Page 6 of Aofie's Quest
I didn’t have to wait long. A slender form strode past the flames toward me, walking on two legs like myself. A human? I sucked my tongue, unsure what to say or do, other than to demand my freedom. Perhaps the trees had brought me here by mistake—maybe they thought I was a wild animal and I’d become snared in a trap meant for an elk, a bear, a rabbit. I pressed my lips together to keep them from trembling as the figure came into view.
She was a striking beauty, standing a full head and shoulders taller than myself. A silver gown with a sheer tint to it clung to her body, showing off her shapely hips and generous bosom. The dress dipped in the front, displaying the creamy white swells of her breasts. Her nose was straight and sharp, her facial features reminding me of the centaurs and the way they had no softness in their bone structure. She had blood-red lips and her eyes were deep set and brown like the bark of a redwood tree. Moss-green hair fell in perfect waves down her back, cascading around her waist. Her pallor held a glow of darkness and her brown eyes glimmered at me, a spark of wickedness within. My heart quailed within me as she pranced up to me and extended a finger, her nail long, curved, and appearing as sharp as the blades I held in my fists.
“Thank you, my pets,” she cooed, her voice high and gentle, almost girlish. “Now what do we have here?”
Her finger was as cold as ice as she slid it under my chin, forcing me to look into her dark eyes. I opened my mouth to respond to her question, but she shook her head, wagging a finger in front of my face.
“No, pet. No words are necessary yet. Let me have a look at you.” Releasing my chin, she cocked her head and walked around me, examining me from head to toe as if I were meat for dinner. Was I dinner? “What a rare creature you are. A human. In the Vale of Monsters. When I heard stirrings in my wood, I sent my pets out but I wasn’t expecting you. What a treat this is.”
“Please don’t eat me,” I blurted out. With the way she carried on, it certainly sounded like I would become a meal.
“Eat you?” She faced me again, her mouth drawing into an o before she gave a light laugh, waving her hand in front of her face. “Eat you? Who do you think I am? Oh. You don’t know and shouldn’t know who I am. But I don’t eat humans, only fish and the bounty the forest grows for me, as it chooses. It’s always something new. Mushrooms. Roots. Berries. Carrots. Potatoes. Oh, and the herbs.” She ran her fingers over my shirt and tapped it before putting her ear to my heart. She whispered something and a growing sense of dread made me struggle again. The scent of wet moss combined with water lilies wafted from her. I wrinkled my nose as I tugged at the vines, but she didn’t notice. Instead, she babbled on in her singsong manner. “Always something new and now you are here. I wonder. Why are you here?”
Stepping back, she stared at me, a finger to her lips, daring me to answer her question. “You are human. Aren’t you? And I can see you have some sort of magic.”
Useless magic.“Yes. I’m human. But this is a mistake. I did not intend to come this way. Will you let me go?”
“Intend?” She gave a lighthearted laugh, as if we were talking about nothing more than the mild spring weather. “Of course you intended to come here. No one comes to the vale by mistake. Or perhaps you were tricked, weren’t you?”
My retort died on my lips. Whoever she was, it wouldn’t be safe to tell her anything about myself or my quest. But she would not let me go without some sort of knowledge. A sweet mannerism floated from her, and yet my magic warned me she could be wild and dangerous. I needed to wait.
“I was tricked,” I admitted, my eyes smarting as I thought of Niamh. Did she know this would happen to me? Why should she do such a thing during our last day together? She’d claimed we were almost out of the woods and she planned to leave me on my own anyway.
I recalled my question to her that morning, regarding the river. A nagging had risen in me, a nagging I ignored because I wanted to avoid an argument with her. I should have trusted my senses to lead me straight and true instead of the word of Niamh. She wasn’t an enemy nor was she a friend. Still, I’d assumed the Beluar Woods in their entirety belonged to the centaurs. I’d assumed they had vanquished all evil in the woods and ruled it in peace. Evidently there were still pockets of wildness and I’d stumbled into one.
The woman’s eyes lit up as the words left my mouth. She stepped closer to me and placed her hands on my chest, almost touching my breasts. It was an oddly intimate position and I wanted to squirm away from her, but she peered into my face. “You were tricked,” she repeated, her lips lifting in a silent laugh.
A shiver went up my spine. I wanted her to move away and stop touching me. I had to distract her. “Where am I? Who are you?”
Her jaw dropped and a mock smile danced in her eyes. She liked tricks. Her slim hand dropped to her heart, and a flush covered her pale cheeks. “You are kind to ask about me, humble ole me. Why, you’re a guest, a pet, in my home, and you want to know where you are and who I am? What can I do except comply?”
Stepping away from me, she moved toward the blue fire and cupped her hands. A spark ignited from her fingertips and a blue lily pad of fire sprang from her palms. Shadows threaded around her body and the green vines binding me loosened their hold on my legs. I wondered if my question had offended the woman, for roots grew out of the roof. They stretched like sharp fingers toward the fire and the vines trailed away from my legs, moving like green grass snakes in a cool garden to bathe in warm sunlight. I swallowed hard.
“You are in the Vale of Monsters—at least, that’s what the centaurs of the Beluar Woods call this place. You thought you’d be safe, didn’t you, pet, traveling in Beluar with a guide.” The silly girlishness was gone from her tone, replaced with scorn. “Oh, foolish little one, you know naught of the ways of the world. Barely had you left your doorstep when trouble assailed you. It was no mistake. You weren’t tricked. Don’t you know—but of course you don’t—I can smell your blood, royal blood, from here? And your magic is like fireworks, or starlight. A sure beacon, telling me exactly where you were. So I sent my friends, my pets, to get you. I haunt these woods. The vale belongs to me, and no, I know your next question, you are no longer in the Beluar Woods. If you had stayed by the river, you never would have come this way, but I love tricks. Mischief should be one of my names. Oh, and I have many names. Madame. Witch woman. Queen of Monsters. I don’t like that one much, but in truth, I am a goddess. Handmaiden to the goddesses once, until I fell out of favor with them, for I am beautiful and tempted the hands of the gods, drawing them to me like wind to a storm. They loved me and reveled in my beauty, until the other goddesses saw, and oh, were they jealous.” A cackling laugh burst from her lips, and when she looked at me again, her eyes were as blue as the fire in her hands.
A shudder of fear and revulsion went down my back and I stretched my legs, eyeing routes of escape in the cave. If the vines left my hands, I’d take a rock, bash her on the head, and run. She would have to be unconscious for my plan to work. I hoped the trees and vines only obeyed her when she was awake to command them.
Malice dripped from her bloodred lips, and her eyes gleamed with mischief. “I do have a name. An old name. A strong name. Jezebel. But it will not help you here. Now. I have bared my soul to you. It is your turn to do the same. Who are you? Why do you have royal blood? What is your name?”
Dread rose and the questions in my mind tumbled out of my mouth. “What do you want with me? Why am I here?”
At my questions, she hurled the blue flower into the flames, causing them to hiss. Wafts of thin gray smoke drifted from the fire, forming the shape of a face, taut with terror before it dissipated into darkness.
“You will answer my questions first,” Jezebel demanded, vehemence in her tone. Spinning, she walked toward me, her eyes flickering to my hands. “Release,” she commanded.
A sharp pain dug into my wrists and I cried out at the unexpectedness of the assault. Before I recovered myself, my fists fell open, and the knives fell.
Chapter Seven
“Thank you, my sweet.”Jezebel grinned as she caught one of the knives. The other clattered to the dirt floor, landing with a muted thump.
Quick as lightning, she sliced my arm, just below my wrist. I cried out again, more in surprise than actual pain, as a bubble of blood trickled down my arm. Jezebel’s eyes glinted with madness as she pulled the blade away, holding my eyes as she brought it to her lips and licked my blood off it.
Revulsion made me shiver and the knot of dread twisted tighter in my chest. I had to escape this mad woman. No. Goddess.
“Delicious.” She grinned. “You and I are going to have a lovely afternoon, although I already know I’m going to enjoy it more than you.”
She bent to pick up my other knife and the top of her dress fell open, giving me a clear view of her milk-white skin. I took a deep breath and braced myself. Hurling out both booted feet, I kicked.
