Steel Maiden (31 page)

“Really?” I said. “That was five years ago,
I was fourteen then, stubborn as hell and foolish.”

A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips.
“You haven’t changed, not really.”

I found myself laughing with him.

“I know I’m a bit of a hardhead. I’m
headstrong, and I do what I want, when I want. You can laugh all
you want, but I’ll have you know there are worse faults, like being
vain and prejudiced. Rose always said I was as stubborn as a mule,
and that one day I would pay for it.”

I sighed. “I should have listened to her,
because I
am
paying for it now. I should never have gone
after that stupid Anglian crown. But I did. And now look at the
mess we’re in because of me. I’m such an idiot.”

Jon let out a low groan. “Can you ever
forgive me?” he said.

The sadness in his eyes went straight to my
heart. Jon might have played a role in all this mess, but
I
had delivered the crown. It was my mistake, and I had to own up to
it.

I leaned a little closer to him.

“Maybe,” I teased. “If you give me what I
want, I might forgive you.”

He laughed softly and placed a strand of my
hair behind my ear. “Really? And what’s that?”

“A kiss.” My heart raced.

He looked mildly surprised at my boldness,
but then gradually his smile broadened.

“That’s it? Just a kiss?”

I raised my eyebrows. “Well, it better be a
damn good one.”

Jon flashed a smile and then leaned in. His
lips brushed against mine, soft at first and hesitant, like he
thought I might pull away. But I didn’t.

I leaned in, and he kissed me harder,
crushing his mouth against mine. A wild passion exploded in me as
our tongues touched and explored. His touch felt so soothing and
vibrant.

I kissed him with more intensity. His scent
and kisses lulled me into a trance. I breathed in his smell, and it
woke something primal inside me.

I had kissed my share of men, particularly
during my younger years in the Pit, and I had even added a prince
to my list. But with Jon, it was different. He kissed with a
gentleness and caution that made his kiss into a vow. It was a
promise of his love, a promise that he was mine and always would
be.

“It’s always been you, Elena,” he whispered
against my lips.

He pulled back a fraction, cupped my face
with his hands, and looked at me.

I swallowed hard.

He kissed my neck and my cheeks and then
went back to my lips again. We kissed without finding breath, and
his hand slid down my arm to my waist. My pulse pounded at the heat
of his hands.

He growled softly as I reached down and
unbuckled his belt. I yanked off his shirt and threw it to the
ground. My hands moved over his muscled chest as a ravenous
unyielding sort of hunger welled in me.

He grabbed my wrists and pushed me to the
ground, straddling me. While he worked to take off my breeches, I
raised my shift and tunic over my head and tossed them in the grass
beside his shirt. I was completely naked, and although I wished I
had some of the feminine curves the concubines had, Jon did not
seem in any way disappointed as he inspected me from my breasts to
my thighs.

“If you don’t stop me now,” he breathed, his
chest rising and falling rapidly. “I won’t be able to stop.”

I reached over and yanked his pants down. “I
don’t want you to stop.”

He kicked off his pants and lowered himself
over me. I hooked my legs over his thighs, and pulled him against
me. He was heavy, but it was a good heavy. The heat of his body
against my skin was electric. Our hands explored our bodies, and I
could feel nothing but his touch, his lips, the sound of his voice,
his scent. I sucked in a breath. I hadn’t realized how much I
wanted him. My desire filled me, body and soul.

I didn’t care that the witches might stroll
by and discover us. There was only Jon and me.

I wanted him. My body rose to take him, all
of him. My eyes gleamed with tears, and I became a breathless
tumble of sensations. We locked together, and the world revolved
around us.

CHAPTER 31

W
E RETURNED TO THE castle at sunset.
Jon told me it was called Kindling Castle, and that it was a
sanctuary for all things magic. It was also a school for witchcraft
where witchlings, the young witch apprentices, learned all about
magic.

I couldn’t help but envy the young girls. I
would have given anything to have been one of them and to have
grown up here instead of in the Pit.

As we walked I wondered why my mother hadn’t
come back here with me. I wouldn’t have been the same person I was
today if I had grown up in a sheltered and nurturing place like
this, if I had gown up surrounded by magic. I could have had
friends and learned about my abilities. Maybe she didn’t want to
give up on the man she loved? Maybe she didn’t realize how much
danger she was in? I would never know.

The log castle looked welcoming. Light
spilled through the large windows, and the last of the sun glowed
behind us, so that everything on the hillside threw a double
shadow. A cool breeze rose, and I salivated at the smell of meat
roasting.

I followed Jon to the dining hall where rows
of long tables with white tablecloths were arranged side by side.
The air was filled with conversations and the sweet scent of food.
We moved to the large buffet table, and I topped my plate with
sweet potatoes, roasted chicken, boiled carrots, rice, bread, and a
slice of meat pie.

Jon looked down at my plate and gave me an
approving smirk. My face warmed. I wasn’t sure if the witches
sensed the feelings we shared for each other, but I knew that Jon
and I shared an unbreakable bond.

I had grown up not trusting men. My attitude
towards relationships was pretty dysfunctional, and I had always
kept a wall around my heart. But now my wall had lifted, and Jon
and I were joined together with a connection so strong that I felt
it in my soul. I never believed in soul mates, but if I did, Jon
would be mine.

Ada waved us over to her table, the only
table that sat on a slightly raised platform.

We took our seats facing the high witch and
two other witches. The first was a middle-aged witch by the name of
Sylvia who had been responsible for stitching up the back of my
neck. Sylvia was from the White Witches clan and wore an
earth-colored gown with blue trim. She had a pleasant face and
short hair with tight gray and white curls. The other was named
Maya, a dark-skinned witch in a sun-colored gown. She had silver
eyes and a stern expression. Maya was from the Augur clan, the
seers. She was completely bald, and her strange eyes sent a shiver
rippling through me. I tried not to look at her while we discussed
our travel plans for early the next morning.

“What do I do when I get the stone back?” I
asked through a mouthful of potatoes.

I swallowed and watched as some unspoken
communication passed between them.

“Do I take it back to Hollowmere?”

“No,” said Ada. “That place is spent now. We
must find another safe place to hide it. Away from the priests,
somewhere where they can never find it.”

She drummed her gnarled fingers on the
table. “Bring it here. We’ll need to convene with the other witch
clans, and then we’ll make a decision.”

The witches fell silent. I felt Maya’s
strange piercing stare, but I did my best to ignore it.

Jon took a sip of his wine and placed his
goblet on the table.

“Can’t we use the stone against the priests?
If it’s as powerful as you claim, why can’t we use it against them?
You said it was a weapon, so let’s use it. Let’s get rid of the
priests once and for all.”

Ada shook her head. “It’s not that simple,
Jon. You cannot wield the stone, none of us can.”

“Elena can,” said Jon.

He tapped his finger on his glass. “Surely
she
can use it. You said it yourself. Elena is the only one
who can even touch the damn thing.”

“Touching the stone and wielding it are two
different things.”

Sylvia looked at me. “While you can
touch
it, you will never
wield
it like you would a
sword or a knife. You can’t control it. Eventually you would lose
yourself to it. You would become something else, something not
human. The stone was not meant to be handled by a mortal, man or
witch. Its power would kill you.”

“Are you sure?” I dabbed my mouth with a
napkin. “Jon might be right. What if I
can
manipulate it?
You said it yourself that I was immune to most magic, maybe even to
the magic of the stone. I was able to touch it when no one else
could. I felt its power, truly I did, and I didn’t lose myself to
it. It never took control of me. If I can wield the stone, and if
it’s as powerful as you claim, then I should try. It would be
foolish not to.”

Maya reached across the table and grabbed my
hands. I was surprised at her strength.

“You would be foolish to try.”

Maya watched me, and I couldn’t look away
from her unsettling silver eyes. “I’ve seen it. I’ve seen
you
.”

The blood left my face and I swallowed.

“You’ve seen
me
? Like in a vision?
What was the vision? What did you see?”

I felt Jon tense next to me, still uneasy
with all things supernatural.

“Not now, Maya,” hissed Ada. She had noticed
Jon’s discomfort.

“Elena’s already been through enough. No
need to fill her head with nonsense about what might or could come
to pass.”

I shifted in my seat. My curiosity was much
stronger than my fears.

“It’s not nonsense,” said Maya. Her eyes
glinted with anger, and I could hear the annoyance in her voice.
“Just truths of what may be and—”

“—and what very well may
not be
.” Ada
glared at Maya.

When Maya turned back to me, I looked into
those silver eyes and squeezed her hands. “Tell me. I want to
know.”

Maya smiled at me from her end of the
table.

“I will tell you this. Steel maidens are
dangerous because their blood magic is dark and can easily turn to
evil. If you use the stone, your soul will gradually become
corrupted until you become a twisted dark imitation of yourself, a
specter. If you use the stone you will die.”

She let go of my hands. I was stunned.

I could feel all their eyes on me. I didn’t
know what I’d expected her to say, but I never expected her to tell
me I was going to die if I used the stone. While Maya’s visions
only predicted what
might
happen in the future, I still felt
ice crawl up my spine. She had seen me die in a vision. I drew a
long, shaky breath.

“Best bring it here,” said Ada, turning her
attention back to what I should do if I got the stone.

She gave me a gentle smile. “We can keep it
safe until we find a better solution.”

The three elder witches nodded their heads,
but it didn’t sound promising to me. I chose to keep my mouth shut
on the subject. An ominous silence fell over us and lasted
throughout dinner.

* * *

We left Gray Havens with a heavy heart. I
had felt at home with the witches. We said our goodbyes to Ada and
the others, and I was surprised at the number of them who had risen
so earlier to see us off. I had the suspicion that many of the
younger witches had come to feast their eyes on Jon one last time.
And I couldn’t blame them.

Will and Leo got fresh horses while I rode
Torak, and Jon was back on his white mare, Starlight. The two men
avoided my gaze and kept as far away as they could from me. It was
clear they didn’t like traveling with me. Perhaps they would have
left me to die, just as the prince had done. I tried not to let
their unfriendliness bother me, but it did.

We traveled south towards Soul City, and the
rising sun in the east painted the sky in hues of pink. It was a
glorious morning, but it wouldn’t last. We rode our horses hard to
catch up to Prince Landon. He had a date with my fist.

After just a day with plenty of food and
rest, and I felt stronger than ever. And yet I still felt a sting
at the back of my neck with every bounce. The red monk’s poison was
a constant reminder that I wasn’t immortal, and that we were up
against black magic.

It seemed preposterous to think that the
high priests could be dabbling in black magic. They had banished
everything magic.
What would it mean if they had it, and
why?
The stone was connected to all of this, and I was going to
find out exactly what that connection was.

I learned from Jon that the others from the
Pit hadn’t survived, so it was going to be the three of us against
Landon’s company. If my numbers were correct there were nine of
them, eight men, and the woman, Thea.