Lament of the Traitor King (Complete)

Chapter 59 - A Sweet Madness

Netta had recollections of falling asleep, resting atop of Ash. When she woke, it was alone in the bed that she had previously slept in with Winnie, sans her Sister. As she got out of bed, her head as lazy as her body felt dreadful sore. Netta felt a sick worry lodge and burrow itself inside of her.

Where is Ash?

As she brushed her teeth in the adjacent bathroom, Netta focused on the possibilities for why she had woken up, alone.

She was walking down the stairs when she heard a loud, booming voice coming from the living room. "-And so, I said, "Don't tell me that you didn't know that horns are a good sign of virility?"

The sound of ensuing feminine laughter rolled through the house and traveled up the stairs.

Netta clutched at the banister, afraid that she was imagining that voice. In a sprint, she rushed down the stairs. Standing at the foot of the stairs, she looked into the living room to bear witness to a sight that she had never thought in her life that she would see.

Standing amidst a circle of the Witches of the Coven Gardenia, Ashwood appeared in a glow of the multicolored Christmas lights and the vague outside light added by the sun. He stood heads above the women, dressed in a grey sweater that clung to the curves of his large, muscled body and wrapped partially around his neck to form a half turtleneck that opened at his throat.

His face - that gaunt, golden, lined face that she had grown to know intimately - seemed to glow in happiness. Then there were the chaotic, massive, black, scythe-sharp horns that began just above his temples and curved over his head.

In the room full of milling Witches, with Ash looking as though he was just barely managing to remain standing with the ceiling of the room dangerously close to scraping against his horns, Netta felt happiness, an innocent contrast to what she had felt the night before.

It was impossible for Netta to not keep her eyes riveted to him. She couldn't hear what was said in that room, but she saw as Ash smiled at a joke that was said, revealing for a brief moment the sharp teeth that drove home the fact that Ash was not Human.

Her mind swam and she found that she could not move.

Finally, it was Ash who turned to look at her, as though he had felt her eyes on him, or her presence. The smile on his face faded a measure as he looked at her. In its place, however, was a burning that seemed to begin in his eyes, a roiling, kinetic energy that made Netta shiver.

It was only when Morgan, who came out of the kitchen behind her, shook her by her shoulder that Netta felt her gaze unlock from her Familiar.

"Ya awight?" Morgan asked, mouth full of a bite from a slice of fruit cake that she clenched in her right hand.

Netta said something to the Witch and looked back at Ash, unease trickling into her. What she felt for him - wasn't it supposed to be that Witches were the ones who did the bewitching?

Ash looked at her, a knowing smirk on his lips.

From behind him and next to the Christmas tree, Netta saw Lucia approaching through the throng of her family. "The princess finally stirs!"

Netta felt her face burn in embarrassment at that term. "Why was I out that long? I'm surprised that no one came to get me."

Lucia, standing in front of Netta, shrugged and smiled. "It's a holiday, we figured - why bother waking you up? You looked exhausted, anyhow."

As much hopeless affection that Netta felt for the Monster, when Ash coughed she could have hit him, if only she had been near him when he did.

Her mortification was almost complete when a few of the Witches snickered. Lucia continued, saying, "We typically have a Christmas party - gift exchange, alcoholic beverages, dancing -"