Rise of the Witch Queen

The Family Business

I stared down at the faces of my college-aged parents in shock. Not only had they know my birth parents, but they had been sorcerers, and I had no idea who they actually were. "No, this isn't right. This is some sick joke," I said, tossing the picture wanting to get it as far from me as I could.

"It's not a joke. When Luke was getting some of your things to bring over, he found a picture of your parents in your purse. We just needed your confirmation to be sure," Will said awkwardly, trying to comfort me.

"Now that we have our confirmation Charlotte should take a shower before the council meeting," Luke's father said dismissively. How could this man be so emotionless and detached? He had just found out that my parents, his friends, had been murdered by their friends and he couldn't care less. I glared at Luke's father as he left the room.

"My father is right," Luke said after an awkward moment of silence, "I don't think you want to meet the council covered in blood."

For a moment, I considered electing to not take a shower and show up like this out of spite. Eventually, my need to wash yesterday from my body surmounted my desire to agitate Luke's father. "I don't have anything to change into," I sighed, realizing that what I was wearing now was essentially ruined.

"Luke went to your apartment last night while you rested," Will explained gesturing to a duffel bag I assumed contained some of my clothes "I will also have my personal assistant build you a more... complete wardrobe." I was mortified by the thought of Luke going through my things. I nodded in acknowledgment, not trusting myself to speak. I knew that technically Luke had done me a favor, but it felt intrusive knowing that he had gone through my things. I grabbed the bag, trying not to blush.

Once I was safely alone in the attached bathroom, I sorted through the duffel, surprised to see that Luke had grabbed the one black cocktail dress, a pair of dress pants, and my nice blouse. He had managed to pick out the few formal pieces of clothing I owned. I did find a pair of jeans and a T-shirt which I pulled out. I was relieved to see that there wasn't any underwear. It might have been slightly inconvenient, but I already felt violated by thinking about luke going through my things. I didn't need the image of Luke going through my underwear to make that worse.

I stripped down and stepped into the marble shower. Luke had wiped most of the blood off of my skin, but there were traces of blood in my hair and arms as well as patches on my torso where it had seeped through the shirt. It took a moment, but I finally managed to figure out how to turn on this ridiculously complicated shower I braced as the cool water hit my skin. I scrubbed at the blood as the water heated up. Some of it flaked off, and the water running down my skin became tinged pink. I scrubbed hard, wanting to get all of the blood, dirt, and grit off of my skin and out of my hair. After what felt like an eternity, I finally felt somewhat close to clean. I turned off the water and pulled a fluffy white towel from the rack. Wrapping it around myself, I stepped out of the shower. I found the mirror and let out a shocked yelp when I saw my reflection. I was ordinarily pale and skinny, but I looked downright gaunt. The black and blue bruises on my forehead and wrists contrasted starkly against my pale skin. I dropped the towel finding a patchwork of bruising along my ribs. Those combined with the dark circles under my eyes made me look like a shadow of who I had been just a couple of days ago.

Shuddering, I towel dried my hair and quickly got dressed, wanting to vanish the image of my reflection from my mind. I walked through what I guessed was now my bedroom out onto the terrace where Will and Luke were talking. The terrace was walled off with ivy and plants covering the wall turning the terrace into a private oasis.

"Um, I don't think that's exactly what my father had in mind when he asked you to clean yourself up," Luke chuckled, looking me up and down. Will did the same, although his face wore a look of grim concern.