AllFreeNovel
Share Us
More. More. More.
These were not her own thoughts but the demands of ones higher than her. The queen understood that she had to give in order to receive. So this little bit of power, the few minutes of her life expectancy, were nothing. Later she might only make up for what was taken from her by killing. It was that easy.
Give and take. Give and take. That was how agreements with the gods worked. Even if most of the gods did not commune with her any longer. She didn’t need them anyway. She’d moved on to bigger and better. The one god who most did not even know, for he had been banished so long ago due to his great ambition. Idalia and Invictus had much in common which is why they worked so well together. Or so she thought.
When the spell keeping the door sealed finally drained off what it needed, she pulled her hand away. Another simple sway of her staff and a small needle appeared. The very last thing needed to allow her entry; a drop of Havlock blood. She didn’t even feel the slightest prick of pain when she jabbed the sharpened end into her flesh. A dark bead of blood formed over the small wound.
The door swung open. Lanterns were lit inside the room. The queen gave one more glance up and down the hall to ensure she was alone before she stepped inside and closed the door firmly behind her. There was a strong citrus scent to the space that tickled her nose and formed a sneeze that she repressed in her sinuses. Preservatives.
“Time to rise and shine,” Idalia sang.
A shiver of excitement chased down her spine, bouncing back up from her toes and settling low in her belly. She’d waited for this day for so long. Though she hadn’t thought it would come so soon, she was grateful that it was finally here. From the sounds of it, so was the god who hummed his pleasure inside her mind.
When the final lantern was lit and the space fully cast in their light, Idalia smiled at the four slabs of stone carved with the dark magic from The Book of Invictus. On top of each slab lay the corpses, or pieces of corpses, of her mother, father, and both her sisters Farah and Sienna. It was unfortunate the pain they had to endure in their deaths, but in the end, everything worked out the way she intended it.
Whatever Fae had taken Sienna out had not shown her mercy as he tore her limb from limb and then proceeded to chop her flesh into even smaller pieces. Had he intended to cook her into some sort of stew? Idalia gagged at the thought.Sienna was nothing more than pieces that had been recovered from the rubble of the castle.
Three staffs were accounted for. Unfortunately, there was one that had not been recovered after Farah’s death. They’d found it broken, but piecing it back together didn’t bring back the magic that was lost.
It wouldn’t matter too much anyway. Once the others returned from their temporary deaths, they would have stronger bodies and greater strengths than ever before. The staffs could very well just be used as props after this.
The material of her skirt swooshed around her legs with a pleasing sound as she strolled over to Sienna’s mangled mess. A small slab rested next to each member of her family, holding the rubies blessed by Invictus himself. The necklace meant for Sienna sparkled from the glow of dancing flames and she placed it where she assumed her sister’s neck might be. It really was that hard to tell…
Paper tearing from the binding of a book was the only sound made as the queen pulled the spell from the book, holding it delicately as she tucked the book away again. Words formed on her lips without thought, all memorized long ago for fear that she might mess this up. She spoke soft and low, moving from Sienna to Farah to drape the necklace around her. At least Farah was mostly in one piece. Then on to her parents.
She didn’t think her father would be much into wearing a large ruby necklace, so for him she’d made a ring. His skin had flaked off his body long ago. It made it easy to slip the ring onto his now very boney fingers. Idalia continued her chant and moved on to the final body—her mother.
Though she knew her mother was strictest with her, she could not deny that they had shared great love between them. It was her mother’s guidance that helped her become the strong person she was today. If her mother hadn’t pushed for her to raise this family from the pits of despair none of this would have come about.
A warm smile lifted her cheeks as she lay the last ruby necklace on her mother’s ribcage. Her dark hair looked brittle, even with the help of the chemicals and spells that kept them from decomposing entirely.
Heat was quickly filling the room as she finished the last of the chant. Ash fell from her fingertips, the spell and its paper gone for good. Lantern flames sputtered out one by one, replaced with the glow of red that came from the rubies. Brighter and brighter the gems became. Squeezing her eyes shut tightly, Idalia lifted a hand to protect herself from the nearly blinding light.
Hot air burned down her throat. Each inhale set her lungs ablaze, but still she endured. This was only a short while that everything would feel so utterly unbearable. Each of their souls would have to go through holy fire and their bodies forged anew. A single droplet of sweat trailed down Idalia’s neck and under her dress to grace her spine.
The queen stood frozen in place, waiting. When she thought she could bear it no more, the temperature began to lower and the gems dimmed. Lanterns flickered back to life.
A staggering gasp for breath had Idalia lowering her hand to meet the frantic gaze of her sister, Sienna. There would be no hiding the scars of her death. Sienna’s once warm brown skin was now marred by hundreds of white marbled scars, as if she was a cup that had been dropped and glued back together. Fortunately, the least amount of scarring was on her face. Only three scars cut from her eyes to her mouth in the shape of a ‘W’. Had that been purposeful? Had they meant to mark her as wicked?
Sienna’s now bright orange eyes widened, dark lashes brushing her brow bone. A visible tremble shook her body as she lifted her hands and inspected her new skin. Idalia waited quietly as Sienna traced one of her many scars. If Sienna was coming up with anything to say she didn’t have the time to get it out before Farah sat upright.
Several rapid breaths pillaged Farah’s chest. Even in this dark dingy coffin, her beauty was easily visible. Her large doe eyes blinked several times. Those long skinny fingers feeling their way up her newly whole body. The white mark of her death was branded over her heart. Farah closed her eyes tightly as she traced the scar.
Shoulders heaving, Farah turned just enough to see Sienna staring off into the shadows. Idalia could only imagine what sort of memories were plaguing them now. Still, she remained silent as her sisters adjusted back into the land of the living.
In their death, their bodies had been cleaned, as best they could, and they were fitted with new clothes. Every inch of fabric clung to their bodies now glistening in the abundance of sweat.
“Sienna?” Farah said, her voice not quite sounding like her own.
Ever so slowly, Sienna turned her head. Her waist long dark brown waves fell over her shoulder with the slight movement. Recognition rippled over her features. Then just as Ambrose had when she’d fully come to before the war of voices in her head had begun, a series of emotions followed.
The twinge of fear, a pinched brow of confusion, the slight frown of pain, a small smile of relief, and the warm glow of joy in her eyes. That was what made all of this worth it. Idalia beamed, happily watching as the two examined each other as if for the very first time.
“Your…” Farah rasped. “Your eyes are orange.” Then softer yet. “Like Aylee’s.”
“Everything hurts.” Sienna coughed with a grimace.
“I know.” Farah’s somewhat plain green gown snagged against the rock as she slowly slipped from its surface to stand with a wince. Steam wafted in long swirling tendrils from where she lay. A nearly perfect black outline of her shape was seared into the surface of the stone. She ignored those few details before she cleared her throat and spoke again. “How are you alive? How am I?”
