Page 63 of Demonchild

“Did you see that?”

“Ripped them to pieces.”

“Something in there with her.”

“Cut through their armor like it was nothing.”

“Stand back!” another voice said, and Malissa recognized that one as Dr. Jaeger. “I have the situation under control…”

Then he started chanting in perfect, flawless elder speech, and that was enough to finally snap Malissa’s concentration completely. She stumbled over her own incantation and said the wrong word. She had been two lines away from the ending.

She cursed under her breath.

“It’s alright,” Beliath whispered. “Start over.”

But she knew it was already too late. Jaeger had already finished his own spell. The air within the darkstone ring seemed to swirl around her like a whirlwind, and she sensed Beliath’s presence being drawn away from her.

“My angel,” the demon’s voice whispered.

“No!” Malissa screamed. “Beliath!”

But he was already gone.

“It is finished,” Jaeger said calmly. “The demon has been contained.”

Malissa blinked and looked around her, taking in the scene for the first time since the riders had arrived. The pillars of the darkstone ring were spattered with blood from the soldiers Beliath had killed, and pieces of their armored bodies littered the ground.

Just beyond the edge of the ring stood Jaeger. He was holding a large red crystal in his hands, and it glowed from within like a lantern. Behind him, a few dozen men on horseback watched. One of them was Wulfgang. He was still drunk and looked as if he might fall from his saddle at any moment.

Then Malissa noticed the maidservant who was sitting behind one of the mounted soldiers. As soon as the woman saw the queen looking at her, she cowered behind the rider in fear.

Droanna?

What the hell wasshedoing here?

Before Malissa had a chance to think about that question very deeply, the king let out another angry, drunken shout.

“Seize her!” he said. “Seize the queen!”

CHAPTER 33

The next day dawned bleak and gray. The sky above Drachenval hung low and pregnant with the promise of rain, but Malissa feared the rain would not come in time to save her from her fate. Even if it did, it would only be a temporary stay. She sighed, and let her eyes wander coldly across the crowd that had gathered in the castle courtyard to watch her burn.

She was standing barefoot on a small wooden platform, with her back to a tall wooden post and her hands bound behind her with iron shackles. A length of rusty chain had been looped around her thighs, and another around her neck to hold her in place until the fire had done its work. Beneath the platform, a pyre had been built from logs laid atop a layer of wicker and an inner core of dry straw.

For clothing, she had only a simple, roughspun smock, and her hair hung loose and wild around her shoulders.

I must be quite a sight to behold, she thought.The witch of Drachenval.

The pregnant witch.

Most of the castle had come to watch. Some of them were huddled together in a large circle around the sides of the courtyard, held back by a ring of soldiers to keep them from getting too close to the pyre. Others were gathered on the parapet of the castle wall to get a better view of the proceedings. The only ones who were missing were the children. The king had ordered them to stay inside, saying that an execution was not a sight for young eyes.

As for the king himself, he was standing at the foot of the pyre, flanked by a pair of royal guards with torches. His eyes still had a dull, unfocused look from all the wine he had imbibed the night before, but he’d sobered up enough to stand without swaying. After a moment, he raised his hands, indicating that he was about to speak. The murmuring crowd fell silent.

“Queen Malissa of Drachenval,” he shouted. “You have been found guilty of witchcraft and congress with evil spirits. For this crime, you are sentenced to be burned alive. Do you have anything you wish to say for yourself before you die?”

Malissa found that she was surprisingly unafraid of dying. If she had been alone on the pyre, she probably would have just spit in the man’s eye.

---