Ruins of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #3) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,56

let me out of their sight. They didn’t let me get close to Soraya or Siobhan without Knox here, nor had I seen them. Admittedly, the people here worked well together. Everyone had their parts to play, and they did it effortlessly since they’d done it for a lot longer than I’d even been alive.

“Penny for your thoughts, beautiful maiden,” Lore chuckled, tossing a piece of grass at me to gain my attention.

“Just wondering how many of the witches are willingly here.” Frowning, I sat up on the grassy knoll, noting that the older witches seemed happy. The younger ones, and the ones my age, well, they seemed lost here.

“I wouldn’t know that answer.”

“So what happens if they don’t join Knox willingly? Do they end up like the inhabitants of that village we passed?” I snorted, hating that I was in a sour mood because it had worried me.

“Knox didn’t kill the people in that village, Aria. You assumed he did, which makes you an ass. In the beginning, it was brutal. It was a full-on war, and yeah, we lost innocent lives. War doesn’t care who dies, or if they’re a part of the fighting.” Lore gazed silently out over the camp.

“Knox knew I thought he’d slaughtered them, yet he chose to let me think the worst of him.” I hated that Knox didn’t care what I thought about him.

“He’s Knox, and he doesn’t owe anyone an explanation for his actions. He doesn’t explain it to you because you wouldn’t understand. You weren’t here during that time.”

“Who killed those witches and the villagers then?”

“Your family did,” Lore admitted, plucking more grass to toss at me. “Your family, although royalty, were ruthless. If witches escaped their rule or laws, they handled it swiftly and without mercy. The wards on the doors were for witches, along with one for the forbidden witch. When Hecate was alive, she was selfish and vengeful, and the witches beneath her rule either fell in line or died. She didn’t ask people to join; she demanded they do it or face the consequences of the merciless Goddess of Magic. So, to answer your question, your grandmother ordered a swift death for those who betrayed her for love or wished for peace within the mountain villages.”

“Witches killed witches at the start of this war?” I asked cautiously.

“They did. Thousands of witches who refused to bend to the new High Queen of Witches died without warning or cause. At first, no one thought anything of it, other than it was a problem the witches needed to work out amongst themselves. Those who stood back and allowed the witches to fight assumed it would end with them. We were all horribly wrong.”

“How did Knox offend Hecate?” I wondered if Lore would tell me since he was chatty at the moment.

“Knox refused Hecate’s offer to fix Norvalla during a council meeting. He also turned her down for something more sinister. Within a few weeks of him doing so, the King and Queen of Norvalla went missing, their heads discovered outside Hecate’s tomb. Someone went to a lot of trouble to display them as a gift to Hecate, who had recently gone to her eternal slumber. The problem was that only one creature was powerful enough to murder the King of Norvalla.”

“Hecate,” I said, swallowing hard as Lore nodded.

“Knox argued at a summit with her once, and being Hecate, she didn’t take kindly to a mere prince shooting down her proposal. She wanted him punished for his insolence, but our father refused her request. Knox was training to become king, and he’d stood his ground against the goddess. I’ve been told that our father couldn’t have been more proud. Hecate took issue with it and tried to seduce Knox to her bed, but he refused her again. Knox had no interest in her or any other witch. He’d just met Killian’s baby sister and fell in love with her at the same summit which begun their courting. Knox and Liliana were the perfect couple. Liliana was everything he desired, and she besotted Knox. They were to wed soon after returning home. The kingdom rejoiced at having a princess. She was the perfect image of demure and silent strength, and what every queen should strive to be.”

I fought the sting of jealousy that reared its ugly head at the sound of longing that entered Lore’s tone as he spoke of Liliana. His eyes smiled as he recalled her, and I wrapped my