Legend of the White Witch {#Wattys2016}

Chapter 35

Don't.

I shake my head slightly, but his attention is on the woman who murdered his family.

"Yes, I remember..." She reaches farther, ignoring his attempts to avoid her touch, and places her hand firmly on his cheek. "I remember Mako and Pani and...Benjamin. Those were their names, right?" Her lips curl wider into a devilish grin. "I remember you screaming for them as I spilled their blood—"

"Don't talk about them."

"—all over the floor. Such a mess. And the boy was so obnoxiously loud—"

Alec's composure shatters and his face morphs into an expression of pure fury and pain. "Don't talk about them!"

Almost in slow motion, Alec lunges straight for Anabella with his hands outstretched for her neck to strangle her. Her soldiers react immediately, stepping forward again and pulling Alec away from her by his arms. They hold him still no matter how hard he fights, and Anabella doesn't even blink.

She turns to me again, heels clicking loudly on the floor.

"I suppose you're going to ask me not to kill this one too?" she asks. She sounds disappointed.

Shaking, I nod my head once.

Anabella pouts. "But it's only fitting that I complete what I left unfinished in the past."

The heels click again and now Anabella stands in front of Alec again.

I step forward as well. "Don't."

"Don't?" she repeats. She runs a finger lightly along the collar of Alec's shirt, ignoring the curses and threats he throws at her feet. "That's not very polite."

"Please don't," I say through gritted teeth.

She sighs. "Since today is your birthday, I guess I have no choice but to abide by your request for now," she says. She looks Alec up and down once and raises an eyebrow. "Actually, I'm glad I didn't kill him back then. He's grown into quite a fine young man, hasn't he, my dear?" She turns to me with a devious smile. "My dear?"

I bite into the side of my cheek as hard as I can. "What do you want?"

She tsks at me. "That's not very polite either, my dear. Where are your manors? Didn't your mother raise you better than this?" Her eyes widen in feigned shock as my throat tightens painfully. "Oops, I forgot. So very sorry about that, my dear."

Her finger traces the remnants of his color and drop down his chest and then to his stomach, where she presses her hand against the fabric of his shirt and growls a sound of approval. The soldiers have now released him from their hold, but he doesn't attempt to harm Anabella again. The fury and hurt are still painfully evident on his face, however, as he keeps his eyes carefully trained on the ground beside him.

A tear glistens on his cheek and Anabella laughs gleefully at the sight of it.

"What do you want?" I repeat stiffly. I'm afraid of what she wants, of what her reason for suddenly showing up is, but it can't be worse than watching her humiliate Alec.

She drops her hand from Alec and spins to face me again, one finger held up in the air. "Edlyn! It's 'What do you want, mother?' Come now, say it with me. Mother."

I taste blood in my mouth now, but I bite down harder. "What do you want, mother?" I inject as much venom into the word as I possibly can.

"There you go. Was that so hard?" she says. She pauses to pick a fleck of dust off her dress, throwing the room back into tense silence. I glance around, almost surprised to see that our display is still being observed by hundreds. "I'm here to celebrate my daughter's birthday. I believe Alston has already apologized for being late..."