Tales of Aradia The Last Witch Volume 3 (4 page)

"Hey Aradia, great
party!"

"Hey Aradia, looking
good!"

"Hey Aradia, want to
dance?"

It was after refusing that
last offer when she finally reached the bar. "Hey Calvin, what's
up?"

Calvin growled as he turned
around to see her.

"What?" he
barked.

Aradia ignored his usual
rudeness and continued with her question, "What are you
serving?"

Calvin snorted and asked
with his voice dripping with sarcasm, "Why don't you come back here
and see for yourself?"

"Okay," Aradia said with a
shrug.

She then hoisted herself
onto the bar, flipped her legs around, and slipped down to stand
right next to Calvin who was gaping at her.

"Okay now," Aradia said
clapping and rubbing her hands together. "Let's see what we got
here!"

She then pushed Calvin out
of the way and bent over to inspect the drinks, but not before
adding, "By the way Calvin, if you even think about staring or
pinching my ass while I am down here then I will have no choice but
to bitch-slap you silly."

Calvin stiffened with
indignation, and turned away. Aradia chuckled as she checked
through the various assortment of drinks located in a fridge under
the bar, making sure there was no alcohol. Thankfully, there was
none so Aradia stood back up. She then spotted Rhonda, and the
others waiting for her.

After doing the same gymnast
routine that she had done to get behind the bar, Aradia went over
to her. "Hey Rhonda! Hey guys!"

"So," she said after
receiving hugs from all of them. "Has anybody seen Roy? I promised
him a dance tonight."

The entire group went eerily
silent.

"Well," Aradia demanded,
"Where is he?"

Tristan was the only one of
the group who smiled as he pointed and said, "He is over
there."

Aradia turned, spotted Roy,
and began to walk towards him. She stopped as soon as she noticed
that he was with someone else. Finally, he turned and Aradia was
shocked to see that the woman he was slow dancing with to the song
Here's to the Night by Eve 6 was Melina! She was dressed in a
shimmery silver and black tank top with her black braids up in an
elegant ponytail twist. She was still wearing the same old boots
she wore practically every day. Only this time she was wearing a
longer skirt made out of shimmering gray satin instead of her usual
mini. It really did not matter though because either way Melina
looked beautiful.

The two of them were slow
dancing very seductively with Roy's arms around Melina's waist, and
her hands were weaved behind his neck. Their foreheads pressed
against each other and their smiling lips merely inches
away.

Aradia clenched her fists as
she saw how Roy and Melina danced with each other. Instead of the
usual shuffling of their feet, the two of them swayed their hips
with the rhythm of the music. Both of them were smiling, and
giggling as they stared deeply into each other's eyes. Suddenly,
Melina turned her head and saw Aradia staring at the two of them.
She then smiled maliciously at her as she drew herself closer to
Roy, and rested her head against his chest. Aradia was even more
shocked to see Roy then sigh, and hug Melina even more closely.
Aradia shook her head as the song ended. This was when Aradia
decided to stroll up to Roy, and say hi. Roy was startled to see
Aradia even though he was the one who had insisted upon dancing
with her tonight. Now, however, he looked at her like the way a guy
would look at an ex-girlfriend after a very bad
break-up.

"Hey Rai-Rai," he said
nervously. "What's up?"

Aradia did not trust herself
to answer. Melina, however, just smiled even more
maliciously.

Not wanting to give Melina
the satisfaction of seeing how awkward she felt, Aradia ignored her
and asked Roy, "So how about that dance I promised you?"

Roy just stared at her with
his mouth open. Never in his life had he felt or looked so
uncomfortable.

Melina, however, said
surprisingly and in a sexy low tone, "It's okay if you want to
dance with her Roy. I'll understand completely."

Her batting eyelashes and
curving glossy lips said otherwise.

Three times, he looked from
Aradia to Melina until finally Roy sighed deeply, looked at Aradia,
and said, "Sorry Rai-Rai."

Aradia's mouth fell open in
shock.

Roy in his usual, clumsy,
goofy, way tried to pacify her by adding, "But maybe next time
okay?"

Aradia just gulped while
Melina barely hid her smile of triumphant. We R Who We R by Ke$ha
then came blaring from the speakers, and Melina clapped her hands
in joy. She then hooked one of her fingers into Roy's shirt, and
dragged him to another spot to dance. He smiled apologetically at
Aradia, and then left with Melina. For a few moments, Aradia just
stood there in shock until she coughed, drew herself up
defensively, and walked proudly back to the others. While everyone
else looked at her with sympathy, Tristan's eyes and expression
glittered with barely contained gloating.

He did not contain it for
long though because the moment Aradia showed up and stood in front
of their table, Tristan turned to her smiling. "So Aradia, would
you like some lotion to go on that burn?"

Aradia glared at him with
viciousness reflecting in her eyes.

Tristan's gloating did not
end there though he continued by saying, "So I guess it is possible
for the last witch to have some competition eh?"

Aradia still said nothing as
she walked past her friends, and sat at another high raised table.
Tristan, however, followed, and slipped behind her. He then placed
one hand over her head, and one on the table.

He trapped her as he began
to whisper ferociously in her ear, "Although you having competition
is no surprise to me. I mean seriously Aradia, you are hardly the
ringing endorsement of what a beautiful woman should be. Perhaps if
you were more docile, listened more often, and actually shut up
once in a while then maybe you would be able to find yourself a
consort or at the very least a man who is willing to have
you."

In spite of the insult,
Aradia still did not turn around or respond. Tristan, tired of not
getting a reaction out of her or at the very least a comeback line,
grabbed her chin, and forced her to look at him.

He then grinned as he stared
into her eyes. "However, if you were to choose me to be your
consort than I would be more than pleased to teach you the ways of
being a beautiful, perfectly acceptable, and much desired woman
that all men would want. Then you would have no fear of competition
from anyone ever again."

"Obviously, you could teach
her how to be a woman Tristan, seeing what a little bitch you
really are," Dax snapped as he appeared from behind him.

Tristan turned
instinctively, only to have Dax grab him by his shirt
collar.

Tristan, however, despite
his shirt's captivity, remarked, "I would think you would at least
be happy about this situation Dax. Now that Roy has someone else
you have lost a rival for Aradia's affections, but I must say it's
pretty pathetic for a guy to think he has a chance with a girl only
after she has lost one of her suitors."

"Yeah. Almost as pathetic as
a guy who has been engaged to the same woman for over a hundred
years and yet still manages to find the time to hit on any woman he
sees especially one that he knows is too good for him," Dax said
smirking.

Tristan's own smirk,
however, vanished.

"The thing is," Dax then
said with a shrug. "I suppose it shouldn't really surprise me.
After all, if a man does not have the balls to neither love nor
marry his woman than what else do you expect for the bloke to be
anything but pathetic?"

Tristan's face twisted into
an expression of rage while Dax's stayed pleased.

Instead of waiting for a
retaliation of words, Dax merely brought Tristan closer to his
face. "But you know what mate? As much as I would love to continue
this conversation with you quite frankly you are pissing me off so
why don't you do me a favor for once in your life, and get the hell
out of here!"

Then as easily as he would
toss away a napkin, Dax threw Tristan right over his shoulder!
Tristan skidded, and landed several feet away from them towards the
wall of the club! To most people after being thrown like that, they
would be shaking in fear and shock. Tristan, however, after a mere
few seconds stood up and looked murderously at Dax. Dax, however,
just leaned against the table and regarded him with casual
indifference. Finally, Tristan brushed the dirt from the floor off
his jacket and made his way through the crowd towards the
exit.

"Cheeky little bugger," Dax
muttered under his breath. "I wish he would just get
shot."

Arada pointed out, "It
wouldn't kill him you know?"

"No," Dax admitted, "but it
would hurt him like hell and that would be enough."

"So what's the latest news?"
The Sovereign asked as he folded his arms across his
chest.

The Sovereign was sitting in
his throne room wearing his usual black cloak. The hood from his
cloak was pulled over his face as it always was and shadowed
everything except for his mouth. This everyone could clearly see
especially as he grinned at Rome who kneeled in front of him
holding out a pile of papers.

"See for yourself
Sovereign," Rome responded, but immediately regretting
it.

The Sovereign, however, did
not seem to notice instead he just snapped his fingers. Another
dark cloaked figure appeared out of thin air that took the files
out of Rome's hands and then gave them to the Sovereign. After
doing so, the dark cloaked figure disappeared into the air just as
speedily as he had first appeared. Using his usual lightening
speed, the Sovereign thumbed through the files about
Aradia.

When he finally stopped, the
Sovereign asked, "So the little brat has two new foster sisters
eh?"

"They are from Brooklyn,"
Rome snickered, but then quickly stopping.

The Sovereign nodded. "And
they are both human, which is indeed surprising considering how
unaware the two of them must be of the hidden world."

"Rumor has it the eldest
foster daughter is flirting with one of the last witch's suitors: a
werewolf to be precise," Rome said snickering.

The Sovereign stiffened and
then burst out laughing. "Amazing! The last witch having
competition for a werewolf's affections! How precious!"

After he was done laughing
he said, "Ah love. How glad I am to be above such
things."

"Anyway," he continued, "How
go the little witch's political ambitions? I assume she's given up
by now am I right?"

Rome hesitated, and licked
his lips nervously. "Well not exactly Sovereign."

The Sovereign snapped the
files shut while the air in the room grew evilly silent.

Finally, the Sovereign said
softly and slowly, "What?"

"It's like this," Rome spat
out nervously. "According to the gossip and the carefully collected
and well documented info I have gathered," He paused to point at
the files as if to illustrate his usefulness. "In order to prevent
social unrest amongst the Salem hidden community Aradia has been
given an ultimatum: to choose a consort from one of the hidden
races by June or all the hidden races living in Salem will go to
war against each other. In the event that that happens whose ever
race survives wins her!"

"So basically," Rome
finalized, "The last witch is now being considered so important of
a political tool that winning her allegiance is reason enough to
threaten a war."

The Sovereign said nothing
he merely rested his elbows on his throne's armrest, and made a
perfect arch with his fingers. Several moments of uncomfortable
silence passed where Rome trembled on his knees while the Sovereign
remained ghostly silent.

Finally, the Sovereign
spoke, "Well now this girl is proving to be more of a problem than
I thought. I guess I was wrong about her not becoming much of a
threat."

He then stood up snarling,
"And make no mistake Rome, I hate it when I am wrong!"

So far, things were getting
pretty unbearable for Aradia. Everywhere she went, she saw Melina
and Roy together holding hands and kissing. Sometimes she even
boldly saw them making out. If that was not bad enough, the
pressure for her to choose a consort was rising. Wherever she went
people either stared at her or whispered behind her back. People
were even taking bets about whom she would choose! Random men were
hitting on her everywhere she went, all hoping for a chance to be
her consort. Many of them were handsome and Aradia, who had always
been treated like a skin rash by boys before she moved to Salem,
was flattered by their attentions.

It soon became obvious to
her, however, why they were asking her out. The hidden men wanted
to either earn allegiance from her on behalf of their races or gain
power. Either way her life was getting very complicated, and it was
all Aradia could do from crawling into a hole and telling the world
to go away. Nevertheless, Aradia tried to deal with it as best as
she could. Therefore, whenever she saw Melina and Roy together she
would look away in addition to restraining the urge to scratch
Melina's face off with her bare hands. As for the men who wanted to
date her: Aradia, not wanting to be rude and having no real reason
to say no, had said yes to every guy who asked her out both human
and hidden. However, she could scarcely believe how many guys asked
her out as the school year went on.