Page 59 of Oath of Revenge

The chives and lavender had merged with the stone bench in the kitchen gardens. She’d watered it with the last potion, only for it to die and turn to dust.

The hydrangeas in the flower garden had merged with a bucket that had been abandoned by a servant. She’d tested the next potion on it, only to fail yet again.

“I’ve tweaked the formula over two dozen times with the same result. If I had even one success with the plants, then maybe I’d test it on a kitten,” Bella murmured, twisting her skirt and staring forlornly at the supplies on the table.

“But what is left to change?” She wondered aloud. She’d adjusted the amount of magic she’d used, one word at a time of the old spell she’d found in the spell book in the library.

Lost in her own thoughts, she didn’t pay any attention to the clank of metal behind her until it was too late.

The kitten’s cry rang through the room, and she spun in horror, the walls shaking as her breath caught in her chest. Ignot had poured the potion onto the floor and the kitten had licked it up. It took two steps, weaving as if drunk. It hacked and choked, and Bella’s eyes watered.

“What have you done?” She choked out past the knot in her throat.

Ignot’s cold blue eyes didn’t meet hers, which she was grateful for. He crossed his arms and stared at the cat. “You wouldn’t have done it. Someone had to try.”

She held her breath as it shuddered and hacked. The fur ball finally fell out of its mouth and rolled on the tile, then it jerked violently as it separated into two halves.

The kitten fell to the ground, unmoving beside a small footstool. Two separate beings.

She sucked in a breath. “It worked,” she whispered.

Ignot knelt and stroked the cat’s side as he sighed. “Sort of. They separated but the cat’s dead, poor thing.”

Anger made her shake, and the chairs in the dining room followed suit. “Poor thing?” Her voice was deceptively soft but rose quickly.

“Poor thing! You had no right to test that potion on it! I told you it’s not ready.”

“I know that, your highness, but—“

“But what? There should be no but. I’m the queen, or have you forgotten? If I say do not touch something, do not blasted touch it. Do you understand?”

The cold eyes finally met her own as she fisted her skirts, trying to hold on to her emotions. He nodded slowly, but his gaze was stubborn.

“I know you are, but I had to try, your highness. Every minute is torture. I can’t take it anymore.”

The old man’s wiry white hair pointed in every direction, and his eyes were wild and chaotic. Desperate.

Bella held her hands out shakily, palms up. “You think I’m enjoying this state of being? I’m working day in and day out to find a solution, but it has to be safe. Fisica protect us—“

Her rage reached a crescendo, and she flew out the open dining room door. She had to get outside before she blew.

Her emotions were building, and her control was fractured at best. She reached the terrace and fled down the steps to the garden. It stretched all the way to the castle wall, but before she reached it, she screamed.

Loud, angry bellows that made a handful of bricks on the wall crash in front of her as she stumbled to a halt. She yelled again, her hands wide as she released the anger, heartache, and despair over her failures.

This was bullshit. She’d simply wanted someone to see her worth and teach her magic. She’d trained with the priests and had been allowed to read all their books if she kept the church in town clean. Then she’d trained as a healer with Lailant, the crazy old woman whom some whispered was a witch.

Bella hadn’t cared. She’d just wanted to know more, needed to know more. If she’d known more at five, maybe she could’ve helped save her mom and everyone else from the fever. If she’d known more, maybe she could’ve followed her dad to war and saved him too.

Now she was cursed. And she’d been the one to curse who knew how many people and animals and plants. The entire town had been destroyed.

Despair washed over her as the tears fell. She rested her head on the wall, but she tumbled through it. Damn, she hadn’t animated the wall; thus, she couldn’t interact with it.

She laid on the dirt outside the castle walls and blinked as a dark cloud slowly crawled toward her from overhead. She winced and scrambled to her feet. She shuddered, took a deep breath, and ran through the wall again.

Cold washed through her, and she shivered, blinking as she appeared back in the garden. She did not feel up to battling the shadow creature today. She was too raw from losing the kitten.

But it had died as a kitten, not a monstrosity footstool kitten.

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