The Shadows That Burn (Daughter of Fire #2)

Ch.12: The Tale of the Silver Peony

"By the gods." I breathed, still reeling from what Elsie had just disclosed. "Executed? Isn't that a bit extreme!"

Well, extreme was an understatement. Cruel was the right word for it. Yeah, that suited Agatha better.

Elsie's face twisted in contempt, her silver-tinted eyes keenly inspecting the pages. "I wouldn't put it past the old hag. She's the one in charge of these types of things. But..." She paused at a page, gripping the paper so firmly it almost tore at the edges. "I guess I understand now why Uzier went berserk. Gods! An execution? And it looks to be that Uzier's mother wasn't the only one."

I steered myself to linger over her shoulders, but she jerked away from the heat, mouth curled in annoyance.

"Hey! Watch it!"

My fire pulsed. "I want to read it too! Does it say anything else?"

She stepped back, the book cradled against her arm as she flipped page after page. "Not about Anna-Maria, but there are loads more with the same situation."

"More mortals?"

"Mhm. Like Uzier's mother, they were brought from their realms to ours by merchants and the sorts." She held the book splayed open for me at a safe distance, and I hovered over it to read the rest. "They're mostly women. Here, see for yourself."

Elsie was right. The names before me belonged to mortal women that hailed from different backgrounds. Things such as their age, country, and the years they had been hiding in Ignolia were listed. I didn't recognize any of the countries they came from, and there were no illustrations to put faces to the names. What they all had in common was that they were executed by the same method; the blood spell.

I could feel my core churning. "They used the blood spell. Isn't that illegal?"

Elsie shook her head, and from her expression, I could tell she was also disgusted. "It should be. I heard it was outlawed two hundred years ago, and it was the monarchs who proposed that decision."

"That's when Uzier rebelled," I recalled. "Do you think that had something to do with the royals banning it?"

"I don't know. But it's certainly not a pleasant way to go."

That was an understatement. It was definitely something I would never be inclined to watch; your blood turning into poison as your body rots from the inside. I heard it took around five hours until death was finally upon you. And it was the most horrendous execution method used by the Congress. Only Agatha Alastair had the authorization to give permission to use it. Well, until the monarchs decided to forbid this method.

"Why?" It was the only thing I could think of saying. Elsie snapped the book shut, tucking it under her arm as those sharp eyes roamed over me. She also seemed to wonder the same thing. "I mean, why do all this? I know it's illegal for mortals to be here, but..."

She clicked her tongue. "Beats the shit out of me! Agatha is insane. We know that. What's worrying me is why in hell would Calix ever agree to this?"

King Calix was reigning at the time. "You think he knew about Uzier's mother?"

"Of course!" She gritted her teeth, pacing back and forth and looking completely pissed. I didn't blame her because I didn't understand either why the royals would allow such a thing in the first place. This was happening even before the execution of Uzier's mother. Gabriel was not ruling in the past war, but his father and the rest...

"Do you think they had a choice? I mean, Agatha can be persuasive. And mortal issues do fall under her jurisdiction."

"Calix is stupidly kind, but he can also be stubborn as hell when he wants to. I just can't imagine him willingly allowing this to keep happening for so long."