Page 134 of Her Dark Promise

Before anyone could ask me what was wrong, our setting changed. We were no longer in the dining hall, but at the town square, outside the boundaries that I had been contained in. I was turning around in circles, looking at everything. A visual memory had never been this vast before.

“What is this?” Bastian whispered. “Where are we?”

I spun around to him. “You can see this?”

They all nodded, wide-eyed.

“The execution of the enchantress Circe will commence for the crimes against the kingdom!”

We all turned to where Circe was tied to a wooden pole, standing on a pile of large pieces of wood. She was struggling against the ropes that held her, biting harshly into her skin. Her eyes were full of rage.

My breathing turned erratic. No.

Now everyone will know the truth about you.

“No!”

But there was no stopping the memory.

I saw my father and mother seated off to the side so everyone could view her. The entire kingdom gathered around the raised platform for miles. Some were even hanging out of windows to get a good view of the spectacle.

Father stood and raised his hands in the air, and a hush fell over the crowd. “The enchantress has been accused of being born with magic. But worse, she has committed a crime like no other…she lied to gain our trust and acquire knowledge to bring down this kingdom! She aided in my daughter’s teachings, and we treated her like family.” A roar erupted, and my father spoke above the ever-growing mob. “Had she succeeded, she’d have murdered the entire royal family, and for that, she will pay.”

Cheers were heard all around. Food and rocks were thrown at Circe. The chaos was a blurry mess, a looming mist in the background encroaching upon us.

She held her head up high and stared straight ahead as Father asked her, “Do you have anything to say?”

She snarled, “You murdered my entire clan…but worse, you’ve murdered innocent people who had not one drop of magic in them! Just because they were different.”

Her eyes found mine as I sat next to Mother, and a wicked smile spread across her lips. I could see myself shaking my head in quick, deliberate movements.Don’t say it, don’t tell him.

Father’s face twisted to that of disgust. “Your ancestors all deserved to die for their treasonous actions!”

“You killed children!” She screeched. “You would kill your own if they were like me.”

I could see myself straightening in my chair, attempting to put on a brave face in front of her, knowing what she was telling me. My father would kill me if he knew. I’d burn with her if he knew. My entire body began to shake under her hardened gaze.

I could see myself standing. “Father, we can end this now… All the death and bloodshed. We can end it.”

“Silence,” he roared, and I sucked in a fast breath. He turned just enough so I could hear him, his voice a spiteful whisper. “How long did you know, Callie? How long did you know she was a witch and kept it from me?”

I looked to my mother for comfort, but she looked down at her lap.

“I will deal with you later,” Father said with so much venom that I flinched under his heated gaze.

Further words and pleas died in my throat as I raised my eyes to Circe who was staring right back at me. Her gaze held a sense of longing, a desperate plea, one last attempt to make me see what I should have always known—the truth behind everything she tried to teach me, the sincerity of her tries to save me. To save me from my own father. Maybe I should have done thesame for her—maybe I should have tried harder to stop him, to make him see reason, to do something. But I didn't. I couldn't.

I sank down back in my seat.

Circe’s eyes darkened, and with it, the fog grew closer. “How does it feel, my king, hunting down magic borns, killing witches, all the while you have sired one?”

The blood in Father’s face drained when Circe’s words sunk in. He hesitated and turned to look at me. His eyes took me in, and for the first time in my life, he didn’t see me as someone he loved, but as an enemy.

The crowd went silent before my mother stood, and ordered, “Burn her now!”

Whispers erupted among the crowd as they wondered if Circe's words held any truth, as the executioner held the torch to the stake until it slowly caught on fire. The flames slowly made their way to Circe, who had the biggest smile on her face despite her body being claimed by the flames.

“You have chosen your fate. Remember that, when everyone you love is gone. This was your choice. Your blood took everything from me, and now I will leave it with nothing,” Circe said as she glared at my broken form next to my mother.

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