The Burning Witch 3: A Humorous Romantic Fantasy

CHAPTER 30 THE TOLL OF TORTURE

Duke Sebastian Icarus knelt on the stones in front of the castle steps, his normally cool disposition a thing of the past. Clouds rolled overhead of the bleak scene below. Though at the very least, the wind that made the duke’s hair flutter had a touch of warmth to it …

Brendan bore down on the man, his official great sword sharpened and ready at his side.

“Duke Sebastian Icarus, I will give you one chance to rise from your knees and prolong your life in order to get your estate in order.”

Sebastian’s eyes jumped up to the monarch. “Oh … Gods … Thank you, Your Majesty. I knew you were a wise and gracious—”

“You have my wife to thank,” Brendan informed the duke, his dark gaze boring into the nobleman.

Sebastian Icarus paled as his gaze shifted to Alina, who approached and stood at her husband’s side while the rest of the inner council members looked on from the top of the great steps to the castle.

The queen stared down at the duke, the red and black gown she wore striking against the bleak surroundings as she then raised a dispassionate eyebrow.

He would’ve thought she’d look triumphant … but the Troivackian queen looked more stressed than anything.

Alas. The notion of being disgusted by violence was foreign to the duke.

“Duke Icarus, I would like to discuss several grave matters at length while you are in your prison cell. Matters such as where you obtained the powdered Witch’s Brew, who else oversees your hired mercenaries, and what the rebellion’s long-term plans are. If you cooperate and answer these questions honestly, you might even get another year to live.” Alina tilted her head, her tone emotionless.

Hatred flamed in the duke’s eyes as his hands clenched into fists behind his back.

“You cursed wench. I’ll never tell you a damn thing. May you rot in hell.” He spat on the hem of Alina’s dress.

Then his right arm was gone with a swift, silent swing of the king’s sword.

Duke Icarus howled.

Alina swallowed with difficulty but did everything she could to force herself to watch … She knew she couldn’t be seen cowering now in front of everyone …

“Apologize,” Brendan seethed. “As you know, Duke Icarus, this is only the beginning of the Troivackian Jigsaw method. You will apologize and divulge everything you know, or your remaining days will be spent in what feels like an eternity of agony.”

Duke Icarus sobbed on the ground.

Meanwhile, Finlay Ashowan, who stood by the castle doors with the council and his daughter, turned his back on the gory scene.

“Come, Kat. We don’t need to see this,” he murmured, his voice tight.

Grimacing, Kat didn’t object or resist as her father guided her away from the spectacle.

Once they had returned to the entryway of the castle, where there was a throng of nobility and servants alike all waiting to hear about what was taking place, Fin wasted no time in pushing through the crowd and steering his daughter toward the nearest empty room—which happened to be a drawing room for guests to meet in the mornings.

“Have you had to see a lot of things like that?” Fin asked his daughter gravely once the two of them were alone.

Kat stared at the floor, her complexion far paler than usual. “Only when they had to behead the assassins at the coronation.”

While she had been pleased with finally seeing some form of justice befalling Duke Icarus, torture was an entirely different matter.

Fin took in a sharp breath and shook his head while staring around the room, at a loss for a moment as to what to say.

“I won’t lie … I am shocked that Alina is able to handle this.”

“She has her moments where she struggles. She’s doing her best,” Kat explained while battling down her own nausea.

Fin sighed. “I sincerely hope she is able to gentle some of Troivack’s harsh ways, but I don’t envy the amount of work she will have to put in.”

Kat’s mouth twisted. “I feel even worse because I’ll have to leave her in a few months.”

Nodding, Fin squared himself in front of his daughter. “I was going to return to Lady Elena’s keep today to see the tunnels and perhaps find out what is happening with the investigation of the Witch’s Brew powder. Would you like to join me?”

Kat shook her head. “I want to wait to see if Eric is able to find out any information about where Likon is.”

Fin gave a sad smile as he reached up to touch his daughter’s arm comfortingly.

“We’re all praying that he comes back safe soon … When I return from Lady Elena’s keep, I’ll take a short rest and resume my search in Vessa for him. Maybe you can join me then.”

Kat bobbed her head and crossed her arms over her middle. She had a horrible uneasy knot in her stomach about Likon’s disappearance, and it wasn’t getting any better …

“Come on … It helps to stay busy. What will you do while you wait for Eric?”

The father and daughter started to make their way back to the door of the drawing room as they both collected themselves to face the castle occupants.

“I have to train the women again today … Then I have to practice with Faucher …” Kat replied though her gaze remained lost.

Fin closed the door behind them. “I suppose I’ll see you at the dinner hour then.”

Kat gave a tight-lipped smile of confirmation as they faced each other in the corridor.

Leaning over, Fin kissed his daughter’s forehead, then proceeded to give her one final pat on the arm as he set off to order a carriage for his trip to Lady Elena’s keep.

Standing alone in the hall, Kat closed her eyes and let out a long, slow breath.

Well … at the very least, Duke Icarus has been dealt with …

Upon opening her eyes again, Kat gave herself a stern nod.

Her father was right. She couldn’t let her worries cloud her mind.

There were still more threats and dangers that hovered over them, and if they were going to come out unscathed from whatever chaos was brewing, then she needed to be prepared for anything.

“Good morning, Likon.”

He remained silent.

“I thought you might like to know your adoptive father has finally figured out you’re missing. It only took him … What has it been … a week?”

The sound of a wet rag being wrung out and water trickling into a full basin reached his ears.

“I even heard Prince Eric Reyes is poking around Vessa as we speak. His wife must be terribly worried about you.”

Likon tried to open his mouth, but his tongue felt thick and heavy …

“Don’t worry, you’ll see your beloved Ashowan family again … eventually. It’d be nice if you also happened to share a bit of information while we wait.”

Likon forced his eyes open and nearly retched. He saw the fibers of a black bag … and that was it.

So he closed his eyes again, that is, until the bag was yanked off and the blinding light of day seeped through his closed lids, making his head pound.

“I really don’t like having to do this either. I’m just trying to improve the world. Maybe carve a little place of my own here as well … Though I still have to take care of some loose ends, and unfortunately, Lady Katarina is starting to make that difficult. I don’t have anything dreadful against her … I’m just trying to protect myself and the world from the devil. Who wouldn’t understand that?” the woman asked mildly.

A cool, refreshing cloth pressed itself to Likon’s forehead, and he bit back a moan of relief.

“I’ll release you once I’m a little better prepared, or once everything is dealt with. In the meantime, all I ask is to know which of the brothels the Ashowans have invested in, and how many of those could another investor still become the majority shareholder of? I don’t even want to muscle the family out … There isn’t a need to right now anyway. Especially, as from what I hear, Tamlin Ashowan isn’t the visionary his mother is.”

At the mention of Tam, the man Likon had grown up with and considered a brother, he forced himself to gaze upon his kidnapper …

Only she stood behind him.

“W-Why … is Lady Katarina … a problem … ?” Likon hunched over his middle. The need to be sick increased drastically after speaking.

The woman sighed.

“She has the ability to restore power to the Coven of Aguas, which would be troublesome. I think it’s wonderful that the queen wants to expand women’s rights in Troivack, however, when the council realizes that they can barter to reinstate the coven instead of going along with the proposed agenda for improving women’s rights? It isn’t hard to guess what they’d opt for to keep her in check.”

“W-Why—” Likon vomited on the floor, narrowly missing his trousers. “What if … Her Majesty … can do both?” he rasped once finished.

“After years of grueling away, she might, but I don’t particularly want the coven to have power again.”

“You … You seem to be fine with answering questions … Why … are you hiding?”

“I don’t mind you knowing about my motivations. It’s a nice conversation, and I’m hoping that if you understand me better you may become sympathetic to my plights.”

“How come you don’t … reveal yourself to other people if … you think you’re in the right?” Likon could feel his weak grasp on consciousness slipping away …

“Oh, because I have a few methods that may not be well received by the general populace.”

Likon tried to turn to look over his shoulder at his captor, but the woman seized his head, stopping him. Colored spots danced in front of his vision, threatening him with imminent blackness.

“W-Why don’t you want witches … in power?” he asked next, though it continued to be torture getting the words out.

“They’re powers are volatile, and yet they are starting to assume positions of power. That is not what they were originally meant to do. The Gods have already begun tampering with the original laws of their magic by creating mutated witches. If this continues, the balance of the world will become even more skewed. Witches need to return to their roots and allow humans to try to survive with an understanding of working cohesively with nature under their guidance. Humans should not be making business deals and allowing witches to manage nature for humans to dominate the world.”

“Why aren’t you working with the devil if you … both don’t like witches?”

The woman laughed.

“The devil loves witches! You think he wants them gone? He adores playing with them. Why do you think he always has a witch subordinate close to him in every one of his lifetimes?”

“But then—”

“That’s enough for today. I’m afraid I have to go before anyone comes to find me. Don’t worry though, Likon. We’ll talk again soon. After all, I could see us working amazingly well together. What with your brilliant, cunning mind, your connections … and unlike Tamlin Ashowan, I think you are far more innovative.”

Likon fluttered his fingers and felt them tingle, but his wrists were too tightly bound for him to do anything else.

Before leaving, the woman’s hand gently raked through his sandy brown hair in an almost affectionate way … Shortly after, Likon could hear her footsteps falling away and the sound of a heavy door closing.

At the very least, they hadn’t dosed him again.

Likon had never had the misfortune of trying Witch’s Brew before, and he couldn’t say he understood the appeal.

He had been in and out of a daze ever since he had been taken, though he’d mostly been unconscious save for the occasional broth he’d been force-fed.

Looking around the room, Likon tried to find any discerning details that could give him a hint about where he was being kept.

It was a cave-like dirt room with a lone circular hole high above him in the carved out ceiling that looked at the sky. However, despite it being open to the elements, the room was warmed by the two torches that remained lit.

Of course, the fact that the hole overhead wasn’t even big enough for Likon to climb out helped keep the cold air at a minimum. Plus, it was at least fifteen feet away from where he sat …

Next, Likon then tried to listen for any noises … Perhaps there were people nearby …

But he heard nothing.

He sighed.

His feet were shackled to the ground of the cave, so he couldn’t even turn around properly to see what the door looked like behind him. Peering back to the hole, he hoped it at least wouldn’t start raining on him anytime soon …

However, when he lifted his chin, instead of seeing the sky, he found an otherworldly face staring down at him with dark, ruby red eyes. The creature smiled down at him, revealing tiny, sharp pearly teeth.

Likon’s eyes rounded in terror.

He had never seen a beast like that before. The face was made of sharp angles, its eyebrows and eyelashes feathery, its skin chalk white, as was its hair … But perhaps it could help him.

“H-Hello?” he called up.

The creature smiled even wider, opened its mouth … and let out an ear-piercing scream that shot an unholy amount of pain coursing through Likon’s already aching head. He closed his eyes, and a shout of his own escaped his mouth, but the shrill shriek drowned him out. It sounded like thousands of steel nails being dragged down glass, and it grew louder and echoed around him, warbling … The sound was making his entire body ache … Waves of intense pain that made him feel like his muscles were reverberating and tearing apart kept overcoming his senses.

And that was the last thing he could remember as the agony engulfed him until his mortal body was forced back into the safety of unconsciousness.