Slave To Love

Chapter 26

"She's here! The witch! She's here!"

The entire royal family along with Rosie and myself were enjoying a light breakfast when the servant came running in. The servant, though bent over and panting heavily, looked at us with bright eyes from the good news. The king immediately rose to his feet along with the rest of us. Rosie was the only one who stayed seated, not quite understanding what was going on.

"Where is she?" the queen asked, eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"Grand Hall, Your Majesty," was the response.

Immediately we all ran out of the room. Before I could take no more than two steps, I felt a muscular arm wrap around me and everything became a blur for the next couple seconds. When we came to a stop I scowled at Blaze before turning to look for the new guest.

The witch, Lucinia, as I found her name was, stood in the middle of the hall with the queen and king. She wasn't the typical green, wart-covered witch nor the beautiful, enchanting sorceress. The woman was short and stout with long, tangled curls that tumbled down her back and over her shoulders. Some of it was piled on her head to keep it out of her face. A smile lit up her face and her blue eyes sparkled with joy. The wrinkles on her face portrayed her age, though she was probably closer to a thousand than the sixty year old she looked like. The woman had slim, bony fingers but was one of the most animated people I'd ever seen.

"Astia!" she exclaimed in a honey-sweet voice as she opened her arms wide to hug the queen. She really did remind me of the stereotypical cookie-baking, gift-gving, sweet grandma.

"Lucinia! How nice to see you again!" the Queen responded with a wide smile. "I hope your travels went smoothly."

"Oh, very! You have such sweet servant boys," Lucinia declared, turning to pinch the cheek of the boy holding some of her bags. "Oh! I almost forgot. Boy, gimme that bag. The red one on top."

She beckoned with outstretched arms for it while the servant tried to quickly hand it to her. Impatient, she snatched it out of his hand and started to dig through, throwing things out in her search. A bag of crickets skidded across the floor followed shortly by a box of chocolates. A shoe came flying out at the King. Blaze managed to catch a jar. When he looked down, he jumped back and dropped it but managed to catch it before it hit the ground; it was filled with eyeballs.

Scrunching my face in disgust, I turned in time to hear her give a quiet humph of victory and pull out a gold box wrapped in shimmering black ribbon. She handed it to the Queen.

"What's this?" the Queen asked, studying the box curiously.

Before she could pull off the ribbon, the witch took it from her. "Oh, silly me! It's not for you, dear. It's for the handsome prince!"

Blaze's eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "Me?"

"Yes! Come, come, now. Don't be shy," Lucinia said with a smile.

Hesitating, he cautiously stepped forward towards the witch and grabbed the box from her outstretched hand. For a moment he stared, scanning the intricate designs. Then he looked up and Zeth and I; we shrugged back. We heard him inhale before slowly pulling the ribbon to undo the knot, letting it fall from the box and flitter to the floor. Cautiously, he opened the box to find gold tissue paper laying carefully inside. He placed the lid under the box and moved aside one piece and then another before staring down at what the box contained.

"Well, what is it?" Zeth asked, getting on the tips of his toes to try and peer into the box.

"A cross necklace," Blaze answered, picking it up by the chain so the pendant swung in the air.

The cross was black and shining with silver design. The work was elegant and it looked absolutely stunning lying in the palm of the prince's hand.

"Don't crosses, ya know, hurt vampires?" I asked ask everyone stared in awe.

My question earned everyone's attention. They looked at me, confused by my statement. The witch, however, smiled at me, laughter lighting up her eyes.

"That's just a silly human myth my dear. Don't you know anything about vampires?" she inquired, looking at me with curiosity now.

I shook my head. "Very little, actually. I may have spent much time with them but there was little conversation."

Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and a marvellous smile appeared on her face even bigger than before. "so you're the Unbroken Girl!"

"That's a new one. Usually it's troublesome slave," I responded, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Not to those of us who admire you. You must have incredible strength and endurance!" Lucinda gushed, running up to me and grabbing my upper arms with excitement. "I greatly admire your spirit."

"Though sometimes a bit too spirited," the King muttered.

"Oh, hush, you lump of grump!" the witch snapped. She humphed before commenting, "Vampires. Always thinking they're so great."

"Lucinia, please, I'd prefer we not make such comments against my husband. And we must get along if we're to stop this evil," the Queen reasoned, stepping forward.

Blaze spoke up. "Thank you for the cross. It's a magnificent piece of work."

"Well, of course, my dear!" the witch exclaimed, flashing him her sweet smile. "Now, where to? I'm starving for a good breakfast!"

"To the dining hall. We were just finishing. Come, we will show you," the King announced, gesturing to the hall. He walked with the Queen at his elbow and Lucinia talking animatedly alongside them as they disappeared.

"She certainly is a character," Zeth commented.

Rosie looked up at me with her big blue eyes. "Mommy, why is that old lady here?"

"Mommy?" Blazed questioned, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"She's like my mommy," Rosie said happily. "Can I call you Daddy?"

Blaze stared in shock at the little girl. We all watched him, waiting for a response. Rosie clenched my hand tighter.

Them Blaze grinned. "Of course!" he announced as he scooped her up in his arms and spun her around.

Rosie's musical laughter echoed throughout the Grand Hall, bringing a smile to all of our faces. Blaze came to a halt with Rosie in one arm and hugged me to his side with the other. I beckoned for Zeth and Isabella to join us as we stood in a big group hug.

"One, happy family," Isabella declared, making us all smile wider.

"Rosie, that's why Lucinia is here: to help is keep our family," I told her.

She reached out and hugged us all tighter and we stood together and enjoyed each others' company. We all knew dark times were coming and to appreciate the moments like this when we could.

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Well, that took longer than it was supposed to... Sorry for coming back and then ditching you guys again. Bit of a bitch move there.

Anywho, I hope you guys enjoyed it. What do you guys think of Lucinia? She's going to be a lot of fun to write about!

-Azzeria