Bitter Revenge

Chapter 22

(Stella King's POV)

What in the world were you thinking Fiona?! Admitting to murder?! For goodness sake. I'd never been so nervous in the history of ever. We were surrounded by trees and other members of the Royal Coven, including my best friend Harley. She didn't know I'd been living with Fiona for the past month. I felt my palms sweat as I watched my High Priestess's face contort in anger at Fiona's nonchalance. "Then you'll be burnt at the stake in 3 days time." The growl in her tone made me shiver, but what she actually said struck fear in me. Damnit!

***

Fiona had gone down and I could do nothing but watch. I was so overwhelmed from the new information and my aunt arriving that I literally couldn't think at this rate. "Stella? Your response?" I turned back to my aunt, swallowing my fear to try and respond. "Auntie, I-" But she wasn't having any of it. "High Priestess." She corrected me sternly and I bowed my head, sighing. So she's that serious about this huh.. "I was investigating her for you, trying to get answers out of her."

I wasn't technically lying. From the corner of my eye, I watched the fortis witch pick Fiona up and carelessly throw her over his shoulder. I could see a bruise forming around her right eye, alongside the reopened scar on her eyebrow leaking blood onto my floor , and her typically neutral but tense face was now soft but bruised. They carried her out and my gaze stayed on her until she was out of sight. "Your intention was kind Stella, but I'm sorry to say you are just wasting your time my love. That leech doesn't deserve a second glance, I'll handle her." That's precisely what I'm worried about.

After a few hours of being back at the Royal Woods, which is basically what we call the Royal Coven's hideout. I started getting seriously fucking worried. After talking to Fiona, my mind and heart finally agreed that she did nothing wrong really. It was a necessity, and she even had the decency to control herself and hunt down bad guys. But I can't just say that to my aunt, she's the High Priestess for fucks sake! She has her heart set on having Fiona dead, I've always known that. What do I do now? I'd resorted to pacing around in my old office, back when I used to work as a media manager and did everything electronically.

I couldn't help but to think back on the last couple of days and the deep sensation of guilt in my stomach. I couldn't help but remember waking up to a warm cup of coffee and breakfast every day, coming home from a long day of work to see Fiona in an apron cooking with a smile on her face, getting to hear fun facts about her for weeks... and then there was the whole Calvin situation. She was so sweet to me, so accommodating. She doesn't deserve to be burnt alive. I wandered into the cell keep we have under the Tree of Trials, it is exactly what it sounds like. A huge hollow tree that represents a Court, and underneath it is where criminals are kept. I wandered down the dark and cold steps, using my ignis magic to light the steps. The guard let me through no problem, seeing as I'm the niece of the High Priestess.

I wandered past multiple empty cells until I finally found her. A small, curled up vampire, a bruise on her right eye that for some reason hadn't healed yet with now dried blood spotted and streaked around her face and smoke rising from her wrists and ankles. Her regeneration prevented the iron from burning through her, but the skin underneath was red and raw. Her face was calm, but sad. It made my heart ache, she seriously didn't deserve this. She was nothing but nice to me, and in turn, she got locked up. "I'm sorry." I whispered, feeling my eyes well up at the overwhelming guilt and shame. "You have nothing to be sorry for..." She muttered, I barely heard her. But hearing her say it wasn't my fault, it made the tears rush down my cheeks and for sobs to escape me. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

***

They fucking tied her to a wooden log. Her hands were cuffed, steel this time, around the log behind her back, but her forearms were tied with rope to prevent her from using her unnatural strength to rip free. Her eye was still bruised, it wouldn't heal. And her wrists and ankles were rubbed raw alongside the scar over her right eye, they wouldn't heal either. That's when I realized she never changed out of her pajamas, so she was sitting on cold wood, in the wind, with navy blue cotton shorts that stopped mid-thigh and a black tank top that barely covered the gray Calvin Klein bra she had on underneath. The exposition of skin revealed many scars, mostly peeking out from behind the tank top on her back. It kinda reminded me of the first day I took her to Bunny's Burrow with me, I saw the huge scar then too. I sat next to her, keeping her company now that everyone had left her out in the cold.

"I'm so sorry Fiona. I'm sorry." I turned my head to look at her, and was shocked to see she was already looking at me. "It's fine I guess, being burnt at the stake can't be that bad." I scowled at her, not appreciating her joke. She just kept smiling her stupidly cute smile and then leaned her head back on the log. "I wish I had my beanie on me. Or my wallet. But I guess it's better, I wouldn't want them getting burnt." I gave her a strange look, seriously? That's what she's thinking about right now? "Ah crap, will Cris think I just left forever? Hey, you should tell her for me-" I got fed up with her untimely jokes. "Are you serious Fiona? You've just been told you're about to die and all you can think about is your beanie, wallet, and Cristina? Shouldn't you be furious with me for getting you in this situation? Aren't you worried about yourself, or your family?!"

She turned to look at me coldly, it made a shiver run down my spine. "Shouldn't I be worried about my family? I am. That's why I brought up Cris. She is my family." It took me a second before what she said reached my brain. My frown deepened and I could feel my warm heart clench. "You don't... have your family around?" She just chuckled emptily, her head hanging as she brought her legs up to her chest. "Well, I was turned, Strawberry. I was human at some point. Even if they hadn't died when they did, they would've from age." My heart throbbed for a minute, and I just stayed quiet, hoping to hear her tale.

She sighed, catching on to my curiosity. "Where do I begin? Well, I grew up in a pretty shitty household. My stupid mother was a bitch and my father was merely a sheep following in her footsteps, although I would pick my father over that bitch any day. At least he only laid a hand on me when it seemed like I did something wrong, unlike my mother who just couldn't stand having a conversation with me." I bit my lip and placed my finger on the gnarly scar on her back, silently asking a question without really asking it. "That was my mother. She pushed me into the kitchen island and I tripped, causing the sharp edge to rip my skin off."

I hissed at how painful it must've been. "Anyway, my Father was at least interesting. He was Japanese and grew up in Japan, so I got to learn some Japanese from him and some customs. My Mother on the other hand was just a bitter asshole who wanted to do nothing except lay around and abuse her daughters." She rolled her eyes, growling at the memory. Until we both simultaneously realized what she said. "Wait- daughters?" She tensed and swallowed a knot that had formed in her throat, planting her feet better on the ground as if ready to fight. "Uhm.. Yeah. I had a little sister, a very long time ago." She clearly didn't seem comfortable, and I just couldn't push her anymore. "You don't have to-"

"No." She cut in, raising her head to look at me. Her blue eye turned a reddish tone, and her cool-gray eye turned warmer, almost pink. "I want to. If I'm going to die 3 days from now, I want to die knowing I got to at least tell someone about her." I looked up at the sky, seeing the orange and purple from the sun setting. The temperature was dropping quickly, and the trees were causing the darkness to come quicker. I lit my finger on fire so we could look at each other better and then moved to sit in front of her. "I'll listen. I promise."

She let out a shaky breath, and I drilled my eyes into her. "She was 2 years younger than me, and if you asked anyone back then, they'd tell you she was an angel. Despite our situation at home, she carried herself with such positivity and happiness. She was my better half, and I hate that she was taken too early from this world. I never allowed our mother OR father to lay a hand on her, ever. I promised I'd protect her, and I did just that until the day I found her burning alive in the kitchen." I gulped at the thought, feeling sick to my stomach. "I can't tell you how, or why, or who. All I know is one night, I heard her screaming. I rushed downstairs and saw her literally burning alive. I tried everything but, I'd been too late. And then, there was a noise outside the living room window and when I turned to look, some shadowy figure was running away from our house. She was dead. I'd failed in protecting her."

Her voice was trembling, all of her was. She was clearly traumatized, and she clearly hadn't had enough time to comprehend it. "A-and since then, I've been wanting to find the damn asshole who killed her. But I don't know how, I have no leads, I don't even know if it was a man or woman!" I could see her grit her teeth, and as she looked over my shoulder, I could see her eyes start turning a sharper and fiercer red. "You better go." Her tone growled at me, and I felt a bit hurt by her comment but stood up and walked away. I'll get you out before the third day. Somehow.