Marten’s.
She met his eyes, and immediately her hands clenched under the table. He was looking her through the eyes of the animal. They flashed across his own eyes every few seconds, too fast for most of the wytches to see, but enough to make her nervous. Kate grabbed her hand in reassurance.
Are you sure you want to go through with this? Kate asked.
There’s no other way. Besides this will save him from putting up with me.
He wants to put up with you, you’re saving yourself. Don’t try and make this seem selfless.
Romana didn’t reply to that. She just watched as drinks were served, aware that Kate had spiked the wine that Romana would drink, along with Katelyn and Averna’s juice.
She watched the two girls take their drinks, and raise them in a toast along with the adults. Numbly, she put the drink to her lips. For a few frantic heartbeats, absolutely nothing, she felt normal. She looked up and met Marten’s eyes as the first twinges fell on her. When she coughed, a dry rough cough, blood flooded the table cloth. Her eyes darted to Katelyn and Averna. They also were coughing up rivers of red. Suddenly her muscles gave out, causing her to fall to the ground with a thump, she cried out in pain.
“Sister!” The wytches cried in alarm, the sounds of chairs scraping against the floor as they all flocked towards her and the girls.
“Poison.” She choked, even as she looked for Kate.
“Get a physician.” Marten yelled the pain in his voice evident in the panicked tone he used. She tried to crane her neck to look at him, only to find she couldn’t move. She was immobilised.
“There’s no human that can heal this.” Kate yelled back, her hands rushing over Romana. “If you want to help, get us the bastard that did this.” A light touch on her arm, reassuring, and then Marten was gone.
She dimly heard the door slam and then felt the stirrings of magic in the air, undimmed – unlike the rest of her senses.
Suddenly the paralysis stopped, her body came up of its own accord, pulling herself into a sitting position and then spewing vomit all over the floor.
“It’s okay. You’re just purging it, let it happen.” Kate whispered. “Last chance to back out.”
She shook her head, her voice too painful to use after the final round of vomiting had passed.
“Teleport the girls away.” Kate ordered, to the others, and the command was instantly obeyed. “Romana, teleport to Ash, get him to heal you, then shield and stay shielded until I say otherwise.”
“What are you going to do?” She asked, the words tasting like gravel in her mouth.
“Create fake bodies.” Kate told her, even as they began summoning the magic needed.
Romana teleported away to the barn where Ash was waiting for her as was the plan. Icarus had flown hunting hours ago, and wouldn’t be back for days.
“Mother.” Ash said as she arrived, then collapsed back onto the floor in a fit of weakness.
“Can’t do that again.” She choked, the magic had made her already painful throat worse, and drained strength she would need to shield herself.
Ash breathed across her, and instantly she felt most of the weakness dissipate. Her strength returned in a rush that was more akin to a dam breaking than the steady trickle of power she was used to when taking power from her familiars.
She shielded herself, merging her essence into the air currents, becoming invisible and untraceable in an instant.
“You can join your brother now Ash.” She told him. “Thank-you.”
“You i
ntend to watch his reaction.”
“You know me too well.” She replied sadly.
“You shouldn’t have done that.” Ash told her. “You regret it even now.”
“I make a point not to look too deeply into my feelings.” She replied. “They can’t matter. He’ll outlive me since I’m not elven, although I suppose the shunned by society reason is moot now that it’ll strengthen relations.” They walked towards the doors.
“You like him.”
“But I don’t love him!” She replied.
“Yet.” Ash replied, taking off.
A roar so deafening that the ground beneath her shook erupted from the palace. She felt the air she’d merged with vibrate at the shock.
Instantly she teleported to the room where she’d been poisoned to find her sisters huddled in a mournful circle. Beside them, sprawled on the floor, their faces painted with blood, were glamoured corpses. Beside hers, a jaguar, so sleekly muscled and graceful that she almost didn’t see the madness encroaching over its eyes. The pain etched across its face as it nudged at the body beside it. Its agony unleashed itself in another mighty roar which brought Endis and her other brothers running.
She watched grimly as one by one their combined grief brought them to the threshold of insanity, turning them all into their respective beasts, each of them yelling their pain out to the world.
Some half hour later, all her brothers had managed to rein in the animal traits. Marten alone remained as a jaguar.
“Marten.” Endis said softly, his own animal fading from his eyes as tears a appeared there. “She’s gone.”
A growl from the cat beside her body.
“I’ve never heard of this level of madness in an elf.” Kate told him after an hour of more persuasion.
“If one of us loses someone very close to us it’s very possible to slip into this state and never come back.”
“She was that close?” Kate asked, astonished.
She hadn’t been that close to him, had she? Romana thought, even as she sent a small current of air to remove the tears from the cat’s eyes.
Kate's Legacy (Soul Merge Saga Book 2) Page 15
