Eyes of Emerald

Chapter 27 - Pasiphae

        I was led back up to the floor above, which was warmer by far. I rubbed my hands together to try and get the circulation going again. The guard kept me walking fast along the red carpeted corridors, flitting from shadow to shadow like a bat. My heart was beating hard, and I knew it wasn't anything to do with the speed I was being marched along at. 
        
        I had been summoned by the most feared woman in the Kingdom. She was the one who was said to kill and torture for entertainment. What did she want me for? My hands were shaking uncontrollably and I stuffed them in my pockets, blushing madly. My brain was whirling, filled with images of torture chambers and thumbscrews and the Rack. Surely she wouldn't...I had done nothing! 
        
        I wasn't taken to the Throne Room, which surprised me. It made me wonder if she was meant to be summoning me, whether King Balthazar knew. Whether my-

        He's not your father! I thought sharply, stopping for a moment and ending up with the sharp point of a dagger in my back. I winced; it had cut the skin slightly. I imagined a small patch of blood blossoming from the tip. I began to walk again. 
        
        He stopped me outside a small door, not grand like the Throne Room, nor dark and gloomy like the hallways. It actually looked quite cosy, with the wooden frame and small dragons carved into the handle. I wondered why the Queen wanted to see me in there. 

        The guard pushed the door open and marched me in. I was surprised to find that the room was actually quite small, with dark, shadowy walls and a fire flickering in a small grate, sending ghostly shadows across the carpeted floor. Two chairs sat facing each other, one was tall and ornate...like a miniature version of the throne. It was empty. 
        
        The other chair was barely a chair. It looked rickety and weak, with cracks in the wood. I half expected it to collapse before my eyes, and even more when I was pushed down roughly onto the chair and my hands tied firmly to the arms. It didn't, however, and it didn't even rock. It felt as firm as sitting on a boulder. 

        "Leave us," came a voice from the shadows, a rich, educated voice that swam with malice and sadistic thoughts. I shivered, my breath catching in my throat and coming out in great shivers. I stared at my knees, I didn't want to see. 

        I heard the door open and close one last time and heard light footsteps walk across the room to me. I felt like I was back in the same situation as I had been in with the King, and now here I was once more with his wife. What was going to happen to me?
        
        I felt a cold hand on my chin and was forced to look up, into those terrifying grey eyes. They weren't like Iris' grey eye, they were dark and stormy, reminding me of unpredictable thunderstorms and the like. I set my jaw; I would need to be stubborn. "So this is the famous Shapeshifter, daughter of the King." she drawled slowly, a smirk set on her face like it was carved in stone. 

        I glared. "I'm not-" I began, but was cut off by her sweeping across the room, waving her hand like she didn't care. 

        "Oh, it matters not if you believe it not to be true, there is no denying it. The only two Shifters in existence today..." she whirled around, smirking. "Oh, what a wonderful story that will make. Especially when you die." she sneered, narrowing her eyes and sitting on the throne-like chair.

        "I said, I'm not his d-" I began angrily, but she silenced me with a wave of her hand.

        "You are," she hissed, her face changing suddenly. Her face was twisted, so much so that she looked ugly, her eyes flashing in the firelight. "and you cannot deny it, when you know in your heart that it is true." and the smirk was back. I shivered; if she could change that easily, how unpredictable could she get?

        I shivered. "Now." the Queen smiled, leaning back into her chair casually. "You must be wondering why I summoned you here." she said sweetly, but I didn't fall for the act. I watched her warily as she waved a hand, causing a flaming log to fly from the fire and hover in front of her, turning around and around like a carousel. I gasped, leaning back into the chair, trying to get as far away as possible from the fire. What was she doing, she was going to burn herself! Not that I care...I thought quickly, as if someone was listening in to my thoughts. Which I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of her talents. 

        "I...I'm-" I tried to say, but she carried on like she'd never heard me. Her eyes were fixed on the spinning log intently, like she thought that if she stared at it long enough, it would reveal its secrets to her. If the log even had any secrets, that is. 

        "You must forgive your father for his..." she hesitated. "distance." she said. Wrong choice of words, I thought. And he wasn't my father. Never had been, never would be. "He was never the same after his second wife died." she shook her head and stared at me like she was waiting for my reaction. 

        Wait. Second wife? He'd had...more? More wives? How many had he had? Which one was my mother? I blinked slowly, my eyes widening and I looked up at the Queen, whose bronze hair was falling out of the tight plaits underneath her crown in small ringlets.

        "W-who was...who was that?" I whispered, my chin trembling. I was suddenly freezing cold, despite the fire and the spinning log just centimetres away from me. It was as if my blood had run cold. 

        The Queen sighed, blinking lazily. I watched her cautiously, she could be acting to throw me off my guard. "Her name was Mayra, she was a Warlock." she told me, still watching the log spin, occasionally pointing a finger at it and cause it to jump slightly, which made me yelp, and she laughed, her eyes dark and mysterious. "She died...oh, it must be about ten, eleven years ago now. She died...no, you won't want to know that." she looked at me from beneath her dark eyelashes manipulatively. 

        I glared at her. "Just tell me!" I snapped, trying to move my arms but of course, they were trapped. I rattled them angrily in the shackles, feeling stabs of pain jab up my arms when the sharp metal cut into my skin.

        She raised her hands, a smirk on her face. I waited. "Well, she died in..." she paused for a second. That smirk was really beginning to annoy me. "childbirth."

        I froze. "What?" 

        "Oh yes, there was a malfunction in the birthing process and the child...retained some qualities of the midwife." Pasiphae pursed her lips, like she disapproved of what had happened to my...to my half sibling. I shuddered. What if they were just like their father? Were they in the castle now? This was too much to take in in one day. 

        "And what happened to..." I bit my lip. I had to know, even if the news was terrible. They were my half sister or brother, I couldn't just...I couldn't just go about my life not knowing!

        Pasiphae waved a hand dismissively. "Because the child was a hybrid, it was...disposed of." she smirked. "Left out on the mountain to die, as you would have been if your father had his way." she smirked. 

        My chin began to tremble. Soon, I was shaking like a leaf with hypothermia. She...what on earth did she mean, hybrid? "Y-what-you..." I managed to get out without biting my tongue off. "A-a hybrid?"

        Pasiphae smirked. "Yes, Shifter. A Hybrid." 

        I took a deep breath. No, it couldn't be. Mayra's daughter had died, left out on the mountain. It couldn't be. It wasn't. But I had to know. "W-what was the midwife?" I asked in a trembling voice. Pasiphae didn't answer at first, she twirled the log around, watching the sparks fly off it like fireflies taking off in the night. One landed on my knee but I ignored the burning sensation. 

        "She was a witch." the Queen said eventually, smirking like she knew what I was thinking. I blinked. No, it wasn't true! It couldn't be! 

        Warlock mother...malfunction in the birth that caused her to have some qualities of the midwife...who was a witch? The child was a Hybrid...half witch, and half warlock.

        Oh, my God. This couldn't be happening.