EVELYN
Chapter 3
"Evelyn what.."
"Silence woman. Let the young girl speak.
His attention back on me as his face lit with his awfully placed sinister smile.
"From what I was told, you are the next regent of your coven, a leader to be. As you can see, your mother has lost her wits to old age, as she is willing to sacrifice over a hundred witches just to protect her useless pride."
My heart stung hearing only a hundred witches survived the massacre. What did we do to deserve this? What crime had they committed except being part of our sacred coven?
"A good leader does not make decisions based on pride and anger. A good leader puts her people first before others."
Imagine this lunatic trying to lecture me on leadership. Someone whose little pack was built on respecting the strong with people who would literally abandon and tear him to pieces if he lost his power.
"So I will give you the same offer I gave to your mother, but if I were you, I would pick the first option; saving the lives of those witches should be your utmost duty".
"Evelyn, please let me shoulder this burden."
I could already hear my mother wailing behind me, reeking of helplessness and sorrow. My eyes blazed with determination; I couldn't gamble innocent lives to protect this ancient secret. For the first time in my life, I cursed my witch ancestors, who, instead of destroying this artifact and anything in connection with it, kept it probably to use it against their own fellow witches. Despicable!!
I refuse to believe that the witch queens had not already created a solution to this situation. They were super powerful, so they had to be aware that we held such an ancient secret. Why not deceive him into believing he held the weapon to the witches doom only to have him rounded up and destroyed?
"So what's your decision, little princess?"
"Instead of swearing allegiance to you, I suggest we form a sort of partnership. From your obvious stint in massacring my brethren, swearing allegiance to you is impossible, as we will rather die than bow to a vile being like you".
"The audacity to think I will stand on equal terms with witches? How amusing"
Kayden's face was calm and neutral as I couldn't get a hint at what he was thinking. But I could feel his interest at my suggestion.
"We can comprise a sort of partnership where we are mandated to create the witch dampener, and you also promise to protect us from your scourges who might turn us into s·x slaves. We help you dominate the world while you ensure our ultimate safety".
"You seem to overestimate your importance. I have slaughtered dozens of covens without this cranky witchy weapon, so with or without your coven's help, I would still continue my quest at eradicating your race. So stop wasting my time".
With a face bordering on pure boredom, Kayden beckoned to me to finish my proposal. My thoughts ran rampant at the idea of us serving these beasts as their slaves. A fate much worse than death itself. I refused to make my sisters suffer such a fate.
"We witches would rather die than bend our knees to you, so the decision is up to you now."
"Hmmm… I refuse your idea of mere witches daring to stand on equal terms with me." With a voice laced with venom and spite, Kayden rejected my proposal, and with his decision I could tell we were all going to die, something I actually preferred to serving this malicious bastard.
My mind at peace, with tints of reluctance at a life cut short, family torn to pieces, I gazed at him, ready for him to do his worst.
"But with a clear look at the grand scheme of things, you witches will stand as a good addition to help in my quest."
Once again my mind spiraled into confusion at the thought of this vile man agreeing to my request. I had offered the proposal with almost one hundred percent certainty that he would reject it. Offering the deal was more like my last stand before the dance of death so that I won't have regrets about not even putting any effort into saving my brethren.
"You witches will create the witch weapons for me, and I assure you that no member of my pack would dare lay their hands on you and your fellow witches. A generous deal, right?".
Face beaming like he just saved us from destruction, I found myself stating an already known fact: Kayden was literally insane.
That aside, I still couldn't believe he accepted my proposal. With my voice coming out shakily, "Are you serious?"
" I don't have a habit of repeating myself "
Cut, clear, and precise.
I finally understood that I had given the coven a little beam of hope. All we had to do was endure for a little while, as there was no way the council would let him create something that could actually eliminate one of the top species.
"I am still the presiding regent, so the right to make decisions concerning our coven still stands with me."
I had a feeling that things wouldn't go smoothly, and my mother proved me right once again. Why couldn't she see from my perspective that this was the best solution for our current situation? What was she seeing that I couldn't see? Were our lives really worthless in the grand scheme of things?.
Lost in thought, I didn't notice Kayden standing from his throne as he walked in slow and calm steps. His footsteps echoed through the room as the only sound accompanying it was my heartbeat rising once again.
Standing face to face with my mother, he lifted her up by the neck, her feet many inches away from the ground. With the superhuman strength of the wolves, this was a common sight, but there was something different; the ease was too obvious. Like he was lifting air itself.
Eyes locking with Kayden, my mother still didn't relent as she looked at him with pure spite and hate. Why is she gambling her life away?
"Just say yes, please". Screaming in my mind, my eyes locked with hers, tears filling both of our eyes. Mine from fear, and hers from the pain of literally having her neck choked.
"Hmm, I remember a new ruler can be crowned when the former one retires or..."
Heart sinking to the bottom of the ocean, I found myself thrust back into the realm of unconsciousness as the last thing I saw was my mother's neck snapping like a tree twig