Amhuinn were playing games. They confirmed I would be queen. Then they said my sister would be too.” Beatrix let out what she knew to be a sad-sounding sigh. “My sister believed them. She took me to one of the chambers. To talk, she said. But she attacked me. I grabbed a blade . . . next thing I knew . . . she was dead on the floor.”
“You really didn’t think your sister would want to be queen?”
“Every woman wants to be queen, my lord. But we’re family . . . family is all.” She brushed at nonexistent tears. “Honestly, though, I think it was the witches who killed her. They toyed with her until she was crazed. I truly think for their own cruel amusement.” She tapped the table with her index finger. “How many others are they going to tell this tale? First my sister . . . then who? One of your dukes with a large army? A king in a nearby land?” Beatrix raised her gaze to Marius. “Or maybe that mad bitch in the Dark Lands.”
He stood, walked to his tent opening but he didn’t leave, simply clasped his hands behind his back.
“And what do you suggest we do, Lady Beatrix,” he asked, “for such an affront . . . to a future queen?”
“The only thing we can do, my king.” She dropped back into her chair. “Destroy the obstinate little cunts before they have a chance to do any more damage.”
Spying some biscuits across the table, Beatrix reached for the plate and added, “It would also be nice if we can take as many of their books as possible.”
Marius slowly turned his head to look at Beatrix over his shoulder.
“I’m an avid reader,” she admitted before taking a bite of a delicious biscuit.
CHAPTER 13
For hours the witches tended Keeley; younger witches following orders, often running in and out of the chamber while the older, more powerful witches cut into Keeley, sewed organs, and closed her, only to open her up again. All while chanting ancient healing spells and calling on their gods.
Gemma silently called out to Morthwyl. Well, at first, she chanted softly but when Keran asked, “Are you going to bring Keeley back to life so her corpse can kill Beatrix?” she stopped and did it silently. But war gods were moody, at best, and didn’t always come when called. They often demanded a sacrifice or, even better, a battle to get their attention and rewards.
Hours turned to days. Two days specifically. And Gemma was moments from giving up all hope.
She looked across the passageway and watched the two centaurs. They were still in their human forms and sat close to each other on the floor. When Caid sadly laid his head on his sister’s shoulder and she stroked his hair, Gemma began to wonder how attached the centaur had become to her sister. But Keeley had that way, didn’t she? With people. With animals. And, like their father, with centaurs.
Finally an elderly witch walked out of the chamber. She wiped her bloody hands with a white linen cloth and stopped in front of Gemma and Keran.
“Your sister lives,” she announced with no preamble. “The gods must have heard our prayers.”
“More like she’s too pissed at whoever did this to her to die,” Keran said.
“Whatever it is, so far it’s working.”
“So far?” Gemma asked.
“Your sister was nearly disemboweled. She’s lucky to be breathing at all.”
“So what do we do now?” Keran asked.
“We wait for my sister.” Gemma got to her feet. “The next move will be hers.”
“As you like.” The witch glanced around. “Now I’m going to check on your sister one more time and get some sleep. You lot should too. If she wakes up”—and Gemma felt that “if” like a knife to her gut—“it won’t be for quite a while.”
After the elderly witch returned to the healing chamber, Gemma motioned to the rest of them to follow her. They went to another chamber and she faced the centaurs.
“I understand if you have to leave. As I told you, based on what Samuel witnessed, Beatrix is off . . . somewhere. Doing something. I honestly don’t know what. Not yet.”
“Do you really think she’s with Marius?”
Gemma shrugged at Caid’s question. “I know Samuel wouldn’t tell me something that wasn’t true. I can’t say the same for Beatrix.”
Laila’s nose crinkled a bit before she said, “You don’t really think that your younger sister actually had anything to do with Keeley’s . .