Chapter 6 #2
The door creaked open, much more respectfully this time, and Elric exited the back room.
He paused for a moment, staring at the two of them.
Anyone else might think his glare was one of hatred.
Jessamine knew him better than that, though.
She could see the discomfort in that gaze, and how he was trying to school himself into dealing with a witch softly.
He was used to powerful witches with dark magic at their fingertips who wanted to break the world.
He didn’t know how to talk to someone as fragile as Elissa.
“She’ll live,” he finally said. “I can’t turn her back. That part is beyond any of us. But her life is now bound to yours.”
“Thank you,” Elissa whispered. “It was na?ve of me to ask you for more than that. Or to even expect it.”
“Magic should not be cast without knowing what you are doing.”
Jessamine was certain he was about to launch into a lecture on Elissa’s foolishness. But he didn’t.
Instead, he looked down at her with a much softer expression.
He held out his hand for her to take, and when she did, he helped her stand until she straightened as tall as she could before him.
“You sacrificed to me,” he said. “More than once, now. Your intentions are pure of heart, and I will admit that is a breath of fresh air compared to the witches who summoned me in the past. If you wish to continue worshipping me, then I will gladly be your patron.”
“Is this a fool’s bargain?” Elissa asked, her eyes dancing between Jessamine and Elric. “I do not trust you, god or not.”
“You don’t have to trust me. But deep inside, you hunger for power.
I can sense it, just as you know it to be true.
You cast the spell upon your beloved, and something in you felt pride, even though you failed.
If you wish for more magic like that, more power that only you can control, I will give it to you. ”
With an audible gulp, Elissa said, “Why are you here? It can’t just be because I summoned you.”
Jessamine shared a look with Elric and then nodded.
“We seek a woman here,” he replied, his voice deepening with rage.
“A woman who has taken much from us. We seek a throne and a bloody kingdom that will purge the streets of all that plague it. If you join this coven, you agree not only to worship me, but to acknowledge that the man who now sits on that throne is not your king.”
“I supported the real royal family,” Elissa replied, and truth rang clear in her words. “But they’re all dead.”
“Just like the gods are all dead?”
Jessamine stood, letting Elissa give her a once-over.
She knew she didn’t look like she used to.
Jessamine the princess had been a beautiful, delicate girl clothed in spiderweb silk and pretty baubles.
Jessamine the gravesinger was a scarred creature with vengeance in her gaze and a heart that beat only for death.
But still, she was the same woman underneath it all.
Elissa’s voice shook as she asked, “Who are you?”
“My name is Lady Jessamine Harmsworth.”
“My lady,” Elissa gasped. “But you’re dead.”
“I was.”
And that was all she had to say. At the question in Elissa’s gaze, she nodded toward Elric. “It is a testament to his power, Elissa. He is a real god.”
She saw the shift. There was no longer so much fear in Elissa’s gaze, but instead, awe. “And who are you here to find?”
“Fortuna Beaumont. We believe she is consort to the king, or something along those lines. His favorite entertainer. She was part of the coup that killed both my mother and me. I wish to find her and repay the same kindness.” She grinned, and she knew it was a feral expression. “My hope is that you will help us.”
“I am not an assassin, I’m…” Elissa shook her head. “I sell birds.”
Elric placed his hand on her chest, right over her ribs, down the center, where her power would be. “Do you wish to be more than that?”
The reverence in Elissa’s eyes gave Jessamine all the answer she needed. Elric could be very convincing when he wished to be.
It only took a few moments before Elissa broke. “I didn’t think it was ever possible to be more.”
“With me—with this coven—you can be whatever you want.”
All it took was a single nod. The barest movement of her head, as though she was still frightened of what it meant if she agreed to do this. And she should be. Elissa should be terrified to become a witch, a figure hated by most people in this kingdom, but it was what she had been born to be.
Elric reached his hand into Elissa’s flesh and cracked it open. Shadows slithered from his grip, filling the empty well that would soon be Elissa’s to command. The void grew, and Jessamine felt it expanding inside her as well.
Deep within her breast, she felt her soul crow in pleasure at another witch finally coming into her power. There were more of them. More women who would know what it was like to be endless and terrifying.
She watched as her god made a new monster and rejoiced, knowing the world trembled in fear.