Page 86 of Bewitched

“What?” she spat, terrified to hear this and not understanding it in the least.

“My lord, why would you even want to marry her? She should mean nothing to you now,” said Henriette.

Medea’s head snapped around toward her servant. “Yes, my handmaid is right. You don’t want me. Without my magic, I’m no good to you. Let me go.”

“Why do you even care, servant?” snapped the King. “And how dare you speak to your sovereign in this manner.”

Trouble was brewing, Medea could feel it in the air. She appreciated Henriette’s help in this situation, but she really wished the woman would stay silent. It was only going to make matters worse.

“I am Medea’s friend, and friends do anything at all to help each other,” said Henriette, making Medea flinch. This couldn’t be good. What was the woman doing?

“I see,” said King Osric, nodding at one of his guards who walked up and stood directly behind Henriette now.

“Henriette, thank you,” said Medea. “I truly appreciate your input, but please stay silent and let me handle this. I really don’t want you to get into trouble because of me.” Medea started to fear for the woman. Why was she being so bold?

“I’ll answer your question, servant,” said the King. “I will tell you only because I want Medea to hear my reason. I will marry you, Medea, even without your powers. I’ll do it, because my adversaries already fear you. You see, if you are at my side as my Queen, they will always fear me, and I like that. Their fear is what will be their downfall. Before long, I’ll have their kingdoms, even without your help and the use of your dark magic.” He laughed heartily. “Your presence alone is going to be enough to get what I want. And with the dragon at my command, I’ll have more power than you could have ever given me, anyway.”

“Nay, you won’t. The dragon will never help you or listen to your commands. Especially not since you hurt it,” said Medea. “Besides, you don’t even know how to capture it.”

“Don’t I?” he asked with a chuckle. “Walk this way with me,” he said, hobbling, dragging her toward the pit. “Look at that, my Queen-to-be. Now tell me that I don’t know what I’m doing.”

He pointed down at the pit, and Medea’s eyes followed. To her horror, she saw Marco’s dragon inside the pit. There were iron bars over the top of the opening, holding the beast inside.

“Y-you caught the dragon? How? When?” She was so surprised that she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“It was late last night. You might have known it, if you hadn’t been in bed with Sir Rhys,” Osric ground out.

“Y-you know?” she gasped, thinking her intimate night with Rhys had remained a secret.

“Aye. I knew Blackseed sneaked into the tower. He made it there only because I wanted him to.”

“I don’t understand,” said Medea. “You wanted Rhys to spend the night with me, even though you thought I was to be your bride?”

“Aye,” he answered. “I needed you both distracted, so I let it be. The dragon was wounded, so it was easy to catch when it returned to Kasculbough during the night. Plus, a little elf told me about those iron bars to keep the dragon contained.”

“Elric,” Medea mumbled. “No wonder no one seemed to trust him.”

“The gods must have taken away your powers, Medea,” said Henriette. “They must be punishing you somehow.”

“Aye,” said Medea in thought, remembering how the gods threatened her when she so boldly broke into their temples and stole the crystal key. She had also refused to give an offering, and tried to steal back Rhys’ offering of his ring. Now she regretted her actions with all her heart.

“I don’t care if I have no powers, I still refuse to marry you,” she cried. “I love Rhys Blackseed and I am marrying him. You mean nothing to me, but he means the world to me.”

“You will marry me,” threatened the King, grabbing her arm tightly.

“Nay, I won’t.” She struggled against him, but one of his guards held her back.

“You say Rhys means something to you?” asked Osric.

“Of course he does. He’s the father of my baby.”

“What about your friends?” asked the King. “Do they mean anything to you at all?”

“My friends? What do you mean?” she asked, following his finger as he pointed to something. She turned to see Henriette being held by a guard. The man had a sharp dagger pressed up against her throat. “What? Nay. What are you doing?” she screamed. “Don’t hurt her. She has nothing to do with this. Henriette is innocent. Let her go.”

“My man will slit the handmaid’s throat at my command,” snarled Osric. “You will watch her bleed to death at your feet if you don’t say the wedding vows and become my wife.”

“Nay, please,” she shouted, crying now. This was like a nightmare and all she wanted was to wake up again, safe in Rhys’ arms. Even with the anger inside her growing, she was not able to do a thing to use her magic to help her one and only friend. She tried over and over again, but she no longer had a bit of magic, light or dark. It was a terrifying feeling. She had never felt so frightened or as alone as she did right now. Medea had always wondered what it would feel like to just be human, and now she realized that she didn’t like it after all.