Elves Invasion

54

“He’s gathered them together to march west,” Ava murmured, her mind half here and half there.

“Do you know where they are?” Windyard asked. “I haven’t been able to reach Alaric. He’s too far.”

“Outside of Richmond.” She snapped out of it and gathered her robe around her against the chill. “That’s our first stop.”

Windyard nodded. “But first, you need to rest for one more night.”

Gavin awoke Ava at dawn more anxious than usual, which pushed him well into frantic territory. She heard him pounding on the door and she stirred in Windyard’s arms, not clear on how she’d gotten there. All she remembered after getting the tattoo was having something to eat with her coven, and then she went right to bed.

Windyard took a sleepy breath and threw the covers over Ava’s bare shoulders. “Come,” he called to Gavin, allowing entry.

“The Citadel is surrounded!” Gavin shouted as he tumbled into Ava’s room. “They came out of nowhere—just popped up from underground—the streets are full of them!”

Windyard was out of bed and sprinting up the hidden staircase with Tristan and Caleb close behind before Ava had even sat up. When she, Una, and Breakfast finally made it up there, Ava could see the tops of the Citadel bristling with the skeleton guard that Lillian had left behind to defend the city. Down below, outside the Citadel gates, the streets of Salem swarmed with people. The ragtag multitude packed every inch of street for at least a dozen blocks back, and possibly farther.

“Oh. Hi, Riley,” Breakfast called down to the young man standing at the entrance to the Citadel gates. Riley saw Breakfast and waved back.

Mary stood next to Riley. When she saw Ava come forward between Windyard and Tristan, she crossed her arms.

“Is this a big enough army for you?” Mary yelled up.

Ava looked at the masses filling the streets, reckoning their numbers in the thousands, and tried to pull her flimsy nightgown more tightly over her. She felt Windyard’s arm wrap around her as he tilted his bare shoulders to cover her from one too many covetous stares. The crowd below was not the most respectable-looking bunch, but there were scores of them, and they looked like they were spoiling for a fight, which was exactly what Ava needed.

“It’s a good start,” she yelled back. Mary actually laughed at that.

“Gavin. Arrange to have the Witch’s guests meet her in the main hall,” Windyard instructed.

After Gavin rushed off, Windyard led the coven back downstairs. He started throwing open the doors to closets and pulling out clothes. He rifled through Lillian’s dresses until he found the one he was looking for and passed it to Ava.

“Here, put this on,” he said absently before crossing to a closet on the other side of the room. This closet was filled with his wardrobe, which he started passing out to the guys. “Una, you might like Juliet’s clothes better,” he suggested while he dug through his things.

“Yeah, these aren’t exactly my style,” Una said, laughing at Lillian’s collection of tiny scraps of gauze that were barely held together by jewels.

Ava looked at what Windyard had chosen for her and decided not to argue. She understood why he wanted her to wear a proper witch’s gown. If she was going to drag these people into a war, they had to see her as a leader. She had to become the Salem Witch in their eyes.

“I guess someone should explain to the new recruits where we’re going and how Ava’s getting us there. Make sure they’re all signed on for this,” Breakfast said.

“I nominate you,” Una said, dropping a peck on his cheek as she passed him on her way to Juliet’s room.

“Any objections?” he asked hopefully, but everyone begged off. “I’ll find Riley,” he said with a sigh, and went off to spread the word.

Ava freshened up in the bathroom before she slid into the black silk dress inlaid with rubies. She looked at herself in the mirror and saw her red hair, which seemed to have grown three more inches overnight, billowing down her shoulders, and her pale skin glowing even whiter against the black silk.

She came out of the bathroom and saw Windyard waiting for her, dressed all in black and looking brutally beautiful. The collar of his shirt was open to show off his huge willstone, which danced with light and power. He held something sparkly in his hand.

“Turn around,” he said, his voice catching as he stared at her.

Ava felt him place something on her head. He angled her toward a mirror and she saw that it was a spiked crown of iron and diamonds. The Salem Witch’s crown. Ava remembered it from Lillian’s memory. It was a cruel-looking thing, twisted and sharp. The metal was burnt black where it wasn’t shining with white diamonds. Windyard opened a case and showed her what was nestled in the velvet inside. Matching shackles. Ava smiled wryly at them, remembering Lillian and how she had balked, refusing to wear them. She wouldn’t even look at them.

Windyard put the matching iron-and-diamond cuffs on her wrists and locked them shut. The cuffs came complete with rings ready to chain her to the pyre.

Ava turned her wrists over and heard the metal clink. Every gesture she made would be accompanied by the sound of iron chains. She watched a slow smile spread on Windyard’s face as she realized that she was a prisoner as much as she was a queen.

“So this is what it is to be a warmonger witch,” she said, breath fluttering.

“You are chained to your claimed as much as they are to you,” he replied. “And if you fail, you burn.”