Chapter 30
Sacrifice
Pharis
The only other time I’d directly felt my brother’s Exalting glamour had been the day of the execution when I’d gleaned it to control the dragon.
It was weaker now but still considerable. Hopefully it would be enough.
Together we sought out the most accessible mind among the circle of witches, and I implanted a terrifying vision with all the accompanying sounds and tactile physical sensations.
I could see the scene in my own mind as it infected the brain of that one witch and then another, moving rapidly down the chain until the entire circle of Earthwives was experiencing the horror.
A horde of rats swarming, climbing up their legs beneath their skirts, gnawing on their hair, biting their exposed skin. Sharp, curved claws digging and scratching at their eyes.
One witch let out an ear-splitting scream, and then they were all screaming.
The battering winds around us died immediately as the spell was interrupted.
The women began releasing each other’s hands and running in circles, batting at their bodies and faces, trying to defend themselves from the imaginary rodents.
The terror didn’t last long for most of them once the group-think was broken, but one of the Earthwives continued to screech and run, leaping directly into the bonfire.
The others watched in shock as she burned, and one by one, they dropped to the ground, not dead but clearly depleted.
“She must have been the leader,” Raewyn said. “That’s why they all felt her fear instead of someone else’s.”
“Come on.”
Striding out from the treeline, I gestured to the others to follow me. “This is our chance, while they’re debilitated.”
The only way I could think of to stop the attacks on Raewyn and her family was to address the Earthwives directly. I couldn’t compel them all at once, but I could scare them.
The three of us stepped into the halo of firelight, showing ourselves.
“That was just a small display of my power,” I announced to the group in my most commanding voice.
Eyelids opened, and some of the women sat up to look at us.
“I am Pharis Randalin, and this is your King, Stellon Randalin.” I pointed at my brother. “We are here to call a truce.”
Just go with it, I said to him silently. There are too many to compel. We’re going to have to rely on intimidation.
Stellon’s face showed surprise, but he echoed what I said.
“We don’t want a war with the Earthwives—or any other humans for that matter,” he said.
“That’s right. There can be peace between us,” I said.
“We will allow you to go back to your lives as usual. But first we need to establish some rules. Who is your leader?” I asked.
A tall woman with long silver-blonde hair and brown skin stepped forward. “Savyn was our leader.”
She pointed at the bonfire that had consumed the rat-phobic witch.
“I was her emissary to the Fae Courts. Now I am the elder of our coven. Caitriona of Hill Town,” she introduced herself to me. “The King and I are already acquainted.”
She sent a glare in Stellon’s direction. “And I’m not sure I can trust any truce that rests upon his word. He’s already violated one agreement with me.”
“You may rely on my word,” I said. “Are you empowered to negotiate on behalf of all the Earthwives?”
“Those in this region, yes,” she said, gesturing at the women around her. “But I’m not sure why I should.”
Her tone was cautious but not afraid. I was going to have to step up the intimidation tactics.
“Not only can I create illusions in your mind, I can lift your body and move it anywhere I please, as I did with the child’s.”
Exerting my Levitation glamour, I raised Caitriona from the ground without moving a finger. She hovered there as I went on, looking around meaningfully at the other Earthwives who were slowly getting to their feet.
“I can hide myself in the night, bend your will to mine with only a few words,” I told them. “I have ways of seeing anyone anytime I wish, so I’ll know exactly what you’re up to. You Earthwives may be powerful, but we Elves are more powerful and always will be.”
“And we outnumber you,” Stellon added.
Hopefully having made my point, I set Caitriona down.
“But I have no intention of abusing my power,” I told the assembly. “as long as we can agree to a few simple ground rules.”
Caitriona was clearly not pleased, but she seemed convinced.
“Very well. What kind of ‘rules’ do our King and his powerful brother have in mind?” she asked.
“There are only a few. You will not seek revenge on King Stellon for your broken agreement or target either of Raewyn Hennessey’s sisters for inclusion in your sisterhood. Raewyn herself is under our protection as well. You will declare Sorcha’s bargain with her settled and done.”
“An Earthwife always exacts her price,” the woman argued, but I shut her down.
“Not this time. You will let it go, or we will have a problem. Understood?”
Caitriona nodded slowly, looking around at her Earthwife clan. They were all looking at her anxiously.
“I understand that we have lost this battle,” she said.
Then her tone changed, growing more defiant. “But we will never give up the war.”
Looking around, I realized all the Earthwives were now on their feet. Some of them had moved behind us, surreptitiously surrounding us.
They’d formed a circle again.
“Pharis,” Raewyn warned.
“I see it,” I said, wishing for a bit of Evanescing glamour. My mind raced, searching for a solution.
Caitriona smiled. “Soon the tables will turn, and you will be outnumbered. There will be far more humans than there are of you, and we will be there to lead them.”
Raising her voice, she yelled, “Now!”
The Earthwives linked arms. Just as before, their eyes rolled back in their heads. The sight was even more frightening up close.
They began chanting loudly, their words rapid and unintelligible to my ears.
I reached for my sword, speaking to Stellon silently. Get ready to fight. We may not be able to take them all out, but maybe striking as many as possible will limit the group’s power.
He didn’t reach for his own weapon. “I can’t move,” he said in a worried tone.
“Neither can I,” said Raewyn. “What are they doing?”
“I don’t know,” I said, though obviously they were casting a new spell, and we were the targets. I was immobilized as well.
Which of my glamours could get us out of this? Though none of the women was looking at me, I tried Compelling.
“Stop. Release us immediately,” I said.
The chanting continued.
“Say it again. I’ll help,” Stellon said.
I did but to no avail. The chanting only grew louder, the swaying faster.
“Can you do the fear thing again?” Stellon asked Raewyn.
“I’m trying, but I can’t get through. It’s like there’s a shield over their minds. I think they’re drawing power from the bonfire.”
Sure enough, the flames were rising, burning hotter and higher.
We were in serious trouble. Did they mean to make the fire jump its bounds and burn us alive?
Instead of moving outward toward us, the inferno suddenly shot upward, high into the sky, forming a blazing orange column that seemed to reach the stars.
The heat against my back was intense. Wishing I could grab Raewyn’s hand, I had to settle for connecting with her mind.
Are you all right? Are you in pain? I asked her.
No, I’m just immobilized. Are you okay?
Yes, I assured her. I don’t feel anything but a bit of discomfort from the heat. I’m going to find a way to get us out of this, don’t worry.
Have to admit—I’m a little worried, she said.
She looked terrified. I was too honestly. I had no idea what was going to happen next.
Just in case… I want you to know… I love you.
I know, she said. I love you too.
Stellon’s awestruck voice interrupted the poignant private moment.
“Look,” he said. “What’s happening?”
The column of flame was dividing at the top, separating into a multitude of individual spokes, fanning out in all directions high over our heads.
And then the separate streams bent and turned toward the earth again, resembling one of the large fountains on my estate.
All we could do was watch as the distinct tendrils of fire landed atop each Earthwife’s head, igniting her hair and then her dress.
One by one they began to scream as the fire spread and eventually killed them all.
When they’d all fallen, the fire went out completely, and the paralytic state that had gripped me released.
Stellon and Raewyn began to move as well, each spinning in a circle and observing the decimation of the coven.
She turned to me. “Did you do that?”
“No, it wasn’t me. I’m as shocked as you are.”
“Did their spell backfire or something?” Stellon asked.
Off to my left, I heard a weak laugh.
Pulling out a globe of Auspex fire from my pocket, I walked toward the sound, spotting one of the witches trying to lift her head.
She was charred and smoking but obviously still alive.
“It’s Caitriona,” Raewyn said from beside me.
What on earth did the woman have to laugh about? She had to be in excruciating pain. Her entire sisterhood—at least those from this region—had just died brutally.
I was getting a very bad feeling.
Walking over to her, I squatted next to her scorched body.
“What did you do?” I demanded.
She laughed again and then convulsed in a wracking, clearly painful cough.
“You thought you’d get away with your broken promises and treachery against humans and Earthwives,” she said in a frail voice. “But we always exact our price.”
Another agonizing cough.
“This one will last… for eternity,” she said.
“What price? What have you done?” Stellon asked, his voice full of alarm.
“A curse… on all your people, all generations to come. Everyone under your rule. Weak seed will fall on barren earth. Your numbers… will dwindle, and your race will… disappear.”
She gave a weak chuckle.
“A fertility curse?” Stellon asked, looking between me and Raewyn and then back at the dying witch.
“How can they have cursed the entire Elven race when only the three of us are here?”
“The column of fire? It went so high. Maybe it sent it out over the land,” Raewyn speculated.
“Or maybe she’s using her final breaths to lie,” I said.
“You… will see,” Caitriona said. “One child only per couple, if any… and decades… or centuries to conceive. Your treachery will… end. Worth…”
She drew in a labored breath.
On the exhale she said, “... the sacrifice.”
And then she went still, her unseeing eyes staring up at the stars above, her body sinking with that final spent breath.
Behind me, Stellon let out a shout.
I whirled to face him, as did Raewyn.
He was clutching his chest, staggering backward. We both rushed toward him.
“What’s the matter?” Raewyn cried.
“What is happening?” I asked as his legs gave out and he sat hard upon the ground. “Is it your heart? Is it seizing?”
Elvenkind didn’t succumb to human diseases like heart failure, but as we had just witnessed, our bodies could certainly be affected by witches’ spells.
And Caitriona had mentioned his failure to fulfil her bargain.
Had she tied his life to her own, intending to take him down with her when she died?
Stellon didn’t lose consciousness though. He just sat on the ground, looking around and blinking while rubbing his chest.
“What is it? Are you in pain?” Raewyn asked, kneeling to place a hand on his bent knee.
“Not now, but a moment ago it was excruciating,” he said. “It felt as if a plant with roots wrapped around and through my heart was ripped from my chest, all at once. I’ve never felt anything like it.”
“But you’re okay now?” she asked.
He nodded and just looked at her. The perusal went on and on to the point I began shifting from foot to foot, a trickle of annoyance leaking into my veins.
My brother and I had tabled the Raewyn issue until after Turi was rescued and the witches had been dealt with, but those things were both behind us now.
My fists clenched as he reached out and stroked her hair, his expression full of wonderment.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said. “But… I’m free.”
He retracted his hand to rub his chest, his tone continuing to rise as he said the last words I’d expected to hear from him.
“I feel so different. I still care for you, but I don’t think… no I’m sure of it. I’m not in love with you. I think it was a spell after all.”
Raewyn nodded, her voice growing more animated. “Caitriona was the Earthwife who helped Sorcha change my appearance for the ball. They must have worked together to cast the love spell. It didn’t lift when Sorcha died, but once Caitriona was gone as well, so was the spell.”
My heart leapt. Was it possible I could have the woman I loved and keep my brother as well?
My own feelings about Raewyn were still every bit as strong, if not stronger.
She hugged Stellon then rose and ran to me. I swept her up in my arms, inhaling the sweet scent of her skin beneath the woodsmoke.
“It’s over,” she said.
I shook my head and gave her a smile. “You mean it’s just beginning.”
“Yes.” She nodded against my cheek. “Yes.”
Glancing over at Caitriona’s smoking corpse, she asked, “Does that mean that final curse died with her as well? She cast it with the help of these Earthwives, and they’re all dead.”
“I hope so,” I said. “But I’m afraid it might be the exact opposite. Her last words were that it was ‘worth the sacrifice.’ I think what we witnessed was a group sacrifice to seal the spell. And I have a feeling that fiery column was connecting them to the power of their sisters in other regions.”
“So they’re all dead? Everywhere?” Stellon asked.
“I don’t think so. The fire changed directions and rained down on the ones gathered here. I suspect there are still plenty of Earthwives left, spread throughout the world. It could be that as long as one is alive, the curse will remain,” I said.
“Maybe she was lying, like you said,” Raewyn suggested.
“Maybe.” I leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. “Only time will tell. But there’s one thing I’m sure of.”
She smiled. “What’s that?”
“Time will never change the fact that I love you.”
I shifted to internal conversation so there could be no doubt.
I will always love you, just as I have from the first night we met, I said. And as soon as we get out of this stinking field and clean up a bit, I’ll tell you the full story of that night.