Page 153 of An Empress of Fire & Steel

Heat burned in Emara’s cheeks at the Supreme’s knowledge of her relationship and the mockery of her tone when she spoke of it.

“You don’t know anything about me,” she jeered back.

“You are the one who doesn’t seem to know a thing about who you are.” The coldness of her voice sent shivers down Emara’s spine. The room vibrated with the echo of her words, and a thunderous clap sounded, like the mountains were shifting. “I thought you might have been smart enough to put two and two together by now.” She started walking around the circle, and Emara followed her every step. “But maybe I am giving you more credit than you are worth. Your mother never was smart enough to make decent choices, either.”

“What do you know of my mother?” Emara’s voice was low.

The Grand High Witch continued to circle her prey, walking slowly. She said, “Everyone knew your mother in the witching world. She was a very talented and beautiful witch, and was well-liked in the House of Air. But, you see, witches tend to be competitive and jealous little creatures. Others were utterly envious of her abilities and rather furious when they noticed that she had no interest or intentions in ascending even though she bore the Clearwater bloodline.”

“I know exactly who my mother was and what coven she belonged to.” Emara’s brow sunk low, her hands trembling. She prayed to the Gods that the Supreme wouldn’t notice. “You don’t need to run over history.”

“You are always so quick to jump ahead, aren’t you?” Deleine stopped and squared her shoulders.

“I am only giving you a warning that if you don’t speed up your little story,” Emara said, toying with a smile full of blood, “my guards will notice that I am missing when they return from the hunt.” A stabbing pain jabbed into her heart, and she could feel the rage and guilt rise within her again. Poor Magin. He’d died protecting her. She, too, squared her shoulders, and said, “And that won’t be good for you. So get to the point.”

“Such foolish youth causes so much impatience.” Deleine disregarded her. “Besides, your precious hunters will spend hours scouring those woods.”

A horrible smile broke from her mouth. A few of the other guards smiled too, and a few sniggered.

That’s when she saw Silas, his white hair now stained with blood, his beady eyes watching her.

She threw him a dangerous grin.

He snarled back.

“Anyway, let’s get back to my charming little story, shall we?”

“There is nothing charming about you.” Emara tore her gaze away from Silas.

The Supreme’s hand flew out, and a surge of air hit the back of Emara’s throat. Emara stumbled back, unable to take a breath, her lungs collapsing inside her chest. Eyes wide, she clutched at her collar of steel, scratching and clawing at it like that would help her breathe.

But it didn’t.

The Supreme’s hand dropped. “That, you insolent little brat, is a very small reminder of what power I have.” Her eyes darkened as Emara gasped in any air she could. “I can collapse your lungs in seconds, I can boil the blood inside of your body until it is begging to be released; I can choke you, drown you, and I won’t hesitate to use my magic on you. The deal was to keep you alive, but I can think of many ways to make you suffer.”

Emara’s lip curled, her fury sizzling in her veins. “What deal?”

Again, Taymir had said the same thing. Emara had thought he was the only one stupid enough to make deals with the underworld. Had it been Deleine this whole time?

A long second passed between them before the Supreme ignored her question, lifted her head, and continued. “Where was I? Oh, that’s right. Your mother.” She smiled horrendously.

Emara wanted to break out of the circle, run over, and smack Deleine on her mouth.

The horrifying part of it all was that there was absolutely no way of getting out of this circle. It was enchanted, and unless someone broke it from the outside, she was stuck. And she sure as Rhiannon wasn’t going to look foolish in front of the Supreme for making an effort to try.

A bony finger went into the air. “One thing I do know is that your mother and grandmother had a turbulent relationship.”

Emara felt her teeth bare. “How could you possibly know that?”

“Because I knew your mother well, actually” she answered sharply. “We helped each other learn magic before our ascension. Her air, and I, fire. Your mother even confided in me a number of things, and it seemed that your grandmother didn’t appreciate your mother’s morals.”

Emara slammed her lips together and let her rage burn as she tried not to fall into the Supreme’s trap. The Supreme knew information that Emara had always wanted about her mother, especially when it was too difficult for Theodora to talk about it. She knew little about her, and Deleine must know that. The Supreme had found Emara’s weakness.

“Your mother had a few secrets of her own, quite like you.”

“I don’t have any secrets any ordinary woman wouldn’t have,” Emara shot back.

The fire of the candelabra flared, the black flames growing twice their size. Emara could feel the magic thicken in the room, and for once, she knew it wasn’t hers.

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