[wattys 2018 shortlisted]
Humans see her as a dangerous threat -a witch that must be executed. With the uncontrollable ability to form ice at her fingertips, Ravenna is forced into hiding amongst the humans, stealing to survive. That is, until she h...
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BEAMS OF SUNLIGHT shimmered through the stained-glass windows that lined the wall to Ravenna's left. It danced across the stove above her head, incandescent, and illuminated the insides of her eyelids. She kept her eyes closed and listened as Eoin stirred beside her. She had spent the night listening to him dream, unable to succumb to sleep herself. He'd been quick to fall asleep the night before —the chaos of the wedding ceremony and the celebratory feast had caught up to him quickly. However, his sleep was restless. He had tossed and turned so violently throughout the night, she'd considered kicking him out of the bed.
His breaths changed as he awoke. The mattress shifted around beneath her as he rolled onto his side, facing her. Ravenna was careful to keep her breaths shallow. She could feel his gaze focused on her face. It burned her, warmer than the sunshine that illuminated the room.
His fingers lightly grazed her cheek.
Ravenna's eyes fluttered open. She made a show of looking disoriented. Her eyes flickered around the room and her eyebrows furrowed. She sat upward in the bed, stretching her arms high above her head.
"Good morning," Eoin greeted her.
"Good morning," she responded. Her head tilted down toward him and she flashed him a warm smile.
He beamed up at her.
A gentle knock sounded against the bedroom door. Eoin sat upward and a brisk "Enter" escaped his lips. The door opened to reveal Alyss. A sense of relief flooded through Ravenna and her smile widened. Alyss stepped into the bedroom and held the door open behind her. A pair of servants scurried into the room, their fluid movements a mirror of one another. Each servant carried a silver tray in their hands that overflowed with food.
The servants whirled around the bed. One tray was lowered in front of Ravenna and placed gently atop the mattress beside her. She smiled kindly, watching as the second tray was lowered beside Eoin.
Alyss approached Eoin. A smaller, more decorative tray was balanced atop her palm, with a slender rolled scroll resting in the center of it. Eoin snatched the scroll and unrolled it. Ravenna watched him, her expression blank as she lifted a pastry to her lips.
His gaze skimmed over the text.
"The execution is today," Eoin murmured. His eyes met Ravenna's, filled with caution. "We will both have to bear witness."
Ravenna's already nonexistent appetite disappeared. "What a way to celebrate," she remarked. The half-eaten pastry dropped from her hand, hitting the glass plate. The plate rattled against the tray beneath it with a muted clink. "We get to watch a grown man and his child suffocate to death."
Eoin winced.
She stared at him, her expression cold. Her arms folded across her chest. The visual lingered in her mind —Vyses and Lyth, beheaded in front of a roaring crowd. She found it revolting that she and Eoin needed to bear witness. It would also make it harder for her to free them. She knew that the execution had been scheduled to take place after the wedding. However, she hadn't expected for it to take place the very next day.
"It is our duty," Eoin announced. He pushed his own food aside and climbed out of the bed. He eyed her with a stern look. "There will be no more discussion about this. We are both expected to witness the death of those traitors. It is custom."
"A custom that didn't age well," she retorted.
He simply rolled his eyes at her and shook his head. Alyss moved to Ravenna's side as another servant entered the room —a slender woman with cat-like eyes and long, flowing hair. The new servant followed after Eoin as he stormed into the bathroom. The door slammed shut behind them.
"Shall we return to your room?" Alyss asked Ravenna. "Most of your clothing has remained in there. I will also be able to bathe you and prepare you."
Ravenna's jaw clenched. She climbed out of the bed and followed Alyss down the hall. As they walked, her fingers curled tight around the talisman. An electric sense of nervousness plagued her. She needed to find some sort of way to stall the execution, at least.
Miera was waiting for them in Ravenna's old room. A bath had already been drawn and a beautiful violet dress was laid out across the bed. Both Alyss and Miera followed Ravenna into the bathroom and undressed her.
"Are you sure that you don't want to remove your necklace?" Miera asked, as she always did whenever Ravenna bathed.
"No," Ravenna assured her. She lowered herself slowly into the warm water that awaited her. "I need some time to think. Please leave me be for a bit."
Alyss and Miera shared an uneasy look but left the room.
Once she heard the door close behind them, Ravenna moved quickly. One hand grasped at her talisman. The other was stretched out in front of her, palm facing the heavens. Before she could blink, icy blue magic began to dance atop her fingertips.
She focused on the blood-doll that she'd stored away within her talisman. A soft pressure appeared in her free hand and her fingers closed around the contours of the doll. It squished slightly in her hand. Its heartbeat hastened, pulsating. She observed it. Its heart —a glowing sphere situated within the center of its chest — was now colored partially black.
It was a sign that the king's life-force had already begun to fade.
Ravenna sucked in a deep breath. Then she squeezed the doll tight, her nails digging into its jelly-like skin. It squelched between her fingers. The black color that coated its heart began to spread, until it almost completely encapsulated the sphere.
She allowed her grip to loosen. The doll deflated against her palm.
With a whispered spell, the blood-doll vanished, hidden away within her talisman once again. She lowered her hands into the warm water that surrounded her. It did little to calm her nerves. There was no way to know for certain that her actions had done anything. She wasn't sure whether or not squeezing the doll would have any sort of effect.
However, she took some solstice in the increased darkness that had engulfed its center. The darkness had grown significantly, meaning that something had to have happened. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly.
