Requiem of the Villainess

Chapter Five: The Barbarian Witch

Chapter Five: The Barbarian Witch

If I could have described Medea in only two words, it would be 'wicked beauty.' Her voluptous body and considerable bosom was a lure for lustful men, no doubt. But it was merely the pretty, shiny light that an anglerfish dangled before a trap of deadly teeth snapped upon them. Her blonde hair flowed like a golden river, its full volume somewhat compressed by the black witch hat she wore, the hem decorated with a circle of blood-red roses sewn into the fabric.

Her seductive face was drawn up in a devious smirk that seemed to be permanently present, as though it had been painted onto her face.

Narrowed green eyes focused in on me, the sickly green of vomit. Indeed, her wicked beauty would have been enough to make some people puke. It was overwhelming, almost too much for mere mortals to handle. A crimson pendant in the shape of an eye dangled from her neck, with a sharp, vertical pupil like a snake. I couldn't tell if I was imagining it or not, but it seemed to blink. In her gloved hands, she grasped a thin wooden staff with a silver top in the shape of a dragon's head, complete with snarling jaws.

After gracing Morrigan and I with her inhuman presence, Medea spoke. "Welcome to my home. I am Medea. Might I ask for what reason you have come before me?"

Morrigan dropped to his knees and bowed his head before the witch. "Please forgive me, mistress. This woman has demanded to meet with you...she wishes to challenge you to a duel."

"Hey, I was saving that part for later!" I barked.

I expected Medea to be angry, but instead her evil smirk grew even wider. "Challenge me? What a curious request. May I ask who this woman is, and why? It takes a lot of courage to charge into my home and start making demands."

I couldn't let myself falter before the witch. If I showed the slightest bit of hesitation, she would see right through me. I squeezed my fists and held my feet tight against the grass. "I am Lady Lillian Lancaster, daughter of the great House of Lancaster. I have come to challenge you to a duel because I wish to break the curse that has been placed upon my dear friend, Count Isaac Rainworth. I won't leave until I get what I want."

Medea's smirk suddenly melted into a frown. "Rainworth? That spineless fool who pretended to love me, only to cast me aside when he found out I was a witch? He got what he deserved, as far as I'm concerned. Compared to my other lovers, he got off easy. I could have easily turned him into an ass or made him spontaneously combust and burn alive." She spoke with such passion, which told me that both outcomes were things she had definitely done to her previous ex-lovers.

"He has become a danger to the local people because of his condition," I snarled. "Travelers have come into his home to rest and end up eaten by him instead...myself included, or at least I would have been. Of course, I'd rather not fight if I don't have to, so I you could break the curse right now, that would be great..."

Medea's sneer reappeared nearly as soon as it had vanished. "Is that so? You are quite something, aren't you? No one has ever come to me and demanded I lift a curse. They begged and wept for it, sure, but tears mean nothing to me. You should be shaking in your boots, but you stand before me with such bravery. It's quite remarkable. Quite remarkably infuriating, in fact. You come into my house and treat me with such disrespect? I won't have it. I'll make sure to punish Morrigan for this insubordination."

"I don't think so," the Kelpie growled. His demeanor of a loyal servant had completely disappeared. Instead, he looked furious. "I'm afraid that won't happen, mistress. I refuse to be a slave to you any longer. If it means I must fight alongside this devil woman to be free, then I shall do so."