Page 86 of A Serenade To The Elf Queen
She stares me down a moment longer. “How strange,” she muses, her red lips set in a saccharine smile.
“I’m not going to let you hurt him. Or any of them.” I slowly position myself between her and the Nightwalkers. “Stay away from us.”
“Or what?” She arches a perfect brow.
“Or I’ll end you,” I warn her.
She laughs musically. “You will inherit my will. Don’t you see? You can’t even save those pitiful beasts from before.”
Her sinister words hit low in my gut. “There’s no way for me to turn back time and help them in the past. But I can stop you now.”
Revulsion sparks in her face over my defiance. “I guess we’ll do this the fun way.” I feel her vicious threat on my skin, crawling like little spiders. It must be one of her tricks.
The light I borrowed from Lulu shields me from her malice.
Panic spreads through her pallid features when I turn on her. Perhaps no one has ever denied her before. Her eyes turn to slits, reassessing me once again.
“Tell me who you are,” I demand.
She makes a small noise of distaste at the question.
“I won’t ask again,” I say as the Un whisper her name to my ear. “Lilith of Sellipar village. Born on the night of Jatuhh next to a gutter. The seventh daughter of a woodcutter and a courtesan. Your mother died of childbirth. You were raised by a cruel stepmother until you decided it was time to kill her. A wicked witch adopted you, but you murdered her in cold blood, along with your family.”
“How did you—” She pauses, her lips thinning into a single line. There’s no hiding the shock and terror she harbors over my simple words.
The women with the animal masks trade looks with one another. This seems to be new information to them. There are other things the Un urges for me to use to break Lilith’s spirit. But I can’t say them. Not even one such as her deserves that.
“I’m sorry for what was done to you in your life, Lilith. But I cannot let you hurt them any longer.” My voice does not waver this time.
Her fear quickly withers to rage.
“Shut up!” She hisses, bolting straight towards me. “I will rip your face!”
This is my domain, and she is a guest. With the light granted to me in the heart of Astefar, I place my hand on the ground. Lilith tries to take another step and fails.
“You can’t do this to me!” She let out a maddening shriek.
“I see you and your twisted soul,” I say in a clear and surprisingly calm voice. “You leave me no choice.”
Horror fills her eyes as the world around us warps and shifts at my behest. Mountains sprout at my calling, rivers and oceans flow forth with the wave of my hand. Thunder rolls in the sky and the earth cracks open. A coffin made of iron rises from the ground.
Lulu’s glow morphs into beautiful, monstrous incandescent beings. They begin devouring the witch, forcing her into her new prison.
“You will regret this!” She knocks on her container. I ignore her threats, her insults, and pleas.
They’re nothing but lies,The Un echo in my ear.
I throw the casket into a deep icy lake, watching in silence as it sinks to the bottom.
“Anyone else wish to meet the same fate as Lilith?” I ask her heirs. All one hundred thirteen women scatter away from me. They hide in the bushes and behind the trees, wary of my presence.
“Who are you?” One of them dares to ask me.
“I’m Rhianelle Wiolant.”
Part III
The Curse
