Minx

Minx

“This is clearly her messed up way of testing Gabriela.” Sage’s voice trembled with anger as she spat out her words, her face flushed and her hands clenched into tight fists. Every step she took, pacing back and forth in the cramped space of Minx’s tiny room, seemed to reverberate with frustration.

Minx didn’t say anything. There was no point in agreeing or not- the milk had been spilled, so to say, and they needed to roll with the punches now.

“It doesn’t matter if it is,” Minx said. She didn’t need to turn to see the scathing look Sage shot her- she could feel it burning a hole between her shoulders. Minx finished lacing her boots up, then sighed. “Gabriela agreed to it.” She glanced over her shoulder at Sage, who was seething in the middle of her room.

“Coerced, you mean,” Sage said, her words dripping with venom.

“No, she had a choice. Is it so hard to think maybe Gabriela wants to face her father? Don’t you want to face Seraphina?” Minx regretted her words instantly. Sage went pale at her mother’s name. Her hands dropped limply, and Minx wanted nothing more than to apologize.

“Sage-” she began, but Sage shook her head.

“No, you’re right,” Sage said weakly. “If I had the chance to face Seraphina, especially with my powers, I would do it.”

Minx reached out to her, placing a hand tenderly on her slumped shoulder. “I trust Gabriela’s judgment- if she thinks he will wait for a public execution, then so be it.”

Sage shook her head, her eyes downcast as she spoke. “Minx. I’ve seen those public executions- I almost lost Kade to one.” She looked up, meeting her eyes. “Don’t be so sure these people will do as we hope.”

A cold, sinking feeling hit her core. Minx swallowed thickly, suddenly feeling uneasy, but she forced a smile and patted Sage’s shoulder.

“Have faith. Besides, even if everything goes to shit, we still have four Maidens to help. He only knows about you and me- so it will come as a huge surprise when Wraza melts his face off.” Sage finally cracked a smile.

“I, for one, would love to see that.” Minx winked, then motioned to the tunnel outside. “Let’s get going. You’ll feel better after you beat up a few Hands.”

They met the others in the war room decked out in mismatched Hunter leathers Rhea had been collecting from the streets over the years.

The air was thick with anticipation, a palpable energy seemed to course through the room. The atmosphere was electric, charged with an intense excitement that seemed to vibrate in every corner.

Nervous energy radiated from everyone, causing hands to tremble involuntarily. The anticipation seemed to manifest physically, as bodies shifted restlessly, unable to find a comfortable position.

Even Gabriela had a gleam in her eyes as she stood by Naru listening to him and Kade go over strategies.

The rush of adrenaline and the sense of anticipation were so strong that they intoxicated everyone, filling Minx with an electrifying energy that she couldn’t resist.

“Is everyone ready?” Rhea asked, her tone sharper than usual as if she was on the edge.

Everyone grunted in agreement- too galvanized to speak.

“Alright then,” Rhea said, then faltered. “I feel like we should say something?”

“About what?” Wraza asked tersely.

Rhea struggled to answer, raising her hands in defeat.

Gabriela spoke up, “May the Goddess bless this endeavor and guide us to her will.”

Everyone turned to her, shocked. It was an old prayer Maidens would recite in times of need. Minx had never heard it invoked before, but something inside her said it was right.

She bowed her head and said, “Guide us to her will.” The other Maidens followed, each bowing their heads and invoking the Goddess’s blessing. Minx felt a jolt of electric heat run through her, and by the looks Sage and the other Maidens gave her they felt it too.

Newly emboldened, they left the war room in their groups. Minx and Rhea were the last to leave as their destination was closer than the rest. Minx followed her to the little town below, where a waterfall hid their tunnel. They walked on in silence until they came to the end. Rough steps had been cut into the stone wall, leading up to a drain that would open into an alley.

Rhea paused beneath the drain, tilting her head back to gaze up at it.

“There’s no turning back now,” she said to herself.

“Well, there is, but I think the others would kill us,” Minx said, smirking.

Rhea’s lips quirked, but she did not smile. “I’ve dreamed about this my entire life.” She said softly. “My family always spoke about taking back the cities, but that’s all it was. Talk. Right up until my mother was captured and sent to Leox.” Her sapphire eyes snapped to Minx, taking her breath away.

Guilt gnawed at her insides. There was only one reason her mother would have been sent there- to burn at the stake in the city Minx’s family once ruled.

“Tell me, Orefell, do you plan on reclaiming your ancestral home or destroying it?”

Minx’s mouth popped open- she hadn’t been expecting this conversation to happen in the middle of them seizing the city.

“It’s complicated,” she started, because it truly was. “I grew up with this romanticized story of Leox- of this entire world, really, and it’s been jarring to see the reality is entirely different. It sickens me to know my family’s home is used to hurt innocent people just because they are different. I can understand why Wraza wanted us to annihilate her palace- I want to do the same sometimes. But another part of me holds out the hope that things can change.”

It would be easy to retake Leox, especially if she had Sage’s help, but Minx wasn’t sure that was what she wanted in the end. Having Maidens rule didn’t exactly work out the first time, so why would she try again?

Who was she, or Sage or Rhea and Wraza, for that matter, to rule over this land?

“I’m sorry about your mother,” Minx said softly. Rhea’s eyes softened slightly before she looked back up to the drain.

“I do this for her.” She said, her voice tender but sharp as steel. “Today I do this for her- for all victims that have suffered under the tyranny of the Hands.”

Minx didn’t have time to respond- Rhea scurried up the rough stone steps with the agility of a squirrel, leaving Minx gaping up at her. Once she was at the top, she glanced down and laughed. “Come on, Orefell, it’s not as hard as it looks.”

“Well, you made it look easy,” Minx muttered as she tried the steps. She had to press her body close to the stone wall to keep her balance as she struggled up to Rhea, who waited patiently until Minx was by her side, huffing and puffing.

“Ready?” Rhea asked.

“Yes,” Minx answered, breathless.

Rhea pushed the iron grate open, slipping under it. She held it open so Minx could crawl out into the empty alley.

Rhea pointed to their left, and Minx nodded, affirming her understanding. The building they needed to take over was just down the alley. Rhea’s spies said their numbers had dwindled to nearly half. The rest had been sent to Veer just a few days before.

They moved quickly down the alley, wary of any eyes above them. Minx dropped seeds in their wake; man-eating flowers that would provide backup if needed. Slinking down to the end, they paused where the alley opened to a small courtyard. Minx used the ivy that climbed on the side of a weeping willow to open the latch of the gate for them.

Just as the gate swung open, a Hand appeared in the courtyard. Rhea acted fast, pulling a tidal wave of water from one of the fountains and throwing it at them. The Hand had no time to scream, let alone react. They were flung across the courtyard and into the adjoining wall, where Minx coaxed several vines of ivy to strap them down.

The Hand gasped, taking in a lungful of air to scream. Rhea conjured the water into an ogre-sized hand and slapped him across the face, knocking him out cold. Minx knelt by his body, pressing her fingertips against the stone that layered the courtyard. She poured her gift into the ground beneath the stone, weaving a new creation that burst through the ground with a pop.

A tangle of thick roots grew and grew, pushing through the stone, climbing and growing over itself until four thick roots that resembled legs formed. At the center, a dark green trunk appeared, twisting and knotting itself around the roots, and sprouting two thorn-lined branches that were as thick as her forearm.

A bud sprouted on the top with three veiny leaves underneath. It unraveled to expose the velvety petals of a tiger lily. The petals intertwined to form an angry face.

“Can it see?” Rhea asked.

Minx shook her head. “No, the face is just to creep them out.” She said, smiling.

“It’s certainly creepy,” Rhea said, shuddering.

Minx gave the petals a loving stroke, then said, “Take him.”

The angry tiger lily picked up the Hand and slung him over one of the thorny branches. It turned and followed the trail of seeds Minx had laid out.

“Alright, now we’re officially on a timer,” Rhea said, turning towards the building behind them.

It reminded Minx of the buildings in ancient Rome- tall white columns open to the elements.

She threw Rhea a wicked smile and said, “We came. We saw. Let’s conquer them now.”