Page 46 of Winter Goddess
My magic finds something and I immediately teleport to where she led me. It's a round orb, floating in the air, pulsating with black, strange light. It's almost as if the light of the room is sucked into it and that's what's making it shine.
"What is that?" I whisper, not expecting an answer.
The pulses begin to become faster and the orb seems to expand slowly. Whatever it is, it can't be good. I wrap some air magic around it and throw it out of the open window, as far away as I can. It fights me, wants to stay, but I'm stronger. I run to the window and look at the orb. It's almost the size of a person now, thick and black and entirely evil. I push it even further away, out of reach of any of the buildings of the Palace.
My magic warns me a fraction of a second before it happens, but it’s not enough warning. The orb suddenly explodes and my magic is pushed away from the explosion, slamming back into me, throwing me onto the floor.
"What's going on?" my mother asks weakly, barely managing to lift her head.
"The Morrigan," I answer grimly and jump back to my feet. Outside, a black fire is burning in the air, hovering where the orb was before. I don't want to imagine what would've happened had the sphere still been in this room. It would have been a massive explosion.
Ash is raining down from the sky as the blackness is slowly disintegrating. It could almost be beautiful if I didn't know what almost happened.
She's going to pay for this.
I teleport back into the courtyard, but the Crispin clone is lying on the ground, unmoving. I have my magic check him, but I already know that he's dead. He was wrong and I was right. The Morrigan doesn't dotogether.
My first Councilmeeting as Queen comes a lot earlier than planned. After the near attack on my mother's life, I couldn't just go back to the celebrations. I didn't stop them, either, but I had the Council members informed. Now we're all sitting in our usual meeting room, but the mood is even more sombre than it has been in the past weeks.
"How did he die?" I ask Theodore, the healer.
"There are no external injuries, no signs of poisons. It seems his heart stopped without a physical reason."
"Then let's just assume the Morrigan killed him. What I don't understand is why she would warn me in time to prevent the explosion? She could have waited a few minutes. We were outside anyway, we would have seen it even without her telling me in advance."
"Good question," Tamara mutters. "Maybe she wanted to show off? Got a bit overexcited?"
"She may be a psychopath, but every single one of her actions is calculated," Crispin says. I've asked my Guardians to join this Council session and they're sitting by my side at the head of the table. "She wanted you to stop it. Why?"
Nobody answers. How should we know? It doesn't make any sense. This was supposed to be a surprise attack. If Thor hadn't overheard Magnus and the clone, we would likely never have noticed that we had yet another Crispin impostor in the Palace. The orb would have exploded without any of us the wiser. We may have assumed it was Angus rather than the Morrigan.
"If anyone thinks of a reason, let me know," I say tiredly. It's been a long and exhausting day. I'd love to cuddle up with my Guardians now and forget about it all, but no, I can't. I'm the Queen.
"Let's -"
A tremor shakes the room and I jump up, looking around me in alarm. Most of the Council members have done the same, a mix of confusion and fear covering their auras.
"Mum."
I teleport while still saying that word - and excruciating pain races through my body as I'm torn apart.
Snow is surroundingme when I wake. Thick flakes are raining from the sky... no, it's not snow. It smells of burning and death.
Ash.
I want to sit up, but my body isn't moving. I'm broken, hurt inside, the pain only now filtering through my consciousness. So much pain, everywhere.
Tears run down my cheeks and mix with the ash that is falling on my body. It's covering me like a deathly blanket. Soon, I'll be hidden from view, buried under the ashes of my mother. Darkness is teetering on the edges of my vision and I let my eyes fall shut. With one last conscious effort, I pull at my bond, hoping my Guardians will hear me. If they're still alive.
Chapter Fifteen
"Inever really wanted to kill her. I just wanted her to be defeated."
"Well, look where that got us. She's dead."
"Wait, I think I can feel Wyn."
Three voices, all familiar. A man, two women.
