A Hymn of Snakes

EIGHTEEN

     "Your majesty, please arrest this witch immediately!" Ambassador Teodorescu called out, yelling as I walked into the throne room following the Vampires who held onto my arms. His anger had destroyed a study after he found out I had put the witch to eternal sleep. "This infuriating woman seems to think she can do whatever she wants." He cursed in Romanian, all of court turning to me as Holstein stood in the corner perplexed. I shrugged my shoulders at him in response.

I argued as I pulled my arms off of the guards who drug me around, I rolled my eyes as I set my eyes on the blonde Queen. "She was already dying, it was either going to be a painful one or a fast one." All bowed before the Queen, as usual her pheromones were thick in the air. Her face crossed with confusion and fury, just as the Queen always looked.

The Ambassador surprised me as he yelled from the top of his lungs, "It wasn't your call to make." He really hated me.

I don't think I could ever blame him for hating me, the Ambassador's job was to do whatever he could to protect the Queen and his people. He don't trust me because he thinks I'm going to betray the Vampiric court, I don't think anyone will ever trust me again. That was the curse I lived with but there was nothing I could do. The Queen sighed as she looked between us, "Ambassador Teodorescu, tell me what happened." I felt persecuted, strung up and on trial as I tried to push all my anger and Ithe down.

"She killed the witch prisoner." Ambassador said as murmurs blistered in every corner of the room, the hair on the back of my neck rising with it.

I shook my head, I was direly not in the mood for this. "That's not what happened." My voice came out strong.

The Queen listed a brow at me her thumb rubbed against the golden decorum of her throne, her other hand resting around her neck as she watched me. It was hard to ignore that I was the only human in an entire room of Vampires. "Then tell me what did happen Delia." The Queen excused, the breath in my lungs tightened as I tried to focus on something else.

Alma's face came to mind, my ghosts watching me as they darted around the safety of their death. Anger was all I felt now, grief slipped through my fingers with ease. Ithe tempted the edge of my tongue as I spoke, "Natalia Amilcar has turned the witches into her slaves, carving her name into them to bind them to her." When the False Queen's face came to mind, Ithe steered my memories. I should have killed her when I had the chance. Now she was killing more and more people, all because I couldn't kill her. I wouldn't make that same mistake every again, "Meaning if they even mention anything about what she's done or her name they become cursed for a slow and painful death. I didn't want that for the prisoner, so I did it myself." Killer. The whispers began as if these Vampires have never killed a mortal woman.

The Queen quickly understood, her eyes resting now in Teodorescu as he nervously stood in the wake of my rage. "I see no problem with that Ambassador." The Queen believed me because she trusts me, but I also know that if I ever came to betray her- no matter how close Holstein and I have gotten.She would snap her fingers for him to kill me, "Is there anything else you can tell us about Natalia's legion?" She asked me, but I didn't know what I could tell her.

Natalia had done her best to remain hidden from my magical ability, the Lost's shadow only told me enough to know how the curse worked. Other than that- she had done all she could to stay away from me. It only tempted me more, this came of cat and mouse would soon end. However, it would be Natalia's head on the chopping block. "The witches have created something called the Sundown Curse, it takes a mortal witch sacrifice but if it's done then all the Vampires in the area will go Lost." I explained court boomed with worry.

"Is there a way to stop it?" Someone in the crowd asked and I knew I had their proper attention, a smile grew on the edges of my face as I shook my head.