Witch Queen (26 page)

“Well,” she said after a long pause. “I can
layer it so it won’t show. And then I’ll braid it together after
it’s washed. It’ll be fine. I’m sure there’s a beautiful young
woman somewhere under all that grime.”

Celeste led me to the bathing chamber and
once I’d peeled my blood-encrusted clothes off and tossed them in a
corner, I sank into a glorious hot wooden tub. Unlike the
concubines back at the golden temple, the witch maid’s touch was
gentle. She rubbed lavender-smelling oils into my hair, and
together we managed to rub and scrape away a month’s worth of
grime.

When we were done, she gave me new
underclothes and pulled a long white shift over my head.

“You’ll need this, too,” said the witch
maid. She wrapped my shoulders with a soft wool robe and tied it
with a belt.

“It gets really cold here in the fortress.
Even with a fire going, the chill never seems to want to
leave.”

She handed me some soft leather slippers,
and as I slipped them onto my feet, there was a knock at the door.
We both looked at each other.

“Are you expecting visitors?” asked
Celeste.

I shrugged. Maybe the witch king had changed
his mind, and I was about to be tossed into the oubliette.

Celeste walked across the room and opened
the door.

Prince Aurion sauntered into my
bedchamber.

“Good evening, Elena.”

CHAPTER 21

M
Y HEART SLAMMED INTO my chest, and I
had to catch my breath.

The prince had changed into a black silk
robe that glistened like liquid night. His pale skin and sparkling
hair stood out like stars in the night sky. He had braided his long
silver hair so that it came over his shoulder, and the low vee in
his robe revealed muscles that must have taken years to develop. He
looked ready for bed, unless he was ready for something else…

There was no denying the prince was
unnaturally beautiful. Everything about him screamed masculinity
and sensuality. Female witches probably threw themselves at his
feet. And there was something intriguing about his eyes, too. When
I realized I’d been staring for too long to be appropriate, I
blushed and turned away. If my heart hadn’t already belonged to
Jon, I would have been tempted to rip off his robe, just to take a
peek inside.

But my heart
did
belong to someone
else. And that would never change, no matter how delicious the
prince looked.

“What the
hell
are you doing here?” I
yelled once I found my voice. I doubted that he cared whether or
not I used the proper decorum.

Celeste’s pale face flushed a deep red. She
fell into such a low curtsy that I was amazed she didn’t fall
over.

“Prince Aurion,” she mumbled and then
something else I couldn’t catch.

I straightened up and said, “Get out, witch
prince. You have no right to be here.”

He laughed heartlessly. “I have every right.
This is my home.”

His eyes gleamed, and I felt my face burn a
little more.

“Every room in this rather gloomy fortress
belongs to me and my family. You can leave us, witch maid.” His
voice was rich and easy on his sensuous lips.

Celeste stole a hesitant look at me, and I
could see that she looked frightened.

“Wait,” I said to her. “Please don’t leave,
Celeste. I still need you to help me—”

“Yes, please leave,” ordered the prince.

He gestured towards the door. “You’re
dismissed for the night.”

His boldness was causing me to panic. What
the hell was happening?

Celeste curtsied even lower and stayed that
way as she backed away and closed the door behind her.

“Her name is
Celeste
,” I hissed. I
felt protective of her. I wasn’t in the mood for this pompous
prick.

“Whose name?” said Aurion.

He ventured deeper into my bedchamber and
made a cursory inspection of the furnishings. His black robe
swished against his long, toned legs as he strolled barefoot around
the room.

It infuriated me that he couldn’t care less
about learning the names of the witches that served under him. He
was as arrogant as the nobles from Arcania.

But I was more infuriated that he thought I
might be easily bedded.

I clenched my jaw, and my blood ran hot. I
didn’t know much about the rules of witch etiquette, but I was
pretty certain that princes didn’t pop by to visit prisoners at
this late hour unless they wanted sex.

“What do you want?” I snapped. “Shouldn’t
you be ordering witches around or something? Don’t you have
princely duties?”

I didn’t care how handsome he was. I would
never betray my Jon. Never.

The prince turned.

“What do
I
want?” he purred.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as
he looked over my body, very, very slowly. He moved from my hips to
my breasts to my lips and finally came to rest on my eyes.

I crossed my arms over my chest, not that I
had much to hide, but I couldn’t hide the blush on my face. I was
angry that my body betrayed me and let this pretty boy excite
me.

The prince smiled. “I can see why my
father’s infatuated by you. You’re even more beautiful with your
hair like that.”

His voice was low, erotic, and sensuous, and
I continued to blush.

“You mean, clean?” I glowered. “Flattery
won’t get you anything. There’s nothing for you here, witch
prince.”

Aurion raised his eyebrow. “Feisty, daring,
brave, all the qualities of a true steel maiden. No witch has ever
been so forward and bold with me before. It’s refreshing
and…
exciting
.”

I stood with my hands on my hips and glared
at this fool.

“Get out, or I’ll…I’ll…”

“You’ll what?” mocked the prince as he
sauntered farther into my room.

“Scream? Go ahead. Scream. I dare you.”

He glanced around the room casually. “I
haven’t been in this part of my father’s fortress in years. Ever
since…”

His eyes clouded over for a moment, lost in
some thought, and I could almost see a trace of sadness there.

Part of me wanted to ask him what, but my
gut told me he was trouble and that I should stay as far away from
him as I could.

He whirled around, stalked to the bed with
feline grace and hauled himself onto it in one fluid movement. He
lay comfortably on the bed with his fingers laced behind his head.
His robe slipped a little from his right shoulder and revealed his
smooth hairless chest and part of his right nipple.

Goddess above
. He was beautiful, too
beautiful. His cheeky grin showed that he knew exactly the effect
he had on women—the kind that got them into trouble.

It took all my strength to stare back into
his eyes. I raised my chin. “I won’t.”

The prince laughed—low, intimately, and
mischievously. “You won’t
what
?”

“Stop playing games.” I rubbed my temples
and let out an exasperated breath. “I’m tired. I’ve just crossed an
entire country and barely survived. Your father has scheduled these
witch trials for me tomorrow, so I need my rest.”

“Ah yes, the infamous witch trials, my
father’s idea of entertainment. I’ve always found them quite
barbaric, really. They will make or break you.”

Aurion watched me intensely. His gaze was
haunting.

“I don’t know why my father’s so obsessed
with whether or not you are the last of the steel maidens. What
difference will it make? But he is the witch king, and we must obey
our king.”

He patted a spot on the bed next to him.

“Come,” he breathed. “Let’s talk about your
trials tomorrow. I promise I won’t bite…not unless you want me
too.”

I let out a harsh laugh. “I don’t think so.
Let me just tell it to you straight—nothing’s
ever
going to
happen between you and me.”

The prince raised his brows and smiled.

“I can’t imagine what it must have been
like, to have been raised in that dump you call the Pit. It must
have been terrible for you to have been a witch and lost in
that
part of the human world. I can’t imagine what
atrocities you suffered.

“Come.” He patted the bed again. “Come and
tell me about it. I love a good bedtime story.”

“If you’re trying to seduce me by flaunting
your naked body,” I said, doing my best
not
to look at it,
“it’s not going to work. You might as well leave now before anyone
knows you’re here. You wouldn’t want your reputation to be soiled
by being seen alone with a tainted human from the Pit.”

The prince’s eyes traveled slowly across my
body again before he murmured, “But the bruised fruit is the
sweetest part.”

Goddess help me.
My face burned, but
I tried to look indifferent.

“Besides,” purred the prince, “your human
blood is what I find most intriguing and unique. Human and witch
all bundled up in such a tempting package. It’s just too perfect,
too beautiful to pass up.”

Something flashed in his eyes. “I always get
what I
want
.”

“There are probably
loads
of witches,
all hot and bothered, waiting for you in their beds,” I said,
exasperatedly. “Can’t you just go to them? I’ll never give you want
you want, so you’re wasting your time.”

I let out a sigh. “I’m really, really tired,
and that’s the truth. I don’t have time for this. Please, please
leave.”

The prince shook his head and looked
stunned.

“Is that what you think? That I’d whore
myself with any willing idiot? That I sneak into unsuspecting
witches’ bedchambers in the middle of the night for a little
roll?”

Aurion laughed, and it surprised me how
genuine he sounded. “Come, come, Elena. I’m not that witch. Trust
me.”

I laughed incredulously. “Trust you? Hell, I
don’t even
know
you.”

He sighed sensuously and smiled.

I raised my brows in a silent question.

“No, no you don’t,” he answered.

He raked his right hand through his hair,
and I could see a large golden ring set with a jewel on his index
finger. A magecraft.

“Your magic won’t work on me,” I said
quickly.

He caught me staring at his ring.

“Do you want to test that theory? How about
we have our own preliminary trials? Just you and me? I want to get
to know you—”

“Horseshit.”

I was so exhausted that I wasn’t even
certain this was happening. I needed sleep. I needed to prepare for
tomorrow.
Why wouldn’t he just go away?

“Please,” I sighed. “Please just go away.
I’m too tired for this.”

I held my face in my hands and closed my
eyes.

I heard the squeaking of wood, and the
prince left the bed and strode across the floor. I feared he was
going to grab me and moved automatically to reach for my sword,
even though I had been disarmed. I balled my hands into fists, but
the prince walked right by me and went to the door.

I watched him go with mixed emotions. I was
glad that he was finally leaving but perplexed as to why he had
come here in the first place if he had not wanted to get me into
bed with him.

“So why did you come then,” I asked and
lowered my hands. “If not to seduce me with your charms?”

The prince’s face hardened as he stood next
to the door. “To give you a warning.”

“What warning?”

“Watch out for the witch queen,” he said
seriously. “She will stop at nothing to kill you.”

I was amazed at what he’d just said.

“You would warn me against your own mother?
You don’t even know me?”

The witch prince’s eyes gleamed
mysteriously, and his expression darkened.

“She’s
not
my mother.”

The bedchamber banged closed, and he was
gone in a flurry of robes.

CHAPTER 22