Royal Rebellion, page 15
A smirk came to his mouth, a slight uplift at the corner. “I swear you’ve more balls than I have.”
I couldn’t help myself. My eyes fell to his groin.
“Fuck it.” He said, sounding so much more like the man I knew. He pulled open my robe and let it fall off my shoulders revealing my thin vest and panties. My nipples pebbled underneath my shirt.
“Fuck me.” I whispered uttering the words I’d read in the book.
His breath hitched as he picked me up and threw me onto the bed.
“You sure about this?” He looked down into my eyes.
I nodded back at him. “So very sure.”
Then his lips were on mine. No chaste kiss on the cheek, but hard, bruising kisses that made my lips swell. His tongue pushed into my mouth tangling with my own. Then he was on the move. His lips trailed down my neck and he pushed up my vest revealing my breasts and took each into his mouth in turn. I arched towards him. “Dear Goddess.”
“It’s not the Goddess you answer to or thank now.” He whispered. “It’s my name you need to scream.”
I felt my arousal between my thighs before his mouth moved down and he licked me right there. I was almost delirious with pleasure and while I knew from my teachings that it would hurt, I needed this man inside me.
He moved back up, lined himself up at my entrance and pushed gently.
I thought I would tense up, but I didn’t. Slowly, he edged in and while I felt a little burn, I also felt pleasure.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, don’t stop.”
And then he was inside me and he moved gently at first, rocking in and out. My pleasure began to build, the pain went away and our movements became frantic as we rode together, lost in each other’s bodies.
Next, I was flying, as my core clenched around him and I saw stars.
We stayed in each other’s arms all night. I told Ramona that I didn’t require her services. Later we made love again, and it was even better. I couldn’t get enough of Billy.
And it all just felt right in that moment. That whatever I faced in the future, I faced with both Billy and my sister by my side. I could see a way forward with my rule. A balance between protocols and village celebrations, along with time to learn my craft. And for the first time I allowed myself to see a future with a consort and a family. My consort looked a lot like Billy. I knew it was early days and stupid, but I’d always been given to fancy and I wasn’t going to stop now.
So that night’s dreams hit me that much harder.
Isaac and Audrey stood at the altar in the woodland in a scene exactly like the handfasting ceremony. Except as the witch spoke, the ground trembled slightly.
The guests all looked at one another wondering what the tremor had been.
And then it came.
Every leaf, every flower, every blade of grass turned black with disease, death, and decay and the blackness spread like a forest fire travelling up the aisle and putting darkness beneath everyone’s feet.
As the witch closed the ceremony and took hold of the rope that had been laid over the couple’s hands, the decay spread up the rope, reached her hands and went through her body, turning her skin black. Blood poured from her eyes and spilled from her lips dripping to the ground where it sizzled as it met the earth.
“I will find a worthy host.” The words boomed inside my head, as the body of the officiant fell to the ground, her eyes turning white and soulless and I woke up screaming.
Chapter Ten
Leatha
“Leatha!”
I woke to find myself being shaken gently.
“You’ve been dreaming. Be calm. Seriously. It’s okay. It’s just a dream. I’m here.”
Throwing myself into Billy’s arms, I sobbed loudly.
“I don’t think it is. Billy, I think it’s real.” I cried. Then I told him about my nightmares and the dead villager.
“Okay. Firstly, we need to know if what you dreamed is the truth. So get dressed and the first thing we’ll do is take a walk to the woodland. Once you see it’s intact and as beautiful as ever, we’ll check on Greta, the officiant, and then I’ll get Ramona to run you a hot bath and you are going to relax.”
“It’s true, I know it.” I told him. I felt it inside me. Something deep in my mind, as if someone were whispering the truth.
Billy stroked a hand down my hair in a soothing motion. “Leatha, it’s probably all a result of the stress you’ve been under. Being trapped in the planes, then having to rule. It’s bound to take its toll. I’m not saying that there isn’t something out there, but the chances are it was on your mind and that’s why you’ve dreamed it so vividly.”
I pulled on my clothes quickly.
“The sooner we get to the woodland the better.” I wouldn’t rest until I’d seen with my own eyes everything was okay, but I was sure I’d not be resting again.
Two guards followed behind us, but I didn’t have to go right to where we had stood just yesterday. I could see from the edge of the woods. A black path scorched the earth from where the wedding party had walked, as far as the eye could see.
I fell to my knees.
“Take her back to the palace.” Billy told the guards. “I need to check something out.” He lifted my chin until I caught his gaze. “Get your sister, tell her what’s happened, and sit with her until I get back. I’m going to the village to call on Greta.”
I barely remembered the hours that followed. Greta’s body was discovered in her home. Her body was completely blackened, apart from the dried crimson that had run from her eyes and her mouth. But it was worse. A field full of cattle next to a series of villagers dwellings had suffered the same fate. Every one of the cows lay dead in the field, their skin blackened, and the same crimson tears decorating their faces. The same white blank stare that shook your own soul. And the villagers screamed of a curse, causing panic to set into Andlusan.
Protestors to the use of magick were at the castle gates, screaming that our rule should end, that we were witches and we had caused this. River sent out his guard and passed off the death of the cattle as a poisoned batch of feed, stating it would be investigated; and since no one had seen Greta’s body, her death was announced later from a heart condition, blaming the excitement of the festivities. It all calmed things a little, but still a few dozen protestors stood at the palace gates and they didn’t only blame us. Some placards blamed Dawn Mandrake and her sons, saying they had brought the darkness back with them and demanding they be banished once more.
Isaac was here, called from his marriage bed; along with my sister, the Mandrakes, and our uncle. Isaac and Thomas were debating a plan of action.
“This entity appears ruthless and powerful and we need to find the same energy in which to deal with it. We will work on this all day and come back to you this evening with a plan. We must enact some spell as soon as possible to stop this as I fear its power is growing stronger.”
Everyone left except my sister, who urged me back into bed to rest. “You can take the tincture, I’ll get Ramona to make you some.” She said stroking my hair. I nodded and let her arrange it, but the moment she left me to rest, I dismissed Ramona, and gathered my grimoire and a couple of other spell books and began reading voraciously. I left the drink on the table. After a couple of hours study, I asked my guard to escort me to the Mandrakes’ property. I wanted to check on Dawn to see if she was doing okay and ask her advice with some ideas I had about incantations. If she thought they could be of use, I’d go find Isaac and Thomas, but I didn’t want to interrupt them if it just seemed like the whimsy of a largely untrained witch.
My powers were raw, but they were strong. It swirled around me like electrical currents, and it needed an outlet. I’d been practising for a while now, but it wasn’t enough. Truth was, I wasn’t sure of what exactly I was capable of. I’d been too scared to try. What if I went out of control; a ticking time bomb?
Dawn let me in after my guards had checked the house again. Stationed outside, I walked down the long corridor behind Dawn as she led me into the kitchen.
“Have you settled in, Dawn? It’s rather a bit larger than your last accommodations isn’t it?”
“It is and at least there are no protestors right outside my windows. It’s lovely and secure. No one around to bother me at all.”
“Except two sons.” I laughed.
“Yeah, that’s true.” She replied, going to fill up a pan with hot water.
Then she turned back around to me and my blood ran cold.
Dawn’s eyes were black, her head tilted toward me, and her smile was evil.
“Honey, I’m home.” She said, and she laughed maniacally.
Chapter Eleven
Leatha
I was frozen in place, but my mind remembered the words from my dream.
‘Your return to the past will give me my future’.
I thought it had been the planes, and an entity from there which had traveled back with me, but it was Dawn who I’d brought back with me.
My mind just couldn’t equate the wonderful woman I’d known with what stood before me.
I had to use some magick and fast.
“I call-”
“Continue that sentence and I shall kill this body.” The entity spoke.
“Dawn, please.”
“My name is not Dawn Mandrake. She is but a vessel for me. One that seems to be proving strong enough to carry my soul.”
“So who are you?” I asked.
The body moved slowly and jaggedly, like a computer glitch. “I’m a wronged sister. Years ago, I should have ruled Andlusan. The first rules remember? But they found me wanting, delicate, and gave the throne to my sister instead. And when I studied the dark arts in order to gain the strength to get my crown back, my sister banished me to the planes. Trapped me between realms. Years I’ve been there, imprisoned, watching, waiting, gaining strength from the dark souls cast there. And then you came and I recognised your blood, my family. And so because of you I was able to return. Meld myself to your DNA because we share genetics.”
“Who are you?” I asked it again.
“My name is Tatiana. I’m your grandmother’s elder sister.” Walking toward me she lifted a hand and trailed an icy finger down my cheek. “And I’ve returned to take what’s mine. Andlusan.”
I watched as her eyes began to bleed.
“Nooooooo. This body cannot fail me. I need it. I will be back for you, Leatha.” She screamed, her mouth forming a garish horrifying grimace.
And then Dawn dropped to the floor, blood dripping from her mouth.
I ran as fast as my shaking legs would carry me, adrenaline forcing me to move, as I called for the guard and Lord Thomas. Then I went back and felt for Dawn’s pulse. It was barely perceptible, and I screamed a tortured scream.
Dawn was fighting for her life and yet her husband was unable to be at her side. Instead he was working with Isaac to find something to heal her before it was too late.
I sat with my sister in her chambers.
“There has to be something we can do.” Mercy paced her room.
“Do we know anyone who can speak to the dead? Not the necromancer, but someone who can converse with those who have passed on to the next world?”
“What you refer to is called mediumship. I’ve not heard of anyone here in Andlusan who can do that. We would need to ask Isaac.”
I shook my head. “I’m not asking anyone else. It would put their life in danger. This is on me. I’m going to look up how to contact those who have passed on and then I’m going to the mausoleum to speak to Grandmother.”
Mercy’s body tensed up. “Leatha, you can’t! It’s too dangerous. You don’t know enough.”
“And you didn’t know anything about travelling the planes, but you did it. To save me. To save Billy. So now I will take a chance to save Andlusan.”
At that, my sister’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “Then I will read along with you. We will do this together. Just as we rule.”
I nodded because for studying it would make things easier, but when the time came to challenge Tatiana, I had no intention of my sister being part of it.
The next day Dawn remained unconscious, although she was showing small signs of improvement. I set off for the mausoleum, hoping that I had learned enough to contact my grandmother, though I doubted my abilities. Mercy had insisted that Lord Thomas sit at his wife’s bedside and had requested that Isaac gather together every witch and warlock he knew and bring them to the palace grounds.
Opening the door, I took the familiar walk to the tomb containing my grandmother and stood before it.
“Hey, Grandmother. I don’t know if you get to watch over us, but if you do, I’m sure you must know what is happening right now in Andlusan. Tatiana is here. My carelessness caused it. I am so very sorry. Everything you taught me, and I brought a malevolent spirit that is already causing death, destruction, and chaos. The village is at war. I need you, Grandmother.”
I placed a candle in the middle of a black plate at the foot of the tomb, lit it, and recited the spell I’d been learning.
“Blessed Goddess who holds the key
Pray listen to what I ask of thee.
For Grandmother Raine will you open the door
And let her spirit return to the place where she lived before.”
An icy breeze passed through the tunnel and a haziness shimmered in front of me. Then there she was, exactly as I remembered her from my childhood. My Grandmother Raine.
“Child, I cannot stay long, and you must not summon me again. Those who have passed should be left in peace. As you have learned, when you meddle with spirits and travel uneducated you can cause untold damage.”
I dropped to my knees; head bowed.
“I’m sorry, Grandmother.”
“We have no time for apologies. We have to capture Tatiana before it is too late.”
I looked up at her. “Tatiana has yet to find a host strong enough. How do we capture her? What did you do before?”
My grandmother’s image flickered in and out. “Tatiana wanted to rule, but she was prone to madness. We were close as sisters, as close as you and Mercy; but when they announced I would be queen, it broke Tatiana further. She asked if we could rule together and I said no. It was the biggest mistake of my life. She swore revenge and now she is back.” Grandmother’s eyes widened. “She has realised who is strong enough to host her.”
“Who?”
“Her own kin.”
I leaped to my feet. “Mercy? She has Mercy? Grandmother, what do I do?” I wept as I spoke. I couldn’t lose my sister. Not now. Not when we’d just grown so much closer.
“Look at me and listen to me, child.” My grandmother said.
So I did.
Chapter Twelve
Leatha
As I returned towards the palace, all hell had broken loose.
“What’s going on?” I asked one of the guards.
“The villagers who were protesting heard of the witches and wizards of the village being gathered together to be brought to the palace. They met them at the village square and they are holding them prisoner until you and Mercy come speak with them. We’ve sent guards, but at the moment there is a standoff as they have weapons and are threatening to remove the old ways.”
I shivered.
“Okay, I will make my way down there. Please assemble a team to accompany me, and I request my sister joins me immediately. Where is she?”
“She has been visiting Lady Mandrake. I shall send someone to collect her and meet you at the square.”
I nodded and began my journey.
Crowds jeered as they saw me.
“Witch. You bring blight to our land.” One shouted. Others jeered similar things and some spit at the ground as I walked by. My guards cleared the way for me to climb onto the stage. There was no sign of Mercy and I realised that I had this moment now; me, alone, to talk to my village and ask their forgiveness for what I had done.
It took some time, but the guards brought the crowds under control and they were silent while I spoke.
“I have a tale to tell you and it is not a pretty one. It’s a tale of selfishness, but I am hoping it will also be a tale of redemption, of lessons learned. If you hear me speak, afterwards I will arrange a vote and if you no longer accept me as Queen, I will abdicate my position.”
Murmurs started amongst the crowds but the guards closed them down.
I took a deep breath. “Before my reign I thought I learned magick, and I travelled the planes to a place called Earth.”
There were gasps amongst the crowd.
“But I did not learn my craft properly, crudely attempting magick and risking my life, all in the name of trying to have fun. And all because I found my life in Andlusan, my future life of being responsible for all of you, so very wearisome. It was only a short time ago and yet that spoiled and inconsiderate child is no longer. Instead, before you is a woman who has realised that the craft that runs through her family’s veins, is something that like anything of worth, should not be used without guidance and teaching. When our mother stopped the use of white magick, she inadvertently drove it underground.
“I became trapped while travelling and had to be rescued. But it appears I brought back a spirit. The spirit of a great aunt. This aunt wishes to rule Andlusan and is trying to possess someone strong enough so that she can take revenge on our village. She wishes to rule and I fear her rule involves each and every one of you doing her bidding. Her spirit is on the loose and it is my fault.
“The only way we can battle her is by all joining together to fight with pure white magick. I understand that some of you have no belief in the old ways and think it is all a route to the demons of the world, and I ask; no, I beg; that you have faith in me, even though I don’t deserve it. I, your Queen.
