“Because…” I began, “I wish things could have happened differently. I wish my actions hadn’t led to her death. I never got to explain myself to her, and I… I feel like I owe her that.” It was easy not to lie when all of this was true. I knew Minerva had been wrong, but I never went to the Underworld intending for her to die. “The plan wasn’t to kill her. I was supposed to distract her. Things changed, and… I failed. I feel responsible…”
They were all silent. The witches all looked to Lore, though I was sure they all wanted to say a few words themselves. Finally, after a long pause, Lore began to laugh.
“That is quite admirable of you. Seek the help of witches to apologize to your Queen after killing her, a true ‘knight in shining armor’ move.”
I furrowed my brow but remained silent. I could take her admonishment. I just needed this information. Sure, what I was saying was true, but it didn’t change the fact that I was here for Myrcedes. I didn’t plan to leave without getting exactly what I came for.
“Truly,” Lore continued, “what do you want to know all that for? You want to stop us, don’t you? Did your Kings of Darkness put you up to this?”
“No, they have nothing-”
“How about your little Queen, hm? Did she ask you to get this information?”
Fuck. I wasn’t going to be able to say no.
I stayed silent for a moment as I contemplated how to answer. Finally, I took a breath to speak, but the second I did, Lore spoke over me.
“So, she did.” The others looked to her for an explanation, and she grinned, fully satisfied with herself. “You can’t lie to me. You can’t trick me either, apparently. What kind of fae are you? Your Queen, your real Queen, would be ashamed.” As she spoke, she rose slowly from her chair. “Why does she want to know what we’re doing?”
I clenched my jaw to steady myself and looked Lore in the eyes. “I meant what I said. I regret the way things happened. It would mean-”
“Don’t sit there and bullshit me like I’m some neophyte with a childish crush on you.” Raya looked away from everyone as she said that; I saw her turn red out of the corner of my eyes, and I felt guilty I had dragged her into this. “Tell me what she wants.”
“She’s curious if it’s even possible,” I admitted. “She only wants to know if you’ve succeeded. Clearly, I’ll tell her you haven’t. If you had, Minerva would have begun wreaking havoc again.” I glared slightly. This was plan B - well, this was more like plan D or E. If she was angry enough, she might brag about what she knew. “So, I’ll tell her that she has nothing to worry about and that you’re all just wasting your time.”
“You little imp,” she hissed. “You’re pathetic. You don’t know anything. You don’t know that we’ve succeeded, and you don’t know that she has something huge planned for all of you, especially your little replacement for her. You, more than anyone, should know her pension for punishment. Vengeance is coming, Kalian.”
There was a silence as she stopped speaking. In my mind, I ran through a dozen questions and a dozen different ways to phrase all of them, but I didn’t have a chance to press her further.
“Get out.”
“Lore,” I began, “listen to-”
“Get the fuck out of our home,” she shrieked. I flinched at the sound. Lore was part banshee, and she wasn’t shy about it either. “Now!”
I didn’t hesitate after the final howl and bolted the four steps to the door, wasting no time in shutting it behind me. I stepped away from the cottage and rubbed my face. What was I going to do? I didn’t want to let Myrcedes down. I knew how much this meant to her. If anyone understood what it was like to feel aimless and lost, I did, and even though I couldn’t fix that for myself, I wanted to do all I could to help her.
I could hear voices inside the cottage as the witches reacted to all the chaos I had apparently brought onto their afternoon, not that I could make out anything that was being said. In the midst of their noise, I prepared myself to jump back to the Moonstone Castle and deliver the bad news to Myrcedes when I paused. A strange feeling crept into my mind that I should stay. I wasn’t able to place a finger on why or where it came from, but I decided to trust it. I’d wait there for hours if it meant I could return with good news.
I walked to a tree trunk that rested about fifteen feet from the cabin and sat down. After a few more moments, the bustling within the witches’ lair quieted down. I heard at least one door slam. In the silence, I began to wonder about what Lore had said. Had they succeeded already? Surely if they had, she would have wasted no time in reestablishing her place in power, showing everyone she couldn’t truly be killed, setting revenge into place. However, if she was weak, there was a chance she would want to heal before announcing her return, right?
Fear crept into my heart. I hadn’t wanted Minerva to die, that was true, yet now that she had, the last thing I wanted was her return. I got chills just picturing the sheer rage she would have in response to her death, and I could only imagine how much of it would be directed at me, her right hand, her trusted General, without whom her defeat, her assassination, would not have been possible.
I was so deep
