Listen to me, girl, you have castles
inside your bones, coronets in your heart,
if he threatens you with battle,
you raise him a whole war,
the last time I checked, Queens cower before no man. -Unknown

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- Victorine -

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The injured spot in my thigh throbbed as I put one step in front of the other. I tried to keep up with the pace of the other soldiers as we walked through the dungeon hallway. My gaze darted to the right and to the left.

I would come back. If we made it, then I would come again and free all the prisoners. But right now, maybe the people here were actually the safest.

The stairs were especially difficult. Each step up sent a signal of pain through my nerves. I hissed as I breathed until we finally left the dungeon for good.

"Where do we look for Cephas now?" asked Orestes quietly to the group as the rest of the soldiers formed up around Nicolas and me.

"We don't have to search," I groaned.

Cephas had let me into his mind. While he had tormented me with his memories, my ability had also scoured the rest of his mind.

I had located all the shelters of this castle. I knew where Cephas was going. In fact, I had actually been in that room before.

In my mind, I recalled the layout of the castle from Cephas' mind. Then I directed Tryphosa, who was walking ahead of me, along the corridors and stairs.

When we were almost there and turning around one of the last turns, Tryphosa suddenly flinched. Alarmed, Nicolas pulled me to the rear while other soldiers pressed forward.

I could see from here that Tryphosa held her injured hand briefly and then drew her sword anyway. A fight seemed to be breaking out in the hallway. I heard swords clashing and the foreign soldiers barking orders now and then.

Two of our men stayed behind Nicolas and me in case there was an attack behind us as well. Nicolas took a step forward and peered cautiously around the corner of the turn. "Damn it. That's a dozen men."

"It would go faster if we helped," I reminded him, reaching for my crossbow.

"Surely not. I'm not going to risk our lives on some foot soldiers so close to the finish line," Nicolas replied firmly.

One of our soldiers now took a few steps backward and stopped beside us. Her hand was bent strangely, while the other clutched a sword. Tryphosa did not look at us, but stubbornly straight ahead. As if she didn't want to let the enemy soldiers know that someone else was standing here. "Victorine, is there another way?"

For a moment I thought hard. "I think so, yes."

"How much farther is that?" she finally asked.

"Only two more turns," I replied.

"Go ahead, then," Tryphosa hissed. "It's probably going to take a while here."

"We can't just leave you behind," I protested.

"You have to. We'll be fine here."

Uncertainly, I looked over at Nicolas, who was already glaring at me. When we made eye contact for a few seconds, he nodded wordlessly. We had to move on and find Cephas as quickly as possible.

So we turned back. At the end of the corridor I turned around again, but Tryphosa was no longer to be seen. With a racing heart, I looked ahead again.

Despite my injuries, I ran forward as fast as I could and pointed to the door that led to the throne room. The one where I had learned that Crescentia had not been kidnapped and was in Tenebris voluntarily.

But Nicolas suddenly grabbed my arm and stopped me. "Victorine, you stay behind me. You are injured and can barely swing a sword. I beg you, be reasonable just this once."

My first reaction was to protest his accusation. But he was right. In my condition, I really should hold back a bit if I wanted the mere two of us to stand a hint of a chance against Cephas.

Wordlessly, I nodded. Nicolas looked at me seriously for a moment, then turned and strode towards the door. With my crossbow drawn, I stood behind him as he slowly pushed down the door handle and entered the candlelit room.

As if for a ceremony, several rows of noble, cushioned benches had been set up. Silently, we bent down behind the last bench so that we would hopefully no longer be visible. From the end of the room we heard muffled voices. Slowly and cautiously we approached to better perceive the exact wording.

"Don't worry about Nicolas and his tiny troop," we heard a voice that ran through my spine. "I have more than enough soldiers looking for them. The only problem is that Xerxa doesn't report to me anymore. And the men who were supposed to be looking for her just stopped coming back."

"Has she turned on us now after all?" At Crescentia's voice, my body stiffened.

"Impossible," came the reply from Cephas. "She was bent on me officially announcing the protection of the witches in return for her work."

Silently, we crept onward and peered over one of the benches. Crescentia and Cephas were standing in front of the steps that had to be climbed to reach the throne that was set higher. Cephas had his back to us. Crescentia, however, was facing us.

For a split second, her eyes darted to mine. However, she did not look surprised. Then she looked at Cephas again without showing any reaction. She had known all along that we were in the room? What was her plan?

Cephas was wearing only half armor. Leg guards and arm guards. He must have taken off the breastplate and helmet. My fingers itched to pull out my crossbow. But one missed shot and Cephas might use the moment to flee the room.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my head. I suppressed a hiss and pressed my hands against my temples. Nicolas grabbed my arm and looked at me worriedly, but was not allowed to speak because Cephas might hear us.

The pain reminded me of something. It was like that time. Breathing calmly, I tried to relax. I heard Vindicta's voice in my head. Just like a few days ago when she had shown us the location of Hekate's witch house in the forest to get through the portal to Tenebris. The witch leader spoke to me.

The pain stopped as I listened to her. She repeated a single word, over and over again.

As if controlled by a stranger, I stood up. My mouth opened, and yet it was not my voice that came out of it.

"Imprecate," I uttered the curse.

Cephas turned to me and stared at me in disbelief, as if I were a mirage whose real body should still be bound in the dungeon.

While he stared at me, the room around us changed. The stones of the walls grew piece by piece over all the doors of the great throne room and swallowed up the solid wood, so that there was no longer any exit.

The curse was a death sentence. But it depended on our actions whose death sentence it was. Whether Cephas would die in that room or whether it was us.

Cephas took a step aside, probably to reach for a weapon. But I was quicker.

"Don't move," I threatened. The bolt was already cocked in my crossbow and aimed at Cephas' chest.

The enemy king actually stopped and raised his hands placatingly. He looked at me with a rage-distorted look and most likely regretted not having killed me long ago.

I briefly looked over to Nicolas' left and then faltered. The king did not move. Stiff as a stick, he stood next to me and was froze in mid-motion. Nicolas had wanted to reach for his bow.

Puzzled, I looked ahead at Crescentia. What was that all about?

"Crescentia?", I heard Cephas ask softly, who still had his hands raised and was looking over at his beloved.

Crescentia had paralyzed Nicolas. Not me, the person who had already pointed a deadly weapon at Cephas. But Nicolas, who had only later reached for his bow.

This was an obvious betrayal of Cephas, but why?

Of course. Nicolas would kill them both. Cephas and Crescentia.

I, on the contrary, would kill only Cephas. My little sister knew that. That's why she had taken out Nicolas and was using me for her purposes.

"What are you doing?" asked Cephas. His voice, however, no longer sounded confused, but angry. He had now understood just as well what Crescentia's plan was.

But Crescentia did not answer. She looked at me with firm eye contact, but I removed my gaze and turned back to Cephas.

"All right, then. You have defeated me," Cephas now said, wiggling his raised hands slightly to emphasize his inferiority. "What do you want? We can make deals."

The king was exasperated. Outwardly, of course, he didn't show it. But he knew he was in a tricky and deadly position.

Waiting, Cephas looked at me with icy eyes. The ones with which he had tortured me. Cephas had murdered my parents. Cephas had murdered everyone who had opposed him. Cephas had inflicted unbearable suffering on countless innocent people.

The king was waiting for an answer, but I did not owe him one. I owed Cephas nothing at all.

My right hand pulled the bolt even further back. Concentrating, I inhaled while aiming even closer at his heart.

A few seconds passed with silence and tension roaring in my ears. While exhaling again, I fired the bolt. The iron tip hit its target perfectly, easily penetrating through the skin into the left side of the rib cage.

Right into the heart.

The arrow stuck straight into the body. A dark red liquid slowly spread around the point of impact, darkening the velvety fabric of the red dress.

I looked up along the body. Dark brown, beautiful, wide-open eyes stared into mine.