Page 93 of Crown of Chaos

“About them? Nothing.” The fact that Knox had agreed and kept it from me clenched a vise around my heart, squeezing it painfully. “I’m going to continue gathering the elements, and then you and I are going to find the cave where the trials begin. After that, we’re going to talk to my father and figure out what I am once and for all. I need to find out what I am becoming and worry about myself for once. I’ve spent my entire life worrying about others and hiding off to the side. Now, I need to focus on what I am and where I truly belong in this world.”

I’d spent last night begging like a bitch in heat for him to fuck me, and I was furious that he’d touched me and worshiped me while he knew he couldn’t have me. I was no one’s side piece, and I’d told him that many times before. I continued forgiving him for shit he did when he didn’t deserve it or earn it. Yet, time after time, I forgave him. So, in hindsight, I guess I should be thankful he’d shown restraint and hadn’t turned me into a whore. I wasn’t sure if I should thank him or murder him. Both of the options carried merit. Sabine had ridden right up to that cabin door, riding the queen’s horse, flying his colors, and protected by his men. It was something he’d never offered me.

Sabine was marrying the man I claimed as my mate and would get everything I wanted merely by decree.

At least all those twisted-as-shit future walks made more sense now.

I was the enemy of the realms and placed into the same category as Hecate. They wanted me taken alive because they wanted to try to drain my magic.Trybeing the operative word. I had no intention of allowing them to entomb me at all.

“I think it’s time we remind this fucking place who they’re fucking with,” I muttered, spinning to look at Esme. “I need to gather supplies, and then we’ll scout out the stronghold where the next elemental is located. Each element I take will weaken Hecate and force her to use more power from the grid she’s made. So, what do you say about taking a trip to peek at how that thing functions and what we’ll need to break the flow?” Esme’s lips curled into a mischievous smirk, and she stepped closer.

“I think I like evil, bitter Aria more than the other versions.”

Chapter Forty-Six

One month later . . .

The stronghold was intimidatingto see in person. I’d never waged war against anything this fortified before. The high walls encircled a castle and a sprawling village. It had a large, double-tiered gatehouse in front of a thick, winding wall, which had me doing a double-take when I’d first seen it. Instead of one portcullis, there was one on either side of the twin towers that marked the front of the castle.

The gates themselves were made of either thick iron or steel, which wasn’t discernable from where I stood. The torches burned even though night hadn’t settled over the realm yet. I could sense the runes and didn’t need to know how well-placed they were. I could feel their power from a quarter of a mile away.

The most daunting part of this, though? The sheer number of citizens living behind that gate. I couldn’t turn the whole place to ruins without also ending thousands of innocent lives. That wasn’t something I was willing to do.

My senses could pick up the aroma of freshly baked break and the sound of livestock, proving that this place could withstand a siege. It had guards that patrolled the outer wall in units of two and three, this place could withstand a siege, and still more guards moved to the smaller wall that ringed the actual castle.

Exhaling the frustration, I sent my senses deeper into the place, allowing the magic within me to search for a weakness. Swallowing down the anxiousness that flowed through me, I continually discovered blocked passageways. Frustration rushed through me, and I pushed my senses harder, driving them through the multiple passageways that intertwined beneath the kingdom like a network of underground tunnels. Smiling with victory, I opened my eyes and tilted my head, taking it in with normal vision.

The stronghold sat within Norvalla, which meant Knox wouldn’t be happy. But what else could he do to me? He’d allowed the council to strip me of my titles and protection, he’d labeled me a criminal for the attack carried out, and he’d agreed to marry my cousin.

Really, that last thing was kind of my doing as well since I had actually told him to marry her because she’d be able to handle him in bed. I just never thought he’d actually go and ask her.

“If that bell goes off, they’ll be on us before we stand a chance to fight them properly,” Esme pointed out carefully.

“We have Aria to throw at them,” Soraya countered, her blue gaze watching the men pulling horses toward a stable.

Runes covered the outer walls of the stronghold and were painted in the native language of Hecate. That indicated a powerful witch had placed them, preventing magic from being cast on the stronghold. Higher above the walkway, an arched roof that had more runes covering it, glinting the sun’s ray to scatter them into the field before the extensive structure. In the grassy field, the reflection continually burnt the runes in to the earth to create a natural barrier from magic.

“This castle is a beast,” I admitted as a line of witches walked over the tower wall. “I have never seen anything like it before, other than the palace in Dorcha, but that place is a fortress.”

The runes would prevent magic from being cast in the walls and were going to be a bitch to get past, but not impossible. The merlons were each marked with a single rune, with the outline of a raven in flight etched on the saw-tooth like square that sat between the crenels. It wasn’t just a beast of a castle. It was an impressive show of strength, which if I didn’t need to attack, I wouldn’t. The sheer magnitude of the place gave me pause.

Sliding my stare over the witches being walked toward the rounded, vastly larger-braziers and the body shaped dome cages that were being pushed behind each woman, I frowned. They’d attached thick chains to the tops of the cages, and manacles hung from them, chinking loud enough that I could hear them from where I stood.

The witches were wet, as if the guards had poured something over them, and when they were pulled to a stop, they were in front of the large, wide pan-looking version of a brazier which had been lit to ignite the coals. Guards removed what looked to be grates from the pan, which sent smoke into the air. Wood was added, and the flames leaped higher, adding darker smoke to the lighter plumes that reached high into the sky, and another guard added something to the flames, causing them to die down a bit. My eyebrows pressed together, and it took a moment to realize what the hell I was seeing.

“It’s a fucking iron torture chair, but with a cage instead of the chair.” I was unable to suppress my horror, but the witches didn’t appear worried. We all went silent as they removed the ropes from their hands. The guard in front of each one secured their hands in the manacles they’d retrieved from the cages, and then reattached it to the chain dangling from the top. I waited for the witches to fight, or protest. Shit, anything would be better than the silence and acceptance of what was happening right now. A powerful witch—probably the same one who had painted all the wards and runes over the buildings—had painted runes on their foreheads and dirty gowns.

“What are they waiting for?” Esme asked. “Why aren’t they fighting?”

“Why light the braziers when it’s still day?” Soraya countered, her mouth tugging into a frown.

“Do you think they’re going to—” Siobhan went silent as the chained witches willingly stepped forward onto the glowing coals. “Oh my God,” she whispered softly.

The moment the witches were all on the coals, the guards slid the cages forward, locked the doors, and then yanked the manacle chain to hoist the witch from the coals. Relief shot through me, but it was stomped down when I realized they only lifted the witches so they could reposition them and lower them into the cauldron-like bowls. Screaming began, and the smoke billowing up changed into something much more acrid.

“What the fuck?” I breathed, fighting the urge to rush to their aid.

The agonizing shrieks echoed through the mountains, sending birds and other carrion creatures shooting into the air. A raven landed inches from me, his head tilting as if it were considering me. The intelligence in its stare made my blood boil, and I sneered at it, rattling in warning.

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