Crimson Queen

one.

I stared myself down in the ornately adorned mirror that hung in the top floor bathroom of Selenite Tower. Here, in the magical crystal city of Selenium, only the creme de la creme of witches and warlocks were allowed to set foot inside the tower. The tower was the city's major hub where leaders of all the magical factions gathered together to help govern Selenium, the only thriving democracy in the land. Everywhere else was ruled by kings and queens belonging to the Supernatural High Court. However, even the magical factions didn't have total freedom here in Selenium. They were legislated by their strongest witch, the Enchantress. 

At least, they were. 

My mother, the last Enchantress, was killed in a lycan terrorist attack. All of the four major kingdoms wanted their grubby little claws on Selenium, an advanced and sovereign trading port smack dab in the middle of the kingdoms like some kind of tug-of-war rope. If one of the kingdoms were able to rule with Selenium under their belts, they'd have control over some of the strongest witches and warlocks across the land. 

With my mother gone, I was now officially the strongest witch and next-in-line for the role of Enchantress. The worst part? I wanted it.

Not my mother's death. No, what I mean is that I desperately clung to the idea of being the next Enchantress of Selenium. I let it define my entire reason for being. I even used it as an excuse to never seek out serious relationships. 

Ever since my mother's death, the magical factions have argued over who should lead Selenium and how we should handle the influx of lycan attacks. The last thing they wanted was for the people to get scared of being taken over by filthy werewolves. The lycans had brute strength, sure, but they would never match our wit. Losing our great city to them would have been the highest insult to all the Enchantresses of old. 

My uncle, Nathaniel Quinn, temporarily took over in my mother's stead. From the time I was a pre-teen up until now, at the ripe age of twenty-five, he did his best to train me and prepare me for my inauguration as Enchantress. The date was set for my next birthday, which was fast approaching. Despite not having the full title yet, I still followed him into every council meeting and made sure to visit all of the faction townships with him. 

And now, here I was preparing for my next big test as Enchantress-in-training.

In just a few minutes, the council would be meeting with someone important. Someone from outside the confinements of Selenium who supposedly had an offer for the council and an idea as to how we could snuff out our little mongrel terrorist problem. No one except for my uncle knew who this mysterious savior was. The entire meeting was listed as highly classified. Absolutely no press would be allowed, and all the details were kept secret.

I blinked my emerald eyes several times in an attempt to bring myself back to reality. I had a city full of people to lead, and that meant leaving a good first impression on whoever the hell this unnamed big shot was. I sifted through my business tote in an attempt to find my signature calling card.

Bingo!

I pulled out a dark crimson lipstick and slowly outlined the shape of my lips. The rouge previously lining my lips had faded a little following a quick stop at a cafe for some much-needed caffeine. My uncle would kill me if he knew I was out clubbing last night instead of getting rest or practicing my infrared magick. 

I smacked my red lips together and gave myself a faint smile before turning around on my red-bottomed high heels to leave the bathroom, the layered fringe of my hair wooshing over the shoulder pads of my designer pantsuit as I did. It was a dog-eat-dog world in the politics of Selenium, and I had to hold my own if I was ever going to convince the people that I was worthy enough to be their next Enchantress.