Page 102 of The Witch Queen

I shrug. “Not really. I don’t actually care. I’m happy Laurel has found afriendin my absence. Life has been hard on her, after you convinced everyone she was the villain in the story.”

“And you believe she is not?”

I nearly choke on my wine. “We both know there’s only one villain in the story of the war between Thayaria and Velmara, and it’s not Laurel,” I spit, cursing myself for letting him get under my skin. He only grins.

“Let me let you in on a little secret.” He leans in, pure malice in his eyes. “Villains, heroes, it’s all irrelevant. What matters is power, and what you do with it. I’m a hero because I made myself one with the power I claimed. Laurel is the villain because I said she was one. If she wanted to change the narrative, she should have fought harder, should havewon.”

“You think highly of yourself for a man who inherited a stolen throne, won a war against a twenty-year-old newly crowned monarch, and can only single channel,” I respond coolly. The remark has the intended effect. His eyes widen in anger, and he stands.So, he didn’t intend for me to find out about his blood magic.Just the mates.

He laughs maniacally. “I can assure you, I’m more than a simple air channeler. And while I may have inherited my throne, I’ve had to keep it, had to expand my power and influence, and I’ve done that all alone.”

I slow clap. “Very good, Mazus. I’m sure your parents aresoproud. Are we done here?” His eyes light up with something I can’t decipher, but he waves his hand.

“You’re dismissed.”

I leave the room quickly, mind racing and eager to return to my room and get out of Velmara with Genevieve. My steps echo loudly in the castle, eerily quiet for this time of day. When I get to my room, I stop in my tracks. The door is ajar. Surely Genevieve wouldn’t have been so careless as to leave it open. I unsheathe a knife, walking slowly towards the open door.

“Genevieve,” I call out, but don’t get a response. I enter the room, and it takes my brain a moment to process what I’m seeing. Genevieve has been tied up and gagged, and both Mazus and a man I recognize as Silas Kalmeera are standing over her. Mazus must have known my plans and aerstepped here immediately.

“So glad you could join us,” Mazus says, a haughty glint in his eyes. Silas just sneers at me.

“Neme… rrrrnnn!” Genevieve tries to yell through her gag, though it comes out as a muffled grunt.

“Let Genevieve go. This has nothing to do with her,” I say, raising my knife.

“Oh, but you see, it does,” Mazus says. “As soon as Silas offered Genevieve a place in the family again, if only she would reveal what the two of you had discovered, she spilled all your secrets immediately.”

Genevieve’s eyes go wide, and she struggles against her bonds, and my heart feels like it’s dropped to my stomach. Words I cannot decipher come out as murmurs from her gagged lips as she fiercely shakes her head side to side. I look back and forth between her and Mazus, completely lost. Why send me the books if he didn’t want me to discover something? Why bribe Genevieve to reveal our research in bookshelent me? I want to run, but I need the books, must risk everything to bring them back to Laurel. I lunge for my pack, scooping it into my arms and drop it behind me. In response, Silas holds a knife to Genevieve’s throat.

“Don’t move, girl, or I’ll slit her throat,” he growls. “Now that I know what anabominationshe is, having intimate relations with anotherfemale,I’m looking for any excuse to exterminate her.”

I’m taken aback by the vitriol in his voice. While I intellectually knew that Velmarans looked down on relationships between females, experiencing their hatred firsthand is an entirely different experience. Genevieve’s amber eyes stare up at me, shining with tears and shame that breaks my heart. She struggles against her bonds again, but Silas only presses the knife deeper into her neck. A bead of crimson blood tracks down her throat.

“In Velmara, females serveonepurpose—to produce strong heirs,” Mazus lectures calmly, as if we are old friends and he’s politely answering a question I’ve asked him. “Any deviation from that is met with punishment. As a member of a powerful noble family, Genevieve has already brought shame upon her family by being deemed unworthy of marriage.” Silas growls in agreement, and Genevieve drops her head to her chest in defeat. “When the Head Librarian reported yourrelationshipto me…” Mazus and Silas both look at Genevieve in disgust. “I immediately informed Silas, who determined it was time to end the shame she has brought upon the Kalmeera family.”

“No!” I scream, but Mazus rips the air from my lungs. I clutch at my throat, trying to breathe before I pass out and leave Genevieve vulnerable and alone. He releases his hold on me, and I take in a deep gasping breath, then launch myself towards Silas and Genevieve. Mazus steps into my path, dagger pressed against my stomach.

“Now, now,General,” he coos with mock sympathy. “You’re in Velmara, and we do things differently here. You wouldn’t want to start another war over a disgraced librarian.” I stiffen, then slowly back my body away, using the movement to cover the growing plant inching toward Mazus from the corner of the room. “Good,” he soothes. “Now, return the books I loaned to you, and I will personally aerstep you back to Thayaria. We can forget this whole thing ever happened.”

“Never,” I snarl, willing the trailing plant to curl up Mazus’s legs and pin him in place. He looks down at them, then breaks into a deep laugh.

“You stupid girl,” he sneers. “You really think this can hold me?” In a flash, the plants wither, as if they’re rotting from the inside out. “I tried to be nice, offered to send you back to Thayaria safe and sound. But now,” he shrugs, as if he’s not responsible for his actions. My lungs freeze again, and a dagger flies through the air toward me.

Genevieve screams through her gag. I try to duck out of the way of the blade, but my muscles have completely frozen. The dagger scrapes my shoulder, cutting deep but not delivering a fatal wound. It’ll heal in a few hours, but I don’t care, my focus is singular.Get to Genevieve. My vision swims with black spots from the lack of air, and I fall to my knees. Genevieve’s wails reach a fevered pitch.

I try to claw my way to her but only fall forward on my face. The familiar pressure of being aerstepped tingles across my back. My eyes lock on Genevieve’s, and she nods her head, answering my question. I try to yell at her, to tell her not to do this, but I’m still mute from Mazus’s magic.

“Silas, stop her,” Mazus hisses. In his fury, he must lose focus on the magic pinning me in place. I can breathe, and the air comes rushing back into my lungs. I grab my pack, intending to cling to her so she can’t do this, so we can both get away. But before I can reach Genevieve, or even say anything to her, I’m disappearing from the room.

Genevieve is an air channeler, a powerful one at that, and she’s aerstepping me away. She kept this secret from me, allowing me to believe she had very little magic. We never discussed our magic, I realize. The last thing I see before I wink away is Silas slicing her throat, blood pouring down her slender frame, eyes unseeing.

Nemesia

The cells of the Thayarian palace are one of the strongest prisons in our world. Built atop an iron floor, even the water that seeps into the damp dungeon is laced with iron, the only substance known to nullify access to the aether. Most fae and other aether-made creatures cannot access the aether from within the cells, even without the iron cuffs typically placed on those kept there. Only the strongest fae can overcome its effects.

A Brief History of Modern Thayaria

Water drips from the ceiling in a torturous rhythm. The iron shackles around my wrists pinch my skin and rub blisters. The cell is dark and damp, and the cold seeps into my bones through the scrap of silk Mazus had required I wear to our dinner. Unfortunately, the magic nullifying effects down here mean the deep gash on my left shoulder isn’t healing, and I can barely move that arm with the way the cut makes it ache. I’ve never been a prisoner in these cells before—they’re horrific. When Laurel realizes what’s happened, several Royal Guards might lose their lives. I can’t say I’ll be upset by their deaths after they roughly seized me and brought me here after Genevieve aerstepped me to the port at Echosa.

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