The Underground Witch (Incenaga Trilogy) (29 page)

But could Flora really teach her? Enough to make enduring
the pit worth it? If Flora couldn’t teach her anymore than she already knew, she’d take her chances and face Demyan anyway.

The water turned cold and Emmeline
sat up. How much time had passed? She wasn’t ready to leave the bath, or the questions still burning in her mind, so she drew in a little heat from the candle and pushed it into the water. Within seconds the water was steaming once again and she leaned back to soak a little longer.

When her fingers and toes had turned white and wrinkly, Emmeline soaped her body and
climbed out of the bath. A feather-soft robe lay on a nearby chair and Emmeline wrapped it around herself. She sighed. The softness surpassed anything from her memory and she loathed the thought of putting on her filthy gown and returning to the pit.

Finding her way back to the
living area, Emmeline discovered her dress hanging by the fire, clean and almost dry. Flora sat at a table with two bowls of steaming soup and a loaf of bread. She gestured to the chair opposite her and remained quiet as Emmeline sat and devoured the meal. When her stomach could hold no more, Emmeline wiped her mouth and smiled.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Of course
.”

“
You’re an Incenaga.”

Flora nodded.

“I thought I was the last one until I met Orinda, and now you.”

Flora’s eyes widened. “You
met Orinda?”

“Do you know her?”

Flora frowned and gazed at the fire. “I do.”

“What do you know about her? Are you like her?”

Flora’s eyes shot back to Emmeline and sliced through her like a knife.

“I mean, are you free?”

Flora’s face relaxed.
“I am.”

“Because you live here?” Emmeline gestured to the underground home.

“For the most part. I have had to make other sacrifices.”

“Is that how
Orinda is free? Does she live underground as well?”

Flora’s eyes turned scrutinizing. “How much do you know of our history?”

“Not much.”

Flo
ra sat back in her chair and gazed at the fire. “Then I must start at the beginning. It began with a powerful sorcerer who fell in love with a young maiden. He spent a great deal of time trying to impress her with his magic, but no matter his efforts, she did not return his affection. She loved another, but kept her love inside for fear the sorcerer would act out of jealousy.

“
Enraged at her denial, the sorcerer called all the townspeople together and cast a curse on the maiden for all to see and hear. Because he had planned to share his power with her, he proclaimed her cursed to possess a power greater than his own, but without the ability to control it. She would be forced to obey the demands of any master who ruled over her and have no choice but to grant their every desire. She may have denied him, but she would never have the luxury to choose for herself again.

“
He was so pleased with the irony of his curse that he declared the daughters of her womb would not only share her face, but would endure the same curse as well.

“
Frightened, the girl ran away from everyone she knew and loved. But the legend was born and the quest to find her had begun. Men searched far and wide to control the new and powerful witch. Women hoped to use her as a miracle worker. Kings sought to use her to win wars. But what the sorcerer did not know, and would never have wished upon his lost love, was the death his curse would create. Not just for the daughters whose lives would be drained each time their power was forced from them, but for the millions they would kill to grant a tyrant’s wish.”

“What happened to the girl?
” Emmeline asked.

“She was never found.” She looked into Emmeline’s eyes. “Until now.”

“I’m not the girl!”

“Of course not.
The girl is Orinda.”

“
Orinda? But she is so young. I saw her. She didn’t look a day over seventeen. Didn’t this happen hundreds of years ago?”

Flora
nodded. “Part of her curse has been to live forever.”

“That isn’t so awful.”

“It is when you have to watch the torture and slaughtering of your own posterity.”

Emmeline gazed at the f
lames. Orinda had children. Daughters. And she had to watch them die. She felt a twinge of remorse for the woman. It seemed unimaginable. Glancing up at Flora, a thought struck her. Flora was family. From mother to daughter, generation to generation, they had both come from Orinda. Not long ago she thought she was alone, and now she found herself sitting across the table from another Incenaga, sipping the same soup and sharing the same bread.

“You are my family,” Emmeline whispered with a smile.

Flora’s smile spread until her teeth shone. “I’m your grandmother, child. Your mother’s mother.”

Emmeline
jumped to her feet, her mouth hanging open. She couldn’t believe it. All coherent thought seemed to vanish from her mind. Flora laughed a warm chuckle and rose from the table, gathering Emmeline into a tight embrace.

“
I’ve waited so long to see you,” Flora said. “You’re father did the right thing to hide you, bless his soul.”

“You know about my mother?
”

Flora
’s face whitened. “I know. I was in hiding not far from here when I heard Tiergan’s father, Harskell, had gone for her. I came to Griet to help her, but Harskell returned alone. Rumors of her death soon followed.”

“Why are you still here?”

“When you disappeared I had no idea where to look and it was difficult for me to get any information without exposing my true identity. It wasn’t long before news of Tiergan’s plans traveled over the hills. I knew there was a good chance you would be found and brought to Griet. Harskell was relentless in his search for an Incenaga and Tiergan is no different.”

“Tiergan wasn’t the first to find me,” Emmeline said.

“I worried about that,” Flora said with sadness in her eyes that seemed deeper even than the pit. “I had no way of finding you so I knew my best chance was to linger around Griet. I could only hope that I would be able to get to you before they broke you.”

Emmeline embraced her grandmother again.
What could she say to the woman who had lived underground for the past seventeen years for her?

Flora clapped her hands together. “We will
leave in the morning.”

Emmeline fidgeted.
“I can’t leave.”

“I know a place we can go where we
won’t be discovered. I will keep you safe, my dear.”

Emmeline shook her head.
“No. Tiergan swore that if I ever escaped he would send Demyan to kill Erick. I can’t let that happen.”

“Ah yes,
O’fin mentioned something to that effect. Who is Erick? Is he worthy of your devotion?”

“Yes, I love him with all my heart.
I never thought I’d feel for someone the way I do for him. He is good and kind and wonderful, and the Crown Prince of Dolmerti. He doesn’t know I’m here, otherwise I think he would have come for me. If he still cares for me, that is. Tiergan insisted I leave a note telling Erick that I no longer loved him and not to follow me. Tiergan wanted to avoid Dolmerti’s army.”

“Dolmerti is strong?”

“Very.”

“
Perhaps we should go to Dolmerti first. We can still leave in the morning.”

“We
’d have to take obscure paths to avoid anyone who might recognize us and it would take us too long. The pit’s guard would notify Tiergan before we got very far. We won’t make it in time. Demyan moves faster than anyone I’ve seen.”

“We
’ll move faster.”

Emmeline shook her head. “I won’t take the risk. I’ll take care of Demyan myself and then we can go.”

Flora paused. “You don’t mean to take his life, do you?”

“I have to.”

“You mustn’t use your power to take a life, child.”

“I’ve already killed, Flora.” Emmeline grimaced at the memory.

“At your own hand?”

“Yes.” How else woul
d she have killed them? She flinched as the horrific sounds of bones cracking against the mountainside echoed in her mind.

Flora shook her head. “No. Have you killed
by your own free choice?”

Emmeline bit her lip. Mahlon had been her master when she’d killed the soldiers. He
’d unwillingly released her and then Erick had become her master when she’d killed Prince Weldon. He released her after that, and willingly, of course.

“No,” she said. “I was
controlled.”

Flora nodded as if she expected
nothing else.

“If you use your power to take a life by your own
free will and choice, it can damage you so completely you’d have no hope of returning.”

Emmeline scowled. “I have to kill Demyan. He’s the real threat to Erick and to everyone else.
Not only have I never seen anyone like him, but he is also working with Orinda.”

Flora’s eyes widened.

“O’fin said you can help me learn more about my power. Will you help me defeat Demyan? I don’t know how, but he seemed to know how to avoid the heat I pushed toward him.”

“I will teach you how to defend yourself, but nothing that will get you killed.”

“I have to stop him. Without Demyan, Tiergan wouldn’t be able to accomplish half of his plans.”

“
Unless Tiergan had an Incenaga of his own,” Flora added.

“Right.
There is that. I’m afraid he’ll resort to more drastic measures once my time in Cantil’s Pit is over, but if I learn how to keep him from controlling me, I may be able to get away from all this without having to kill anyone. Can you teach me how to keep from being controlled?”

“I know of a couple different ways, although neither
worked for me. I can still be mastered.”

“Then how do you know they work?”

“I don’t. It’s only hearsay.”

Emmeline sagged into her chair. “What do I have to do?”

“It won’t be easy. It will be painful and grueling and will demand all the strength you have and much more. You will want to give up. And there is a good chance you’ll never succeed.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Flora wrung her hands together and looked on the verge of tears. “I hate to cause you such pain. This never would have been necessary if we hadn’t been found.”

“If who hadn’t been
found?”

Flora looked away.
“My only daughter, your mother. She was an adventurous little thing. She liked to explore the forest surrounding our home and I let her. I should have been more careful to keep her safe.”

“What happened?”

“She was taken three weeks before her fourteenth birthday. I searched for her for five long years. Every day was agony.

“W
hen she married my father she was free.”

“
I don’t know how she escaped her master. Perhaps he released her.”

“I think I saw her in a dream, or a
vision, I guess you could call it.”

Flora leaned forward. “What did you see?”

“My mother was looking for something. I don’t know what. Someone was pounding on her door and she seemed frightened. When she didn’t find what she was looking for, she gave up and took out the knife.”

“She was looking for something?”

“She tore through her armoire like her life depended on it.” Emmeline swallowed. Perhaps her life
had
depended on it.

Flora’s brow creased. “Interesting.”

“What is interesting?”

“Never mind. W
e have much to do. How long do we have until Tiergan releases you from Cantil’s Pit?”

“A little less than six weeks
.”

“
That is not very much time. We will have to very work hard if you want any chance of maintaining control against him.”

“I
can’t let him control me. I know his plans. He wants to subjugate every kingdom to his rule, no matter how many people he has to repress or kill along the way. He plans on using me to destroy anyone else who challenges him. I’d rather follow in my mother’s footsteps than be responsible for so much pain.”

Flora stood and embraced her.
“I know, child. You are your mother’s daughter. My sweet girl suffered for my carelessness, but I won’t let you suffer for it as well. Your death is not an option.”

Emmeline
bit her lip. Death still had to be an option, and if she couldn’t use her power to kill Demyan, it might be the only option she had left.

“
You must go now,” Flora said. “The sun will rise soon. Tomorrow we will work.”