Witch Queen (35 page)

My cheeks flushed red with anger. “And if I
refuse?”

“You cannot refuse me,” said the king. “Your
mother might have escaped me once, but you, my dear Elena, will
not. No, you
will
be my second wife, and you
will
give me steel maiden daughters. Your blood magic will be bound to
the royal family where it belongs. You will never leave.
Never.”

CHAPTER 30

M
Y FINGERS ACHED AND bled as I
scraped at the wall with a piece of the shattered dresser, but the
cavity had only widened by a mere five inches after eight hours of
hard work. It was late in the evening. Sweat trickled into my eyes,
and my right wrist had started to cramp. I leaned back and looked
at my handiwork. At this rate, it would take me about two months to
make a hole large enough for me to escape.

I couldn’t get past the guards outside my
door without a real weapon. And the king had made sure I had been
stripped of anything that he considered a weapon. I had stormed off
to my bedchamber after the royal dinner and had been held as a
prisoner ever since.

I had found a small indention in the wall,
however. It had been left when the queen had smashed the dresser,
and it led me to discover that the walls of the bedchamber hadn’t
been made with the same hard black granite as the rest of the
fortress, but with limestone. And when I’d chipped a piece with my
fingernail, I realized that I could dig a hole and escape.

But after a week of working secretly day and
night, I was no nearer to leaving this wretched place than when I
had first been locked away.

There was no way in hell I’d marry that
bastard witch king. He’d be likely to skin my friends and hang
their hides on the wall like paintings! Just the thought of his
slimy hands on my body was enough to make me gag. I would rather
die a thousand deaths than be his wife, his
second
wife.
How morally sick and twisted was that?
His cruelty reminded
me of the cruelty of the priests. I was appalled at how similar and
twisted were the actions of those in power.

It didn’t matter what the witch king wanted.
I would
never
be his.

I realized that the witch king had never
meant to keep his promise. I would never get the army of witches we
needed. We were on our own. But I would find another way to beat
the priests. I had to. With or without the witch king’s help.

I had been allowed to stretch my legs and
visit the gardens once a day because I was betrothed to the king.
But he had posted two more coven guards outside my door, and more
were stationed along the hallway. He also made sure that I was
accompanied by two guards wherever I went. I suspected that the
extra security was not just to keep me from escaping, but also to
keep me safe from his wife.

The mad queen had wailed and thrashed on the
ground when the king had proposed to me. The coven guards had
picked her up and hauled her away, but she had looked at me before
she had disappeared, and I knew that she meant to kill me.

I was a caged animal, and every new day
brought more fear and a deepened sense of urgency. The longer I was
kept here, the harder it would be to escape before the goddamn
wedding ceremony. If I didn’t escape, I would have failed everyone,
including myself.

Celeste had helped to draw a detailed layout
of the fortress. I was very grateful for her help because I
couldn’t even remember how to get to the great hall. But even
Celeste didn’t know every nook and cranny. The fortress was a
colossal stone structure, and I doubted if even the king knew every
passage.

We had poured over our mockup map and
discovered that the closest escape route was a window in the
neighboring chamber. Celeste said that it wasn’t occupied. It was
three stories up, but if I could get to that window, I’d take my
chances and climb down. I’d even jump if I had to. Even if I fell,
my bones would heal. It was my only option.

I hoped that I would then be able to find
the stables and grab Torak. I wasn’t about to leave my beloved
horse behind.

I needed to get my hands on a small knife so
I would be able to cut through the limestone faster. But getting a
knife would not be easy because the witch maids were searched
thoroughly before entering my room. Celeste wouldn’t be able to
help.

Every evening, Celeste would sweep up the
debris from my day’s work and toss it for me. And then right before
bed, I’d drag the new dresser over to cover the hole.

Despite my efforts, I still wasn’t anywhere
closer to freedom.

I yelled in frustration and threw the broken
dresser leg across the floor. How the hell had my mother escaped? I
knew without a doubt that she’d been the witch king’s prisoner
because he had used the word
escaped
. He had wanted to breed
her like he wanted to breed me. What had happened to her while she
was here? Why had she gone all the way to Arcania when she could
have hidden somewhere in Witchdom. Or maybe that wasn’t an option.
The witch king was obsessed with steel maidens. He would have found
her eventually if she had stayed. I suppressed a shiver.

I was living my mother’s nightmare. But I
would stay strong. I had no other choice. If my mother had escaped,
then I could to. I had to.

My train of thought was suddenly interrupted
as Celeste burst through the door. Her face was red, and she was
breathing heavily as though she’d run the length of the fortress. I
scrambled to my feet and dragged the dresser over to hide the hole
in the wall.

“What? What happened?” The only time I’d
seen her looking so distraught was when the witch queen had entered
my bedchamber.

“The king wants—just a second—” she caught
her breath and closed the door behind her.

“It’s all over the servants’ quarters,” she
said as she turned to me. “I ran all the way from the north tower
when Orissa told me.”

I stiffened. This couldn’t be good. “Tell
me.”

“The king just made the announcement,” she
paused as though giving me a chance to gather my wits. “Elena. He
means to marry you
tomorrow
.”

“What?” Bile rose in my throat and a wild
panic flooded my mind. “But I won’t be able to dig a hole big
enough in time.”

I flattened our map on the table. “There’s
got to be another way out…we just haven’t seen it yet.”

I thought of Fawkes and looked up at her.
“Where’s Fawkes?”

I didn’t wait for her to answer. “If he
found a way to get the men out of the oubliette, maybe he can find
a way to get me out as well.”

“But how? You’re heavily guarded,” said
Celeste. “The men were left in a hole to die. No one bothered to
keep an eye on them. Besides, no one has seen Fawkes since the king
announced your betrothal. It would appear he has left the
fortress.”

“I’m trapped. The king will never let me
go.” I started to tremble and cry.

“There might be another way.”

I wiped my eyes. “How?”

“After the ceremony.”

I looked at her in shock. “You can’t be
serious? I can’t marry that bastard!”

“I’m not saying you will,” she continued.
“Not entirely.”

“Then how?”

Celeste spoke rapidly. “Tomorrow, after the
full moon, they’ll start with the handfasting ritual where a high
witch will bind your hands together with a string. Then there will
be a large celebration feast. Most of the guards and the witch king
will be drunk, you know how the males behave at those kinds of
events. That’s when we make our move.

“They won’t be expecting you to run, so
you’ll probably be less well guarded. You’ll have witch maids
escorting you the whole time, so you can fake some sort of
lameness. I will be the one to escort you back to your bedchamber,
but we’ll head for the side entrance on the southwest corner of the
fortress instead. It won’t be guarded. You can make your way to the
stables from there. Don’t stop till you’ve left Lunaris behind and
made your way back to the mountains.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “But I’ll
still be wed to him.” I wanted to vomit.

Celeste shook her head. “No. You cannot be
married without the marital bond—you must
mate
to make it
official. Otherwise, the marriage will be nulled.”

I smiled. It was the only hope we had. “I
think your plan might work. No, it’s
going
to work.” I
beamed at her. “Celeste, you’re a genius.”

“I know.” She flashed me a smile and turned
to go. “I’ve been summoned to work on your wedding gown, but I’ll
have time to check the locks on the side entrance doors, just to be
safe. I’ll come back later to go over the plan more in detail—”

The door swung open and Prince Aurion
sauntered in.

He wore his usual dark gray silk coat and
smiled at me wickedly. He held a bottle of wine and two goblets.
His hair was perfect, his features were too perfect, and his eyes
bright and hungry.

I blushed.

“What ever happened to knocking?” I glowered
as Celeste made a low curtsy.

The prince glanced casually at the witch
maid and waved a lazy hand at her. “You may leave us,
Celeste
.”

Even though she was bent in a low curtsy, I
could see that Celeste’s face had reddened when the prince had used
her real name. She stole a look at me before she shut the door
behind her.

“Is there something you want, prince?” I
tried to remain composed, but the fact that he had brought
beverages was alarming. “Does your father know you’re here?”

Prince Aurion set the decanter of burgundy
liquid on the table and began to pour it into the goblets. “Of
course not. But I thought we could share a drink, a toast before
the big day tomorrow.”

I sensed the tension in his voice and saw it
in his posture.

“You didn’t know, did you?”

The prince picked up the goblets and crossed
the room towards me. He handed me a glass, and my treacherous hand
took it.

“Of course not,” he said. “Do you think I
would have said those things to you if I had?”

I felt the heat rush to my face as I
remembered.

What did the prince expect by coming here
now?

“So why are you here? Truly?”

Prince Aurion’s eyes gleamed. “Because I
thought you might need a drink. I know I do.”

He raised his goblet to his lips and took a
sip.

I sighed and sloshed the liquid in my mouth,
letting the taste of the ripe raspberry, pomegranate, and cherry
settle on my tongue. It was divine. I took another sip.

“How’s the queen taking the news?” I
couldn’t help myself. I hated the bitch.

Prince Aurion smiled, a beautiful easy
gesture that emphasized the perfect lines of his jaw. His body was
flawless and exquisite, and just a little too close.

“How do you think?” he laughed. “She’s
beside herself. Throwing tantrum after tantrum. She’s already
killed three witch maids.”

I watched him with a frown. “That’s
unfortunate. I’m sure they did nothing to deserve to die.”

The prince angled his body closer to mine,
so close I could smell the lavender soap on his skin.

“No, they probably didn’t. I also came to
say…since we are going to be family tomorrow… only that I hope I’ve
said nothing to offend you. I just feel that we’ve grown closer
after…what happened the other day.”

My cheeks flushed, and I tried to hide it
with a frown. “I don’t want to talk about that.”

A muscle in the prince’s jaw twitched, and I
saw something dark pulse behind his eyes.

“How are you then?” said the prince,
changing the subject.

“I’m a prisoner. How do you think I feel?” I
drained my goblet. My face was hot, and the warmth of the wine
spread through my limbs and wrapped the coldness in my heart like a
blanket.

“Of course I have to thank your father for
that.”

“You’re not a prisoner, Elena.”

The prince grabbed the decanter and filled
my goblet before he refilled his.

“Really?” I laughed. “I can’t leave this
room. I can’t go home. And I’m being forced to wed a man I hate? If
that’s not being a prisoner, then I don’t know what is.”

He drew so close that I felt the heat from
his body. He appeared to be genuinely concerned. He reached out,
and I blushed again as he touched my cheek with his finger.

“If you leave, there will be nothing but
death waiting for you out there. How will you destroy the black
blight without my father’s help? You said it yourself. You’ll need
an army of witches to defeat the necromancers.”

I pushed his hand from my face.

“I don’t know. But I’ll find a way.”

“I admire the fire in you,” said the prince.
“You’re willing to fight for what you want, for what you believe
in, for those you love. And whenever anyone tries to deny you
something you want, then you just take it, no matter who they
are.”