My Black Heart

Chapter One

It was an incredibly dark night. I was on my balcony, staring at the stars, waiting until the time was right to go down to the ball room of my castle. My long, deathly straight, shiny black hair hung all the way down my back, even darker than the night. It was slightly cold outside, but I didn't care. The cold never bothered me anymore. Tonight, I had chosen to wear my beautiful, black ball gown that fit closely to my body and contrasted perfectly with my pale white complexion. When I eventually chose to greet my guests, they would not be able to tear their curious eyes away from me. After all, I was the Black Witch; it was just the right thing to wear to keep up appearances.

Suddenly, I felt a familiar presence inside my room, and I sighed. Turning away from the lonely comfort of the cool outside air, I greeted my guest with a slight, sly smile.

            "Are you ready to go down, my lady? The guests are growing rather impatient," my brother, Robin said. He had much softer features than I had myself. His hair was of medium length in a beautiful dark red colour. If he were not my brother, he would have many marriage suitors in these lands. However, any relations of mine were not regarded as true beings, because of the evil deeds I carried out daily. I was not regarded as the Black Witch for nothing.

            "I will be in a few minutes, brother, they will not be waiting for much longer," I answered calmly. The right moment was nearing.

            "I will leave you be, my lady, please don't be too long." My brother left me to my guilty peace. I sat at the edge of my bed and closed my eyes. Yes, the moment of truth was edging nearer and nearer and my guests would get a most welcome surprise.

It was much longer than I expected. I cast out my senses once more to find that it would still be another five minutes or so before I could make my anxiously awaited entrance. In my mind, I called my coven so that they would meet me here. First to enter was Oliver, the cheeriest member with short sandy blond hair. He was the perfect swordsman, and I had not heard of anybody in the lands that could match his skills. That was one of the reasons he was with me in the castle. I could trust him with my life.

            "Is everything fine, my lady?" he questioned. I looked into his worried face. It was a picture of anxiety with slight excitement.

            "All will be revealed, Oliver," was my only vague answer. The next two members of my coven were next to enter; this time together. Leading was Jordan, the youngest of my coven at eighteen years of age. He had rich curly, dark brown hair which hung almost at his shoulders. His skin was almost as pale as mine, but of course, nobody could ever do that. Behind him, was San. My thoughts were incredibly distracted when it came to the subject of San. When I had read his mind, I had discovered his greatest secret of all. This was, that he was in love with me, and that was the reason I could trust him more than anybody else in my coven, including my own brother. He had black hair that was sharp and uninviting, and his shiny black eyes completed the sense of death that oozed from him. I gave him a small smile, and he relaxed slightly.

            "Where is Robin?" I asked, confused. Robin, my brother, was the fourth and final member of my coven. Finally, I sensed him coming up the stairs, after finishing explaining to the guests that I would be with them shortly.

            "He will be here shortly, ma'am," Jordan said. His accent was from another land, which is why he was with me at this precise moment. Even though he was the youngest, he had foreign experience which had proved to be valuable to myself and the coven.

            "I know, Jordan," I replied knowingly. They often forgot that I asked questions I could find the answers myself. Finally, my brother burst through the door to complete the circle.

My coven was the most powerful across all the lands, because I had gifted them greatly. I was the most powerful being to ever exist, and some said the most evil. Each member of my coven had a special power over the elements. Oliver, could control and manipulate the element of water, and often had fun showering the enemies that decided they could take on the coven of death. San was the opposite, and I had gifted him with the control over the element of fire. He was the most reluctant to use his powers out of the group, and because of that, he did not understand the full extent of them. Jordan could freely use the element of air, and was possibly the most controlled with his powers. He could use the element he had to fly into the air for a short amount of time, and his air strikes were known throughout the land for knocking the strongest of men off their feet. Finally, I had given my brother the power of the earth, as it suited his personality greatly. He was not evil, as such, and cared only of protecting me, his sister. His power could tear up trees and pull rocks from the ground; however he hardly ever used it for evil unjust reasons. This was, as expected, the complete opposite of myself.

Naturally, I was the most gifted member of the coven. My powers did not just include the manipulation of all four elements, because as well as this, I could read minds by casting out my senses into a person's head, even if they were dead. This extra power had helped us in many situations, especially as I could sense the exact moment an enemy or King's soldier breeched the barrier of my territory. The penalty of this crime was certain execution, which I carried out myself. At only the age of sixteen, I was the most feared person in existence.

The King of the lands was called John. He was well known for his outrageous taxes and cruel punishments, and I despised him greatly. Maybe it was hypocritical of me to say he was evil, as I had done many evil deeds in my life even though I was young, and would probably continue doing so. He had three sons, whose names were Peter, Henry and Zack. Peter was the eldest at the age of twenty-seven, and he was the least favourite of mine. He was pompous, and so far up himself that he thought himself better than all of his brothers and even his father. When he became King, the lands would turn into a completely different place. This would not affect me, of course, because I was the true ruler. I controlled everything they did, and each one of the royal family knew that I was deadly. They knew that I could take over their 'perfect' kingdom if it was in my best interests. I could rally followers at the mere flick of my fingers, because even though the people of the lands detested me, they would be by my side in an instant out of only fear.

 Prince Henry was the middle son, and he was at the age of twenty-three. He was a weak man, and had suffered from illness for many years. For this reason, I had left him alone the best that I could. We had come into combat once before, and he had surrendered in a matter of five minutes. I did not feel any guilt for bringing this shame on to him. The people had lost much respect for him for backing down so soon. Now they knew exactly why he had done so.

The youngest Prince, Zack was a complete mystery to me. I had never once met him before, but if the rumours were true, I would have to keep watch for him. He was said to be eighteen years of age, just like Jordan. It was also believed that he was the only person who could match Oliver in a sword fight. This I found hard to believe. Nobody I had ever met could match Oliver in a one on one sword fight. Even a two on one sword fight. The day somebody won a match with Oliver I would faint, because it would be such a rare sight.

            "The time has come my coven," I said confidently. I could sense the person coming closer and closer.

            "What shall we do, my lady?" Oliver asked with a sly grin on his face. I returned the smile with a smirk.

            "Bring the guests outside; I have a little surprise for them."

            "It will be my pleasure," he said. I laughed aloud.

            "Even the magicians of the lands will fear me after this."

            "Magicians?" Robin asked, shocked at what I revealed.

            "Yes brother, every single guest at my party is a magician. There were gasps all around, and each one of my coven stared at me with wide eyes.