The Burning Witch 3: A Humorous Romantic Fantasy

CHAPTER 45 A BIG BANG

Brendan stared at the wretched state of Duke Sebastian Icarus before him.

He sat, still and bloody.

Were it not for the wheezing, wet sound of his breaths, one could almost assume he was dead.

“Did you really think going against me was going to end well for you?” Brendan questioned icily, his voice barely more than a hush in the dark, grim surroundings of his dungeon.

The air stank of blood, decay, and excrement, while the only light came from the lone torch on the wall behind Brendan.

“I …” Duke Icarus trembled with the effort it took to speak, then coughed. “I only wanted … what was best for Troivack.”

“Your idea of what Troivack is, perhaps. That is not the Troivack I am working toward creating.”

“That is just … because of the … damned Daxarians.” At last, the duke seemed to have given up on insulting Alina explicitly.

Brendan’s obsidian eyes didn’t waver for an instant. “I was implementing changes even before I wed your queen. For example, making slavery illegal. Which you also ignored.”

“Slavery … is the only way to keep this kingdom working.”

“Daxaria has shown that collaborating with their coven has negated a great deal of the need for such practices. However, I am not here to have a discussion about economics. I am here because I want to know what your hired mercenaries want. Did you tell them that you intended to overthrow the queen, or was there another motive behind your dealings with the devil?”

Despite the pain it would place him in, Duke Icarus jolted his face upward, his one remaining eye staring in shock at the king.

“Yes. I knew about your dealings with the creator of evil,” Brendan informed the duke while remaining perfectly still in his seat.

“I didn’t … know … he was the devil until … until that woman …”

“Which woman?” Brendan asked a little too quickly. “The first witch?”

Duke Icarus’s bloodied lips twitched. “As much … as I loathed … working with her … she … at least had a … reasonable vision for the future.”

Brendan’s eyebrows lowered, but he remained silent.

“She … might be the one … to bring Troivack to its proper glory …”

“What is it she wants?”

The Troivackian noble’s eye fluttered shut as he gave a quivering, weak laugh as an answer.

Brendan gave a terrifying smile. “It would seem my queen has had a positive influence on you for you to place stock in a woman to bring about glory for Troivack.”

The duke’s tenuous smile fell. “She is the daughter of the Gods, not a mere mortal.”

Brendan waited as the duke coughed before repeating his question.

“What are the mercenaries going to do when they attack with your knights?”

The duke fell silent.

Having anticipated this reaction, the king changed his tactic. “I suppose once we suppress them, I’ll have to appoint new knights to the Icarus dukedom. Of course, they will be under Sebastian’s rule.”

Duke Icarus twitched. “Surely … sire … you do not mean … that bastard child.”

“Of course. None of your other family members wished to pick up the tatters of your duchy. As a son, he does have some claim. Then again, if you wished it to instead go to one of your legitimate daughters, as a favor, I could see to that.”

Drool and blood dribbled out of Duke Icarus’s mouth as he quivered with rage. “The council will never … agree to that.”

“You would be wrong there. Everything is different now, Duke Icarus. There is no returning to the old ways.”

The Troivackian noble spat on the floor more out of necessity than insult. “You may be surprised, Your Majesty.”

Brendan tilted his head, glad to at least be riling up the man. “Even if the council doesn’t agree, I can just as easily break apart the dukedom and sell it off to the nobles. That certainly would fill my coffers. I see no downside, and even if your mercenaries and knights come, they will not win against an army under the command of Leader Faucher.”

“While …” Duke Icarus licked his lips. “While I have the greatest respect for Leader Faucher, even he cannot win against ancient beasts.”

“The first witch cannot keep the beings here without an equivalent exchange, and those creatures are worth more than a lone life or two.”

“An army is worth quite a bit … as is a powerful witch … or … say … the devil.”

Brendan stilled.

“How would she simultaneously kill enough people to summon those forces? Or the devil for that matter?”

Duke Icarus swayed in his seat despite his remaining hand being bound behind his back. He didn’t have legs to chain any more. “All will come to light soon, Your Majesty. Don’t … worry. She promised me … she had no designs on harming … you. Just don’t … count on the coven or … the Ashowan family to save everyone …”

Duke Icarus coughed yet again, only this time, his remaining eye closed, and his head hung before him motionless.

Brendan stared at what remained of his once loyal vassal, emotion surging through him, though he hid it behind his formidable defenses.

He wasn’t certain if the duke had fainted or died.

Either way …

Brendan rose from his seat and exited the cell with his thoughts racing.

His talk with the duke had only made the coming events all the more terrifying … Brendan found himself at a loss at how best to calculate what he needed to win, or just how massive the coming threat truly was. One thing seemed certain … The first witch wanted more than just to send the devil back to the Forest of the Afterlife; she wanted the power to change Troivack. So the subsequent question and problem became, what did she want to change, and why?

As the king stalked through the halls, his expression warding away any serving staff or nobility that happened to enter the same space, he directed his feet toward his office where he intended to meet with Faucher to start organizing their men. Afterward he would summon Mr. Kraft and Finlay Ashowan to discuss what Duke Icarus had implied …

However, he was distracted by a swish of long red hair …

“Lady Katarina?” Brendan called out, the sharpness in his voice making several unfortunate souls who were carefully padding around behind him jump.

Kat had been striding down an intersecting corridor when she had passed Brendan, and she turned at the sound of voice.

“Yes, Your Majesty?” she asked after bowing.

Brendan noted she was in her full formal uniform …

“I thought you were with the queen?”

“Ah, Her Majesty is having a word with Prince Henry. He wished to speak with you, but you were occupied with Duke Icarus,” Katarina recounted, and Brendan could tell by the uncomfortable tightness in her voice and strained mouth that his brother was still enraged and distraught after Brendan had told him what they had learned …

“Where is Lady Kezia?”

“She and Elio have been escorted to a private holding in Vessa for the time being. She was incredibly gracious and understanding about everything … as usual … She’s the one who calmed Henry down the most,” Kat explained glumly.

Brendan’s gut roiled. “I see. Where are you going right now?”

“Ah, I was summoned by your council to sit in on concluding arguments for Sir Herra’s fate.”

Brendan straightened his shoulders in alarm. “I did not hear anything about such a meeting.”

Kat blinked and lowered her eyes thoughtfully. “Wait … Was this maybe arranged by Mr. Levin before he left?”

Brendan felt like his world was crumbling around him.

He wished he could kiss Alina again before tackling this new suspicious danger …

“We will both go and find out,” he informed her with a faint rumble. “Where is His Highness, your husband?”

“Ah, I think he went to visit Eli to get more information, but I told Poppy where I was going so he should be joining the meeting soon.”

“He wasn’t invited explicitly?”

“Er … no, come to think of it.”

“What about your father?”

“I was told he would be in attendance, yes. He found the tunnel with Kraken in the solar and is letting Faucher know before joining.” After she finished her recounting, Kat noticed how pale the Troivackian king looked.

“I know something is off, but you’ve got the Ashowan family here, Your Majesty. Don’t worry. You even got Kraken, so everything is bound to turn out alright.” With a half grin, Kat reached up and lightly slapped Brendan’s arm.

“Lady Katarina, I think that you and your father might be walking into a trap,” Brendan informed her sternly.

“Pfft. Of course we are. But not one person has been able to set a trap that has ever stopped me.”

Brendan shook his head. “This is different.”

Kat shrugged. “So what do you propose we do?”

Lowering his own gaze to the ground, Brendan considered all the information they had …

This opportunity of willingly walking into a trap could reveal who was helping the first witch or the devil in his council … It could reveal who Mr. Levin was working with … But Duke Icarus had hinted that Katarina and Finlay wouldn’t be much help for what was to come.

Given that there had been an attempt to exclude him from the meeting, it sounded like someone or something was going to try to eliminate Kat and Fin without the Troivackian king’s interference.

Finlay Ashowan would be easy enough to take care of without his magic, but Katarina was a different story. Then again, who aside from Faucher’s family and Alina would know how capable she truly was?

It didn’t even seem like the first witch or devil knew her true prowess.

Brendan then considered the promise the first witch had made …

If she kept her word, she would not harm him, which shrank the likelihood of a full-out attack in his presence.

Brendan nodded to himself. “Alright. You will go to the meeting, but we are telling your father everything going on before we enter the room—and yes, I am going into the meeting. I want to know who the traitors in my court are so that I can take care of them myself.” He didn’t need to explain his troubling conversation with Duke Icarus just yet.

Kat jerked her chin down in understanding. “Sounds good to me.”

“Be on high alert. I don’t know what their plan could be, and it seems as though a coup is happening even sooner than we thought.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Kat bowed.

Brendan eyed her quietly. “You are genuinely unconcerned about being in the middle of a civil war where both the devil and the first witch are participating?”

Kat’s upbeat air dwindled, and Brendan was given the rare sight of a somber Katarina.

“I’ve been dreading something like this ever since returning to the castle from Faucher’s, but—and it probably makes me seem like a child to admit this—but my da’s here. And I don’t know … I guess between him, Kraken, and Faucher, I really do think everything is going to work out.”

A small, sharp prick of grief nudged at the king’s memory … the memory of how once upon a time, he, too, thought his father was invincible …

He didn’t want to destroy Katarina’s morale, however, so he kept that thought to himself, and instead he turned and gestured in the direction Kat was heading.

They would go wait for Fin, let him know what was happening, and then, well … It felt like the war was starting.

The doors to the council room opened and in stepped Brendan Devark, donning his crown and a chest plate.

He instantly observed which nobles looked shocked and worried and which ones looked relieved.

Those who looked shocked? Lord Ball, Lord Herra—not much of a surprise there … Then there was Lord Sanchez and Lord Edium … Those two were a bit more surprising … Anyone who appeared openly relieved negated suspicion for the time being, as it meant they had found it odd the king wasn’t in attendance.

“Your Majesty, what are you—” Lord Ball began as Brendan’s long strides got him to his empty seat at the table before his vassal could finish his thought.

“This is a council meeting. Should I not be here?” The king’s voice thundered in the hall.

Everyone averted their eyes.

They all could see their king looked fit to kill.

“We had all just received word that Your Majesty was busy with Duke Icarus’s interrogation. Given the uncertainty going on in the castle, we thought we would at the very least handle the matter of my son.” Lord Herra stood and addressed the king calmly. There wasn’t a trace of guilt in his demeanor.

Brendan’s gaze bore into the man’s round face, making Lord Herra involuntarily twitch.

Then in walked Katarina and her father, Finlay Ashowan, who looked every bit as furious as the Troivackian king.

They took their seats near the king without saying a word to anyone.

“Well?” Brendan thundered. “Aren’t we deciding Sir Herra’s fate?”

Lord Ball cleared his throat and nodded to the guards.

It took a little while, during which uncomfortable silence seized the council. When Sir Seth Herra was at last escorted into the room, his eyes were glazed over, and his face slack … he looked like a puppet more than he did a man.

Fin shot an alarmed glance at the king.

“Sir Herra, this is your final moment to confess and beg for your life,” Brendan informed the knight, who stood a short way from the back of Katarina’s chair. The king had grown quieter when he beheld the alarming state of the man in front of him.

The former elite knight swayed on the spot.

Then his eyes slowly swiveled over toward Kat.

She raised an eyebrow at him.

He appeared relaxed. Not at all like he was about to attack or jump into action …

And yet, that’s what happened.

He didn’t have a weapon in his shackled hands, but he did have a fistful of white powder that he threw directly into Kat’s face.

The guards instantly tackled him to the ground while the king was on his feet and looking at the council members who were staring hungrily at the redhead.

He didn’t get the chance to let out any sort of bellow or warning before Kat stood from her seat unsteadily.

She stumbled back from the table, hastily wiping the powder off her nose, but her knees buckled as she did so …

“Kat?” Fin was also on his feet, already at his daughter’s side, his hands gently touching her upper arms. “What’s wrong? Was that powder Witch’s Brew?” The duke directed this last question toward Lord Ball as though he already knew the man was guilty of the attack.

The nobleman flinched in surprise but was saved from having to respond, as Kat sneezed …

And when she did, her aura exploded, filling the room. However, instead of it merely being a startling display, the aura exploded with actual force. Everyone was blown off their seats and sent flying back into the walls, knocking many of them unconscious as though the aura was acting as a shield around Kat herself …

Fin had been blown the farthest, landing with a hard thump beside Brendan as men and guards shouted and hollered in shock.

Sitting back up with a wince, Fin’s eyes went wide.

His daughter, with her golden, light-filled eyes, was staring around the room with her aura still growing like hungry flames, heat thrumming off her body in waves, making the room feel increasingly like it was on fire.

Her inhuman gaze turned toward Lord Ball, then Lord Sanchez, Lord Herra, and finally, Lord Edium.

Only Lords Ball and Edium were awake after the explosion, and they cowered in dawning horror over the sight before them.

If they had thought they were in control of the situation, they found themselves sorely mistaken as Kat prowled toward the long council table that had been flipped onto its side—which had also most likely saved the council members from the worst of the initial explosion.

“KAT!” Fin roared and leapt onto his feet, his mother’s curse of healing taking care of his fractured tailbone instantly.

The burning witch didn’t even acknowledge hearing him.

Instead, her aura grew and pulsed yet again, raising the heat of the room.

Fin staggered toward his daughter, but her aura was still repelling him, making him slide back slowly as he tried to press himself through it despite its heat searing his face.

“KAT! LOOK AT ME! IT’S YOUR DA! KAT!” Fin shouted as loud as he could, but Kat remained intent on reaching Lord Ball.

She bent down, seized the council room table, and snapped it in half, then proceeded to step closer to the lord who was sweating, crying, and had even wet himself …

Fin’s hand curled into a fist.

He spared a lone, apologetic glance over his shoulder at Brendan, knowing that what he was about to do most likely would cause some trouble down the line, but there was no choice.

He closed his eyes.

Wherever my family is. Is part of my home.

A ringing filled the air around everyone like a bell tolling, making the air reverberate …

And then … his eyes snapped open, but this time, Finlay Ashowan’s own eyes were filled with blue lightning, and a blue shield of lightning wrought with symbols surged from his outstretched hand with a shout of effort. The shield expanded bit by bit until it completely encased Kat, though it wasn’t an easy feat.

Once entirely encumbered in her father’s shield, Kat turned toward Fin, her eyes still aglow, but her aura had at least been smothered from the rest of the occupants in the room.

She moved toward him, but Fin could see that she still hadn’t returned to herself yet …

“Kat, my love … my girl. Come back. I know Witch’s Brew is doing this to you, but you’re always telling me you can handle poisons and drugs,” Fin pleaded, all too aware that containing his daughter was far harder than he had hoped as her magic sought to escape its new confines.

He could tell, as far as she was concerned in this state, that he was only an obstacle in the way of getting rid of a threat … Plus, he didn’t have an entire kingdom of people fueling into his ‘home’—it was just him … and his daughter.

Kat moved closer and raised her hand to her father’s throat.

Fin could tell if she tried to kill him right then and there, he could do nothing to stop her while maintaining the shield …

He stared down into his daughter’s face, the blue magic lightning in his eyes turning white and a tear escaping down his cheek.

“Forgive yourself, Kat. I know you will blame yourself, but I know this isn’t your fault. I love you, Kitty Kat. No matter what.”

He felt her grip tighten against his throat, and he closed his eyes.

He had no way to knock her out or seal off her powers with his current power level, and even though she wouldn’t kill him if he just let down his shield, he knew that she would never be permitted back in Troivack if she murdered the noblemen responsible for this in her current state. And if she killed someone without meaning to …

Fin knew she would never be the same.

So, banking heavily on the small chance that he could survive somehow … Fin accepted his fate. Whatever it may be.